‘Ha-ha,’ Sophie said, and then she looked at her father and she knew in her heart that he didn’t have long and yet somehow he was here and they were together.
It was agony.
For Paulo the best wine sat breathing up on the rooftop. Sophie had spent the long day waiting for news, cooking her father’s favourite pasta sauce, which he ate with relish.
‘It tastes of home,’ Paulo said. ‘Almost.’
She glanced at Luka’s plate.
It was untouched.
She watched as Luka poured three glasses and her father reached for his.
‘Should you be drinking?’ Sophie checked. ‘You are on a lot of medication.’
‘You are your mother’s daughter.’ Paulo laughed. ‘I just got out of prison.’
‘Even so...’
‘You worry too much,’ Paulo chided.
‘Someone has to.’
Luka glanced over at Sophie’s slightly bitter retort. She had dealt with so much, that Luka knew—moving so that she could be close to her father, giving up her dreams of working on the cruise liners.
Letting go of them?
Had that been what she had been doing on the beach that night? Luka briefly pondered.
What did it matter now?
The past was closed.
They just had the present to get through and despite Paulo’s slight second wind from his release, Luka knew the charade would not play out for long.
‘So.’ Paulo looked over at Luka. ‘What are your plans for my daughter?’
‘I learnt a long time ago that it is foolish to make plans on Sophie’s behalf,’ Luka responded. ‘She is her own person.’
He looked at Sophie’s tense expression. There was a curl of thought forming but he soon lost that thread because Paulo was making grand plans.
‘I’d like to have a party,’ Paulo said. ‘We never toasted your engagement.’
‘There’s no need for a party,’ Sophie said. ‘We don’t need a fuss to be made.’
‘I would like to celebrate.’ Paulo was insistent. ‘Just a small gathering.’
He started to cough and Sophie took him inside, leaving Luka sitting out there.
‘Please, Sophie,’ her father said as she helped him to bed. ‘I want some photos for you to keep. I want a night we can all remember...’
She didn’t need photos to remember this, Sophie thought as she came out of her father’s bedroom.
‘He’s asleep,’ she said.
‘Lucky him.’ Luka’s response was curt. ‘I might take one of the spare rooms—’ Luka started, but any hope of pulling that particular piece of wool over Paulo’s eyes faded as his bedroom door opened.
‘Could you bring me my wine from the table?’
‘Father!’
‘Stop fussing,’ Paulo said. ‘And can you show me how the radio works? I would like to fall to sleep to music.’
As Sophie headed up to the rooftop garden he smiled at Luka. ‘Where do you two sleep?’ Paulo checked. ‘Just in case I need Sophie in the night. I won’t come in, of course. I’ll just knock.’
‘Sophie sleeps in that room,’ Luka attempted. ‘I have the main one.’
‘Please!’ Paulo was laughing as Sophie reappeared with his wine. ‘Your fiancé is trying to tell me you have separate rooms! I am not that old-fashioned that you have to pretend.’
‘Great!’ Luka hissed, as they finally closed the door to his room.
‘I told you that he’d never buy us sleeping apart.’
‘I just never envisaged the hell it would be.’
Sophie went into the bathroom and undressed. She put on a small nightdress and took a few calming breaths before heading out.
Luka wasn’t about to scuttle off to the bathroom to change and was still stripping off as she slipped into bed.
‘He wants this party.’
‘Then he can have one. I will call Matteo,’ Luka said. ‘I’ll ask him to fly in.’
‘He might let it slip that we haven’t been together very long.’
‘Why would he let it slip?’ Luka frowned. ‘Matteo knows what is going on, he’s a good friend. He knows that this is all just a ruse.’
‘You’ve told him?’
‘Why wouldn’t I tell him, Sophie? We work together, we are in business together, we grew up together. I don’t keep secrets from people who matter to me any more.’
‘I could ask Bella.’
‘Whatever you want. I’ll ring him now.’
‘But it’s nearly midnight.’
‘Yes,’ Luka snapped. ‘I’m early to bed tonight.’
‘Can you go one hour without reminding me about your active sex life?’
‘Why does it bother you so much, Sophie?’
She didn’t answer.
Luka laughed at her non-reaction and got into bed. He called Matteo and lay chatting to his friend. Yes, it was hell being engaged, he told him, and then he was serious.
‘We’re going to have a small party for Paulo,’ Luka said. ‘Will you be able to fly in? Sophie might ask Bella...’ There was a pause before Luka spoke again. ‘Of course it’s not a problem. Bring anyone you choose.’
He hung up.
‘He can only make it tomorrow,’ Luka said.
‘Tomorrow?’
‘He has an important meeting to prepare for in Dubai. Is tomorrow a problem?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Oh, and he’s bringing his girlfriend.’
Sophie decided against asking Bella. She knew how crushed she be to see Matteo with another woman.
‘I’ll keep it simple,’ Sophie said, thinking, as she always had to, about money. ‘I might just make his favourite meals...’
‘Get it catered,’ Luka said. ‘Today was an exception. I understand you wanted to give him a taste of home tonight but I’m telling you this much—if you were my fiancée you wouldn’t have spent the day slaving and making sauce when there are the best restaurants across the street. Get someone to come and dress the garden and organise the music...’ He stopped then. ‘Sorry, I forget that you’re an events organiser.’
Sophie was sure he knew she’d been lying.
‘Is he driving you mad yet?’ Luka asked, and Sophie gave a reluctant smile, because her father was driving her a little crazy. ‘Are you starting to remember why you were only too willing to leave?’
‘A bit,’ Sophie admitted. ‘I am sick of him saying I am just like my mother.’
‘She had him under her thumb,’ Luka said.
They lay in bed and it felt impossibly awkward, or at least it did for Sophie. Luka seemed completely fine with it. His hand was beneath the sheet and she blinked when she realised