Hearts at the Holy See Read online

  Leo offered such a bleak look that Giovanni gave up and headed for the front door. He could take Casey and Amalie to whatever tourist point they’d planned then find someplace to fuel up and try to think.

  And pray. Yeah. Because this was something he couldn’t repair on his own.

  But the girls didn’t want to explore the gardens on their own. They wanted their promised guide. Even though Casey had a glint in her eye, which told Giovanni that Leo might be better off hiding in his apartment as he’d planned, he didn’t argue when Casey pulled out her cell phone.

  She turned away, which left him with Amalie.

  Funny, but Amalie looked a bit worse for wear than Casey did. Her lips pursed as she stared aimlessly around Saint Peter’s Square, glancing at her cousin only now and again.

  “Hey, do you think Casey would mind if I stopped for a bite?”

  Amalie’s blank eyes finally focused on him. “Oh, yeah, sure. Here?” She looked around.

  Obviously not, but it would be kinder not to mention that. He motioned toward the entrance to Vatican City, just behind them. “Let’s head into the city. We’ll find something.”

  “The city?” She gestured behind her. “There’s the city of Rome, and then there’s Vatican City.”

  “We tend to refer to Rome as the City. This is the Holy See.”

  “Of course.”

  Considering how much she’d already told him about Vatican City, she must know all this. Shock—that was her problem.

  She plodded after him, and when they passed Casey, still arguing on her cell phone, Amalie tapped her cousin’s shoulder. Casey followed, and like ducks, Giovanni thought, they made their way to one of the cafes clustered among the other buildings.

  Even midmorning, there were people waiting for a seat. Giovanni picked a restaurant that seemed quieter. The booths offered more privacy. Considering Leo would follow, they’d need plenty of that.

  Seconds after they slid into the booth farthest from the entrance, Leo stomped into the café and advanced on them. He looked, Giovanni realized, as though everyone had betrayed him, not just Casey.

  “I see you’ve decided already who is right,” he snarled in Italian.

  “Speak English,” Casey said. She lifted her chin, and Giovanni didn’t blame her.

  “I’m not picking sides,” Giovanni said, keeping his voice low, but definitely in the language the girls could understand. “But I think both of you are being too hasty.”

  “Too hasty to assume we’re a real couple.”

  Casey gasped, Amalie struggled to slide out of the booth, and Giovanni grabbed Leo’s arm. “That was uncalled for.”

  Leo hung his head. After a second, he looked up at Casey. “I’m sorry, cara.”

  “You know how much I love you.” Her clear gaze never left Leo’s face, even though he’d turned just enough that he could avoid having to meet her eyes.

  Then he nodded.

  “That doesn’t mean I have to do everything you want, without discussion.”

  Again, Leo nodded.

  “So you’re OK now?” Amalie asked. From the look on her face and the way her tiny fist curled, she’d punch Leo if he said no.

  “We need to talk.” Leo shook his head this time. “Casey, I have my family to consider. Their expectations of me.”

  “As do I.”

  “But their livelihood isn’t dependent on you’re staying in America.”

  Casey stood.

  Giovanni found himself the only one still seated. He got to his feet as well, sure this would get out of hand.

  “In other words, their need is greater than mine. They’re more important than I am.” The control Casey showed in keeping her voice from breaking carried a lot more pathos than Giovanni expected.

  “They’re important, yes, but so are you.”

  And Giovanni wanted to knock Leo’s pride out of him with his fist.

  “I should be the most important thing in the world to you.”

  Silence, interrupted only by faint sounds of traffic outside, and less faint sounds of the other diners, stretched.

  Giovanni wanted to reach out to both, to make them meld into one mind. But that’d be impossible. He could only stand, uncomfortable and helpless, as his cousin’s world fell apart.

  As the world Giovanni had been hoping to build for himself slipped away.

  5

  Around Giovanni’s shoulder, Amalie watched Casey stalk out of the cafe. She walked with her head at a tilt that told Amalie how angry her cousin had gotten.

  And Giovanni watched his cousin escape as well, going the other way.

  “Wow,” Giovanni said after a long, painful moment. He ran a hand through his brown hair and then rubbed his neck.

  “Yeah.”

  “Now what?” He waved her back into the booth.

  How could anyone persuade even one stubborn person to compromise, much less two? “I wish—”

  Giovanni cut a glance at her but said nothing. The café, almost silent for a moment, now filled with the hush of voices, the clink of plates and silverware.

  She shook her head. “I just wish there was something I could do.”

  He leaned back, his hip balanced against the café table. “Such as?”

  She threw out both hands, banging the tabletop and setting the glass vase teetering. “Well, convince them to get back together.”

  “Ah.” But he didn’t sound pessimistic, or sarcastic—none of the demeaning attitudes she’d expected. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “Oh, it’s great idea. I just have no clue what sort of actions go along with it.”

  “Well, first of all, we have to make sure they continue to see each other.”

  He shifted and held out his hand again to invite her to sit down. He’d been hungry before, and probably still was. And being a man, he probably didn’t let this kind of emotional disaster impede his appetite.

  She slid in, her whole body angled forward, intense, and waited for him to slide into the booth across from her.

  Then his words filtered into her brain, and she felt her mouth pop open. “We?” But together sounded better than tackling the mission on her own. She nodded. “But how—?”

  He spread his hands across the table, as if showing her an entire plan laid out on his palms. “Think about it. The two of us are here because they were together, right?”

  “Right. And now they’re not.” Did he need the obvious pointed out? She’d thought him smarter than that.

  “But now there’s us.” At her blank stare, he added, “You and me.”

  “We’re not a ‘you and me’.” She resisted putting air quotes around the words. “I mean, we’re not together or anything.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I know that, but they don’t need to.”

  “But we just met—”

  “Does that matter?” He glanced up at the waitress who’d appeared next to him, said a few quick words, and then she was gone. “Besides, we could just pretend it’s a beginning attraction or something. We’ll work it out.”

  “Oh.” After a few seconds, she repeated, “Oh!” with more enthusiasm. It could work. Casey often moaned how much she wished Amalie could find another man to fall in love with—one who’d stick around long enough for her to marry him. “Do you mean, we pretend we’re crazy about each other?”

  “More or less.”

  “And then drag them along. Make them spend time with each other. Maybe then, they’ll fall in love again.” Her words quickened as more of the implications occurred to her.

  “I don’t think they need to fall in love again. They still are. They just have to realize that their love is worth any amount of sacrifice.”

  Amalie nodded. “Because it is!”

  His smile quirked the corners of his mouth, and she saw a hint of mischief in his eyes. “It truly is.”

  “OK, we can so do this.”

  “We need to plan it.”

  “How do you plan acting lovey-dovey?”
Even as she said the words, she shuddered. She sounded like an adolescent. Maybe even an angry adolescent. Good thing she’d resisted those air quotes.

  “How good are you at acting?”

  Oh. That might be a huge problem. Because she’d never been any good at fooling people. She shrugged. “It’s never been my forte. That’s for sure.”

  He groaned, but still, he was smiling. “Then we should practice.”

  “Practice being in love?”

  “No, hating each other. Of course, being in love.”

  “You don’t have to be so—”

  “We shouldn’t be fighting.” With one swift movement, he cupped both her hands with his and stared into her eyes.

  Like a cornered rabbit, she froze.

  “I’m sorry, Amalie. It’s the stress. I love you, and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

  Two plates slammed onto the table between them, and Amalie jumped back. Giovanni seemed not at all surprised by the food in front of them. Nor did he seem at all affected by what he’d just said.

  But Amalie’s heart hammered. “You’re really good at that,” she breathed.

  His hands slid from hers. “Yeah. Now it’s your turn.”

  “My—? Oh. Yeah. Um. Giovanni, I love you, too.” The words came out of her mouth as flat as if she’d driven a truck over them. Even without a mirror, she knew her face flamed.

  He shook his head. “See what I mean? We need to practice. Because I don’t think that’ll trick either one of them for a second.”

  She straightened her shoulders. “Hey! It might.”

  “If they’re really distracted.” He put down his fork, still loaded with his first untasted bite, and covered her hand again.

  She tried to pull away without putting much effort into it. “You could be a little more encouraging, you know.”

  “Or I could kiss you.”

  “Oh.” Now she managed to rescue her hand, only realizing then how comfortable it had been under the warmth of his. “We’ve barely met.”

  He shrugged, and she wished for a moment that he’d act like it mattered a bit more to him.

  “No problem. We’ll work up to it.” He went back to his meal, shoveling tremendous amounts into his mouth.

  “Um.” Amalie fiddled with the packets of sugar tucked in a ceramic basket. Once they were straightened, she readjusted the vase she’d disturbed and then lined her napkin so its angle matched the edge of the table.

  Giovanni swallowed and sighed. “I won’t attack you. You’re the one who wants to keep them together.”

  “You don’t?”

  Another shrug. “Let’s say I want Leo to be happy, sure. As far as I could tell, he was all settled.”

  As she went on staring at him, he shook his head slightly. “They make a good couple, so I’m up for helping.”

  “OK. Thanks.” And just like that, she’d committed to falling in love with Giovanni. Or pretending to.

  Given how she’d already reacted to him, the two might end up being the same thing.

  ****

  Giovanni could have jumped three steps at a time on the way up to Leo’s apartment. He reigned in the impulse because of several elderly residents who watched him from the lobby—all of whom knew his aunt and uncle. But when he reached Leo’s floor, leaving them behind, he punched the air with a triumphant fist. That was inspired. He’d make sure Amalie had to act as if until she’d really fallen in love. Until then, he hoped her acting—nonexistent as it seemed to be—at least gave Leo and Casey a reason not to kill each other.

  The whole plan sure gave him a reason to hang around Amalie for the rest of her vacation. Short as it was, he hoped for miracles.

  He barged through Leo’s front room, tossed his keys on the mantel and banged on Leo’s dark-paneled bedroom door. “You’re not ditching me, man. How else can I get Amalie to fall in love with me if you and Casey aren’t there to give me a reason to hang around her?”

  Leo’s door opened, and his cousin glared at him. “You’re insane.”

  Giovanni left the door open and headed for the bathroom. “Get yourself cleaned up. We’re meeting the ladies in half an hour. They still have lots of tours to go on, and you’re the one who promised we’d go with them.”

  Leo leaned against the doorframe. “Casey said she’d come?”

  She hadn’t yet, but Giovanni kept that to himself. “I guess she cares more about her cousin’s happiness than you do about yours.”

  Leo rolled his eyes. “So, you what? You want Amalie to fall in love with you. She wants you to fall in love with her. Why do you need me?”

  So much for a fist pump. How had he managed to bungle this time? “The thing is—”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I’m not exactly sure how she feels about me.”

  “Hey, we’re in the same boat.” Leo’s cynicism colored his voice with rust. “Wait a minute. You’re trying to pull one over on me, aren’t you? How would Casey agree to help Amalie if Amalie doesn’t even know what’s going on?”

  “Well.” And how would he get out from under this rock? Of course, there was always the truth, which happened to be something he was better at telling than lies. “OK, I’ll be honest here. I sort of talked her into thinking I wanted her to pretend she’s in love with me, so we could trick you and Casey into making up.”

  “How would that work?”

  “Because.” Giovanni turned his back on his cousin and paced to the couch where he’d been sleeping the last few days. “See, if you two don’t have any choice but to be together, just as you planned, then maybe you can work things out.”

  “You think? So far, our being together has worked quite the opposite.” Leo turned back and almost got his door slammed before Giovanni put his hand in the way.

  “You never know. And the least you could do is help me out. I want to spend more time with Amalie.”

  Leo jerked a hand toward the front door. “Knock yourself out. Just be glad the two of you live in the same country.”

  Giovanni was, but he was more worried about getting Leo to cooperate. “I need you for verisimilitude.”

  “What?”

  “To make it look natural. Besides, you promised.”

  “Yeah, well, Casey promised she’d love me forever.”

  “And you think she doesn’t anymore? You’re the one who’s insane.”

  Arms crossed, Leo lowered his head. Somehow, all the Rossetti men could look like a bull digging in its stubborn heels when they wanted to. “Give me one good reason.”

  Giovanni took a deep breath. “Look, if you and Casey hang out with us, don’t you think that gives you a better chance? At least, better than you’d get by ignoring each other?” He had to wait for almost a whole minute, which took up several years’ worth of agony to live through, before Leo finally nodded. “Just don’t let on to either of the girls what we’ve agreed on, OK?”

  Leo merely nodded, but at least a hint of a smile rested on his face for a moment.

  Giovanni didn’t punch his fist again, much as he wanted to. He’d more or less tricked both his cousin and Amalie into doing what he wanted, even if Leo had caught on to the truth. Later on, he’d feel guilty. For now, he’d just try to make it work.

  6

  Amalie hunkered on the brushed velvet spread next to Casey, handing over tissues and sympathy in equal amounts. “It’s not the end—”

  “Not the end of your world, maybe.” Casey shoved away her hug.

  “I was going to say, the end of your relationship.” She put her arm around Casey again. Hunched over like this, both her knees and her back screamed at the strain, but moving away would signal as much of an emotional withdrawal as a physical one.

  Casey sniffled.

  “Case, listen. Giovanni figured out a way to trick Leo into spending time with us. Just like we’d planned.”

  Casey lifted her head. “You tricked him?”

  “Well, not yet—”

  “You’re not going
to.”

  Finally able to straighten, Amalie flexed her back. “And it wasn’t me, anyway. I mean, Giovanni’s going to—”

  “No, he’s not. You call him right now and tell him to just forget it.”

  “Don’t you want to know how—?”

  “No.” Casey sniffed. “I just want to go home. And never come back here.”

  “But I haven’t even gotten to go to Mass yet!”

  “This is about you?”

  So much for not pushing Casey away emotionally. Her cousin turned and burrowed into the fluffy pillows, all but disappearing in their softness.

  “Oh, Casey, I really like Giovanni.” And as soon as she said it, she realized that part wasn’t a trick; it was a truth.

  Casey lifted her head. “Seriously?”

  Amalie nodded.

  After she sat up and grabbed more tissue, Casey scrubbed at her cheeks with an air of finality. “And you want me to go along with you, so you have an excuse to get to know him better?”

  Again, Amalie nodded.

  Shoving off the bed, Casey gathered her damp pile of tissue and dumped it in the trash basket. “I don’t want to break up with Leo.”

  “I don’t want you to, either.” Amalie hugged her. “Look, Case. This isn’t about me, not really. That was just to get you to cooperate.”

  “You don’t know how close you were to making it work.” Casey shook her head. “Giovanni’s a lot nicer than Alex ever was.”

  “He really is.” Not that it took much.

  Casey leaned over and lifted Amalie’s chin. “Sure, you’re not just trying to trick me now?”

  Her eyes filled. “I’m sure.” Her voice sounded a bit sniffly, and she swiped at her nose.

  With a huge sigh, Casey let go. “All right. For you. Because you deserve someone who loves you more than he loves anything else.” The last few words hung on a wail, and she bolted into the bathroom. Even the pounding of the shower couldn’t drown out the sounds of her sobs.

  Amalie lay back on Casey’s bed. How many hearts had to get broken this trip? Looked like Giovanni would be the only one left heart-whole when they all went home.

  She rolled on her side, and stared out the window at the bas-relief of the Virgin, framed by the glass and the structure of the building across the street.