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and the fact that he seemed to have it all. He wondered about the curse of Nonno’s that had doomed their family. He’d never put too much stock in it, preferring to believe that he had control over his own destiny, but Dom had loved and lost badly, so perhaps there was something to the Moretti curse.
    He scrubbed a hand over his face. Why was he thinking about that damned curse this morning?
    He didn’t want to admit it was because he liked Virginia. He was tempted to postpone his travel plans today. Stay in Melbourne with her as long as he could before commitments would demand he leave.
    And that was the true measure of why she really did need to leave. He’d find her, eat whatever it was she’d fixed for him and then send her on her way.
    “Virginia?”
    Still no answer. The kitchen was empty. Maybe she was on the balcony. He remembered that last night she’d really enjoyed being outside. He stopped in his office, noticing that the papers on his desk were askew, as if someone had riffled through them. Knowing how important it was to keep the Moretti Motors secrets, Marco started to grow concerned. Had Virginia been in his penthouse just to find out what Moretti Motors was doing?
    Hell, now he was getting paranoid like Dom. She hadn’t asked a single question about the company and hadn’t really seemed interested in it.
    He finally got to the balcony and it was empty, as well. He realized she was gone. He knew it wasn’t hard to leave. The keypad at the elevator only prevented people from entering.
    Marco clenched his fists, angry that Virginia had left before he’d had a chance to…hell, he wasn’t ready for her to leave yet. He’d thought about changing his entire day for her, and she was gone.

Four
    T he race in Barcelona, Spain, wasn’t any different from the two previous races for Marco. He did press conferences, attended Moretti Motors functions and as far as his brothers and his teammate Keke were concerned, he was the same ambitious winning driver he’d always been.
    But inside Marco seethed. At first, when he’d discovered he was alone in Melbourne, he’d been concerned about Virginia, worried that their night of passion had overwhelmed her. But as time had gone on he’d realized that she’d been after just that one night with him.
    He also realized that she didn’t want to be found. And that shouldn’t have been a big deal. He was aware that if she’d stayed, he would have hustled her out of the penthouse and then gone on with his life. He wasn’t looking to settle down. He had made a promise to his brothers that he wouldn’t break, and he had no time in his life for romantic complications.
    So why, then, was he still so angry when he thought about the way she’d left him?
    “Marco?”
    “Sì?”
    “We have to meet with the officials in a few minutes…are you okay?” Keke asked.
    “Fine. Just going through the race in my head.”
    “Are you free for dinner tonight? Elena’s family is in town and we’re going out with them.”
    Keke and Elena were getting more serious with each month that passed, and he appreciated his friend always including him, but Marco was starting to feel like a third wheel with them.
    “My parents are coming to the race, so I’m going to spend the evening with them.”
    “You can invite them, as well.”
    “What’s up? Don’t you want to be alone with Elena’s parents?”
    Keke flushed. “It’s not that. I’m going to ask her to marry me and I would like to have you there. I don’t have any real family, you know?”
    Marco understood. “I’d be honored to join you. In fact, Dom has reserved a restaurant for our evening so that we would have privacy…would you like to use that location?”
    “I made reservations at Stella Luna,” Keke said.
    “Then we will join you there. What time?”
    “Nine.”
    Marco looked at the German, wondering what this would mean for their friendship. He knew no matter how much a man wanted his relationships to