Venetian Sunshine by Merry Farmer

Author:Merry Farmer [Farmer, Merry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Even with the address of Charlotte’s flat in one hand and a map of Venice in the other, Trent had a hard time figuring out the labyrinth of Venetian streets and canals. Every once in a while, he glanced around to see if the buildings and plazas he passed looked familiar. A few times, he thought he recognized one of the streets or a church or shop from when he and Charlotte had chased the dark lady. Nothing seemed completely familiar, though, and the longer he wandered, the more uneasy he felt. It was as if some sort of danger loomed just ahead of him—something that affected him profoundly—but he couldn’t grasp what it was.

That sense of danger reached a towering height as he turned a corner and headed down a street lined with old houses that had laundry strung between the windows and dogs and children playing out front. It was as far from the wealthy part of the city that tourists stayed in as night was to day. One glance to the end of the street and he knew exactly what the feeling of danger deep within him was all about.

Charlotte stood in front of a house with flowers planted in boxes lining each window. She was speaking to a trio of men that instantly had Trent’s guard up. One of them in particular seemed to be threatening her. As he moved closer, Charlotte backed away. An alarmed, older woman looked on, but she didn’t seem capable of intervening.

“Hey!” Trent picked up his pace, rushing forward to Charlotte’s defense. He barely considered that he might be outnumbered and outmatched by the men threatening Charlotte. Even if he was, it didn’t matter. “What is the meaning of this?”

As soon as Charlotte whipped around, Trent could see the fright in her eyes. “Trent.” She spoke his voice with relief, but also with warning. With a quick glance to the men looming near her, she clutched her fist tightly to her chest and dashed to meet Trent. “We must leave here at once,” she whispered when she met him, grabbing his arm with her free hand.

“You can’t walk away from me that easily, little girl,” the man who seemed to be the leader of the three called out. He strode toward Charlotte, the two others trailing him, looking amused by the situation. “Not when you have something I want.”

The old woman called out to the man, but he ignored her. Trent narrowed his eyes at the man, trying to figure out a way to get rid of him without spilling any blood.

“He wants the coin,” Charlotte whispered, pressing the coin into Trent’s hand while concealing the movement from the men approaching.

“Well, he can’t have it.” Trent slipped the coin into his pocket along with the map he’d been carrying. He stood taller, shifting Charlotte to stand just behind him. “A gentleman doesn’t accost a lady in the street over a trinket,” he told the approaching men.

The leader laughed, glancing over his shoulder to the others as though they were watching some sort of street entertainment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.