The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) Read Online Free

life, he’d been unbalanced and ended up overreacting to a beautiful woman.
    “She’s not been at work the last few days,” Enzo said with a raised brow, looking down at the sheets in his folder. “She’s taking a holiday, so a surprise inspection of the lab should wait.”
    He nodded, still flushed. Asking Enzo to do a background check on the doctor had been too much. He would visit the lab somewhere down the line, but rushing to Oxford now smacked of desperation.
    “I’ll get around to that. Maybe next month or the month after. It was premature of me to ask you to look into her personal life. I’m actually rethinking meeting her right now,” he said, not meeting Enzo’s eyes.
    Enzo coughed. “So the fact that she’s still here in Rome wouldn’t interest you?”
    Gio set down the crystal glass with a loud thump. “What?”
    “The holiday she’s taking is here in Rome. Or Italy, in general. She went to Milan right after the Morgese Foundation dinner and is back here today for some reason. Tonight she heads out to Florence. There’s a train ticket reservation under her name.”
    Indecision froze him in place. “Oh,” he said.
    He should have guessed that a visitor to the city would take advantage of the award dinner to take a vacation, especially in a place like this. Not everyone rushed back to work.
    “Yes,” Enzo said, clearing his throat. “Dr. Márquez checked out of her hotel already, although she left a large suitcase in their luggage storage. Right now she’s at a cafe on the Via Veneto. She asked their concierge for specific directions.”
    Damn, Enzo was good.
    The Via Veneto was an elegant street lined with coffee shops that had catered to artists in the ’50s and ’60s. For the well-heeled and knowledgeable tourist, it was a necessary stop. And it was only a few minutes away. Should he go and see if he could find her?
    Enzo apparently thought so. “You don’t have time to change, but it’s fine to go out in that. You’ re presentable, ” he said, examining the simple track shirt and shorts Gio had thrown on after the latte incident.
    Still Gio hesitated. Would Sophia Márquez be alarmed or flattered, being hunted down in the streets of Rome? Alarmed, most likely, unless he could pass it off as a casual encounter.
    Then again, he was the biggest donor to her research. In her place, he would want to meet his benefactor, especially since the opportunity to do so had been missed at the dinner. In fact, he would have tried to get a meeting after the fact, if possible.
    Or…perhaps she’d heard the damning rumors about him and wanted to avoid him. In any case, the good doctor was on vacation and probably wanted to be left alone. Drumming his fingers on the bar, he tried to picture surprising her and failed. The idea of chasing after a woman was too much for him. He started to say as much when his security chief forestalled him.
    “Oh, and she’s single at the moment.” Enzo said with a hint of a smile, waving the documents at him.
    Gio straightened, his attention caught.
    Sophia Márquez wasn't married. An image of her in that white dress came to mind. She wouldn't stay single long…
    “What cafe did you say she was at?”
    ****
    Picking his way through the crowd on the Via Veneto, Gio marveled at his anonymity. For a man used to being recognized in his home country—and currently whispered about behind his back—it was a welcome change. Apparently all he’d needed to do was shed his standard suit and put on his gym clothes. The mirrored aviators he was wearing might be helping, too.
    He stopped in front of the Doney Cafe and scanned the patio seating area first. Seeing no sign of his quarry, he stepped inside the crowded and noisy interior.
    She was sitting alone in the corner, drinking a glass of Italian soda. As he watched her bring the glass to her lips, his heart did a funny little stutter, and the blood rushed out of his head in a hurry.
    Her lips looked pink and full, even