about the brooch,’ Rio urged with typical impatience.
‘Oh, the famous diamond brooch, the family heirloom for several generations and the only item of worth the Dixons ever owned,’ Ellie recounted ruefully. ‘My grandmother sent me a letter during my first term at medical school. In it she told me she wanted me to have the brooch because she was so proud that I was going to be a doctor. She gave it to me the first weekend I was home after that. I didn’t tell Polly, well, I couldn’t bear to—’
Rio had sat up, glorious dark eyes locked to her expressive face and narrowing. ‘Why not? I thought you and your sister were really close.’
‘Oh, come on, Rio, think about it! Polly was the eldest and the brooch should have gone to her if it had gone to anyone!’ Ellie argued. ‘Polly sacrificed her chance to go to art college to get a job and help out financially and when Gran developed dementia, it was Polly who looked after her. She deserved the brooch, not me, and I was astonished enough to get it because our grandmother wasn’t a warm woman. She didn’t neglect or abuse us but she didn’t love us either. Polly would’ve been hurt by me getting the brooch, so I decided to sell it and split the proceeds with her and make up some story about where I got the money from.’
‘Women... Why do you always complicate things?’ Rio groaned. ‘A man would just have told the truth. It wasn’t your fault that your grandmother chose to give it to you.’
Ellie rolled her eyes, unimpressed. ‘But when I tried to sell the brooch, I discovered it was only paste, not real diamonds, which made better sense to me. I mean, why would a poor family have held on to a valuable diamond brooch all those years? It was worth so little that I didn’t bother selling it but I still haven’t told Polly about it,’ she completed guiltily.
‘Where does your uncle come into this?’
‘Our grandmother left her son the contents of her house when she died and, of course, he assumed that the brooch would be there and when I told him she’d given it to me a couple of years earlier, Jim accused me of being a thief. While Polly was out applying for the death certificate and making burial arrangements, I was wrangling with Jim. I told him the brooch was only a costume piece but he wouldn’t believe me and he stomped off and wouldn’t speak to us at the funeral. A few weeks later he got the police involved,’ she revealed wryly. ‘They came to see me at university. I showed them the letter. They were satisfied—’
‘But your uncle wasn’t?’
‘No, he’ll probably go to his grave convinced that I deprived him of his prized inheritance. I tried to sort it out with him and he wouldn’t listen and by that stage I was past caring. I was sick and tired of the whole stupid business,’ she confessed.
Rio traced a fingertip over the shadows below her eyes. ‘You look tired, principessa. Have a nap.’
He owed her an apology for having entertained the ridiculous idea that she could be a gold-digger, Ellie thought in annoyance, but she was still waiting for that apology. He was far from perfect, she mused, and he was too strong to find it easy to own up to being in the wrong. On the other hand, he had wonderful taste in emeralds, had endured a gondola ride at her behest, was learning to hug and he was happy about the baby, she reasoned with sneaking contentment while swallowing another yawn.
Rio watched Ellie sleep and heaved a sigh. Had she noticed his moment of sheer panic when her pregnancy was confirmed? His blood had run cold. He had asked himself how he could possibly be a decent parent when his own parents had had more in common with the dregs of humanity. He didn’t know what was in his genes, never would know, but that sort of stuff was important to Ellie. Was that why he still hadn’t told her about the dumpster? Pride? He had always told himself that where he started out didn’t matter; indeed that all that really mattered was where he ended up.
And where had he ended up? Married to a woman he had treated badly! His sins had come back to find him out and haunt him. So, he had to reinvent himself again, just as he had as a boy, as a young failed businessman, a student and, finally, a success story. He would change and adapt to his new lifestyle. He would be the perfect husband. That was what Ellie deserved. He owed her that. All her life, Ellie had only had her sister Polly to rely on but now she had him. He smoothed a corkscrew curl back from her pale brow, careful not to wake her, and abstractedly wondered if it would be too soon to visit a toy shop. Probably as uncool as that awful gondola ride, he conceded ruefully. But then wasn’t he supposed to be reinventing himself?
* * *
‘So how do you think my Italian is coming on?’ Ellie enquired in the language.
‘You are learning quickly and the accent, it is good,’ Beppe told her cheerfully. ‘Rio must be a better and more patient teacher than I expected.’
‘He’s been very patient but we only talk in Italian for a couple of hours a day. I find it exhausting,’ she admitted. ‘But I have a good memory. Outside of maths and science, languages were my best subject.’
‘When will you be home?’ Beppe asked plaintively. ‘I miss you both.’
‘Tomorrow. We’ll join you for dinner,’ Ellie promised and she finished the call because Polly had already texted her twice asking her to ring.
‘What’s happened?’ she asked her sister worriedly minutes later.
‘You have to open Lucy’s envelope,’ Polly told her and then she explained why and Ellie came off the phone again looking worried.
‘What’s wrong?’ Rio pressed, lifting his handsome dark head from his laptop.
‘Well, that kid sister we’ve been trying to find?’ She sighed. ‘It turns out that we didn’t really think things through properly at the start. Because we didn’t know who our fathers were, we assumed Lucy would be in the same boat. But Lucy’s had access to her original birth certificate since she was eighteen and her father’s name is probably on it. After all, he was living in London with our mother when she was conceived. All the investigator has been able to discover from enquiries is that Lucy’s father is Greek and he thinks it’s possible that the reason we can’t trace her is that she could be in Greece.’
‘That’s reasonable, so stop fussing and open the envelope. It’s only a name and a ring, nothing more important.’
‘It just feels wrong,’ Ellie muttered, going upstairs to extract the envelope from her case and clattering back down into the sitting room. She opened the envelope and extracted a ruby ring and read the name. ‘Kreon Thiarkis,’ she sounded out uncertainly.
‘I think I’ve heard that surname before. I’ll look into it. Text the name to Polly so that she can pass it straight on to the investigator,’ he urged unnecessarily because she was already doing exactly that.
‘Stop with the bossy stuff,’ she warned him.
‘Have you ever listened to yourself talking to Beppe? Telling him to eat more vegetables and drink less wine? Urging a man, who is physically very lazy, to go for walks? It’s not going to kill him to be a little overweight at this stage of his life,’ Rio opined. ‘You climb on your healthy-living soapbox every time you’re on the phone.’
Ellie winced. ‘Have I been overdoing it?’
‘No. Beppe enjoys being fussed over. He’s never had that before. And if it’s any consolation, you’re giving him very good advice but he’s very set in his ways.’
Afternoon
