Falling For The Venetian Billionaire

If an affair of the heart was going to happen, Vittorio hadn’t felt it.

Until last night...

Just looking at her had caused something to come over Vittorio—an indescribable feeling that had pulled at all his senses and more. Vittorio had been so drawn to Signora Lawrence, he’d invited the whole group of scholars assembled to ride to their hotel with him in the hope of talking to her for a while longer. But it had increased his guilt over Paola, who still thought he would marry her. How was he going to let her down gently?

* * *

Once he and Gaspare reached the jetty, they climbed on the boat and Vittorio headed toward the bell towers of San Marco and San Giorgio Maggiore in the distance. As the island receded behind them, his mind was still on a certain gorgeous woman who would be arriving there soon.

But before long they reached the palazzo,where their devastated family was waiting for them to arrive. Once again Vittorio felt the dark cloud of sorrow descend, knowing their father was gone and he was now the head of the family. He felt the heavy weight because already the family looked to him for everything.

CHAPTER TWO (#u63615e68-f2c6-59e9-9e2d-0459e037a856)

THE NEXT DAY nothing went the way Ginger had planned. First of all, when she arrived in Venice and went to the monastery, she discovered that Father Giovanni, the resident authority on Byron, had been called away for the better part of a week.

One of the other monks showed her around, but he didn’t have the information to certain questions only an expert could answer. Disappointment swept through her before she took a water bus back to Venice. By five in the afternoon she met Zoe’s plane.

Ginger was thrilled to see her friend. They ate dinner and headed for the train station, excited to meet up with Abby and enjoy their month in Switzerland. But another disappointment awaited all of them the next day when they arrived in Switzerland and found out the vineyard where they’d be vacationing had been sold.

Magda’s friend had died.

Though they could stay on while the caretakers ran the place, the girls decided they would prefer to go somewhere else and not be a burden. They were planning to travel to Europe together to make the most of their last few weeks. Then came another shock—Abby had met an attractive French relative of the previous owner staying at the vineyard, and he invited her to travel to Burgundy with him.

The invitation had included Ginger and Zoe, but they didn’t want to intrude if something of a romantic nature was happening to their friend. Instead they agreed to go back to Italy and Greece, where they could spend a week in each place.

After taking the morning to visit a chocolate factory in Switzerland, Ginger and Zoe bid Abby goodbye, wishing her luck, and left in a rental car for Italy with Ginger doing the driving.

A sigh escaped Zoe’s lips en route. “Our famous vacation at the vineyard in Switzerland fell apart fast, didn’t it? Trust a man to ruin our plans.”

Ginger nodded, but to her chagrin, her thoughts weren’t on Bruce. Instead she’d been thinking about SignorDella Scalla. He was constantly in her thoughts. “In all honesty you have to admit that Raoul Decorvet wasn’t just any man,” she reminded Zoe.

“No, I suppose not, but it’s hard to trust someone so attractive.”

Zoe’s unfaithful husband had done a lot of damage. Given time, and hopefully a wonderful man, love would come into her life.

As for their friend Abby, she’d been smitten, an old-fashioned word that seemed to suit. The more she thought about it, the more Ginger began to realize the same thing had happened to her.

Since that unforgettable moment at dinner aboard the passenger liner outside Ravenna where she’d met the gorgeous Italian, Ginger had a lot more insight into why Abby had accepted Raoul’s invitation to travel to France.

“It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out,” she murmured.

“After what Nigel did to her heart, Ginger, let’s pray this Frenchman doesn’t end up breaking it.”

There were a lot of ways a heart could be broken, as all three women had found out. Ginger had been trying hard not to dwell on the fact that in losing her husband, she had lost her chance of happiness. There’d never be a man she could love as she had Bruce. Thanks to his death, Ginger hadn’t had the chance to have children. It had raised the fear that she might never have them, not without a remarkable husband. Ginger couldn’t believe one existed.

Being an only child, Ginger had longed to raise a family with Bruce. They’d talked about it from the beginning, but his death had ended that hope.

Perish the thought of meeting a man she could fall in love with a second time. If something ghastly were to happen to him, Ginger knew she’d never be able to handle it. Ginger shivered as the image of SignorDella Scalla passed through her mind.

On Zoe’s mournful note, they drove on. By the evening they’d arrived back in Venice and had checked in at the Hotel Arlecchino. It was one of the hotels where you could park a car in their garage.

They immediately began exploring the area called Frezzeria, a part of Venice where Byron had lived above a merchant’s textile shop. It was no wonder the poet had chosen to stay here. This was one of the most famous districts of the city and included the Piazza San Marco with its cluster of restaurants, shops and museums frequented by the glitterati of Venice. Perhaps some detail would come to light they could send on to the writers working on Magda’s film.

But the next morning, Zoe broke down and was honest with Ginger. “Venice is fabulous, but as long as I have a little more free time before going back to California, Greece is where I want to be.”

Zoe had fallen in love with Greece, but Ginger knew something else more important was propelling her to go back. So far, Zoe hadn’t told Ginger what was really on her mind. That was all right. Ginger had been entertaining a few private thoughts about the gorgeous Italian that didn’t bear scrutiny.

“I understand completely, Zoe. The trouble is, I hated leaving Venice when I was here before. Now I have a chance to finish up some more research for Magda’s project.” Maybe she’d find that Father Giovanni was back at the monastery.

“Thanks for understanding.” Zoe immediately phoned the airline to make a reservation for an evening flight. After dinner Ginger drove her to the San Marco airport in their rental car. They pulled up outside the terminal. “I wish you’d come to Greece with me, Ginger.”

“After I finish up my research here, I’ll probably fly to Athens and join you. I know you loved it there and it was hard for you to leave.”

“Only time will tell. Are you sure you’re all right if I leave you?”

“Positive. Who knows?” Father Giovanni still might not be there. “I could be joining you sooner than you think.”

“I’d love that,” Zoe exclaimed before getting out of the car with her suitcase.

Ginger smiled at her. “Text me when you arrive so I’ll know you got there safely.”

“You know I will. Enjoy Venice to your heart’s content. Before long we’ll all be back in class lecturing again and dreaming about days like this.”

At the moment Ginger couldn’t comprehend being anywhere else but here. She watched until Zoe disappeared, then she headed back to the hotel to park the car.

As she passed the front desk at the hotel, Ginger made arrangements to visit Burano, a place Byron loved for its color. The film being made on Byron would be enriched by some scenes from there. After she got back to her room, Ginger had a surprise phone call from Abby.

“Abby? Hey—what are you doing phoning this late?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m flying to Venice tomorrow and will try to plan a flight that fits in with your and Zoe’s schedule.”

“You’re not staying in Burgundy?”

Ginger heard Abby release a shuddering sigh. “No.”

“So the ‘come and see my notebook’ thing turned out not to be for real.”

“Actually there was a notebook with a poem, but it wasn’t an authentic signature of Byron’s.”

“But he really had something to show you?”

“Yes. I met his grandparents and they showed it to me.”

“Then he was on the level.”

“Yes.”

“You sound odd. Are you okay? What’s going on with you two?”