The night before, Sergio had spent a couple of hours in the same London hotel as Grazia, both of them leaving by separate entrances in an evident effort to avoid detection. There was talk of a reanimated affair with reference made to Grazia’s divorce and Sergio’s marriage described as being ‘in turmoil’ after unsavoury revelations about his wife’s past.
The phone rang.
The instant Kathy heard Sergio’s deep pitched drawl she interrupted, ‘What were you doing in a hotel with Grazia?’
‘Malicious gossip travels faster than an avalanche,’ he murmured smooth as glass. ‘I’ll be with you in an hour.’
‘You didn’t answer my question.’
‘I have company, cara mia.’
At her end of the phone, she reddened fierily in receipt of that clarification. Time had never seemed to move more slowly than in the minutes that followed. She left the bedroom and waited in the entertainment-sized lounge, where she paced the floor. Eventually she walked out onto the deck where the blue sky was beginning to shade with warm hints of peach as the sun began to go down.
She could not imagine life without Sergio, but she was wondering if, at the end of the day, that might also be how Sergio felt about Grazia. A fatal attraction that he despised, but ultimately couldn’t resist. Would that explain why was he was so reluctant to talk about his former fiancée? He had still to ask what Grazia had said to his bride the night before their wedding. Kathy could only feel threatened by that reality.
Her heart started beating very fast when the helicopter came in low to land. Lean, powerful face serious, Sergio emerged.
‘For once, I have good news,’ he informed her levelly. ‘Janet Taplow was arrested this afternoon.’
That being the last topic she had expected him to open the conversation with, Kathy simply stared back at him. ‘Are you serious?’
‘The police got a search warrant and found the old lady’s missing silver in her house. Mrs Taplow died last year. Janet only began selling off the silver a few months ago when she thought it would be safe to do so. But as you’re already aware, Renzo was able to identify a piece of it and the trail led straight back to her.’
‘My word…’ Her legs hollow with shock, Kathy weakly sat down on the arm of a designer sofa. ‘After all this time, the truth is coming out—’
‘An antique dealer has made a positive identification of Janet, and her cousin is also willing to give evidence against her because she’s furious at being robbed of a large part of what should have been a shared inheritance. I’ve got my best lawyers working on this. It’ll take time but they are certain that you will eventually be able to prove your innocence.’
Kathy pressed cooling hands to her shaken face. ‘I can’t believe it. I don’t know how to thank you—’
‘This is all thanks to Renzo’s efforts. He’s the hero here. But for your intervention, he would no longer be on my staff. I’ve done nothing,’ Sergio declared. ‘The tabloids are already onto this development. A wrongful conviction is more newsworthy than the original story. You’ll probably be inundated with requests for interviews about your experiences in prison.’
Kathy pulled a face at the idea. ‘No, thanks.’
‘How do you feel?’
‘Shocked.’ Kathy hesitated. ‘What about Grazia?’
Sergio raked long fingers through his cropped black hair. ‘I had no choice but to do a deal with her face to face. But I should’ve guessed she would have the paparazzi standing by to capture those photos at the hotel. Grazia never misses out on free publicity.’
Kathy frowned. ‘What sort of a deal?’
‘Abramo was in London because he’s been receiving treatment for leukaemia. He’s not well at all,’ Sergio told her heavily.
‘Oh, my goodness, you finally got in touch with your brother!’ Her lovely face sobered as she registered what he had said. ‘Leukaemia?’
Sergio grimaced. ‘His chances are roughly fifty-fifty. He doesn’t need the stress of a contested divorce right now, so I bought her off.’
‘That’s what you mean by a deal? You gave Grazia money?’
‘In return for certain undertakings all legally signed, sealed and delivered.’ Sergio withdrew a document from his jacket and unfolded it. ‘Our hotel rendezvous was supported by a team of lawyers. They did well. I would have paid twice as much.’
Kathy was nodding like a puppet in rapid succession. ‘What undertakings?’
‘Grazia has agreed to return the family jewels in her possession and give Abramo a quiet divorce. She has also promised not to approach you again.’