“Ah, I like the way you think.” He made a small, thoughtful sound as he consulted his mental map of Florence and what they would be close to. “We’re about ten minutes from the riverside—the Arno, to the south—and about six minutes from the Cathedral, if you want to get a closer look. Depends on what sort of view you’d prefer and how many gelato places you want to resist on the way back.”

He was only half teasing. It was easy to be playful with her, now, to joke without hurting. Certainly he could still throw formidable verbal barbs at lying clients and incompetent cops, but his thoughtless moments with Molly had become vastly less frequent.