When I wake up, the room is bathed in bright sunlight. I remember where I am, remember the embarrassment of last night, and although the other side of the bed is empty, I can see that Sergio had slept there. I don’t even remember him coming back into the room.

It’s almost ten in the morning and I get up. I feel better. Maybe it was a twenty-four-hour thing. But when I stand up, that nausea returns and I run to the bathroom, but nothing comes. It’s just a dry heave, and it’s gone. I splash cold water on my face and look at my reflection. I’m pale as a ghost.

With a groan, I turn away, and switch on the shower, strip off the T-shirt and panties and step under the flow. I shampoo and condition my hair, but don’t spend too long in the shower. I feel better again, hungry even, so I get dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater and step out into the hallway.

At the same moment, Dominic comes out of the room next door.

“Well, good morning,” he says. His hair is wet from a shower and I find it strange how different he looks than his brothers. He’s blond where they’re dark, and although he’s powerfully built, he’s leaner than they are.

“Good morning,” I say, knowing there’s no way to avoid talking to him.

“You feel better? You look better,” he gives me a smile.

“Yeah, it must have been a twenty-four-hour thing. I hope I didn’t ruin your birthday dinner,” I add on.

He shrugs a shoulder. “We’re not really here for my birthday. We’re here for mom and I know she’s glad she met you.”

I nod, thinking maybe I misjudged him. He’s going to lose his mother soon. I open my mouth to say something, but he goes first.

“You know, a friend of mine had the same thing you had last night. The second she smelled fish, she turned green.”

“What?”

“Turned out it wasn’t a bug.”

I’m confused, and I’m about to ask what he means but his cell phone rings and he fishes it out of his pocket, looks at the screen.

“What do you mean?” I ask as he swipes his finger across the screen and is about to walk away to answer the call.

He gives me a grin, starts talking in Italian into the phone, and pokes a finger in my belly. I feel my mouth fall open. Dominic’s grin widens, he gives me a wink, turns and walks away, laughing at what the person on the other end is saying.

For a long minute, I stand in the empty hallway dumbfounded.

It’s a bug. Just a bug.