Ever since Harry walked me back to my hotel room on our first day of searching for Angelo, he's been a lot more pleasant to be around. We haven't butted heads or made any snarky remarks to each other since day two of our journey began, and I'm hoping we can keep our streak alive longer. I decided to join Harry and Clarice for breakfast this morning, and we solidified our plans to visit three Angelos today. Because it was going to be a longer journey, the three of us decided to pack lunches and make reservations for dinner at Celeste.

I took my seat in the backseat of the rental car while Harry and Clarice occupied the two front seats. For awhile, I just observed how the two of them interacted with each other during the drive to our first destination. I notice that whenever Clarice speaks, Harry listens to her attentively and occasionally looks her way from time to time. Even though he's focused on driving, Harry still makes the effort to let his grandmother know he is paying attention to her.

I make sure to jot that down in my notes for when I write about Harry's role in all of this. There are other things I plan on mentioning about him when I finally sit down and flush out the story such as his fear of seeing his grandmother hurt or disappointed. It's clear to me Harry takes on the role of a realist in most situations to minimize the potential casualties that come with taking risks. I secretly hope that I'll be able to report back a change in his mindset by the end of our trip.

The first Angelo we visit is the owner of a speed boat company on the coast of Siena. While leaning against the rental car, Clarice and I watch him kiss the hands of the women who successfully climb off the boats and step back onto the boardwalk. Harry seemed to find amusement in the fact that while doing this, Angelo was only dressed in a white undershirt, gold neck chain, a red and blue speedo, and a pair of sandals. According to Harry, he looked like an old geezer.

"Well, nan. You did say Angelo was a bloke who was good with the ladies back in your day," Harry points out with the hint of a smirk on his lips.

Clarice rolls her eyes at him and crosses her arms over her chest. "He is not the Angelo I remember," She insists while glancing back and forth between Harry and Angelo on the boardwalk. "On to the next," Clarice states before opening the passenger door and stepping inside. After she shuts the car door behind her, Harry and I join her inside.

Halfway along the way to our second destination, Harry stops the car on the dirt road we're traveling on and parks it across from two picnic benches by a Cypress tree. He complains that all of this driving around has made him hungry, so we decide to break early for lunch. I take out my utensils, two containers of fruit, and tin-foiled egg salad sandwich from my bag and join Harry and Clarice outside of the car.

Harry claims the second picnic table by sitting on top of it with his lunch, so Clarice and I make ourselves comfortable at the first table with our lunches. Unlike Harry, we actually sit on the bench part of the picnic table and place our containers and utensils on the table.

"Do you want some hand sanitizer dear?" Clarice offers me, pointing to the fanny pack around her waist.

I nod my head and present my palms to her. "Yes, please," I accept her offer with a smile.

She removes the small bottle of hand sanitizer from her pouch and squeezes out some of the liquid onto my hand before placing it back inside. I turn my head in the opposite direction and rub my palms together, so I don't have to inhale too much of the strong smell. While doing this, I watch Harry take apart the tin foil wrapped around his sandwich.

His eyebrows furrow in concentration as he carefully removes each part of the aluminum foil. Once his sandwich is bare, he swipes his tongue along his bottom lip and opens his mouth to take a bite. When I notice Harry begin to turn his body in my direction, I immediately turn my head back around and open my containers of strawberries and kiwis. The three of us eat in silence for a few minutes before I finally build up the courage to ask Clarice a question that has been on my mind for awhile now.

"Hey Clarice," I call out her name before pausing to swallow the rest of my kiwi, "what do you want to say to Angelo when you finally reunite with him?" I inquire.

Clarice smiles as she dabs her lips with a napkin and sets her half-eaten sandwich down on her tin foil. "Well, first and foremost, I owe that man an apology. I left him without any explanation because of my own cowardice," She answers me with a frown. "He had proposed to me with a ring and everything, but I had exams back in England. I was scared, so I ran away."

"No, you made a sensible decision, nan," Harry argues. "You can't keep blaming yourself for the past."

"I can't imagine what it must have been like for you to be apart from your soulmate for so long," I comment once I finish eating the last of my kiwi.

"Now, let's not invalidate my entire existence," Harry quips back, sending me a harsh glare. "My grandfather was her soulmate," He says before grabbing his sandwich and hopping off the bench.

"That clearly wasn't my intention," I try to reason with him, but he walks away from the picnic tables in long strides.

I let out an exasperated sigh once Harry sits on the hood of the rental car and turn my body to face Clarice. A defeated expression rests on my face, my shoulders slumping in disappointment. Things were going so well between us up until now.

"You know, Harry is so much like my husband," Clarice tells me while scooting closer to me on the bench. "On our honeymoon, he told me that love is just a bunch of hormones. However, when you peeled back his harsh exterior, Rupert was a real softie underneath."

I didn't know what to say in response to what Clarice just told me, so I stayed quiet after hearing that new information. She let the silence linger between us for a few more moments before she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"How did you meet your fiancé?" Clarice asks, sounding genuinely curious.

I smile as I recall the memory. "My father introduced me to Zayn and his family at the grand-opening of their restaurant back in London. Apparently, my father and Zayn's father met while my dad studied abroad at Oxford University for a year in college," I retell the story. "We got along really well that night and just wanted to see more of each other. When I found out he lived in New York, we made plans to see each other again, and I've been with him ever since."

"Do your parents like him?" Clarice inquires while removing her hand from my shoulder to rest her cheek in her palm.

I nod my head. "Yeah, my father likes him. As for my mother, well, she never got to meet Zayn because she walked out on me and my dad when I was nine years old," I confess with a frown.

An awkward moment of silence falls upon us before Clarice finally speaks. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," She apologizes. "I can't imagine what that must have been like."

I let out a long sigh and brush a few strands of my hair behind my ear. "You know, growing up without a mom was difficult, but I wouldn't be the person I am today had I not experienced that. I have such a deep respect and appreciation for my father and other single fathers out there," I explain.

"He's lucky to have a daughter as wonderful as you are," Clarice tells me with a warm smile.

I stare down at the ground and smile to myself. Having conversations like these made me miss my father even more. I haven't been the best daughter in terms of communication, but I want to change that when Zayn and I leave Verona and return to New York.

"I reckon we should be moving on to find the next Angelo." The sound of Harry's deep voice speaking causes me to lift my head and focus my attention on him. We make eye contact with each other for a split second before he quickly looks away and clears his throat. "I'll, um, be waiting for you ladies in the car."

I look to Clarice, and she simply shrugs as she rises from the bench. I take my tupperware and utensils with me back to the car along with the tin-foiled wrapped egg salad sandwich I never got around to eating. Clarice and Harry sit together up front again, so I take the backseat and rest my head against the window. At some point in between staring at the lush green fields we drive past and checking my phone for text messages from Zayn, my eyes flutter close, and I drift off to sleep.

I didn't know how much time had passed when I fell asleep, but I woke up to the sight of Harry driving towards a large entry gate. Behind the entry gate, I could see a white mansion surrounded by grape vineyards and bushes. A fountain spouted water from the mouth of a Greek statue in the center of the property, looking like a scene out of a classical movie.

"A man who went from working in the fields to owning them, and you got to skip the messy bits. Wouldn't that be nice, nan?" Harry asks his grandmother with a teasing smirk.

"Let's not get our hopes up," She replies while unbuckling her seatbelt.

I brush the sleep out of my eyes and unbuckle my seatbelt. The three of us exit the car at the same time and approach the gate together. Harry rings the intercom buzzer and inquires if this residence belongs to Angelo Espositto. The voice on the other end of the intercom says yes, and about five minutes later, we are being greeted by a man dressed in an expensive looking white suite. The man's gray hair is slicked back with gel, and he carries a shiny gold cane in his right hand for support.

I turn to face Clarice and stare at her with my eyebrows raised in amusement. She offers the man a kind smile and shakes his hand after introducing herself. He brings her palm up to his lips and says a few words in Italian that I don't quite understand.

"Sei una bella donna," Angelo tells Clarice before kissing the front of her hand.

I feel my heart swell at the gesture even though I'm not the one receiving it.

"May I show you around," Angelo asks in English, receiving a nod from Clarice.

I look at Harry and before he can object, I tell Clarice that Harry and I will stay behind to give her and Angelo some privacy. He flashes me a look of annoyance once I'm done speaking, but I try to pay him no mind.

"You should have let me go with her. We don't know what Angelo's intentions are," Harry reasons, lips setting into a frown.

"Harry, Clarice is a grown woman," I remind him. "I think she's capable of making her own decisions."

Harry lets out a scoff after hearing my response and rolls his eyes. We stand next to each other in silence for a few more minutes before Clarice and Angelo come back in sight. It appears he's given her a rose, and her cheeks are tinted to a crimson shade when she approaches us again. Angelo waves goodbye at us before turning back around and heading back towards his mansion.

"How is it you have every man you meet wrapped around your finger?" I ask Clarice in awe.

She chuckles before merely saying, "I told you I was a total babe magnet back in my day. To these men, I still am," Clarice replies, sending me a wink.

I laugh at her comment and follow her and Harry back to the car. The last Angelo takes us all the way to a beautiful Catholic Church in Siena. By conversing with him, we find out that he is a priest. He tells us he's been committed to Christ since his early teen years and has abstained from relationships with women altogether. Right after he says that, Harry jokes that he's thinking of doing the same thing, but Angelo takes slight offense since he did so for religious reasons. Clarice and I continued to tease Harry about it well after we left and over dinner at Celeste.

"The look on Angelo's face was priceless when you told him your track record with women makes you want to do the same thing," I state, failing to suppress my laughter.

Harry rolls his eyes at me. "Now, I know that priests don't have a funny bone anywhere in their body."

"To be fair, it wasn't a funny joke darling. I bet that's why he wasn't laughing," Clarice argues, making me erupt into another fit of laughter. "Anyway, I'm absolutely knackered after tonight. I think I'm going to retire to my room for the night."

Harry stands up from his seat and wipes the back of his mouth with his napkin. "Alright, I can walk you back to the hotel room," He offers his grandmother.

Clarice declines his offer with the shake of her head. "No, don't worry darling. I'll be fine. Why don't you stay out here with Sofia and get to know her better, hm?" She suggests.

I smile upon seeing Harry reluctantly sit back down in his chair and nod his head. Clarice plants a kiss on Harry's forehead and gives me a hug from the side before taking off. Harry sighs and stares blankly at me from across the table.

I reach for my glass of wine beside my plate and take a sip. I know that if I'm going to get through the night with Harry, I'll need at least a little bit of alcohol in my system.

"So Harry, what is it you do for a living?" I decide to ask him.

I remember how harshly he judged me when he found out I was a fact checker who aspired to be a journalist, so I was curious to see what occupation he held.

Harry clears his throat with a cough. "Well, I'm a public defense attorney, so I defend people who can't afford legal assistance. I've dealt with cases involving domestic abuse, civil rights violations, religious discrimination--the list goes on and on, really," He explains before taking a sip from his glass of wine.

My lips part in surprise. Never in a million years would I have guessed that.

"You look surprised," Harry observes while raising his eyebrows.

I nod my head. "Yeah, I never had you pegged as the whole 'save humanity' type," I inform him.

Upon hearing my confession, Harry readjusts himself in his seat and brings his glass back up to his lips. "And what type did you have me pegged as, huh?" He questions.

"Hmm," I hum to myself in thought, "I was leaning more towards elitist prick, but now that I think about it, arrogant asshole works just as well too."

"I guess you have a poor judgement of character then," Harry retorts, shaking his head from side to side.

"Are you forgetting I work with facts for a living?" I remind him, raising my eyebrows.

When he fails to come up with a comeback right away, my lips curl into a satisfactory smirk.

"Well, it's getting late, and I suppose better hit the sack now," Harry declares.

My nose scrunches up in disgust, and I avert my eyes from his gaze down to my glass of wine. I had no idea why he bothered divulging his intimate plans with me just now.

"I mean go to sleep!" He quickly corrects himself. "I meant go to sleep, not the other thing..." Harry trails off, his Adam's Apple bobbing up and down in the middle of his throat. "As much as I'd love to sit here all night and drink this entire bottle of Caparzo with you, I—"

"—You don't have to explain yourself to me," I interject. "You're free to leave anytime you want," I state with the shrug of my shoulders.

"Right." Harry nods his head upon rising from his seat. "Well, have a goodnight Sofia," He says as he walks away from the table.

"Night Harry," I reply before taking another sip of my wine.

I heave a sigh and stare down at the red liquid swirling around in my glass. The clearing of one's throat makes me set my glass back down and look up. I find Harry standing in front of me again with his arms clasped behind his back.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?"

"You know, I've been wondering that since the day we met."

My statement causes Harry to chuckle. "I don't know what it is about you, but just about everything you do sets me off," He proclaims. "You so easily get under my skin."

"Oh, so this is my fault?" I ask sarcastically.

Harry smirks and nods his head. "Yes, I'm glad you're finally taking responsibility. After all, you wrote that blasted letter."

I can't help but laugh at his comment and shake my head from side to side. I scoot my chair back and stand up before scooting it back in towards the table.

"Nevertheless, may I walk you back to your room?" Harry asks me.

"I'd like that," I nod my head, smiling politely.

Harry returns my smile and for the first time, I see two indentations pop out in his cheek. I've never seen him smile fully to the point where his dimples become visible, but I can't help but think of how much more attractive they make him. The sight of him smiling so widely sends a warm feeling throughout my body, and I decide that I like Harry the most when he's like this.

Dimples on display and all.

A/N

Hello my beautiful wattpad readers. I hope you've been having a great week. I'm in my third week of college, and it's starting to become stressful, but I'm trudging through. I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I hope I made up for it with this extra long chapter.

Fun-fact about myself: I got my nose pierced for my 16th birthday and had it for over a year before it fell out. For my 18th birthday, I'm thinking of getting my septum pierced in addition to a scorpion tattoo on my back.