VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS) (26 page)

“I’ve missed you too, sweetheart,” he whispered back.

“I wish we could…start over, that we’d never had that horrible disagreement and…”

“Shhh, we’ll talk about it tomorrow when you’re feeling better.”

“
Travis…w
ill you stay with me?”

“All night,” he promised.  “Now go to sleep.”

Vina was elated by the prospect of talking it out.  Now that she knew he’d been back in his suite earl
y
and that Stefana was tucked into her own bed at the manor, the ache in her chest began to ease.
  Tomorrow she would tell him how sorry she was they’d quarreled and that she hadn’t meant the horrible things she’d said.  And if she could muster enough courage, Vina w
as going to
follow Max’s
advice
and tell Travis how she felt about him.

***

Travis woke with a start. 
Beside him, Vina stirred in her sleep, mumbling his name on a sigh before drifting off again.  He waited until he was sure she was deep in sleep before easing his arm from beneath her head and slipping out of bed.  It was early yet, but he’d promised Stefana he
would
pick her up before breakfast.  He should have told Vina last night, but he’d been so concerned about her, he’d forgotten all about it.

Vina had put up a brave front, but it was obvious she’d been crying so her head must
have
hurt a lot more than she let on.  That was probably why Max brought her home early.  He hadn’t stayed long either.  Travis knew this because he’d been standing by the window when their gondola docked.  He stayed there too, counting the minutes until Max left, praying that
the oldest Andollina brother wouldn’t succeed where the others had failed.

He hadn’t realized how tense he was until he saw Max walking briskly towards the gondola a short time later.  His muscles had instantly relaxed, and the God awful pain in his chest
gradually faded.  He’d trudged off to bed, wondering how much longer he could stand idly by while the rich and handsome Andollina brothers
did their best to seduce her away from him.  If it wasn’t for Stefana…

Mentally shaking himself for wasting time when he had little spare, Travis crept quietly from the room to scrounge up a pen and paper. 
What he really wanted to do was wake
Vina
to let her know he was leaving and explain why, but
it was more important that she get as much rest as possible so
he resisted the urge.
  He scribbled a couple of lines then added that he’d be back in time to take her to lunch, assuming she was feeling better.

Stefana looked as stunning as ever and
was
, thankfully,
too busy
detailing the fabulous gown she’d purchased the day before
to notice how preoccupied he was during breakfast.  She was a bright, vivacious young woman and
Travis
thor
oughly enjoyed being with her, but he was anxi
ous to leave the restaurant. Il Ballo del Doge
was only one day away and there were a few things he needed to do beforehand. 
He wondered
if Stefana
had any idea what he was up to
,
then quickly dismissed the thought.  If she even suspected what he planned for tomorrow night, she would have been just as anxious to get going as he was.

It was going to be a special night for her, and for him too.  Travis had done a lot of thinking over the past week, mostly about Vina and how he’d botched their relationship.  He’d had such high hopes when they
’d
taken off for Venice, and the time he’d spent apart from
her
had taught him a hard lesson on how rarely things go as planned.  But he’d come here
with the intention of getting engaged before
return
ing
to the states
an
d that was exactly what he was going to do.

Travis signaled for the check and asked the waiter to bring a phone.  “Vina had a bad headache last night,” he explained to Stefana.  “I just want to make sure
she’s all right before we set out.”  Several rings later, he hung up with a worried frown.

“Maybe she
’s
in the shower,” Stefana suggested.

“You’re probably right,” Travis said absently, his mind running through a dozen reasons why she hadn’t picked up the phone. 

She was sleeping pretty soundly when he left; it was possible she just didn’t hear it ring.  Or she could be in the shower, as Stefana said, or gone to breakfast and then shopping.  But there was also the chance the headache had gotten worse and worked into a full blown migraine.  If that was the case, she would have had to seek medical attention. 
Travis knew he was probably worrying for nothing, but not even Stefana’s bubbly enthusiasm as they entered the jewelry shop could curb the anxiety that was burning a hole in his stomach.

He tried to reach Vina again before they left the jeweler’s with
the
same results.  When they reached the Andollina’s manor, he helped Stefana out and asked if he could use the phone to call one more time before
heading
back to the hotel.  Stefana looked as concerned as he did when he hung up without receiving an answer. 

Stefana slipped her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “Let’s find the boys and see if any of them have heard from her.”  Still holding his hand, she led Travis
to the back of
the manor and
through
a set of sliding glass windows
.  They stepped out onto a
tiled deck adorned with several small round tables
with
huge umbrellas hanging over them.  Beyond that was an enormous swimming pool encircled by a colorful array of loungers.
  Standing beside one of them was Max Andollina.  Wrapped tightly in his arms was Vina. 

Travis stared mutely at the couple for a moment
, then turned without a word and walked away.

***

“Max, how could you!”  Stefana glared at her brother
. 

Vina
let out a startled gasp and
turned away from Max, e
mbarrassed to have been caught in what must look like a lover’s embrace
.  Grabbing her robe off the lounge, she tried to pu
ll
it on with one hand while brushing away her tears with the other. 
Max helped her with the robe, gently pushing her fumbling fingers aside to tie
it for
her. 
It didn’t cover much; the silky material that matched her sapphire blue bikini was sheer and only went mid-thigh, but she felt a l
ittle less exposed
with it on.  She turned back
around to face Stefana, whose expression instantly changed to one of sympathy when her gaze shifted from Max to Vina.

“Maybe you should go after him,” Stefana said.

“Go after him?” Vina asked, c
onfused as to who Stefana was referring to since there was no one with her.

“Travis.  When he saw you with Max…”

“Oh, God,” Vina choked out, “he thought that I…that we…”

“Go
,” Max interjected, “now, before it’s too late.”

Vina bolted for the house, her heart hammering against her chest as if it was fighting to get out.  What if it was already too late?  What
if he wouldn’t listen to her? 
Oh, why hadn’t she waited for him
as he’d asked
?  Vina’s footsteps faltered.  She knew why she hadn’t waited.  S
he’d been
so
incredibly
hurt
to
discover Travis had
gone off to meet with Stefana that all she could think about was getting out of there before he came back.

Flinging the front door open, she
raced across the porch and down the stairs, wrenching her ankle when she missed the last step and nearly f
ell
in the process.  Vina was sobbing uncontrollably as she hobbled toward the dock.  Travis was already seated in the gondola, his back ramrod straight, his face a mask of granite.  She called
out his name, her scratchy voice growing weaker with each successive plea for him to wait, but Travis refused to even look at her.

Vina
watched the gondola pull away from the
dock through a
haze
of
misery and
tears. 
What was she doing?
 
Why was she chasing after him
when he obviously had no desire to hear her explanation? 
He’d made it perfectly clear whose company he preferred when he sneaked out of her room to be with Stefana.  What right did Travis have to be upset
with her
anyway
?
  Did he really expect her to play second fiddle to another woman? 

And if he hadn’t rubbed her nose in it by writing that note, she wouldn’t have been crying her eyes out when Max called
.  It wasn’t her fault Max felt compelled to come
and get her
either
; Vina told him not to
,
but he refused to listen.
  It hit her hard;
the grief she carried with her over the loss of her parents, and now to lose Travis when she’d only just begun to realized the depth of her love for him. 

Max had been her life line, and she was touched that he not only offered her comfort but insisted she come
back to the manor
with him.
  She wasn’t particularly interested in swimming or sunbathing, but Max coaxed her into the pool.  He’d challenged her
to
a race and kept pace with her when one lap became two, followed by another and another until
she’d lost count and finally dragged herself from the pool, too exhausted to even think. 

Max had known it would be therapeutic, and for awhile Vina was able to relax on one of the loungers and enjoy the feel of the sun bronzing her skin.  She’d even nodded off and found solace in a dreamless sleep until Max woke her. 

“You’re going to burn
if you stay out here much longer without sun-block,” he told her.

Still feeling a bit sluggish, she’d
gotten up
from the lounge so he could apply lotion to her back.  When she turned around to thank him, Max lifted his hand and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, just as Travis had done on so many occasions.  Vina lost it. 

“Oh, Max, what am I going to do?” she cried,
and
then promptly burst into tears.

Max put his arms around her and held her close, letting Vina cry it out while he crooned assurances that everything
was
going to be all right.  But it wasn’t all right, and it never would be right again if she let Travis walk out of her life.  Okay, so he was a rat for getting angry when he saw her with Max
after he’d just spent half the day with Stefana.  But he wouldn’t have gotten so uptight if he didn’t feel
something
for her, would he?

She hadn’t exactly made it easy for Travis, she conceded.  If he
did
have feelings for her, it must have been difficult to know she was out with one of the Andollina brothers every day.  And then to find her in Max’s arms…how could he possibly know that he was the reason?  Maybe…and this was a really big maybe…he’d been spending time with Stefana because Vina had all but abandoned him.

Wiping away her tears, Vina retraced her steps back to the manor
, wincing at the shards of pain that shot through her ankle
.  There was only way one to find out exactly where she stood with Travis, and that was to confront him and ask.  But not today.  Emotionally, she was a train wreck and didn’t have the fight left in her to face him without falling to pieces.  She would give herself a day to pull herself together and have it out with him tomorrow before the ball. 

If things worked out as she desperately hoped they would, they would attend the ball together.  Afterwards…Vina drew in a determined breath…afterwards, she was going to
do everything within her power to seduce Travis Malone into her bed.
  And if it turned out he didn’t love her…at least
she
would have that one night with him to cherish forever.

Chapter 13

Vina surveyed the bandage on her ankle with a frown.  After returning to the manor the night before, both Max and Stefana had been alarmed to see how swollen it was.  While Max carried her into the living room and settled her on the sofa, Stefana called the Andollina’s physician and arranged for him to come to
the
manor.  When he finished examin
ing
her
ankle and determin
ed
there w
ere
no serious injuries other than
a bad sprain
, he’d given Vina a pain killer and ordered
her to stay off her f
oo
t for twenty-four hours.