Her Italian Boss’s Agenda

to speak English and she struggled through the evening with her basic Italian.

‘You’re doing well,’ he said. ‘The more you practise it the better.’

‘When do I start work?’ she wanted to know.

‘Let’s enjoy a few days holiday first. Once I’ve introduced you to Enrico you’ll be swallowed up.’ After a moment he added delicately, ‘And, of course, there’s the other introduction you want.’

‘Oh, yes,’ she murmured. ‘Him.’

For a moment she’d wondered who he meant.

‘Yes, him,’ he said, eyebrows slightly raised. ‘Primo Rinucci. The man this is all about.’

‘Well, there’s no rush, is there? Let’s not talk about him tonight. I don’t want to think about work.’

‘I’ll swear it’s years since you last said that.’

‘Yes,’ she said in surprise. ‘It is.’

She wondered how anyone could think of work in this colourful place. Looking through the window by their table, she saw couples strolling through the narrow streets, lost in each other. It had been raining earlier and the blurred reflections of lights gleamed on the wet cobbles, giving a misty edge to the world. No, tonight she didn’t want to think of work, or anything except the man with her.

She listened for the voice telling her to beware because he endangered her ambitions, but somehow it was muted. She would listen to it another time.

‘What are you thinking?’ he asked.

‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

‘Then don’t tell me. I’ll work it out.’

‘I wonder if you will.’

‘I will, strega. I will.’

‘Strega?’

‘There are still gaps in your Italian. Look it up.’

‘Tell me.’

‘No.’ He shook his head, his lips pressed firmly together. ‘But I’ve thought of you as strega since the first day.’

‘Is it a nice thing to be?’

‘It changes. Mostly it leaves me not knowing what to think.’

‘And that annoys you?’

‘Only sometimes. At others-’ He let the implication hang in the air.

‘Tell me,’ she begged again, but he only shook his head.

He drove slowly back to the hotel and saw her up to her suite.

‘Go to bed and sleep well,’ he said. ‘I’ll call early tomorrow.’

‘Come for breakfast.’

‘All right. And we’ll plan the day. There’s a lot I want to show you. Look-’

He led the way out on to the balcony where a brilliant full moon shone down over the bay. She stared out over the dark water, unable to believe such beauty.

His cellphone rang and he muttered something rude, turning back into the room to answer it. The next moment she heard his shocked exclamation.

Hurrying back into the room, she saw him standing with the phone to his ear, his eyes wide, his jaw gaping.

‘What is it?’ she asked urgently.

‘OK, Cedric,’ he said into the phone. ‘Look, don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. I’ll take care of it. Don’t blame yourself. I’m coming. Just hang in there.’

‘You’re going back to England?’ she asked.

‘Only for a couple of days. Do you remember a man called Norris Banyon?’

‘Yes, he ran the accounts department, but he left suddenly a couple of weeks ago. I never liked him.’

‘With reason, it seems. He was fiddling the books for years.’

‘But how could he get away with it? Leonate had a firm of accountants swarming all over the books before you made your offer. They said everything was all right.’

‘Yes, but Banyon had had time to cover his tracks, and he was there, day by day, thinking on his feet, always ready with an explanation for any question they raised. But as soon as the deal was concluded he left, taking a large sum with him. And, of course, the minute he was gone it began to unravel.

‘Is it disastrous?’

‘No, it won’t bring us down or anything. But Cedric blames himself.’

‘That’s not fair.’

‘No, it isn’t. I have to go back to calm him down. I’ll get some more accountants in-a different firm this time- and they’ll sort it out. Then I’ll cheer poor old Cedric up. Since his wife died last year he’s been alone. He has no children or close family, so there’s nobody at home to help him cope.’

Olympia stared. She hadn’t known Cedric’s wife had died.

‘That’s really nice of you,’ she said.

‘Well, Cedric-er-did me a big favour recently.’ He cleared his throat awkwardly.

‘I’ll come too.’

‘Better not,’ he said quickly.

‘But I was his assistant. I can help with this.’

‘He’d hate for you to know. I’ll be back in a few days, when I’ve hired the new auditors. Until then, enjoy being a tourist and get to know my city.’ He looked at his watch. ‘There’s a plane at dawn. I’d better go now.’

‘You mean this minute?’ she asked, horrified.

‘I don’t want to go but I think I must.’

‘Of course. Give him my love.’

But she could have wept with disappointment. Something had started to happen, something that wasn’t supposed to happen, and which she’d foolishly resisted. Now she was no longer resisting and she could see the road stretching out ahead, uncertain but inviting. Just not yet.

He hesitated over saying goodbye, holding her hand in his. At last he laid a gentle kiss on her mouth and hurried away. From the balcony she could see him leave the hotel, get into his car and drive away down the hill.

She looked back at her suite, the epitome of luxury, a symbol of the place she had wanted to be. But there was nobody there with her.

She thought of Cedric, too uptight to talk about his loneliness with the people he’d known for years. But Jack had known and responded with kindness.

He called her on the evening of the next day, telling her that things weren’t as bad as they’d sounded, and he’d persuaded Cedric to stop beating his breast.

‘I’ll be with you soon,’ he said. ‘How are you occupying your time without me?’

‘Reading dictionaries,’ she said.

His voice reached her down the line, warm and amused, thrilling her from a distance of a thousand miles. ‘So now you know what strega means. Do you like it?’

‘Yes, I think I do. It could be interesting. But I won’t know until you come back.’

‘It’ll be as soon as I can manage. And when I’m there we have a lot to talk about.’

‘I know. Come back soon.’

When she’d hung up she sat looking at the phone, seeming to hear his voice in the air about her. For a moment the sensation was so strong that she nearly reached out, sure that she could touch him.

There was a suspicious wetness in her eyes and on her cheeks. She brushed it away, then went to bed and lay awake dreaming about him.

She whiled away the time by exploring Naples, but after the first day she was so footsore that she hired a car.

She went out into the countryside, stopped to eat at small inns and drove back as late as possible, trying to convince herself that she was having a good time. The land was beautiful, the bay was astonishing, but it was all wrong because he wasn’t here.