“Whatever you say.”
Flynn led the way across the deck, which was crowded with vacationers escaping the oncoming winter in the States. Soothed by bright sun and fancy rum drinks, many of them were half-asleep and oblivious to the sudden tension at the bar when Flynn made the introductions.
Once again surprising Rafe, Bobby looked more disappointed than fearful upon hearing his name. His expression lent credence to Rafe’s theory that he was down here hoping that Gina would be the one to follow him.
“Expecting someone else?” Rafe inquired lightly. “Gina, perhaps?”
Bobby sighed heavily. “What did you do? Forbid her to come, so that you could be her knight in shining armor?”
“She doesn’t know I’m here,” Rafe said.
“Why not?”
“I wanted to clarify a few things before I filled her in.” He gave Bobby a pointed look. “Or before you did that yourself.”
“I’m not going back,” Bobby said.
“There’s a return ticket in your room that suggests otherwise,” Flynn said.
Bobby frowned at him. “You searched my room?”
“Of course,” Flynn said. “I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I hadn’t.”
“You lousy, no-good creep,” Bobby muttered, but without much venom. He seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for the game.
“Let’s stay focused,” Rafe suggested. “First question, why did you take that money?”
“Because I wanted it,” Bobby said at once. “Why does anyone steal? Because they want something or they need it or just for the thrill of it.”
“Really? You didn’t do a very good job of covering your tracks. The payments to you were right on the books, but you counted on Gina not seeing them, at least not until after you’d taken off, right? So, I have a theory.”
“Do share it,” Bobby said sarcastically.
“You’re in love with Gina,” Rafe speculated, keeping his gaze fixed on Rinaldi’s face. Sure enough there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He went on. “She wasn’t interested in you. Now that the restaurant is doing so well, she doesn’t even need you the way she once did. This was a way to get her to pay attention.”
“If that was my plan, it certainly was a bust, wasn’t it?” Bobby said, not quite admitting to it.
“Because she doesn’t love you, except as a friend.” Rafe regarded him with a surprising burst of compassion. “She does care about you, though. She was devastated by your betrayal. For weeks she tried to convince herself that you hadn’t meant to ruin the business, to ruin her. She wouldn’t lift a finger to help me nail you.”
Bobby seemed surprised by that. “She wouldn’t?”
“Not at first. One of the most amazing things about Gina is her sense of loyalty. As time has passed, she has transferred that loyalty to the people you bilked out of money. Every single one of them will be paid back, no matter what it takes. She’s committed to that, but she won’t run to you to get the money. Her days of trusting you are over, Rinaldi. If your plan was to get her to need you, it backfired. She’s found other people to count on.”
“Like you,” Bobby said with a sneer.
“I’m one of them, but there are lots more. It seems to me if you really care about her, though, you’ll go back, return the money and keep her from having to struggle for months or even years to make it all right.”
Bobby stared at him, first with defiance, then eventually in defeat. “What the hell?” he said at last. “I was getting sick of all this sunshine, anyway.”
Rafe nodded. “Think of it this way. You’ll be giving Gina the best Christmas present you could possibly give her, one she’s not likely to forget.”
Chapter Sixteen
Gina could no longer avoid her parents. They had been in the restaurant several times, asking questions, regarding her with undisguised worry. Each and every time, she had been busy enough to avoid responding to the interrogation. But on Thanksgiving Day, she knew that her time had run out.
“For once, you just sit there and let me cook,” her mother commanded the minute Gina entered the kitchen. “I can certainly fix a turkey and stuffing. I’ve been doing it for years.”
“I don’t mind helping,” Gina protested.
“I know that, but you need a break. You’re working too hard trying to avoid making some tough decisions. At least that’s the way it seems to your father and me. Are we right? Is this about Rafe or New York? Not that we aren’t delighted that you’re still here, but it’s not like you to stay away from your business for so long, not when you spent so much time making it successful.”
“A lot’s been happening,” Gina said defensively. “First with Karen, then with Tony and Francesca. I couldn’t abandon them.”
“That’s very noble, I’m sure, but I know you, my darling girl. Tony came back on Monday. Yet you’re still here, still in that little apartment behind Nancy Garwood’s house. That tells me that you’re hiding from something.”
Gina sighed. She had never been able to keep things from her mother, which was one reason she’d been steering clear of the house so much lately.
Gina toyed with a napkin. She folded it into an elaborate swan, then unfolded it and made a simple triangle more in keeping with her mother’s table setting. The silence in the room deepened as her mother stirred the pots on the stove and waited for a reply to her question. Gina recognized that she wasn’t going to be able to avoid giving an answer.
“You know about the problem with the business,” she said. “That’s how Rafe and I met. He thought I had something to do with Bobby stealing that money. He distrusted me.”
“But you fell for him, anyway,” her mother said. “And he for you. So you got past the initial distrust and resentment.”
Gina nodded and reached for a carrot stick just to have something to hold.
“Then you’re not hiding from Rafe?”
“Actually I am,
