her — just as Caterina’s brunette beauty was also very
much like Louise’s. They ignited a surge of angry
pride inside Jodie that burned along her veins. She
took a deep breath, and then heard herself saying
recklessly, 'But he is marrying me.'
For a few seconds Jodie was so lost in the heady
euphoria of delivering the very words she had so
longed to deliver to Louise that nothing else mattered—
least of all the small inner voice trying desperately
to beg her to be more cautious.
Even when she heard Caterina’s infuriated shriek
and caught the scent of her alcohol-laden breath she
still didn’t realise her danger, and the other woman's
scarlet-tipped hand was already raised to rake savagely
down the soft flesh of her face when Lorenzo
suddenly released Jodie and took hold of Caterina,
forcing her back from Jodie as he snapped, 'Basta!
Enough.'
'You cannot do this to me. I will not let you!'
Caterina screamed at Lorenzo.
Jodie’s head was ringing with the shock of listening
to her, and her body shook in the aftermath of
Caterina’s attempt to physically attack her.
'You will pack your things and leave the Castillo
immediately,' she heard Lorenzo order bitingly.
'You cannot make me. I have as much right to be
here as you. Remember, until you are married the
Castillo belongs as much to me as it does to you. Only
when you are married does it become yours. And you
will not—'
'Basta!'
The command cracked across her outburst like a
whip against naked flesh, causing Jodie herself to
wince and shudder as she watched Lorenzo give the
other woman a hard shake before releasing her.
Ignoring Jodie, Caterina complained to Lorenzo,
'You have hurt me. Tomorrow there will be a
bruise…' She switched to Italian and said something
softly to him, then laughed mockingly.
Jodie waited impassively. Her female instincts,
honed now by the belated recognition of all those
glances and soft, not-quite-caught words she had witnessed
John and Louise exchanging in the weeks before
they had admitted their betrayal of her, were immediately
suspicious that what Caterina had said to
Lorenzo had been both intimate and sexual. Why?
Because their relationship had once been intimate and
sexual? Had been…or still was? There was clearly
animosity between them now — animosity and contempt
where Lorenzo was concerned — or at least that
was the way it seemed.
'He is using you. You know that, Don’t you? And
once he has what he wants he will discard you,'
Caterina told Jodie venomously, and then as abruptly
as she had arrived she was gone, banging the door
shut behind her as she left.
Completely ignoring what had just happened,
Lorenzo announced autocratically, 'This way. I will
show you to our apartments.'
The scene with Caterina had left her feeling slightly
sick and shaky now that it was over, Jodie realized.
Much as she had felt in the aftermath of Louise’s
revelations. But Lorenzo was already halfway towards
the door through which Caterina had disappeared, and
Jodie had to hurry to catch up with him. Beyond the
door was another hallway, this one containing an imposing
and unexpectedly elegant marble staircase.
'This part of the interior of the Castillo was remodelled
during the Renaissance,' Lorenzo explained
when he saw her surprise.
At the top of the stairs a wide corridor branched to
the right and left. Lorenzo took the right fork, which
was dimly lit with old-fashioned electric wall lights,
beyond which Jodie could see a pair of ornate double
doors.
'My grandmother made this part of the Castillo
over to me for my own use after the divorce of my
parents,' Lorenzo announced as he opened the doors.
'Gino always said—'
'Gino?' Jodie questioned, her thoughts still seething
with curiosity.
'My cousin, and Caterina’s late husband.'
'She is a widow, then?' Jodie couldn’t help asking
him.
'Yes, she is a widow.'
'And she lives here?'
A cynical grimace touched his mouth and then disappeared,
to be replaced by a look of bitterness.
'She has an apartment in Milan, but she moved
here when my grandmother became ill.' He frowned,
and then said abruptly, 'You ask too many questions.
It is late now, and I have things to do. I will explain
everything that you need to know tomorrow. Just remember
that so far as everyone else is concerned our
relationship is of some duration, as are our plans to
marry.'
'Caterina said that your grandmother wanted you
to marry her,' Jodie couldn’t help commenting.
His mouth hardened, and Jodie began to regret her
