Gen closed her eyes. The violence of the night faded under the ridiculousness of the whole situation. A chuckle almost escaped her lips. Leave it to her crazy neighbor to put things in perspective. The Tree of Spite rustled slightly in the wind as if it, too, were laughing at her.
Officer Petty let out an impatient breath. “You need to call your insurance company, Mrs. Blackfire. Or a tree service. We can’t help you with this issue.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t do much for the taxpayers, do you?”
Stone Petty tightened his lips and turned his back, stomping to the police car. Devine grinned and followed.
Mrs. Blackfire finally went home. Arilyn squeezed Gen’s hand. “You’ll stay with me tonight, Gen.”
“No. I’ll take her to my place,” Wolfe announced.
Arilyn’s mouth dropped open. The vocal claim went beyond friendship and into intimate lover territory. Gen’s first instinct was to agree, but she wasn’t about to allow David to chase her from her home again. “I’m staying here. I’ll be fine.”
Wolfe’s jaw clenched. “I don’t think—”
“He’s not going to win.” She practically spit the words in fury. “He’s a coward and I refuse to leave my house.”
Wolfe muttered a curse, then nodded. “Fine. We’ll stay here.”
Arilyn took in the conversation with interest. “Let me know if you need anything,” she finally said.
“I will.”
They hugged good-bye and Arilyn went back to Kate’s house. Gen grasped the doorknob and stepped inside her bungalow. Wolfe followed.
They gazed at each other in silence for a while. “I’m not running anymore,” she finally said.
“Yeah. I know. I just don’t trust him.”
She set down the card Officer Devine had handed her and rubbed her temples. “I don’t want you to worry about me when you’re in Italy. I’ll have Arilyn come stay with me, or my sister.”
“I was thinking I had a better idea.”
“What?”
“Come with me to Italy.”
Gen blinked. Was he nuts? She couldn’t go to Italy. She was too busy with stuff. Work. Family. Friends. Work. “I can’t just leave everything and bop off to Italy. People don’t do that. I have responsibilities here.”
“You work for your best friends. I think they’ll agree you need a vacation and give you the time off.”
Gen shook her head. “No. I refuse to be treated like a child you constantly worry about leaving behind. I’m not going to Italy.”
His slow smile heated her blood, curled her toes, and scared her silly. “I’ll just have to change your mind, won’t I?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You can’t make me do anything. You may think this hot-blooded caveman behavior is sexy, but you’re dead wrong.”
The corner of his lip lifted. “Better call Kate and tell her you leave Tuesday.”
“I’m not going to Italy. And I’m not sleeping with you tonight.”
He kept silent, but his knowing grin did bad things to her tummy and other places. Gen promised herself she’d stand strong on both counts.
“We’ll see.”
She stuck out her tongue and swore on a stack of mental Bibles she’d never weaken.
Never.
This was one standoff she was going to win.
GENEVIEVE COULDN’T BELIEVE IT.
She was in Italy.
The last two days had passed in a blur. Her friends took her off the work schedule without pause, pushing her when she resisted with lame excuses, and even helped her pack. She had to hand it to Wolfe.
He never even said I told you so.
The car crawled through the busy streets of Milan toward the house she’d been dying to see. Pedestrians clogged the sidewalks, mopeds roared in and out of traffic, and a heavy, smoglike mist settled over the city. Wolfe laughed as she twisted madly around, trying to soak in all the sights, sniffing the delicious scents of bread and coffee and exhaust that mixed together in a bouquet to the senses.
The crumbling three-story building looked a bit worn when they finally stopped. Huh. She’d imagined Julietta and Sawyer lived in a mansion, but the place did emanate a quaint character she loved. Lots of terra-cotta, brick, plants, and flowers surrounded her. The driver took their bags, but before her feet hit the ground, Wolfe’s family rushed out, screaming and yelling in Italian, and smothered him whole.
Gen stared. Wolfe had never liked being touched by too many people. When they made love, there was no barrier between them, but in daylight, distance always radiated around him. He was always polite to people, shook hands, but seemed to scream hands off. He’d slowly opened up more with her own family, but he seemed to allow it rather than steeping himself in affection.