“Keira,” he said, panting, crouching forward to catch his breath. “Don’t run.”

“How did you find me?” she stammered, not knowing where to look, her eyes darting all over the place.

Cristiano shook his head, too breathless to speak. “I live here, remember? I came back for All Souls’ day to see my family.”

So it was a coincidence. Keira had realized Florence was small, but this small?

She didn’t believe it was just by accident that they’d both be on the Bridge of Gold. For her, a tourist, it made sense. But he had no reason to be here. She looked about her, half expecting to see the woman from the canal in Venice (sporting a sparkling ring on her finger from Cristiano’s recent proposal) to come sauntering over with that smug expression on her face, the one that had knocked Keira off the gondola back in Venice.

“Where is she?” Keira demanded. “Your girlfriend?”

Cristiano shook his head. “My what?”

“That woman,” Keira said, still searching through the crowds, expecting to catch a glimpse of her beautiful, haughty face.

“That was not my girlfriend,” Cristiano said, shaking his head. “That was Maria!” He looked sad and ashamed.

Keira frowned, her mind racing with the new information. “Maria? Your ex?”

“Yes,” he implored her. “I told you Venice was her home city, that we were going to buy our house there together. Do you remember?”

“But she looked at me like I was dirt, like I was the other woman.”

Cristiano shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it, Keira. She was obviously jealous when she saw us together.”

“But she cheated on you,” Keira contested. It wasn’t adding up in her mind.

“Just because she did not want me doesn’t mean she wants anyone else to have me. Or for me be happy. In fact, Maria would probably prefer me to be miserable for the rest of my life.”

“That’s awful,” Keira replied. She felt bad for Cristiano, but her guard was still up. Too much had happened between them for her to so quickly and readily trust what he was telling her. Besides, she was certain that their meeting on the bridge was nothing more than a coincidence. “Anyway,” she added with a dismissive shrug, “I’m leaving soon. I guess we should say goodbye now.”

To her surprise, Cristiano looked horrified.

“Leaving? Why?” he asked, “Didn’t you come here to the Bridge of Gold to find me? To carry on with the itinerary?”

Keira frowned then. Suddenly it dawned on her that this was the exact time and location that the day planned with Cristiano was supposed to end. She’d absent-mindedly followed the route of the tour. So it had only been a coincidence on her part that they’d met here. But for Cristiano, had he been hoping to find her here?

“Were you waiting here for me?” she asked, not fully believing it herself.

“Yes,” Cristiano said, firmly. “I lied about only being here to see my family. You would not answer my calls. And we were getting close, I did not want to lose you. Then suddenly you fall out of the gondola, leave your suitcase, and disappear! You didn’t arrive at the hotel. I was terrified!”