“I don’t have another man to spare for that,” Kanesha said. “I’m liable to be shorthanded as it is, especially if there’s some kind of emergency. Perhaps it would be best if Mr. Pittman and Mr. Stephens spent the night here in the house.”
“Is there possibly another off-duty deputy who could keep an eye on the area between the house and the garage?” An’gel asked. She thought Junior and Benjy would be safer if they weren’t in the house overnight, but she didn’t want to say that to Kanesha.
“I’ll check for you,” Kanesha said. “I appreciate your willingness to keep them all here in your house, despite the reservations I have about the potential danger. If it weren’t for the fact that moving them to a hotel could make it more difficult for us to keep an eye on them, I would have moved them out tonight.”
“I understand, but I don’t think anything will happen tonight with your men on duty in the house,” An’gel said. “I’ll simply have to hope that this will be the last night and that tomorrow you’ll have the killer in custody, and I can send them to a hotel if they have to remain in town for a while.”
“Amen to that,” Dickce said.
“I suggested they all go to their rooms and stay there until it’s time for dinner,” Kanesha said. “I have a deputy already on duty upstairs, and the other man will join him around eight P.M.” She rose from behind the desk. “If you need anything at all, call me. Use my personal cell number, not the sheriff’s department line.”
An’gel walked Kanesha to the front door. “I’m going to pray we have a quiet night.”
The chief deputy flashed a smile. “Like Miss Dickce said, amen to that. I’ll be back in the morning.”
An’gel closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, her eyes shut. What she wouldn’t give for a short nap right about now. The stress of the situation continued to sap her energy.
“I’m going to see if anything else needs to be done in the dining room,” Dickce said from the doorway of the library. “Poor Antoinette and Clementine are probably exhausted by now. We’d better give them both overtime for all this.”
An’gel nodded. “I’ll be along in a moment.” For a few seconds more she wanted to stay right where she was and enjoy the silence.
There was still much to do, however, before they could go to bed. She would insist that Clementine go home soon. She was sure Antoinette had kept an eye on her grandmother and insisted she rest during the day. Clementine was a hardy soul for the most part, but she couldn’t put in many sixteen-hour days. This was the second, and unless there was significant progress, An’gel realized, tomorrow would be another long, long day for all of them.
The doorbell rang, and An’gel was so startled she almost jumped away from it. She took a moment to catch her breath before she opened the door. She figured it was probably Kanesha coming back to tell her something she had forgotten to earlier.
The person standing before the door was definitely not Kanesha. An’gel had to stifle a gasp when she caught a glimpse of the young man’s face. She had never in her life been so close to a man this beautiful. Dark curly hair, liquid brown eyes, a strong nose, sensual lips, tanned skin, and chiseled features made her think of film idols of her youth. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. His dark jacket and trousers accentuated his coloring perfectly. He could have stepped right off the cover of a romance novel.
An’gel realized she was staring rudely at the young man. She blinked and tried to focus her thoughts. “Good afternoon, what can I do for you?”
He smiled, and dimples appeared in both cheeks. “Scusi, signora, I will speak to Signor il Conte, per favore. I have come with his valigia, how you say, luggage.” He nodded, evidently pleased that he had remembered the English word.
“You are the manservant of Signor Mingione,” An’gel said. She should have figured that out right away. She might have, had she not been so stunned by his appearance. He was exotic for Athena, to say the least. “Please, do come in, and I will let the signor know you are here.”
“Grazie, signora,” he said. He picked up two large suitcases with apparent ease and brought them inside, where he set them gingerly on the floor.
An’gel closed the door. “Why don’t you wait in the parlor?” She gestured toward the open door.
He frowned but then nodded. She thought he might not understand the word parlor. She should have used the Italian word, but her mind blanked when she tried to recall it.
The young man walked into the parlor and stood there. An’gel decided she had better get herself up the stairs to let Antonio know about this arrival. She couldn’t continue to stand here and gawk at the handsome gentleman.
She walked quickly, but with care, up the staircase and knocked on Rosabelle’s door. This time Antonio answered right away. He smiled as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
“You have come to tell me that my valletto has arrived with my luggage. I called him and asked him to do so. I will come down at once to retrieve it.”
“Yes, your valet is waiting downstairs for you,” An’gel said. “He told me he wanted to speak with you. He’s waiting for you in the parlor.”
That did not appear to be welcome news, An’gel thought. Antonio’s mouth tightened as if he was clenching his teeth, but then he suddenly relaxed.
“I will see what he wants and send him on his way.” Antonio brushed past her toward the stairs.
“That’s up to you,” An’gel said, following more slowly. “He was perfectly polite, in fact, a charming young man, I thought.”
Antonio did not reply, although An’gel was sure he had heard her. What was it about this valet of his that seemed to make him tense? She couldn’t figure it out.
She hurried to catch up to Antonio once she reached the bottom of the stairs. She was curious to hear what he would say to the young man. She knew it was none of her business, but her curiosity was aroused. Exactly what happened to Dickce earlier, she realized, when her sister eavesdropped on the meeting between Rosabelle and Antonio. An’gel would think about that later.
As she neared the door, she heard her sister’s voice. What was Dickce doing in the parlor? She was supposed to be in the kitchen helping out.
An’gel strode forward into the parlor. Dickce stood smiling at the gorgeous young man while Antonio glowered at him. The young man smiled, too.
“An’gel, I invited Luca to stay and have dinner with us, and he said yes. Isn’t that delightful?”
CHAPTER 35
What was Dickce playing at? An’gel wondered. She didn’t mind if Luca stayed for dinner, but from what she could tell, Antonio wasn’t pleased.
Perhaps he objected to sharing a table with his servant. These Old World types could be stuffy about such things, but An’gel and Dickce were the hostesses here. If he couldn’t stand having Luca at the table with him, Antonio was welcome to take his plate elsewhere.
“You are very kind, signorina.” Luca flashed beautifully white teeth in a disarming smile.
Antonio rattled off something in Italian so quickly that An’gel couldn’t make sense of it. Her recollection of the language was too rusty.
Luca’s face darkened, and he stepped away from Dickce and toward his employer. Luca replied, and the men gestured and talked until Antonio threw up his hands. “Basta! All right, you may stay.”
Luca smirked. “Grazie, signore.”
“What time is dinner?” Antonio asked.
“Seven,” An’gel replied.
“Thank you.” Antonio inclined his head toward her. “I will return at seven with my wife.” He hurried from the room.