‘He isn’t a tenant, he owns that bit of land. He says you tried to buy him out but he wouldn’t sell.’
‘Montese?’ he muttered. ‘Montese? Good grief, that’s him? Carletti, my agent, told me of some fellow who’d been making trouble.’
‘He’s not making trouble, Dad. He just wants to keep his home.’
‘Nonsense, he doesn’t know what’s good for him. Carletti says the place is little more than a hovel. Squalid, unsanitary.’
‘Not any more. He’s done a wonderful job of rebuilding it.’
‘You’ve been there?’
‘He took me there after he rescued me, and made me some tea. It was nice and cosy. He’s worked so hard on it.’
‘Well, he’s wasting his time. I’ll get it in the end.’
‘I don’t think so. He’s determined not to sell.’
‘And I’m determined that he will, and I reckon I’m stronger than some peasant lad.’
‘Dad!’ she cried in protest. ‘A moment ago you were going to thank him for saving me. Now you’re planning to bully him.’
‘Nonsense,’ he said with his easy laugh. ‘I’ll just show him where his best interests lie.’
He visited Luca that same day, full of bonhomie, thanking him for his care of Becky while contriving to patronise him in a way that embarrassed her. Luca’s response was a quiet dignity.
Then Frank looked around.
‘Carletti tells me you’ve been holding out for more than this little place is worth,’ he said.
‘Then your agent has misinformed you,’ Luca said quietly. ‘This place is worth everything to me, and I will not sell.’
‘All right, look, here’s the deal. Because you helped my daughter I’ll double my last offer. I can’t say fairer than that.’
‘Signor Solway, my home is not for sale.’
‘Why make such a fuss about this tatty little place? It’s barely half an acre.’
‘Then why trouble yourself with it?’
‘That doesn’t concern you. I’ve made a more than fair offer and I don’t like being trifled with.’
Luca gave his slow smile. It drove Frank Solway mad.
‘Have I said something funny?’ he snapped.
‘Signor, I don’t think you understand the word no.’
This was so completely right that Frank lost his temper and bawled indiscriminately until Becky said, ‘Dad! Have you forgotten what he did for me?’
Frank scowled. He hated to be in the wrong, but neither could he back down. He stomped off without another word, yelling, ‘Becky!’ over his shoulder.
‘Go with him,’ Luca said gently when she didn’t move.
‘No, I’m staying with you.’
‘That will make it worse. Please go.’
She yielded to his quiet insistence where her father’s blustering only filled her with disgust.
The following day Frank said uneasily, ‘I may have gone a little too far with Luca yesterday.’
‘Much too far,’ Becky said. ‘I think you should apologise.’
‘No way. That would make me look weak. But you’re another matter. Why don’t you drop in on him and tell him I’m not such a bad fellow? Don’t make it sound like an apology but—well, keep on his right side.’
She left the house with a light heart. Now she could spend the day with Luca without having to think of an excuse.
He observed her approach from a distance, a quizzical expression on his face.
‘Does your father know you’re here? Don’t get into trouble for me.’
‘Are you telling me to go away?’ she demanded, hurt.
‘It might be better if you did.’
‘You sound as if you don’t care one way or the other.’
‘My back is broad, but yours isn’t. I don’t want you hurt.’
‘In other words you’re giving me the brush-off.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ he growled. ‘Of course I don’t want you to go.’
She ran into his arms, kissing him again and again.
‘I’m not going, my darling. I’m not going to leave you.’
He kissed her long and deeply, and she responded with fierce, young passion. It was he who pulled away first, trembling with the effort it took to rein his desire back, but determined to do so.
‘I would die rather than harm you,’ he said in a shaking voice.
‘But, darling, you’re not harming me. Dad told me to come and see you.’
He looked at her wryly. ‘And why would he do that?’
She chuckled. ‘Can’t you guess? He wants me to soften you up for his next offer.’
He grinned. ‘And are you going to?’
‘Of course not. But he’s told me to keep on your right side, and while he thinks that’s what I’m doing he won’t make a fuss about me coming here. Aren’t I clever?’
‘You’re a cunning little witch.’
‘I’m only putting Dad’s own theory into practice. He says when you think someone’s acting for you they’re always pursuing their own agenda. Well, you’re my agenda, so come here and let me get on your right side.’
She took his hand and he went with her, unresisting, because neither then nor later could he deny her anything. It was to be the ruin of both of them.
‘Damn you, Luca! You duped me.’
Luca Montese’s face showed no relenting. ‘Nonsense! You sleepwalked into this without checking.’
‘I thought I could trust you.’
‘More fool you. I warned you not to trust me, and goodness knows how many of my enemies warned you.’
The man glaring across the desk was in a fury at the thought of the money he’d coveted and lost. His name was—well, no matter. He was the latest in a long line of men who had thought they could put one over on Luca Montese, and found that they were wrong.
‘We were supposed to be in this together,’ he snapped.
‘No. You thought you’d use me as a tool. I was to get the information, then you planned to make a deal behind my back. You should have been more suspicious. When you think a man’s acting for you he’s always pursuing his own agenda.’
Then a strange thing happened.
As Luca said the words a feeling of malaise came over him, so strong that he had to take a deep breath. It was as though the world had changed in a moment from a place where he was in control to a place where everything was strange and threatening.
‘Get out!’ he said curtly. ‘I’ll send you a cheque to cover your expenses.’
The man left fast, relieved simply to recover his expenses, which was more than anyone had got out of Luca for years. He wondered if the monster was losing his touch.
Left alone, Luca held himself still for a long time. The walls seemed to converge on him and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.