the waiter had retired, Leonizio said, ‘I know you can’t drink wine while you’re pregnant.’
She didn’t reply and after a moment he demanded, ‘Why are you glaring at me?’
‘I’m not.’
‘Yes, you are. You’d like to thump me.’
‘That’s very perceptive of you. All right, the way you made that decision without consulting me makes me think a good thump might be satisfying.’
‘You do me an injustice. I paid you the compliment of assuming that you would already have made the sensible decision. You’re such an efficient, businesslike person that—’
‘All right, all right. You can stop there. You always know what to say, don’t you?’
He gave her a cheerful grin. ‘Luckily for me, yes. With some combatants it’s a useful skill.’
‘Is that what we are? Combatants?’
‘Not all the time. But it’s something that’s going to crop up now and then.’
‘Now and then. I suppose that’s true.’
‘And while we can have an evening out like this, we can relax together and find a way to solve the problem.’
His tone was friendly, but a man working at a business arrangement might have spoken in just this way, she thought.
‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked.
‘Fine. That rest did me good. Now I’m in the mood to enjoy myself.’
‘You’re all right after what I put you through?’
‘You mean when you got so upset because I wasn’t there? I’m sorry for the whole thing. It must have been terrible for you, feeling like you were reliving the past.’
He nodded. ‘It was exactly the same. I came home one day and she’d gone. She didn’t leave a note. I was left to wonder until an email arrived the next day.
‘Yes. Coming back to an empty house is something I don’t cope with very well.’ He gave a brief self-mocking laugh. ‘I remember telling you that we should discover things about each other. Well, that’s something you’ve discovered. Perhaps you should take warning.’
‘I’ve already had plenty to warn me, and there’s nothing I can’t cope with. Beware. This lioness has claws.’
‘Well, I know that. They left a few scratches on me when we were together.’
She drew a sharp breath. His words brought back the memory of the time she had spent in his arms, overcome by a physical excitement she’d never known before. Bereft of all self-control, she had clutched him in a fever of desire that it shocked her to remember now.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said hastily. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
‘Don’t apologise. It was an accident. The world seemed to change that night, as though we’d become different people.’
‘Yes, that’s true. I no longer really know what to think about anything.’
‘Is that why you refuse to marry me?’
‘I haven’t actually refused. I just can’t take it for granted, the way you did. I don’t like being given orders.’
‘That’s not what I did.’
‘But it is. You just assumed I’d jump at the chance to marry you. How arrogant is that?’
She gave a brief laugh. ‘I once looked up your name and found that Leonizio means ‘lion-like’. That says it all about you. The lion rules the plains, and Leonizio thinks he can rule wherever he likes.’
Briefly she wondered if she was wise to risk offending him, but his smile contained only wry amusement.
‘Except for the lioness,’ he said. ‘She could stand up to him better than anyone else.’
She nodded. ‘As long as he understands that.’
‘He understands completely. And he knows he’ll have to be cleverer than usual to achieve victory.’
‘But he doesn’t really doubt that he’ll be the winner, does he?’
‘Tact prevents me answering that.’ He raised his glass. ‘Here’s to victory—for both of us.’
She raised her own glass and they clinked.
‘As long as we each understand what victory means,’ he said. ‘You know what it means to me but—’ He paused.
‘You just can’t understand why I don’t jump at the chance to marry you, can you?’ she said.
‘I’m not the conceited oaf that makes me sound. As a person I may not be likeable. I understand that.’
‘Is that what your wife said?’
‘She said plenty about me. None of it good, in the end.’
‘In my experience, marriage ends badly. My parents divorced. You’re about to be divorced. It’s par for the course, it seems. Can you blame me for refusing you?’
‘Yes, but don’t forget that not all marriages need end that way. Ours would be different. We would be entering it with our eyes wide open. What do I have to offer to persuade you?’
‘You don’t understand. It’s what I’d lose. My country, my career, my freedom, my independence. I’m not ready to rush into it.’
‘Not even to benefit our child?’
‘But does marriage always benefit the child?’ she asked. ‘My parents were married and the unhappiness filled the air. I need to know—this is going to sound crazy to you—but I need to know that we can be friends.’
‘I don’t think it’s crazy at all. It makes sense.’ He gave a contented nod. ‘We’ve got a while to get to know each other, and hopefully like each other.’
‘Yes,’ she said eagerly. ‘That’s the luckiest thing that can happen to a child, that its parents can be best friends.’
‘You think that’s luckier than if the parents love each other?’
‘It can be. Friendship doesn’t have so many ups and downs, so many dramas and crises. I can remember coming home from school wondering if my parents were speaking to each other today. When I got the lead in the school play they each came to a different performance. It would have been lovely if they’d come together and we’d had an evening as a happy family, but—’ she shrugged ‘—that’s how it was.’
Suddenly they were surrounded by applause. A man had appeared, bearing a guitar. He bowed to the guests at the tables who were applauding his entrance, and began to sing. Ellie listened with pleasure as he made his way
