‘Simonetta! Why haven’t you returned any of my calls?’
Simonetta ignored her. ‘Is Brad Masters my father, Mamma?’ she asked calmly.
A scandalised gasp. ‘How can you say such a thing?’
‘Just tell me, Mamma! I know you’re lying.’
Her mother fell silent. ‘Let me take the telephone outside,’ she said eventually. ‘It is more private there.’
Simonetta listened to her mother make her way through the kitchen to the back yard. She could picture the place – the broken kitchen cupboard Papa was too lazy to fix, the never-ending line of washing blowing outside in the breeze.
‘Now we can talk more comfortably,’ her mother said. Her voice had lost some of its drama and she seemed calmer, almost resigned. ‘What is it you want to ask me again?’ she said, as if she’d forgotten.
Simonetta cast her eyes upwards. ‘For Mary’s sake, Mamma. Is Brad Masters my father?’
She could hear her mother breathing down the line. Finally she spoke. ‘I know what you think of me, Simonetta – that I am a boring old woman who has never lived. But I, too, have a past and secrets.’ She paused. ‘You must never breathe a word of this to anyone, not even to Papa. The shame would kill him.’
‘So that’s what I am – an embarrassing secret?’ Simonetta demanded.
Her mother sighed. ‘That’s not what I meant.’ She took a long, deep breath. ‘When I was young, just after I had become engaged to Papa, I had the offer of a summer job in Rome, as a waitress. Papa and my father were adamant I wasn’t to go – it was not the thing for a young girl to do, especially back then. But I was determined. Determined to get out of the little village where I had grown up, where everyone knew my business. Against their wishes I went, but with a strict promise to be back at the end of the summer.’
Simonetta listened, spellbound.
‘I was working in this expensive restaurant, where I met Brad Masters. He was a customer and he used to talk to me. I liked him because he was very handsome and seemed to care about me. One thing led to another and we started dating. Of course, I was torn with guilt over Papa, but there was something about Brad that I found irresistible.’
‘What happened next, Mamma?’
Her mother sighed. ‘At the end of the summer I knew I had to go back. Papa was waiting and Brad was starting to make a big success of himself. So I came back home and a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I was able to get away with it because Papa and I were, you know, together.’ Her mother gave a short, bitter laugh. ‘See what a good Catholic girl I turned out to be!’
Simonetta ignored her. ‘How did Brad find out?’
‘Because I rang and told him, the day after you were born. I wasn’t sure up until then, but the moment I saw you I knew. You looked just like him. Brad was shocked, but insisted he’d pay to help bring you up. I told him no, we had Papa to look after us. I said I wanted to tell him as a matter of principle, but it was probably best if we never spoke again.’
‘So how did he find me?’
Her mother made a weary sound. ‘I do not know, maybe the surname from when you started modelling. Brad knew I was engaged to a Mastrangelo. Maybe he saw you and realised it was not a coincidence. Brad Masters has ways of finding out things, Simonetta.’
Simonetta sat down heavily on the sand. It was hard to take it all in.
Her mother’s voice was softer now. ‘So tell me, Simonetta, do you hate me more than ever? I know I’ve always been tough on you. I just didn’t want you to go the same way as me.’
Simonetta smiled in the darkness. ‘No, Mamma, in a funny way it’s made me understand you better.’
She ended the call and stared out to sea. She’d always known that there was something special about her, something that made her different from the rest of her family. And now she knew what it was.
Brad Masters was her father. And that meant a one-way ticket to riches and luxury.
The three girls stood in the drawing-room, waiting. Madison tried her phone again for the umpteenth time.
‘Why doesn’t my stupid mom turn her phone on? She’s only gone into hospital for chin lipo.’
Sapphire looked at her, not quite believing Madison was so shallow. Not quite believing she was Sapphire’s half-sister. The thought seemed to hit them all at once.
Madison and Simonetta looked at each other. ‘I suppose you and I got our height from him,’ Madison said. ‘Unlike the runt over there.’
Simonetta took Sapphire’s chin in her hand roughly, making her wince. ‘Oi!’
‘Hmm, I suppose you could say we have the same eyes,’ Simonetta said, scrutinising Sapphire’s face. ‘Not that you can tell under those eyebrows.’ She dropped Sapphire’s chin abruptly.
Just then the door opened and Brad came in. He looked at them, taking in Sapphire’s puffy red eyes. ‘I haven’t handled this very well. Sapphire, I’m sorry to have upset you.’
She stared at the floor, refusing to meet his gaze.
Brad sighed. ‘Girls, I didn’t just bring you here to make that revelation. There’s another reason. A very important reason.’
Despite herself, Sapphire looked up. What could he mean?
Brad walked over to one of the windows and stared out. ‘I’m a very rich man, but I’ve worked hard to get where I am. And working hard meant sacrifices.’ He sighed. ‘No time to pursue love or have a family.’ He swivelled round to face them. ‘I’ve decided that I want more out of life. I want to slow down.’ He smiled. ‘I want to start having some fun for a change.’
A silence fell over the room. All that could be heard was the distant crash of the waves. Brad walked back, hands on hips, meaning business. ‘I’ve got money. Lots and lots of money. It’s more than I could ever spend and is enough to let me lead an extremely comfortable life. But now I have to think about what happens to all that money…once I’m no longer here. I want to pass it down to someone, an heir, to hopefully invest and spend wisely. I want to give it…to one of you.’
Sapphire’s mouth fell open.
‘Like, how much are we talking about here?’ asked Madison, in an awed whisper.
‘That remains confidential until I have chosen one of you. Suffice to say it is well into the millions.’ Brad paused. ‘Hundreds of millions.’
Madison looked like she was about to faint. ‘Hundreds of millions of dollars?’
‘Wait…’ said Sapphire. ‘You said one of us. You want us to compete for it?’ She was starting to feel more annoyed by the second. Who did this bloke think he was, coming in here and playing God?
‘Not exactly,’ said Brad. ‘But I do want to make sure it’s in safe hands. That’s why I invited you all here, to get to know you better. So yes, I’m afraid that I can only choose one heir.’
‘What if one of us doesn’t want your stupid money?’ Sapphire said. ‘I’m perfectly happy with my life, thank you.’
‘Are you, like, totally insane?’ Madison asked incredulously.
Brad looked at Sapphire evenly. ‘So you’d pass up the chance to have unimaginable wealth and all the opportunities that come with that?’
Somehow