The Princess Bride

by Rebecca Winters

  The question melted Ally’s heart.

  She winked at her. “As long as I can refer to you as my daughter, you can start calling me that anytime you like. Now wash your face and we’ll go downstairs before everyone starts to wonder what has happened to the wedding party.”

  Alone for a moment, Ally squared her shoulders.

  Where Gino’s feelings were concerned, she hadn’t learned anything from Sofia that she didn’t already know. The difference was, realizing Sofia knew it, too, would make things much easier around here.

  When Sofia emerged from the bathroom, Ally grasped her hand.

  “After we leave this room, we’ll pretend we never had this conversation, agreed?”

  “Yes,” she answered in a sober tone.

  But it was easier said than done. When they joined their guests, Gino still hadn’t come downstairs. That as much as anything let her know something of tremendous import had happened, otherwise Gino wouldn’t absent himself from the festivities this long.

  For Gino’s sake she hoped Signore Santi’s arrival meant that Gino was no longer under suspicion.

  How would they go on protecting Sofia if there were a trial and he had to leave the farm every day to be in court?

  She was an intelligent girl and no one’s fool. Ally feared it was going to be sooner than later that she learned the whole ugly truth about her mother. Then it would come out that Ally’s first husband had died with Donata.

  Ally dreaded the day Sofia knew everything.

  After urging Sofia to be with her friends, Ally mingled with the guests who were all enjoying themselves.

  Ally caught up with Maria and talked to her about the possibility of Ally and Sofia helping out part-time at the flower stand for the rest of the summer.

  Maria couldn’t have been more enthused over the idea. They agreed to talk about it in a few days.

  “Provided Gino is willing to share you by then.”

  To Ally’s surprise Gino reappeared. He slid his arm around her waist.

  “I saw your heads together. What plot are you two hatching behind my back?”

  Ally wanted to ask him the same question about his conversation with Signore Santi who was nowhere in sight.

  “Your wife and Sofia are going to come to work at the stand this summer.”

  “Provided you agree,” Ally said to him.

  She felt his probing glance.

  “You’d really like to sell flowers?”

  “I’d love it. So would Sofia. She’ll help me with my Italian.”

  “Leonora will be overjoyed,” Maria assured her.

  His arm hugged her a little tighter. “My wife lights her own fires. She’s out of my sight for five minutes, and already we’re a farming family.”

  “It’s what you always wanted, Gino. I couldn’t be happier for both of you.”

  “Thank you, Maria.” He kissed her cheek. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to whisk my bride away to a secret place.”

  He guided Ally toward the hallway.

  “We’ll slip out the side door of the kitchen,” he murmured against her ear.

  She swallowed hard. “What about Sofia?”

  “Anna’s parents are keeping her with them tonight.”

  “Does Sofia know that?”

  “I told her before I came to find you.”

  “W-was she all right with it?”

  “Of course. She’s old enough to know a wedding couple needs time to themselves.”

  He swept her out the door to the courtyard where Paolo was waiting with the car.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The palazzo.”

  “I thought we couldn’t leave the farm.”

  “Legally we’re not supposed to. But Carlo Santi came to the reception with news that necessitates a visit there. Since it’s our wedding night, he’s taking the responsibility of vouching for us while we break the rules.”

  Now everything made sense. This was a charade for Gino’s friends in order to perpetuate the pretense of the happily married couple going off on their honeymoon.

  By the time they started to pull away from the courtyard, their guests had assembled to see them off.

  Ally exchanged a soulful glance with Sofia who ran out in front of everyone who were taking pictures to wave. She was on the verge of tears.

  “Gino—we can’t leave Sofia behind. Look at her face.”

  “I’ve seen it, but she’s better off with friends until we return.”

  Ally knew he was right, but it hurt to leave her when Ally knew his niece was suffering since overhearing Gino’s talk with Carlo.

  “We’ll be in Montefalco shortly. When we start the climb up the road to the west gate, we’ll lower our heads to avoid the paparazzi camped nearby. I’m phoning ahead to tell the guards to have the gate open for us. That way Paolo won’t have to stop.”

  Ally waited until he’d used his cell phone before asking, “How long are you going to keep me in suspense about the case?”

  He reached for her hand. His eyes flashed her a fiery glance. In the next few minutes he told her about the information uncovered by the P.I.’s in Sicily.

  “One of the crew of the yacht has claimed that the great-aunt’s grandson, Tomaso, has villas in Prague and Portofino. It seems he became friendly with Donata and your husband.

  “It’s possible he knows something about the accident, or even caused it. But without some sort of proof, it’s the crewman’s word against a wealthy member of the Castiglione family.

  “In four months the authorities investigating this case haven’t ever found evidence linking Donata and your husband. But you and I know the laptop exists. Which means Donata had to use some sort of computer on her end. “The fact that the authorities don’t know of the correspondence between them plays to our advantage.

  “Both Carlo and Alberto think she must have kept one at the palazzo, but it was hidden so well, the police never came across it.

  “Naturally they went over Marcello’s computer as part of the initial investigation, but nothing turned up.

  “That’s why I originally had my P.I.’s looking in all the coffee houses with computers in and around St. Mortiz, hoping to discover she’d used one of them. Unfortunately they never found anything.”

  Ally sucked in her breath. “Then let’s tear the palazzo apart.”

  “That’s the idea,” Gino muttered. “Maybe we’ll find it. If she had someone like Tomaso helping her, that information has to be somewhere. She couldn’t have carried out everything without help from someone she thought she could trust.

  “It’s the kind of proof needed to take to the chief judge. It will force him to consider other suspects.”

  “We’ll spend all night if we have to,” she declared.

  Not only could it mean Gino’s freedom, but she’d be spared having to go to his room with him in order to fool the staff that the newlyweds couldn’t wait to be alone.

  She stared out the passenger window. They were near the town now. She checked her watch. It was only five in the afternoon. The sun wouldn’t be setting for hours yet.

  “Wouldn’t it have been better to arrive in one of the estate cars with the smoked glass?”

  Gino shook his head. “That’s a dead giveaway. The paparazzi won’t be expecting a car I use at the farm. It will buy us the time we need to make it inside the grounds.”

  A few minutes later Paolo muttered that they’d better get down.

  Gino reached for Ally and pulled her over so the top portion of her body lay against his hard thighs.

  When she was settled, he leaned over her where she could feel his heart pounding against her back.

  “Am I crushing you, Ally?”

  “No. I’m fine.”

  “I knew my beautiful bride would say that,” he whispered. “Hold on. The car’s picking up speed. You won’t have to suffer much longer.”

  That depended on the kind of suffering he was referring to. She had a lifetime
of it ahead of her, but it would remain a secret between her and Sofia.

  Suddenly the car came to a stop. Paolo gave the all clear.

  Gino kissed Ally’s brow as she raised up. “By now you have to know I’d rather be with you than anyone else in a situation like this.”

  She knew…

  He came around to her side and opened the door. “Let’s go in and get busy.”

  The palazzo was an eighteenth century palace so fabulous in its architectural beauty as well as its furnishings, Ally followed Gino around in awe.

  He introduced her to the staff who congratulated them on their marriage. She could tell they held Gino in the greatest affection.

  “We’ll go to my apartment first and change.”

  “I don’t have any of my clothes with me.”

  “You can wear something of mine.”

  He led her up marble stairs and through marble hallways to his apartment on the second floor. It was a fabulous home within a home where he could be totally self-contained.

  Ally had thought his farmhouse was out of this world. But this kind of splendor left her speechless.

  He pulled a pair of clean navy sweats from one of the drawers and handed them to her.

  “Go ahead and use the bathroom while I change in here. Then we’ll get started in Donata’s dayroom where she spent a lot of time.”

  Once inside the large, modernized bathroom, Ally took off her wedding outfit and hung it on the door hook.

  After removing her high heels, she put on Gino’s clothes. They pretty well drowned her, but it was all right because she rolled up the sleeves. The elastic at the bottom of the legs kept her from tripping.

  She padded back in the suite in her nylons.

  He’d put on a pair of gray sweats. When he saw her he grinned.

  “We look like a pair of athletes ready for a run.”

  Her mouth curved in a half smile. “I’m glad we’ll be doing it inside here, or my poor feet couldn’t take it.”

  His gaze traveled down her curvaceous body. “New shoes are the price of looking gorgeous on your wedding day.”

  “It was a wonderful day, Gino. Thank you for everything. Now let’s see what we can find.”

  A half hour later they’d searched every square inch of the elegant dayroom on the main floor without success. Lines darkened his features. She hated to see him like that.

  “I’ve been thinking. If I were Donata and wanted to hide something, I think I would have put it in Sofia’s room.”

  His jaw hardened. “The police searched it thoroughly.”

  “But they weren’t necessarily looking for a computer of some kind.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Of course there’s always the possibility she didn’t own one, but had access through a friend.”

  “We’ll take one last look anyway,” Gino murmured.

  Sofia’s bedroom was across the hall from Marcello and Donata’s apartment at the other end of the second floor.

  “If Donata wanted to send messages, it would have been easy enough for her to slip across the hall when Sofia was at a friend’s house or at school,’ he said before ushering her inside his niece’s room.

  Ally felt like she’d entered the domain of a princess.

  Her glance fell on the floor to ceiling bookcase with all kinds of books, puzzles and games.

  “A laptop isn’t so easily disguised, Gino. My guess is, if Donata had one, she camouflaged it in some way.”

  Gino shot her a piercing regard. “You’re a woman with amazing instincts. Where would you hide it, Ally?”

  She examined everything in sight.

  “What’s in that chest at the foot of Sofia’s bed?”

  “It has a lot of her toys in it. When Donata wanted to get rid of them, Marcello insisted on keeping them in case they ever had another baby.”

  She walked over to it. “The police probably did a cursory search, but toy boxes are notorious for holding treasures you never expect to find.”

  Ally opened the lid. It was a deep rectangular piece of furniture.

  Gino got down on his haunches next to her and they began sifting through the jumble of items. When her hands came in contact with something about the right size, Ally let out a little cry of excitement.

  But she soon groaned at the sight of a play typewriter in a plastic case.

  “I was so sure—”

  Gino went back to searching. She dug in at the other end and found a doctor’s kit. Gino produced a makeup kit.

  Starting to lose hope, she felt around the bottom. Her fingers came in contact with what she presumed was a radio in a leather case. Out of curiosity, she opened it.

  A gasp came out of her. “Gino—this looks like a palm pilot! Do you think it’s real?”

  He took it from her and pressed the on button.

  “It’s real all right,” his voice grated. “State-of-the-art four gig drive. Ally—” He crushed her against him. “You found it!”

  She pulled away from him, unable to take much more of their physical contact.

  “Get inside it quick!” she cried.

  He helped her up from the floor. By tacit agreement they sat down on the side of Sofia’s canopy bed.

  The next five minutes felt like five hours as Gino started retrieving messages. Suddenly his tall, powerful body sprang from the bed.

  “This says it all, Ally. Tomaso was the one to arrange for the car from a garage in St. Moritz. It names the place and the mechanic who let Donata buy the used car off him. Everything’s there. The plan for them to drive to Portofino and board the yacht on January 25.

  “Ally—” His eyes blazed with light. “Come on.”

  He grasped her hand. “We’ll go to Marcello’s study and phone our attorney.”

  Ally’s gaze swerved to his. “If Signore Toscano needs an affidavit from Troy, I know he’ll cooperate. It will prove the connection beyond any doubt.”

  Gino nodded. “You cracked the case wide-open, Ally. What would I have done if you hadn’t come to Italy with your husband’s laptop?”

  Ally was euphoric to realize the horrible nightmare would soon be over. Whoever had tampered with those brakes, it wasn’t Gino!

  But because Ally had flown to Italy, Gino was now a married man, tied for life to a woman he would always consider his best friend.

  But she couldn’t imagine a virile man like him remaining celibate for that long. There was only one thing to do. She would talk to him about it after they’d returned to the farmhouse.

  CHAPTER TEN

  GINO got out of the car and hurried into the farmhouse.

  “Ally?”

  Bianca came rushing into the foyer. “She’s doing errands in the truck.”

  He frowned. “Is Sofia with her?”

  “No. She got home a little while ago and is upstairs with her father.”

  Gino could scarcely contain his disappointment. Not with the news he had to tell her. He’d asked Ally to be here when he got home.

  Last night Alberto had told Gino to come to Rome and they’d work all night to present their case before the chief judge. Carlo had gone with him.

  It was decided Paolo would drive Ally back to the farmhouse. Gino had assured her they’d celebrate today. He’d been living for it and couldn’t imagine where she’d gone. But Sofia would know.

  He took the steps three at a time and hurried toward Marcello’s suite.

  The last thing he expected to find was his niece sobbing her heart out on her father’s lap.

  “Sofia?” he called to her.

  She lifted her head. “Hello, Uncle Gino.”

  Normally she came running to him.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “Nothing,” she answered in a dull voice.

  Gino’s eyes met Luigi’s. The nurse shrugged his shoulders, indicating he didn’t know the reason for her tears.

  “Let’s go in your room and have a talk.”

  “I’d rather not
.”

  He felt like someone had just kicked him in the gut.

  “If something happened at Anna’s house, I need to know about it.”

  “This isn’t about Anna.”

  “Are you upset with me for asking you to spend the night at her house?”

  “No.” She wiped her eyes.

  “Did you and Ally have words?” He couldn’t fathom it, but he had to know the truth.

  “No. I love her. She said I could call her Mama.”

  Though those words thrilled him, he still didn’t have his answer.

  “Then there’s something I’ve done to hurt you. If I did, you know I didn’t mean to.”

  “I know.”

  “Then I have hurt you. If you don’t tell me what I’ve done, then I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “You can’t fix it.” She sounded like a woman three times her age.

  He’d never seen Sofia behave like this before. His body broke out in a cold sweat.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “Then I’ve failed you, Sofia, and that devastates me.”

  He left the room and went upstairs. How could the joy of this day be trumped by the pain he was feeling now?

  The fact that Ally wasn’t here caused him to wonder if she’d left on purpose so he and Sofia could be alone to sort things out.

  Was it possible his niece had learned the truth about her mother, and believed Gino was guilty of driving Donata away? The very thought made him so ill, he staggered over to his bed, wondering how in the hell to help Sofia if he was right.

  He could provide the proof that he wasn’t the culprit. But he couldn’t do anything about Sofia’s deep seated sorrow where her mother was concerned. If she knew it was Ally’s husband who’d died with her, Sofia would feel so betrayed, she’d never get over it.

  Ally—where are you?

  In his agony, he heard a rap on the door and raced across the room to fling it open and embrace his wife.

  It was his niece.

  “Sofia—”

  “Can I come in?”

  “What do you think?”

  He could thank God she was at least speaking to him.

  “Ally told me not to blame you because you couldn’t help it.”

  “Blame me for what, sweetheart?”