“Yes. Of course. And Marabella? Is it okay to speak honestly around her?”

“Yes. You can tell her anything. Same thing applies to Nathan and Matteo. Just not Giada.” He gives me a probing stare. “Any improvement in your memory?”

There is no concern in his voice or his eyes, just an obvious disapproval that hits like a slap. He doesn’t want me here. I don’t know why, but considering the death of his father, I would guess he thinks I’m dangerous. Like I thought last night, when that alarm went off. I am dangerous. And selfish for being here. “I should go,” I say, and when I would move away, he shocks me by covering my hand and holding it on the counter.

“What just happened?” he demands softly.

“You don’t want me here. I don’t blame you.”

“Did we have a conversation I wasn’t a part of?”

“You didn’t require words to get your point across. So I repeat. You don’t want me here.”

“I don’t want you dead, either. And without us, you would be.”

Either. That’s the word I latch onto. “But I bring Niccolo to your doorstep. I get it.” I glance at my hand, then back at him. “Please let me go.”

“Don’t tell Kayden I made you feel unwelcome.”

Not don’t go, but don’t tell. “If you hide it from him as well as you did from me, I’m certain he already knows.”

The door to my left chimes and opens. Adriel releases my hand and curses under his breath. I rotate quickly and my heart falls at my feet.

Detective Gallo is standing inside the shop.

fifteen

He’s dressed in a gray suit with a blue tie, both a bit rumpled like his dark brown hair. While I’m certain his gritty, rough-edged good looks appeal to many women, I’m not one of them. All I see is anger, and too much trouble to feel safe.

“There you are, bella,” he says, his gray eyes lighting on me. “I was surprised you left the hospital without telling me, but I’m even more surprised to find you here, after Kayden told me you took off on your own.”

Though I wasn’t prepared for this meeting, I somehow pull a rabbit from a hat for an answer. “I saw the hospital bill, and I didn’t want to add a heart attack to my concussion. I was going to call you Monday.”

“Today is Monday.”

I laugh, hoping it doesn’t sound as fake as it feels. “I still have a concussion. I thought it was Sunday—but I’ve slept the past two days away.”

“I got the impression you left in a hurry and were worried about something.”

I stick to my story, hoping it matches what Kayden has told him. “As I said, it was the bill. I thought if I tricked Kayden into thinking I left, he’d leave. It was a silly, concussion-induced idea, and that’s really quite embarrassing.”

He arches a cynical brow, and who can blame him? It’s a ridiculous story. “You must be feeling better to be up and about.”

Adriel steps to my side. “She remembered part of her name,” he interjects, clearly not wanting me to say more. “We’re hoping the rest comes soon.”

Gallo arches a brow my direction. “Really?”

“Yes,” I agree, following the lead Adriel has given me. “My name is Eleana. Actually Rae, but I go by my middle name, Eleana.”

“Eleana,” Gallo repeats. “Beautiful name.” He couldn’t be less sincere. He glances at Adriel. “Eleana and I would like a few minutes to chat alone.” He cuts me another look. “If that’s okay with you?”

The many ways this could go wrong has me regretting my trip to the center tower. “Of course.”

Gallo eyes Adriel. “Is there a private place we can chat?”

Adriel motions to the sitting area. “It’s all yours,” he offers, but he doesn’t move.

Gallo doesn’t look pleased but waves me toward the sofa. I head in that direction when I hear Giada say, “Detective Gallo,” and I turn to find her standing in front of him, looking rather smitten as they have an exchange in Italian. I glance at Adriel. My stomach sinks to the floor with the certainty there is trouble brewing, and I quickly attempt to avert it.

“Detective,” I interrupt, thankful to easily draw his attention my way, “Kayden and I have dinner plans tonight, and I need to rest beforehand. So if we could chat now?”

He glances in my direction, his expression impassive. “Of course.” He eyes Giada and wraps up their conversation with softly spoken Italian, his tone bordering on intimate.

Adriel gives Giada no time to respond, snapping out an angry-sounding reply. Giada visibly pales and whirls on her brother, glaring at him before rushing away, while Adriel fixes Gallo in a cutting look. “Make this meeting with Eleana fast,” he clips, giving us his back as he rounds the counter and disappears into his office, leaving the door open.

Gallo sighs and scrubs the one-day stubble on his jaw. “I’m not making any friends here, but I care about protecting people, not becoming buddies with people.” He motions toward the couch. “Shall we?”

Remembering how shredded Kayden was last night, I’m reminded that this man’s motives are not wholly pure. I nod, and claim a chair by the sofa. “Why were you here at three in the morning?” I ask as he sits down on the stone table in front of me, rather than on the sofa. Too close for comfort, considering I can see the blue flecks in his gray eyes.

“I was worried about you. And I couldn’t miss Giada at the doorstep in need of help.”

In other words, he’s watching the castle, and probably chose this time to visit because he knows Kayden’s not here. He reaches in his pocket and produces a small plastic box. “Fingerprint kit. Let’s get these done, and then we’ll chat.”

His push to go right to the prints has me thinking again that he’s either suspicious of me, or working for Niccolo and trying to prove I’m Ella. Whatever the case, it hits me that by denying my returned memory, I’ve given him the ticket to set me free, thanks to Matteo’s handiwork.

“Thank you,” I say as he opens the box and removes an ink pad. “I’m eager to have my identity back.”

“Exactly why I can’t quite get my head around you leaving the hospital like you did.”

“Concussions don’t make for logical thinking,” I say. “I felt claustrophobic and embarrassed about the bills that were piling up. Thankfully, Kayden found me and I slept off the insanity.”

“Let’s get this done and we’ll delve into the many shades of Kayden Wilkens.” He holds the ink pad out to me. “Press your fingers on top.”

I do as he instructs and then push down on a hard card he holds out to me. “That’s it,” he says, offering me a tissue, which I accept. “We’ll have the results later today.”

“That fast? Wonderful.”

He sticks the kit back in his pocket and gives me a steady inspection. “Look, Eleana. I know this castle and Kayden’s money are alluring, even a fantasy, but you don’t know him. Jumping into a relationship with a stranger, while you have amnesia, in a strange country, could be dangerous.”

Gallo stirs thoughts of him that I shove aside. Kayden is nothing like that man. “Before you go on, Detective Gallo,” I say, “you’ve made it evident that you have a personal bone to pick with Kayden, and it’s hard to feel protected when that’s your motivation. You can’t tell me you’d be sitting outside a house at three in the morning if Kayden wasn’t involved.”

He leans his elbows on his knees, even closer now than before. “People who become intimately involved in his life die. I get chills just being in this place.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He didn’t tell you what happened here?”

Dread fills me. “What happened?”

“Five years ago, the prior owner of the castle—”

“Kevin.”

“Yes. Kevin, and Kayden’s fiancée, Elizabeth, who was living here, were both slaughtered. Kayden was conveniently gone.”