Charmer's Death (Temptation in Florence Book 2)

by boeker, beate

  I've heard this before. Carlina followed her without a word.

  "You don't need to be so disapproving," Annalisa gave her cousin a defensive glance. "He's older . . . and . . . and different. He's not a boy."

  "Hmm." Carlina held open the door to Gino's restaurant. "Come on in. You can tell me all about it while we're having dinner."

  Twenty minutes later, Carlina inhaled the aroma of the rabbit ragout with gnocchi in front of her. "Just the right dish for a cold winter night." She savored the first bite in silence and smiled. "The first bite is always the best, don't you think?” Her cousin didn't reply, but Carlina didn't notice, filled with happiness. “I guess it's because your taste buds are not yet used to the treat they get."

  Annalisa sighed and continued to nibble on her lettuce leaf. "Don't tempt me."

  "Why didn't you take the ragout as well?" Carlina frowned. "You're not too fat."

  Her cousin clenched her teeth. "It has to stay that way. I have to be perfect."

  Oh, oh. Carlina blew onto her ragout to cool it and slanted an inquiring glance at her cousin. "The new lover is very demanding?"

  "He isn't." Annalisa speared a piece of lettuce with her fork. "But I have a plan. A big plan. That's why I won't take any risks." She took a deep breath. "I want him to marry me."

  Carlina dropped her fork. "What?"

  Annalisa finished her confession in a rush. "He's rich, and handsome, and . . ." she gave a wistful sigh, " . . . so experienced. After him, I can't ever go back to those young guys." Her face twisted. "Besides, he needs to settle down."

  Her cousin swallowed. "Does he know that?"

  "Not yet." Annalisa's face clouded. "I tried to give him a little hint, and he reacted a bit . . . strangely." She shook herself. "However, there are ways to overcome that. I don't believe him at all when he says it'll be over after the holidays. After all, he's never met a girl like me before." She pushed back a strand of her red hair.

  Something sharp pierced Carlina. A man rich and handsome, here for the Christmas vacation, her beautiful cousin with red hair . . . She gasped and sat up straight. "Don't tell me your lover's name is Trevor?"

  Annalisa's mouth opened. "How do you know?"

  "Madonna." Carlina blinked. "Drop him, Annalisa. Right now."

  "Are you crazy?"

  "You won't reform him, I promise." Carlina's voice rose. "He'll leave you heartbroken."

  "No, he won't." Annalisa crossed her arms in front of her magnificent chest and gave Carlina a fiery stare. "I can do it. I know I can."

  "Not a chance in . . . " Carlina broke off. It wouldn't help to get Annalisa's back up. The more she protested now, the less Annalisa would come to her when she needed help.

  "How do you know so much about him anyway?" Annalisa asked.

  Carlina met her eyes. I have to tell her, even if it sounds brutal. "Whenever he's in town, he buys underwear for his current lover."

  Annalisa flung her fork next to her plate. "You're lying."

  "No." Carlina wanted to hug and shake her at the same time. She bit her lip, all her feeling of well-being gone. "I wish you hadn't met."

  "How can you say that?" Annalisa flashed her an angry look. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. For the first time, I feel alive. You might just as well wish that I should be dead."

  Carlina's throat was dry. "I'd rather wish he was dead."

  III

  "Are you still awake?" The text message flashed green through Carlina's darkened bedroom like an extraterrestrial presence, landed in a tiny capsule on her bedside table.

  Carlina smiled, slipped her arm from underneath the leopard print bedspread, grabbed her cell phone, and called Stefano. "Barely," she said instead of a greeting.

  "I'm lucky then," he said.

  She could hear the smile in his voice and tried to picture him. His light eyes and lean face usually looked so harsh but were transformed when he smiled.

  "I just wanted to ask if you'd have time to have dinner with me tomorrow," he said.

  Her heart did a somersault. She had not seen him for weeks, no, months.

  "I know it's a lot to ask." He sounded nervous.

  Garini nervous?

  He said, "You'll be exhausted from the Christmas shoppers at Temptation."

  A thousand thoughts zigzagged through her brain. She had the nylon launch tomorrow. She would be dead on her feet by the time the day ended. She would look like a scarecrow. She didn't give a damn. "No, that's fine." She smiled. "As long as I can sit the whole evening."

  He laughed. "I think I can arrange that."

  She didn't want him to hang up. She wanted him to laugh again. It went straight through her, warm and strong, like fire. "Are you sure your lovely boss won't throw another body your way the minute you want to leave?" His boss had done just that, twice. Okay, so maybe it was normal for a police inspector from the homicide department to come across bodies all the time, but the timing had been rotten.

  "I told him half the city of Florence could be murdered in their beds, and I would still take the evening off." His voice held the faint ironic note she had somehow gotten addicted to.

  Carlina chuckled. "What a dramatic way to put it."

  "His words, not mine. Whenever a case isn't solved quick enough for his taste, he asks me if the citizens of Florence are still safe in their beds. He claims it's the mayor who's saying it, but I know better."

  "How do you know that?" Carlina stretched and wriggled her feet. I will see him tomorrow. Her body tingled to the tips of her toes with joy.

  "The mayor has changed, but the question is still the same."

  Carlina laughed. "I see."

  "Honestly, I feel bad about standing you up so many times."

  "It's not your fault. Of course you had to be with your father after he broke his wrist." It had taken him a full month to get better. She had counted the days.

  "I knew you would understand that. I've never met anybody with such a fierce family loyalty." His voice teased her.

  "Well, tomorrow, we won't cancel, come hell or high water. Family and murder be damned." As she said the words, a faint feeling of fear crossed her heart. Had she challenged destiny? Carlina shook herself. Nonsense. She had a date with a busy man. That was all.

  He laughed. "It's a deal. Shall I come to your house at eight?"

  "Yes." That would give her enough time to take a shower and dress, even if the store was open later than usual. Thank God Florence still stuck to traditional opening hours.

  "Sleep well, Carlina."

  "Good night."

  She snuggled underneath the covers with a happy sigh. She would see him tomorrow. She could also ask his advice how to protect Annalisa.

  All would be well.

  Chapter 2

  I

  Carlina woke early. Everything inside her hummed with expectation. She put on a pair of the new nylons in black, a short skirt that twirled around her when she moved, and combined it with a soft sweater that had fake leopard fur at the end of the sleeves and at the collar. She smiled when she looked into the mirror. She looked like a cat, a purring, happy cat.

  She downed a cup of strong coffee, then ran downstairs, an hour earlier than usual. Her hand touched the smooth wood of the railing that curved from the top floor of the house, where she had her apartment, past her mother's apartment, where everything was quiet, thank God.

  Two floors down from her apartment, she stopped for an instant and laid a package with a pair of nylons in front of her cousin Emma's door. Emma would know it was a thank-you for the help she had given her during the pre-Christmas cleaning at Temptation.

  Still humming, she ran down the last flight of steps and reached the ground floor where her great-uncle Teo lived. He came out of his apartment just as she opened the heavy wooden front door.

  He was a head shorter than Carlina, and his white hair stood up in wisps, but he was dressed with care as always, his trousers sharply creased, his white shirt immaculate. "You
're early today, Carlina."

  She gave him a kiss on his leathery cheek. He smelled of aftershave. "Yes, I have a special promotion today. It's very exciting."

  He nodded. "I know. The indestructible nylons, right?"

  Carlina laughed. "Yes. How well you remember everything I tell you." He looks so wistful. He must be lonely now. It seems so long ago that we had these awful murders, and yet, it's only a few months. I really have to find something to keep him occupied.

  "Of course I remember the unbreakable nylons." He smiled at her. "Have a good day, my dear, and tell me all about it tonight."

  "I won't be home tonight," Carlina said. I hope. "But I'll tell you later, all right?"

  His rheumy eyes sharpened. "So that's why you've been humming all the way down."

  She turned so quickly, her skirt swung out. "You're way too clever, Uncle Teo." She winked and waved at him. "Have a good day!" The door closed behind her with a bang, but it opened again immediately.

  Uncle Teo stuck out his head. "Are you going to tell me everything?" He put special emphasis on the last word.

  She grinned over her shoulder. "Of course not!" Then she hurried to her Vespa.

  As she still had time, she stopped at the bakery around the corner from the Basilica di Santa Trìnita and bought a cardboard box of flat Copate biscuits for her assistant Ricciarda and herself. The almonds and sugars would give them quick energy if the day should prove to be too hectic for lunch, and the wafers on the top and the bottom of the biscuits would protect their hands from becoming sticky. The perfect pick-me-up if she ever saw one . . . though she might not need them today; her high level of adrenaline could carry her through the whole day . . . or so it felt. Carlina still hummed while she opened the door of Temptation.

  With a smile, she hung up the sign she had prepared for the shop window. 'Mai più smagliature!' it said, 'No more runs!'.

  A minute later, Ricciarda arrived. She, too, wore a short skirt and a pair of the new nylons Carlina had given her. Carlina smiled. They had not discussed it, but Ricciarda knew the best way to show a new product was to wear it . . . which usually was out of the question.

  "You look great," she said.

  Ricciarda smiled back. "So do you." Her black ponytail shimmered in the winter morning light coming through the window. "Shall we bet how many nylons we'll sell today?"

  Carlina laughed. "God, I have no clue. I've never done this before. Twenty pairs? Twenty-five?"

  "Forty at least." Ricciarda stretched out her hand. "The one who wins will buy the other a box of Copate biscuits."

  Carlina shook her assistant's hand. "Deal. But guess what?" She grinned. "I already bought us a box."

  “Perfect.” Ricciarda went behind the cash register and exclaimed in surprise. “What are these?” She pointed at four shiny bags, filled to the brim.

  "They'll be collected later on by a courier from the Garibaldi Hotel." Carlina's smile came out lopsided. Yesterday, when she had sold Trevor all the lingerie, she had felt nothing but happiness. Today, after having learned that Annalisa was going to wear them, things had shifted so much, she was unable to relive yesterday's triumph.

  Her assistant lifted an eyebrow. "Wow. It looks as if you had a great day yesterday."

  "Sort of." Carlina shrugged. "Trevor is back in town."

  Ricciarda bent over the bags and looked inside. Her black ponytail slid over her shoulder and touched the embossed golden Temptation logo on the bag. "Trevor? Do I know him?"

  "Not yet. His name is Trevor V. Accanto, and he's a fabulously rich American who comes to Florence every Christmas."

  Ricciarda turned from the bags and concentrated on aligning some hangers. "Does he always buy that much underwear for his wife?"

  Carlina suppressed a sigh. "It's not for his wife."

  "Oh." Over her shoulder, Ricciarda gave Carlina a startled glance out of blue eyes. "One of those, is he?"

  "Hmm." Carlina said. "But charming."

  "They usually are." Ricciarda's voice was dry.

  "Yes, more's the pity." Carlina went to the tiny storage space at the back of the store to get more gift bags. She needed to refill the gap in the front that Trevor's shopping spree had left.

  "I wish it wasn't like that." Ricciarda said from behind her.

  "You wish men weren't charming?” Carlina bent down to pick up the bags and turned back to the front of the store.

  Ricciarda gave a snort. "No. I wish the charming ones didn't have so much power over us." Her voice held a bitter trace.

  Surprised, Carlina stopped in her tracks, her arms full of glossy shopping bags. She had not employed Ricciarda for long, but so far, her assistant had never shown the slightest sign of being opposed to charming men. On the contrary, she knew precisely how to deal with them, how to make them feel welcome without overstepping boundaries. Maybe she had sounded so disapproving because she was a convinced Catholic and had strict moral standards? Carlina didn't know what to say. She wasn't close enough to Ricciarda to ask personal questions, and maybe she had only imagined that bitter note in her voice.

  Ricciarda looked around. "We're all set, aren't we?" She sounded her normal self again, and the moment was gone.

  "Yes." Carlina said. "But if you really think we'll sell forty pairs today, I'll unpack a few more boxes in the back. Just to be prepared."

  She disappeared behind the curtain that separated her storage room from the store. It was still quiet, and Ricciarda would manage in the front.

  Carlina took a folded footstool from the hook on the wall, opened it and sat down. Then she pulled the box of nylons close and slid it open with a box cutter. She moved with routine, filling the slots in the shelf, assorting them by size. Her thoughts went to Stefano Garini as if pulled by an elastic - whenever she didn't pay attention, they snapped back to him. She liked him. A lot. And she could read in his eyes that he liked her too. At least it seemed like it whenever he stopped for a short chat at Temptation.

  It seemed incredible that they both lived in the same town, so close together, and never managed to meet properly. As bad luck would have it, his father had broken his wrist the very day after Stefano had found her grandfather's murderer. That's how she had met him. How long ago it seemed. Carlina remembered her erratic grandfather with a pang. It would be the first Christmas without him. Better concentrate on Stefano and their date tonight. They would have had their first date weeks earlier if she hadn't gone on vacation, booked ages ago. November was a slow month at Temptation, and she had spent three weeks in sunny Martinique, thinking about him more often than ought to be allowed. When she came back, he was in the middle of a stressful murder investigation, working day and night. Then he had gone on vacation, visiting his sister and skiing in Switzerland. And now, finally, they were both back in town, and tonight, she would see him. Maybe she should suggest going somewhere out of town, to avoid any of her family members littering Florence. It would be awful if they ran into her mother or one of her zillion cousins. They were so curious, they would stick to them without shame.

  Tonight. Tonight. Suddenly, she recognized the tune she'd been humming all day long. West Side Story. God, she was smitten. She cut up the empty box and stuffed it into the garbage can. She heard Ricciarda laughing, then a low murmur of voices. She'd been so deep in her thoughts, she'd never noticed the first customer had arrived.

  Carlina pushed the curtain aside and froze. It was Trevor. He bent forward, his handsome face close to Ricciarda's upturned face. She smiled at him as she piled four bras and matching slips onto the counter. Of course, she had no idea who he was. They looked like an advertisement together, for family shampoo or chocolate or something.

  Annalisa's determined face rose in front of Carlina's inner eyes. She shuddered. I don't want to talk to him. She stayed where she was.

  "I won't take these with me," Trevor said. "Just add them to my bags over there. I told the receptionist at the Garibaldi Hotel to send a courier before noon."

  Ricciar
da's eyes widened, and she stared at Trevor as if she had seen a ghost.

  Carlina started forward without thinking. "Hi, Trevor. I didn't see you come in."

  "Carlina!" He turned to her and kissed her on both cheeks. "What a charming, raven-haired assistant you have."

  Carlina felt sick. "Yes, she's very good." She tried to give Ricciarda an encouraging smile, but her assistant's eyes looked glassy.

  Talk. Make him talk. Distract him. "How come you're about so early?" she asked.

  "I had planned to take a run along the Arno, but when I passed your store and saw it was open, I decided to say hello."

  Now she noted he was wearing trainers and a sportive outfit. He sure didn't look his age. "How nice." She hoped her smile didn't look as fake as it felt.

  "Why are you here so early?" He winked. "No reason to stay longer in bed?"

  "We're having a promotion today." Carlina felt as if on autopilot. "For run-proof nylons."

  "Yes, Ricciarda told me." He flashed a thousand watt smile into Ricciarda's direction who still stood as if made of marble. "But I don't buy practical things. They're not romantic enough."

  "It doesn't matter." Carlina swallowed. "She already has one pair."

  "What?" Trevor frowned.

  "Annalisa is my cousin." Her eyes held his.

  His eyebrows soared. "Oh. I see."

  "Yes."

  Nobody moved. It was so quiet, Carlina could hear the soft jingle of a metal hanger moving in the warm air coming from the radiator. Something between them shifted. It felt as if their friendship was cut into a million tiny pieces, blown up into the air, and when it settled again, it showed a picture that was unrecognizable, nothing like it had been before.

  Then Trevor smiled.

  For an instant, Carlina glimpsed the old picture, but the change had been too complete, too drastic. They could not go back, never return to their easy banter.

  "Are you going to impersonate the enraged mother now?" he asked.

  "No." Carlina bit her lip. "I . . . I'm just asking you to be careful."

  "To be careful?" His tone mocked her. "Just what do you mean, my dear?"