‘But that’s impossible,’ Ashley whispered through bone-dry lips.
As Arnold attempted to comfort his wife, he was elbowed rudely away. Her sister fled upstairs as Tim had done minutes earlier. In the earth-shattering silence that she left behind, another door slammed.
‘She can’t bear to have anyone see her cry,’ Arnold sighed, steering Ashley into the lounge. ‘Best leave her to herself until she calms down.’
A wave of dizziness was assailing Ashley. White as a sheet, she swayed and braced herself with both hands on the back of the sofa. It was impossible. It couldn’t be true. Tim didn’t even know who she had been involved with while she was at university. Somehow Susan had got hold of the wrong end of the stick, lost her head and made quite insane accusations.
Over by the drinks cabinet, Arnold was talking to himself. ‘None of us is to blame. The boy’s out of control, but he was out of control long before he came to us.’
‘Tim couldn’t possibly have taken…Vito’s car,’ Ashley said unsteadily.
Arnold sipped at his whisky. He had forgotten to offer her a drink. That oversight spoke volumes for his state of mind. ‘I’m sorry, my dear. You’re still in the dark, aren’t you? Take it from me, you’d be wiser staying there,’ he completed heavily.
‘Arnold!’ Ashley wanted to scream and shake him out of his lethargy. ‘I need to know what’s going on!’
Her brother-in-law took a deep breath. ‘Tim goes to school with—er…Cavalieri’s nephew, Pietro.’
‘He never told me that!’ Ashley burst out.
‘Until recently, Tim had no idea that there had ever been any previous connection between our family and the Cavalieri clan.’ Lines of strain were grooved into Arnold’s thin features. ‘At one stage, believe it or not, the two boys were actually firm friends. Pietro moved with a fast crowd and Tim was popular with them. It was Pietro who started up that trouble at that nightclub, but, since his family have more influence than we have, poor Tim carried the can alone—’
‘What trouble?’ Ashley interrupted blankly.
Arnold groaned. ‘He was up before the magistrates in the spring for disorderly conduct and criminal damage after getting into a fight.’
Ashley closed her stricken eyes. ‘Does nobody tell me anything?’
‘To be fair, he got in with the wrong crowd.’ Arnold sighed. ‘And after that nightclub business he did realise that he’d been handpicked as the fall guy. The club had no intention of pursuing a Cavalieri to court.’
‘So this wasn’t Tim’s first offence,’ Ashley registered in horror.
‘The friendship with Pietro cooled after that, but last month Tim attended a party at Pietro’s home,’ Arnold continued with visible reluctance. ‘Someone there identified him as your brother. The two boys had already been involved in some silly rivalry over a girl. Pietro jumped on the bandwagon, made certain offensive remarks concerning—er—your past—er—relationship with his uncle, and there was a fight.’
Ashley’s knees gave. She felt her passage down into the nearest seat, her stomach knotting up with nauseous cramps. Arnold managed to avoid her anguished stare.
‘Tim thumped hell out of the little swine and he was thrown out,’ he said grimly. ‘But unfortunately, Pietro wasn’t prepared to take his come-uppance lying down. He and his friends, having found Tim’s weak spot, continued to bait him at school. And last month, four of them cornered him and beat him up.’
An inarticulate gasp of distress escaped her bloodless lips. She remembered how uncommunicative Tim had been about that episode. She had got nowhere when she tried to find out what had lain behind that attack. Tim had stared at the wall. He had almost stormed out when she’d persisted. In the end, she had minded her own business. She had been the black sheep of her family for over four years and her only recently renewed link with Tim had been too tenuous and too precious to risk.
She bent her head sickly. ‘Go on.’
‘Susan and I were extremely disturbed when he refused to tell us what had provoked that attack. We did think about approaching the school but I felt that Tim would find that humiliating. I expected it all to blow over. Believe me, I regret that decision now.’
‘But why didn’t he tell us what was happening?’ Ashley moved her head in a numb motion, too shaken to think straight.
‘You have to view this situation and the players involved without rose-tinted specs,’ Arnold said flatly. ‘I’m afraid I’ve never had much time for your father’s determination to exclude you from the family circle. It’s caused enormous stress to everyone concerned, particularly to your mother and Tim…’
The carpet blurred beneath Ashley’s swimming eyes.
‘Tim’s very attached to you and very loyal. He didn’t trust us enough to tell us what was happening.’ Arnold hesitated. ‘And, much as I love my wife, I find it ridiculous that after twelve years of marriage Susan is still so desperate to win her father’s approval that she is willing to cut her only sister out of her life just because he demands that she do so.’
It was coals of fire on Ashley’s head. Susan had scars from their childhood as well. She simply dealt with them differently. Ashley tasted blood in her mouth. Involuntarily she had bitten her tongue. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘You have nothing to apologise for. Tim went out to level a personal score,’ Arnold asserted. ‘He broke into the grounds of the Cavalieri home, started the car, couldn’t control it and left a trail of destruction behind him. He ran off before he could be caught but he had been seen.’
Ashley was feeling physically ill. Her past had obtruded painfully into Tim’s present. In her name, he had been provoked, humiliated and driven into an attempt to strike back. ‘Has he been charged?’
‘Of course. The Cavalieris own one of the biggest banking concerns in Europe. Tim won’t talk his way out of this little lot. But he’s brought it on himself.’
‘How can you say that?’ Shaking briefly free of her shock, Ashley leapt upright. ‘He defended me and now he’s paying for it!’ Tears streaked her cheeks.
‘Vandalising someone else’s property is hardly in line with a gallant defence of one’s sister.’
‘How else could he hit back?’ Ashley gasped. ‘I know he’s acted like a great overgrown child but Vito’s family are so filthy-rich and powerful, he couldn’t have touched them in any other way!’
A dismayed furrow divided Arnold’s brows. He didn’t like the direction the dialogue was taking. ‘We’ll get him the best legal representation we can afford,’ he replied stiffly. ‘But it ought to be your father in the dock. Tim should have been disciplined long ago.’
‘I’ll go up and see him.’ Ashley had no time for his fastidious platitudes. They were not going to help Tim now.
Tim was sitting at the foot of the bed, his hands clasped white-knuckled between his thighs, his untidy auburn head bent. He didn’t look up. ‘I didn’t know you were here until I heard your voice downstairs.’
‘Arnold’s told me everything.’ She leaned back weakly against the door. ‘Why, Tim? Why? Vito never did anything to you…’
His head flew up. ‘Oh, no? What about you?’ he demanded bitterly. ‘He wrecked your life. You had to drop out of uni. You’re not allowed in your own home. You live in a lousy bedsit, work in a lousy, demeaning job because