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.Then, on the Tuesday afternoon, Gabriel phoned her suite.“Is Nicola still napping?” he asked without preamble.Juggling the phone, the baby, and a bottle of freshly prepared infant formula, Eve replied, “No.She just woke up and I’m about to feed her.”“Please bring her down to my study when she’s finished,” he said and hung up.If it wasn’t an outright offer of reconciliation, at least it was better than being treated as if she’d ceased to exist.On a wave of hope, Eve changed into a pale blue sun dress that made the most of her light tan, touched her lips with peach gloss, and presented herself as requested.But she got no farther than the study threshold before Gabriel relieved her of the baby and, with faultless but final courtesy, closed the door in her face.An hour later, she was summoned downstairs again, this time expecting nothing.And once again was surprised.“Please come in,” he said, ushering her into the room.He and Nicola were not, as she’d supposed, alone.Another man, a stranger, sat at the big desk, an open briefcase at his elbow.“I’d like you to meet Gino Cattaneo, an…associate of mine,” Gabriel began.“He’s agreed to help me locate my ex-wife.Her continued refusal to acknowledge my many messages, or to honor my request for Nicola’s medical records, is something I can no longer ignore.I find myself wondering if she’s met with some kind of accident.”“Oh, I’m sure not!” Eve exclaimed.“You’d have heard if anything had happened to her.”He permitted himself a small, cool smile.“Not necessarily.I’m not one of her favorite people, either.”Eve had little doubt he was making veiled reference to their estrangement, but Gino Cattaneo left her no time to dwell on it.“Tell me, signorina,” he said, pen poised over a pad of lined yellow paper, “have you had any communication at all with your cousin since you arrived in Malta?”“None,” she told him.“I’ve left several phone messages, but haven’t received a reply.”“Would you describe her silence as typical, given the circumstances?”“I don’t know.I’ve never been in this sort of situation with her before.”“But you have always been close, yes?”“As close as two people can be, with one living in New York and the other in Chicago.We saw a lot more of each other when we were children.”“Ah, yes,” Signor Cattaneo purred, scribbling away.“And speaking of children, how would you explain her apparent lack of interest in her baby? Would you describe it as typical?”“I’m not sure what you’re really asking me, Signor Cattaneo,” Eve said brusquely.“If you’re suggesting she doesn’t love Nicola, you couldn’t be more wrong.”“How can you be so sure, signora? By your own admission, she’s made no attempt to check on her child’s welfare.”“For a start, I’ve contacted her only through her office and she probably doesn’t pick up her messages more than once or twice a week.”“Why go through her office? Why not get in touch with her directly? You surely have her cell phone number.”“She’s on the road, moving every couple of days or so to another town.Given her extremely crowded schedule combined with the significant time difference between here and the United States, the odds of getting her and not her answering service are slim, even supposing her cell phone’s able to pick up a signal from here.And it has been only a little over two weeks, you know.Not exactly a lifetime.”“So you can’t pinpoint exactly where she might be on any given date?”“I’m afraid not.But I’m quite certain her office forwards all messages to her and that we’ll hear from her before much longer.”He glanced at Gabriel, lifting his brows as though to say, She’s not much help, is she?“Grazie, Eve,” Gabriel said.“You may leave now, but if you think of anything that might help—”“I’ll be sure to mention it.Would you like me to take Nicola upstairs, too?”“No,” he said.“She’s content enough.I’ll keep her here with me a little longer.”The minute the door closed behind her, Gino said, “Is she telling the truth?”“I’ve no reason to believe she’d lie.She’s straightforward to a fault.”“You must admit, though, that it’s odd she’s as much in the dark as you about the mother’s whereabouts?”“If we were talking about anyone else but Marcia, I’d be inclined to agree.But my ex-wife is an unpredictable creature, as you well know.There could be any number of reasons she chooses to remain incommunicado, and she’s smart enough to recognize that her cousin doesn’t have her affinity for deception.If she’s hatching some sort of scheme, Eve’s the last person she’d confide in.”The lawyer flung down his pen and leaned back in his chair.“So, where do we go from here?”“We follow the original plan and try to track her down.There’s no love lost between me and Marcia, but she is my daughter’s mother.I’d prefer not to wage all-out war until we’ve exhausted every other avenue.”“And if we continue to come up empty-handed? If we find her and she still refuses to cooperate?”He paced to the window and noticed Eve heading down to the pool.She wore a short cover-up over her bathing suit, and had slung a towel over her shoulder.When she’d come to his study, he’d seen the light in her eyes die at his cool reception, and he’d felt a certain grim satisfaction that she wasn’t the only one suffering because of their falling out.But watching her now, he could tell by the discouraged slump of her shoulders that she was miserable, and he was ashamed.Their estrangement had lasted long enough.It was time to make amends.“Gabriel?” Gino was eyeing him curiously.“Did you hear me? What will you do if Marcia continues along her present path of noncooperation?”He bent and plucked Nicola out of her playpen.How easily he’d adjusted to her presence in his life, to her physical needs.With what confidence he swung her in the air and cradled her in the curve of his arm, no longer afraid that he might hurt her or drop her.And how emotionally painful it would be to let her go when they time came for her leave him
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