CHAPTER 42:
FRIGHTFUL NEWS
A few days later, Bella squeezed her knuckles, exploring the whiteness of her skin, deeply engrossed in the wavy patterns across her hands and the dryness of her skin. Her stomach did somersaults as she shifted her posture and waited for Marco at the pizza restaurant. He’d offered to buy her lunch this Saturday morning to give her news. She wondered whether he’d had a new lead or if something sinister had occurred. Whatever it was, she was a bundle of nerves, with conflicting emotions about seeing Marco again.
She thought about his gentle hands, the tender way he had held her when they danced at the masquerade party, the way his taut, tanned muscles caused a flutter in her heart, and the tingles she’d felt when he touched her even lightly. Those lips enticed h
