From Italy With Love

by Jules Wake

  Her dad had been one in a million, even if he’d overlooked buying her girl’s clothes and signing her up for ballet lessons.

  Fine spray danced on the morning air as the powerful streams of water shot upward, firing a million tiny droplets which caught the sun and shimmered with rainbow colours. Her face tingled at the touch of the cold mist of water but instead of drawing back, she went forward, tilting her head and relishing the feeling of freshness against warm skin.

  The thunder of the water roared, thousands of gallons pumping upwards, flurries and jets dancing in a finely choreographed routine. Her ears reverberated with the steady rush of the jets and the pitter-patter of droplets bouncing the choppy surface. So many noises, so much movement. She wanted to hold out her hands and embrace the morning. Do a twirl for the sheer enjoyment.

  The fountain was surrounded by stone benches, each supported by carved scrolls. She chose one that faced the house and sat down, the sun warm on her back, and studied the formal symmetry of the building with its windows identical in shape, evenly spaced across the wall and each of the panes of glass parallel like bars.

  Cam’s words of last night came back to her. A gilded prison.

  Time stopped for a moment, as if fractured. She blinked hard trying to clear her head. Cam. Dad. Miles. Celeste. Robert. Everything felt off kilter, like a globe falling off its axis.

  Fighting against a sense of panic, she closed her eyes. It made things worse. Then when she opened her eyes, it was like a kaleidoscope settling with a completely new view bringing with it a brilliant shaft of sunlight penetrating and illuminating the dark corners.

  Her head ached from the revelations that flooded through.

  Growing up here would have been very different, looking at Siena’s life; if she was honest, she probably would hate it.

  The only person that had limited her horizons was herself but that had been her choice. She was free in a way Siena would never be.

  She had independence. A home, albeit modest, but hers.

  With so much focus on what her mother hadn’t given her, she’d missed seeing what her father had given her.

  He had instilled the right principles and set the road map. Some of her choices had been stubborn because she wanted to prove a point. Like not going to university … for all the wrong reasons. At the time, she thought she’d been showing fidelity and loyalty to her dad. Proving she wasn’t like her mother. Wanting to stay close to her father. What’d she’d done was close herself to opportunities.

  Clever old Miles. He’d seen it all so clearly and had left her this journey.

  She stared down at the engagement ring.

  Which brought her to Robert. She lodged her chin in her hands and hunched over her knees. Robert. She looked at the ring again. The emeralds and the setting were ugly. She hated it. Recalling his proposal, she winced with embarrassment. Why hadn’t she been braver? Dad would have asked, ‘Are you sure?’ Thrown up considerations and questions.

  She didn’t want to marry Robert, she didn’t even want to live with him any more … her eyes had been opened to a wider world that she wanted to explore without Robert … cramping her style.

  When had she started going through life without asking any questions? Accepting things? It was as if she’d been sleepwalking through life ever since her mother had left. Not precisely happy but not unhappy. Cam had got it so right.

  And like Sleeping Beauty she’d been awakened by a kiss … she touched her lips … and what a kiss. She bit her lip. Cam. She owed him an apology.

  A sigh escaped her as she let herself relive this morning. The warm slide of Cam’s body over hers, his scent, and the unbearable ache between her thighs that he’d stroked away.

  It was just sex, but it had felt so good. She hadn’t felt that good in … well, forever.

  Feeling she’d conquered a particularly difficult mountain, she sat on the bench and contemplated her surroundings, thinking hard about the possibilities of the future. She stayed there for an hour, basking in the sun and her new found knowledge.

  ‘Cam?’

  Laurie’s voice was hesitant behind him and he ducked out from under the bonnet and turned round. Her face was flushed and she looked as if she’d made some amazing discovery, her hands moving at her sides with restless energy. Despite his good intention to ease back on things with her, desire shot through him as it brought to mind her beneath him in the bed just hours ago, pink and breathless, the same hands clenching and unclenching at the sheets with unspoken ecstasy.

  He swallowed hard, the image irresistibly sexy, and nodded, unable to speak.

  ‘You were right.’

  ‘What?’ He was still trying to get a grip on tamping down the idea of pressing her up against the bonnet of the car.

  ‘You were right?’

  Was this a trick question? What was he right about? Men were never right.

  Again he just nodded slowly, hoping she’d illuminate … and quickly.

  ‘I’m not happy … or rather I haven’t been. What is it that they say … I’ve only been living half a life …’ she gave him a mischievous grin, ‘whoever “they” might be?’

  ‘Well that’s good to know, so what are you going to do about it?’

  The question was supposed to be serious but when it came out, it was laced with innuendo.

  A sly smile hovered around her lips and she met his gaze directly, her eyes filled with sultry promise. It was no good, in two strides he crossed to her, cupped her face and slid his thumbs along her cheek bones and slowly lowered his mouth, making his intent quite clear.

  She watched him, holding his gaze with soul searing intensity. It was unbelievably sexy and his groin tightened in immediate response. He took his time tasting and teasing her lips, before opening her mouth and deepening the kiss. Her tongue met his and he pulled her closer to him, pressing her lithe body against his.

  When they finally drew back, breathless, he held onto her, tucking her head beneath his chin, hugging her close and savouring the feel of her gentle curves against him.

  ‘I want to leave today.’ Her breath whispered against his neck.

  ‘Today?’ Taking her chin in his hand, he lifted her face. Her expression was sombre. ‘Don’t you want to stay? I thought you’d want to … you know spend some more time with Celeste and your sister.’

  ‘No,’ she said as if she’d made an important decision. ‘I’m done here … although I need to go and say goodbye properly to Siena.’

  ‘Really?’ The thud of her heart beat against his chest, strong and steady as if to reinforce the certainty of her decision.

  ‘Yup. I’m definitely ready to move on. Besides we have a schedule. I’ve got to call Ron at some point to let him know when to meet us in Maranello.’

  ‘We’ve got a full two weeks to get there if we want. You don’t need to worry about that.’

  ‘I’m not worried. I just don’t want to leave too much to do at the end.’

  ‘I’ll make sure you get there within the time-frame, don’t you worry.’ He kissed her again, ignoring his own niggle of unease. Too much rested on the outcome to miss the deadline.

  Siena’s face crumpled and she looked just like a little girl. Poor kid was so young for her age.

  ‘But you’ve only just got here? Can’t you stay a bit longer?’ Her limpid eyes filled with tears that punched Laurie straight in the gut.

  ‘Not this time but I’d really love it if you came to see me. Come and stay in England. You can show me where to shop in London. You probably know better than I do.’

  Laurie suspected that just spending time together, watching films and eating chocolate like normal young women might be enough for Siena.

  Siena brightened. ‘Yes, we can go to Harvey Nicks. And see the London Eye and Buckingham Palace and Lady Di’s dresses at Kensington and I must go back to the costume gallery at the V and A.’

  The latter surprised Laurie and then she remembered Siena saying she’d wanted to go St
Martins. Maybe her sister had been more serious than she’d given her credit for.

  ‘There’ll always be a bed for you, if you ever want to come and stay.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Of course. In fact … there’s a …room, it’s yours whenever you want it.’ It had been Siena’s bedroom before.

  ‘That would be so lovely … Where’s your phone?’

  Laurie handed it over and Siena quickly punched in her number.

  ‘Snap chat me a picture of the house … my bedroom.’

  Laurie laughed. The minute she got home, she’d be painting and decorating that room. Maybe there might even be a short local fashion course Siena could enrol on.

  She lunged forward and gave Siena a fierce hug. ‘I’m sorry.’ She should have been a better sister but there was still time to change things. Her sister hugged her back.

  ‘Make sure you text me.’ Siena waved her iPhone. ‘And Facebook me. You are on Facebook aren’t you?’

  Laurie rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose. ‘I wasn’t but I will be … if I must.’

  ‘You must, you must. It’s brilliant. I’ve got 535 friends.’ She looked hesitant again. ‘Are you sure you want me to come?’

  ‘It should have been your house too …’ Laurie winced. That was probably a bit crass, reminding Siena their father hadn’t left her anything.

  ‘Why?’ Siena shrugged. ‘It’s not as if he was my father.’

  A strange numbness settled on Laurie’s skin as if she wouldn’t be able to feel anything she touched. ‘Yes, he was.’ She felt sad that Siena didn’t acknowledge him as such.

  Siena’s pretty face crumpled into a confused frown. ‘Not really Laurie, I think of Georges as my father.’

  Laurie nodded too shocked at the revelation to say anymore. ‘Oh, of course.’ She made a show of checking her phone to see Siena’s number there. It was a shame that she hadn’t ever known her real father and what a lovely man he’d been. He would have had a positive influence on Siena, she was sure.

  They departed with little fanfare, in fact no one was there to see the little Ferrari take its leave and speed down the drive spitting gravel as it went.

  He was surprised that Laurie had insisted on leaving so promptly, he was sure she would have waited to see her mother but with a stubbornness he’d not seen before, she held firm and insisted that she was fine with leaving word with the butler that she was going and to let her mother know.

  She had softened where Siena was concerned and had slipped away, he supposed to her room, to bid her goodbye, although he wasn’t sure as she hadn’t say a word about it. In fact there was definite tension once again around her eyes.

  ‘Watch the paintwork, honey.’

  ‘Screw the paintwork. Screw everything. Do you know what, to hell with the lot of them?’

  He laid a hand on her wrist.

  ‘Stop at the gates.’

  She slowed to a halt and looked at him.

  ‘There’s no screwing the paintwork,’ he said. ‘What’s wrong? What did Siena say?’

  ‘She doesn’t think of Dad as her father.’

  ‘That’s sad. What did you say?’

  ‘I couldn’t say much, not when I was just about to leave. I needed to get out there.’

  He could understand why. The family dynamics were enough to mess up anyone’s head. Good job Laurie was so level headed.

  ‘Just see that visit as laying the first brick. Building the foundations of a relationship with your sister and telling her more about her real dad. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.’

  He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, wanting to chase away her troubled expression. As their mouths touched he felt the frisson of electricity sizzle between them.

  She gave him a faint smile. ‘Are you trying to distract me?’

  ‘Yup; easily done too.’

  ‘You just kiss well.’

  He grinned. ‘Are we going to get this show on the road or not?’

  Straightening in the seat she fired up the engine, pulled away and quickly notched up the speed. The way she drove certainly seemed to have changed.

  He knew what it was; great sex did that, made you feel invincible. Made you feel warm towards that other human. Made you wonder if you could live without them or whether you wanted to … and that was the slippery slope. He barely knew Laurie, and who’d have thought the chemistry would be this explosive but that’s all it was. She was not his type … any more than he was hers. This was just post-coital glow … and would soon wear off. But damn it was good to see her happy, especially after their conversation this morning.

  He wasn’t sure what had happened but a few of her demons appeared to have been resolved.

  The car moved like a dream, as Laurie whipped through the gear changes with confident aggression. Gone was the diffidence, as if she were asking the car to respond to her. Now, she drove with verve, demanding a response from the car, like a jockey on board a stallion making it clear who was in charge.

  And wouldn’t that be something in bed. Christ he’d turned into a bloody sex maniac. Couldn’t get it out of his damn brain. Even that sizzling kiss before they’d set off had left him aching. What the hell was wrong with him?

  It was difficult to take his eyes off her. Being a passenger normally sucked but his shoulder was glad of the rest and Laurie’s enjoyment of driving was infectious. A broad smile teased her lips as if enjoying a secret joke. With her hand loose on the gear stick, responsive to the car’s every need, she seemed completely unselfconscious, driving intuitively in a way he’d seen few other drivers achieve. She’d been taught well.

  ‘Let me know when you want a break. It’s going to be a long day.’

  She flashed him a smile which hit him straight in the gut. ‘Itching to get your hands back on the steering wheel already? I’ve only been driving for half an hour.’

  ‘I can think of other places I’d like them to be,’ he drawled.

  Her knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. ‘How long do you think it will take us to get to Basle?’

  Only a saint could resist teasing her some more, especially with the delightful blush staining her cheeks. Her indrawn breath had not gone unnoticed.

  ‘Why? Did you want to take a break before then?’

  With a roll of her eyes, she shook her head and rather than answer, with a sure confident burst of speed overtook two cars on the straight stretch they’d finally hit.

  The sudden force pushed him back into his seat as the engine revs roared.

  ‘No,’ she shouted grinning at him in delight. ‘I was just wondering whether we’d hit any motorway? If I get stuck behind any more Sunday drivers, we won’t get to Davos this week let alone tonight.’

  ‘Just take it steady.’ He groaned. ‘You’ve turned into a speed demon.’

  ‘You spoil all my fun,’ she said with an endearing pout. Funny and cute rather than petulant like Sylvie used to do.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ he teased and then regretted it when he saw her swallow and moisten her lips, rubbing the lower plump lip over the top several times. Just like she had this morning when … This train of thought had to stop, it was killing him.

  ‘Today’s our longest trip but one of the easiest. Fast roads most of the way. Luckily the scenery is pretty spectacular. The Swiss are amazing road engineers, although as you’re driving, you keep your eyes on the road.’

  In response she stuck out her tongue.

  ‘In another mile or so, we hit the E60 cross into Switzerland and then its dual carriageway and motorway all the way to Zurich. We’ll need to stop in Basel—’

  ‘To send a postcard by any chance?’

  ‘Yup. And elevenses. Basel to Zurich is just over an hour if the traffic’s OK and then another two hours on to Davos and then ten minutes up to Monstein. Probably about four and half hours’ driving today in total.’

  ‘What about the Vignette thingy? I remember Ron saying we needed one to get t
hrough all the tolls in Switzerland.’

  ‘Already done. Ron sorted it out and sent it to me before we left. See that.’ He pointed to the small square on the windscreen. ‘That’s our magic ticket.’

  A sign announced the start of dual carriageway and already Laurie was tensing like a tiger ready to pounce. She’d definitely got the buzz.

  ‘Sit back, enjoy the ride then and pass us a jelly baby.’ With a roar of the engine, the car burst forward and they streamed down the outside lane. Relaxing completely was out of the question, after all it was a serious machine but he had to admit Laurie drove with real flair and he could almost trust her to look after her ladyship.

  ‘Don’t get a ticket?’

  She just laughed and burned off a couple of Mercedes and BMW’s who’d been hogging the fast lane.

  ‘You won’t be able to do this when you sell the car.’

  She shrugged. ‘Who says I’m going to sell. I might decide to keep it.’

  ‘Yeah right, I can just see you driving around Leighton Buzzard in this.’ His tone was light but inside a curl of panic rose in his stomach. She wasn’t serious. That would be a disaster. No it was just the moment talking. They were away from home, away from the everyday. He lapsed into silence and took in the scenery. This was his only chance to ever own a car quite like this one, these days Ferraris with this type of pedigree were all way beyond his price range. Miles guaranteeing the sale price on this one to him was an unmissable opportunity. She had to sell the car.

  The morning sped past and he let Laurie do most of the driving; it was only as they started to leave the suburbs of Zurich that he raised a hand.

  ‘Can you slow down a little?’

  Laurie looked in the rear view mirror on the dashboard. He’d noticed she always got slightly anxious whenever they passed a police car. ‘It’s fine, you’re not speeding. I just want to listen a minute.’

  ‘Listen to—’

  ‘Shh,’ he admonished, cocking his head towards the front of the car and listening intently.

  Laurie reduced the speed. ‘Is this all right?’