‘But
Matteo looked up, irritated. Then his expression changed as he saw the elderly lady who stepped out from behind Anna.
‘Mamma!’
Liza gave a little shriek and joined her father in hurrying to embrace his mother. She seemed to be in her sixties, a smiling woman of great elegance who clearly inspired affection in Matteo and Liza.
Holly watched her curiously, certain that this was no coincidence. She was even more certain a few moments later when she was called forward to be introduced, and saw the old woman look her up and down, clearly comparing her to some mental picture she already had.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t warn you I was coming,’ she said, ‘but it was an impulse.’
‘You know you’re always welcome,’ Matteo said warmly. ‘Let’s go inside.’
Holly knew, from Anna, that Matteo’s father was dead and his mother, Galina, had since remarried. Her husband was an invalid, and the two of them lived down south, in Sicily, where the weather suited him better. It was quite a journey to make on the spur of the moment.
‘My stepdaughters came to see us,’ she explained as they walked back to the house. ‘They prefer having their father to themselves, so I left with a clear conscience. It’s too long since I saw my favourite granddaughter.’
‘I’m your only granddaughter,’ Liza pointed out.
‘Then you must be my favourite,’ Galina returned with triumphant logic.
The rest of the day was taken up with settling her into her room and arranging the evening meal to her liking. Holly withdrew, not wanting to intrude on the family, and didn’t see them again until she went downstairs for supper.
Berta was there too, and Galina greeted her as an old acquaintance. Holly said little but her mind was working furiously. Instinct told her that she was under inspection.
At any other time she would have been amused at Matteo’s demeanour towards his mother, which was respectful. He might be a man of authority to the rest of the world, but he was nervous of his
At last the meal was over. With relief, Holly suggested that it was time for Liza’s day to end.
‘Berta and I will bring her up later,’ Galina said. ‘Why don’t you go off duty?’
It was a dismissal and she had no choice but to accept it.
Perhaps the decision had gone against her, she thought. Hence the choice of Berta. This might even be her last night in the house. It wasn’t so very long ago that she had longed for the means to escape. Now she would have given anything to stay.
Just why she longed to stay was something she wasn’t quite sure about yet, but it was no matter. The decision was being taken out of her hands.
At last Galina arrived with Liza, already half-asleep. Together they put the child to bed and saw her nod off at once.
‘We did not mean to be so late,’ Galina said softly, ‘but Liza had a criminal matter she wished to discuss with her father.’
‘A criminal matter?’
‘Something to do with a book they were enjoying together.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Your doing, I fancy.’
‘Oh, I see. Yes, it’s a thriller.’
‘Then it’s definitely your doing. When I see my son deep in a thriller I know he’s come under a new influence. Of course, I already knew that.’
‘I don’t understand. How could you know?’
‘Because he talks of you so much. We telephone each other many times, and always he talks about you. Of course, he is very discreet, very proper. He tells me how good you are being to Liza, and how the child benefits from your care. And so I find myself curious about this wonderful person, and I decide I must meet her for myself. And now that we have met, I think I am starting to understand. I see how Liza loves you, how much good you’re doing her.’
‘But I wonder exactly what Matteo has told you.’
‘He has told me all I need to know. If there is more-he will tell me that too in his own good time. Let us leave it for now. I am pleased with what I find here. My son begins to look alive again and that is all I want after the way he has suffered.’ She added calmly, ‘Perhaps he is falling in love with you.’
‘Oh, no,’ Holly said quickly. ‘It’s much too soon for that.’
‘Too soon? Why?’
‘After the way he felt about her-’
‘You think he still has a rose-tinted view of his wife? I don’t think so.’
‘Even so, it was all so terrible-he has to get over the shock,’ Holly persisted.
‘You’re a wise woman. You will help him recover. And then-well…’
But Holly shook her head as caution swept her again.
‘There’s no question of it.’
‘So positive? He’s an attractive man with a good position in life, and you seem fond of his child. It wouldn’t be impossible that you might grow to love him.’
‘Yes, it would,’ Holly said firmly. ‘There are too many things in the way.’
‘You love someone else?’
‘I did once. Never again.’
‘I see. Well, I’m a nosy old woman, but I won’t pry any further.’
She was shrewd enough to leave it there, and over the next few days the house became a more cheerful place as her influence was felt. Emboldened, Berta gave in her notice, and departed, with a generous bonus, into Alfio’s arms.
There was a small dinner party in Galina’s honour, at which she kept Holly close to her, smiling contentedly in a way that made her wishes plain.
Holly tried not to spend too much time watching Matteo, unwilling to give substance to Galina’s suspicions. But her eyes strayed towards him too often for comfort, delighting not only in his looks but in his air of poise and authority, his calm detachment. He would speak to a guest, smiling enough to be polite, but the next moment he would retreat into the gentle melancholy that only she completely understood. Holly found a strange, disturbing pleasure in the thought that she knew the depths of him that were hidden from everyone else.
Yet she had no thought of marriage. Their closeness, half-sweet, half-bitter, was enough for the moment. She did not know if she should call it love. She no longer trusted herself on that subject. There was still an antagonism between them, as much on his side, she suspected, as on hers. It was nothing like the unsuspicious, uncritical joy she’d known with Bruno, but then, that hadn’t been love, and she never wanted to feel it again.
Could you be in love with a man whose kisses had thrilled you to the depths one minute, and whose harshness made you want to rage at him the next?
She came out of her reverie to realise that she’d heard a faint, unfamiliar noise. One of the other men put a hand in his pocket and took out his cell phone. She saw the change come over his expression as he stared at it, evidently reading a text.
‘Put the television on,’ he said quickly. ‘Get the news.’
In a moment they were indoors, crowded around the set, where an announcer was saying, ‘Nobody knows how Fortese acquired a gun, but he used it to great effect, shooting dead two prison guards before making his escape…’
‘Fortese,’ Holly whispered. ‘Isn’t he-?’
‘Yes,’ Galina said, beside her. ‘I have always been afraid that this would happen.’ Then she forced a smile. ‘But they will recapture him before he can-that is-’
‘Before he can come after Matteo,’ Holly said. ‘Of course they’ll recapture him. They must.’
‘They must,’ Galina agreed.
In silent dread they looked at each other.
