The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [87]
“And I wasn’t expecting a call from Stefan at five in the morning saying you’d got yourself thrown in jail.” Nathan ushered her down the long corridor. “You’re lucky: I was in Geneva, tracking some useless embezzlement case. I figured my suit of armor could use a polish.”
Up close, she could see that Nathan wasn’t quite as relaxed as he seemed. There was day-old stubble on his face, and his shirt had heavy wrinkles in it; his broad shoulders were tense. At that moment he was officially Alice’s favorite person in the world. If he’d brought coffee, she would have recommended him for sainthood.
“Well, I definitely appreciate it.” Alice beamed. “I’m not usually one to play damsel, but God, if ever there was a moment I needed a white knight…”
Her heels tapped on the polished floor as they hurried through the main lobby. It was busier in daylight, full of people waiting, the earlier, ominous atmosphere now nothing but cheerful chaos. “Wait, I have to…” Alice shrugged off the jacket and looked around, trying to find the mustachioed man. “And my purse. They took it when they booked me in.”
“Already taken care of.” Nathan turned back and then stared at what she assumed was the full force of the red dress. “No wonder you got arrested,” he murmured.
The fact that he had just likened her to a prostitute was not lost on Alice. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she informed him, her gratitude dimming slightly. Presenting the jacket to the desk clerk, she stumbled through some rudimentary sign language to convey her meaning before turning back to Nathan, a little more wary this time. He was staring at her bare legs with less than a virtuous expression. Sainthood, perhaps, would wait.
Nathan held the front door open in a gesture of exaggerated chivalry. “After the lady.”
“And there I was just thinking you’d called me a whore,” Alice quipped as she bounded down the front steps. But it was impossible to stay annoyed: outside, it was a glorious morning, with blue skies and a fresh breeze. Ah, breeze. She closed her eyes and turned her face up toward the sun. Six hours in a gloomy cell had certainly renewed her appreciation for natural light.
When she opened her eyes, Nathan was looking at her with that same expression from before, equal parts bemusement and disapproval.
“What?”
“You shouldn’t have taken off like this. Stefan didn’t even know you’d gone.”
“Says the man who invites strange women away on a whim,” Alice replied drily, following him toward a sleek, dark car. They’d avoided the subject of Paris and his proposition for so long, but she didn’t see the point anymore. “You’re hardly the poster boy for reliability.”
Nathan coughed. “But you thought that was crazy,” he pointed out. “So why this?”
Alice shrugged. “I took a philosophy class once.”
He looked blank. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“One of their great challenges was always this idea of certain knowledge,” Alice continued, enjoying herself. “What we could rely on being true. And the problem is, there’s nothing certain. Not gravity, not existence—even if everything seems predictable, it doesn’t mean it won’t be different tomorrow.”
“So you came to Rome?”
“So I came to Rome,” She opened her door and slid into the soft leather seat, almost sighing with pleasure. Oh, the padded upholstery. And was that…? Yes, a seat warmer!
“You seen pretty upbeat, all things considered.” Nathan got in the other side but didn’t start the engine. “Are you sure you’re all right? They didn’t hurt you at all, or—”
“Gosh, no!” Alice exclaimed. “They treated me fine. Decent breakfast, actually. Continental, some hotels would call it.”
He stared at her again, but Alice was already dreaming of the delicious hot shower that awaited her and the sumptuous fluffy robe hanging on the back of her bedroom door. Her flight wasn’t booked until evening, so that left plenty of time to investigate Ella’s hasty departure. Amalfi wasn’t far, if she remembered correctly, and surely held the next thread in her