Penelope threw the ball for Rusty, remaining in the shade on the patio, grinning as she watched him run enthusiastically after it. They’d been back from Italy for two weeks now. The nearly three months they’d spent there had been some of the best and craziest moments of her life. The emails she’d initially received from her mother had been full of negative comments about going overseas with someone she didn’t know and the dangers of doing so. The tone of the emails had changed when newspapers began to display headlines like ‘Lost Conte Claims His Title And The Sword Of His Ancestor’. Luca now had both his sword and his father’s, the other two swords remaining with the rest of his relatives.
Rusty dropped the ball at her feet, sitting in front of her, his tail brushing back and forth rapi
