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The sinking feeling changed to more like a plummet to the botto”

“I’ve est mistake of my life”

Vittore looked at him in complete confusion He turned to Brianna “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”

Brianna nodded “Unfortunately, I think I do” She gave a little smile “And I think her name is Phoebe”

Chapter Nine

IT WAS DARK She hadn’t meant to stay out so late But she’d been on a date

A date

It was a month since she’d seen or heard from Matteo She hoped and prayed that his sister ell But after that? She refused to allow him anymore space in her brain

She’d checked yesterday and the house in the Hamptons still wasn’t sold That surprised her She was sure it would have sold quicker than this It made her stoood a job as she thought?

Nonetheless, it was ti in There had been a sizeable bank transfer into her account and she’d wasted no ti her ht off her mind

Last week a casual acquaintance had asked her out for dinner For the last three years her default position had been to automatically refuse But this tireed—which had resulted in dinner tonight

He’d booked an Italian restaurant and it would have been rude to insist on going someplace else So Phoebe had smiled and tried not to baulk when John, her date, had ordered ravioli It was al to stir up memories of Matteo

Two glasses of wine later it was clear there was no spark, no electricity—at least on Phoebe’s side And John had been gentleraciously before she’d made her excuses and left

Trouble wasthe date had stirred up a lot of emotions and as she’d walked home she’d ducked into a little jazz club and sipped a cocktail for an hour, soaking up the s

She climbed the stairs to her apartment on automatic pilot but when she turned the corner she stopped dead

Flowers Lots of them All lined up outside her apartment door

Her neighbor, Latisha, must have heard her footsteps because she opened her door and folded her arms across her chest “Well, Phoebe Gates What have you been up to?”

Phoebe shook her head as she walked up and down the line

“These are for me?”

“Do you think I would have left them in the hall if they were for me?”