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Malta, one week later
“OKAY, OPEN YOUR eyes.”
Floriana heeded Eric’s command and opened her eyes. They were standing in a quiet alley in the medieval town of Mdina, and a sand-colored two-story building dropped its massive shadow over them. Floriana looked astonished at the symmetrical structure with arched wooden gates and ornate mullioned windows. A two-tiered palline losanghe cornice, which separated the ground floor from the first floor, was the only decorative element on the plain medieval façade.
“What am I looking at?” she queried.
“This is the palazzo I am going to buy. Well, when I can afford it,” Eric’s face brightened with self-confidence. “After thorough research, I can now announce to you that this is the palace my ancestors used to live in when they were one of the most powerful families in Malta. And this beauty is going to be mine,” Eric bragged, folding his arms in front of his chest.
“Are you going to take the baculus with you? You know, Grandpa still waits for it to flash again. I have caught him a couple times sneaking down to the crypt without knowing I saw him. I can imagine him standing there, waiting to witness this emerald miracle he has never seen before.” She grinned.
“He cannot believe it just flashed once in your presence and then shut down. Anyway, the baculus did not even cross my mind. What do you think about my crib?” Eric opened his arms to the sides as if he was presenting a mansion of his own.
“You will have to spend a fortune to buy that,” Floriana said, amazed.
“I am willing to take on any dangerous, horrific, ambitious mission the private sector can assign me in order to collect the outrageous amount of money necessary for the purchase. And you are going to live with me in there.” He gave her a broad smile as he placed his arms around her waist. The light of the sun setting over the quiet medieval town gave his hair a warm, reddish blond hue. The light blue t-shirt he was wearing accentuated his sparkly blue eyes, and its fit form flattered his toned body.
“What are you doing?” Floriana’s question was tinged with surprise.
“I am correcting a mistake I made one week ago, here, in another empty alley in Mdina. I didn't have the gumption to finish what I started.”
Eric tenderly caressed her cheek with his finger before he put his finger under her chin and titled her face up. “You will be the princess of my palazzo. My principessa,” he said softly before he sealed his lips over hers.
“I am here for you. I will always be here for you,” Eric whispered as if reading her thoughts in her sorrowful eyes.
A week had passed since the dramatic events in Millville, and Floriana had still been trying to cope with the fact that her mother had briefly come back from the dead and, moreover, she tried to convince one of her two children to kill the other. Floriana still woke up at night, horrified by nightmares of her mother killing her. She hoped that the final curtain of their family drama would have fallen when their mother’s corpse was flown back to Malta and buried in a grave beside their father in a cemetery there. Alas, the trauma was deep, and it would take time to heal.
Wiping away a tear forming at the corner of her eye with his thumb, Eric leaned down and kissed her again softly. Floriana rested her face gently against his broad chest and felt safe and secure, as she never had before. It was a feeling she needed to last forever; she needed to have him in her life. She had known that from the first time she saw him standing like an angel under the sun in front of that ancient temple at Cape Sounion.
“What about my grandpa? He still is the Grand Master of the Order.”
“I am going to let him know about us, and I am sure he will understand.” He curled with his fingers into the ethereal fabric of her loose, colorful tunic, which fluttered in the warm summer breeze. “I am never going to leave you again. I will never let anyone hurt you again.” He pressed her body against his and caressed her curly red hair protectively. “Partners in life and in action.” He tenderly kissed the top of her head.
“I am not going to always be a lady in distress, you know.” She giggled as she tilted her head slightly back and looked up at him.
“Maybe the day comes when I am a gentleman in distress,” he joked.
They burst out laughing, determined to leave every sad memory that burdened their hearts behind and step forward into a better and brighter future. A future that they would share in the medieval palazzo they were looking at in awe. Partners in life and in action.
And they were until the baculus of the Knight Templar flashed again...