‘It’s never bothered them before. Andria rings around. If they’re free, they come. If they’re not, they don’t. Though I can’t remember ever having a refusal.’
No, thought Beth. I’m sure you can’t.
‘As you obviously don’t have any strong objections, I’ll go ahead. This weekend is good for me. I’ll ring Andria now, and she’ll get things going.’
‘You’re off duty, but your assistant is still at work?’ Beth gasped.
Luca was offended. ‘Of course not—what do you think I am?’
I know exactly what you are—whatever you’re doing, you’re bound to be a workaholic, Beth thought. She watched him extract a phone from the pocket of his jeans. They were cut to perfection. Memories of his beautiful body had been haunting her since their first meeting in the executive lounge. Now they struck her low down, with a vengeance. Her temperature began to rise as she saw the fabric stretched tight around the tempting curve of his flank. Luckily, Luca was too busy with his call to notice the effect it was having on her.
He looked over in Beth’s direction and smiled, but she had more sense than to think it was directed at her. It must have been the stream of words chattering from his handset that sparked his amusement. Beth could imagine what poor Andria felt like, being telephoned at home on office business.
She turned away to make sure their call was private but, in a room as small as hers, it was impossible.
‘Ah, yes, you know me too well,’ she heard Luca say. ‘That’s why you’re my assistant, Andria.’ As he spoke he cast his eyes around Beth’s new flat. ‘Andria, I don’t see any signs that the firm has sent Beth a welcome basket—you know the sort of thing—flowers, a few basics like coffee and washing-up liquid, fruit, a guide to local attractions…’
Luca finished his call. Beth turned to watch him put his phone back into his pocket again, although she was careful to keep her expression bland.
‘Andria is the best assistant I have ever had. That girl is a mind-reader.’ His satisfaction was obvious.
‘That isn’t quite as tricky as you might think, Luca. All it would take is for her to sacrifice everything for the sake of your career.’
His smile evaporated. ‘Ah, so you still think you made the right decision in leaving me? Then you haven’t seen everything my hard work has brought me. Come on—I’ll show you now.’ Dragging out his phone again, he called up his pilot and arranged to be picked up. ‘He’ll be docking my launch in ten minutes,’ he informed Beth. ‘If you want to grab that bottle and the pizza, we can eat later.’
Beth had to hurry to keep up with Luca as they left her apartment. His long strides led her beneath festoons of washing threaded over the back lanes. It had all been abandoned to the rain. That had stopped, but the laundry still dripped reminders of the deluge onto their heads. These alleys were hidden away, where the tourists did not visit. It was the dim, claustrophobic Venice only local people saw. Beth was glad when they reached the canal. She was even happier to recognise the smart new craft Luca had been driving earlier that day. He helped her in, his grasp firm and warm as his hand closed over hers. Beth tensed at his touch, but he let her go the moment she was safely on board. As their pilot steered them away from the mooring an argument broke out between a tenant of one of the waterside apartments and a boatman below. It resulted in a bucket of water being thrown out of an upstairs window, complete with vegetable peelings.
Beth was not impressed, and wrinkled her nose. ‘I thought Venice was supposed to be more sophisticated than this.’
‘Winter is coming. Tempers get shorter as the nights get longer. But it is not always like this. You will soon grow to love the place, all year round.’
‘My contract with Francesco Fine Arts comes up for renewal in six months’ time.’
He made no further comment and, hurt, Beth stayed silent until their launch swung around a gentle bend. Then she gasped, and Luca’s smile showed his satisfaction.
‘So you like my new house?’
‘That’s yours?’ Beth could hardly speak. Ahead of them, a beautiful creamy-pink palace rose out of the water. Despite the cloudy sky, its four storeys were still a shimmering reflection of grace and ageless beauty.
‘Oh, Luca…it’s wonderful…’ she breathed.
His smile had an ironic twist. ‘She’s falling to bits. And sinking. It would be cheaper to have the whole place transported over to the mainland, stone by stone. There, we could at least use modern luxuries like solid foundations.’ He clicked his tongue. ‘I don’t know. This place eats money. I have to spend my working days stuck inside an office—the things I do to keep my family name alive.’
Beth thought back to the one and only time Luca had taken her backpacking. He was born to be wild. It took imagination to see him enjoying life in a perfectly proportioned, stone and shuttered place like this, lovely though it was.
‘You kept very quiet about this grand family of yours when I knew you first, Luca.’
‘My background wasn’t important to me then. At that point there was no more than this old wreck to inherit. Besides, you were quite happy playing the part of a grand lady consorting with her “bit of rough”, back then.’
The pilot tied up their launch. As Luca stepped off the boat he extended his hand to help Beth ashore. She hesitated, nervous of the effect of his touch, but she had no choice. As she suspected, when her fingers met his her body betrayed her and wanted more of what she couldn’t have.
When they were both safely on the broad paved way in front of the palazzo, Luca dismissed his pilot with a smile. Now they were alone together. Beth could not stand the silence.
‘I really am sorry for what happened between us in Balacha, Luca,’ she said quietly.
‘I don’t doubt it.’
He was studying the façade of his house in minute detail.
‘Can’t you look at me, Luca?’
Dropping his gaze to her face, he looked at her with all the emotion of a professional poker player. ‘How’s that?’
‘I did a stupid thing back then. It was in the heat of the moment, because I was angry. Tristram was always there. You weren’t. Then one day it all got too much for me.’
Eyes burning, she looked to him for sympathy, or at least understanding. She saw neither. Luca was listening to her, but his expression showed he simply no longer cared. My God, she thought, his hidden, gentle heart has turned to stone. I might as well be explaining the running order at an English gymkhana.
‘So…the way I treated you hasn’t affected you at all, Luca?’
‘It was a long time ago, Beth. I am over it now.’
‘Is that all you can say?’
He heaved an exasperated sigh. ‘Opposites attract, Beth. You moved on when you discovered we did not differ quite as much as you thought. We both like to get our own way. It’s called inflexibility, and that is not a good ingredient in relationships. Or so I am told.’
‘And
