‘We will know next Wednesday if I am going to get out.’
Sophie looked up and smiled as a nurse came over.
‘The director wants to speak with you, Sophie.’
‘Thank you,’ Sophie said, and stood. ‘I’ll be back soon,’ she said to Paulo, and walked with the nurse, assuming that she was going to get a health update.
She was led through the prison infirmary and to a corridor of offices and there she met a tired-looking woman, who gave Sophie a warm smile and offered her a seat.
‘He’s more confused than ever,’ Sophie said. ‘Now he thinks he is getting out of here on Wednesday.’
‘He might be getting released,’ the director said, and for a moment Sophie wondered if the chair had been moved for it felt as it the ground had just given way.
‘Your father’s hearing has been brought forward. We have signed all the forms and have done all we can for him at this end.’
‘I don’t understand—I didn’t even know there was to be a hearing.’
‘We are hoping that your father can be released on compassionate grounds. He is no threat to anyone, really he is too weak to go to anywhere other than a hospital or be nursed in your home.’ She gave a small shrug. ‘Now it is up to the judge to decide but the lawyer who is working on his case is a very good one.’
‘I didn’t even know there was a lawyer looking out for him.’
‘When patients come into the infirmary and their condition is terminal, we try to have their cases reassessed.’
‘Why wasn’t I told this was happening?’
‘It all came about very speedily. When Legal looked at his file they thought there might a possibility for a mistrial but your father does not have time for that. It was thought best to try to get him released on compassionate grounds.’ She smiled at Sophie. ‘I don’t want to get your hopes up but I think in just a few days you might well be able to take your father home.’
Sophie smiled.
It was wonderful news, unexpected and amazing.
And yet it was terrifying too.
She had built a world in her father’s mind. One where she lived with Luka in a beautiful flat in Rome, not a scruffy apartment that she and Bella shared.
She had told her father that Matteo and Luka were still friends, which they were, according to the business press, but she hadn’t seen him in years.
The only truth she had told was that Bella worked at Hotel Fiscella, only because once Bella had had to visit on her behalf and had worn a coat over her uniform, which her father had seen.
Paulo was confused enough not to question too many things and there was a lot that he didn’t remember.
He simply believed that Luka had kept his word and had got engaged to his daughter.
How could she tell her dying father it had all been a lie?
How could she tell him that she had nothing and that, apart from her friend, she had no one?
‘I called you in,’ the director continued, but it was as if Sophie was hearing from a distance, ‘so that you can start to make plans for his release.’
Sophie managed to thank the director and she even went in to kiss her father goodbye. Once outside again, though, she ran from the hospital and took the crowded bus. When she got off, she raced along the cobbled streets and up the small stairwell, where she wrenched open the iron security door and called out to her friend.
‘What?’ Bella asked, when she saw her stricken face.
‘Pa may be being released...’
Bella let out a shocked gasp. ‘That’s fantastic news.’
‘I know that but how can I bring him here when I have told him that I am engaged to Luka, that we live in a beautiful home?’
‘You can’t tell him the truth,’ Bella said. ‘Your father deserves to die knowing that his daughter will be looked after.’ Bella’s eyes filled with tears. ‘My mother didn’t know that peace. I think that night Malvolio got released and sent me to work had her go to her grave with a broken heart. It’s not going to happen to your father.’
‘Oh, so I just produce a luxury apartment? I could just get a photo of Luka, perhaps, and blow it up and sit him in a chair. I know my father is confused but he’s not mad...’
‘No,’ Bella said. ‘You are to go and see Luka and tell him that he owes you this much...after the way he shamed you, after all that he said in court, he can damn well go along with things for a while.’
‘Do you think I could pull it off?’ Sophie said, but then shook her head. ‘I can’t face him like this.’
‘You won’t have to,’ Bella said. ‘I can still sew, I can make you the most sophisticated, elegant woman he has ever seen. You can blow those London women out of the water. He will eat his own words.’
Sophie thought for a moment. ‘Luka could do it,’ Sophie agreed. ‘He’s a Cavaliere after all. They better than anyone know how to lie under oath.’
‘COULD YOU DIRECT me to Luka Cavaliere’s office?’
Sophie stood at a large reception desk and did everything she could to keep the slight tremble from her voice. She was determined to get this right, even if it meant practising her cool façade on the receptionist
‘Is he expecting you, Ms...?’
‘No, he’s not expecting me.’ Sophie shook her head. ‘If you could just tell me what floor he is on...’
‘I’m sorry, but Mr Cavaliere won’t see anyone without an appointment.’ There was just a slight something about the receptionist’s voice when she said his name. Her words were tinged with affection and Sophie was quite sure she knew the reason for that.
‘For me he would make an exception.’ Sophie stared the woman down but it didn’t work.
‘There are no exceptions.’ The receptionist smiled her pussycat smile and Sophie glanced at her name badge.
Amber.
‘Excuse me,’ Amber said as her telephone rang, ‘but I need to take this call.’
Sophie stood there as she was summarily dismissed. The beautiful receptionist picked up the phone and started talking but when she had completed the call she blinked, as if surprised to see that Sophie was still there.
‘Can I help you?’ She frowned.
‘You can, Amber,’ Sophie
