Lucy Gordon - Her Italian Boss’s Agenda

‘If only-’ Hope murmured. ‘But then my family would say I was an interfering busybody.’

‘Let them,’ Olympia said robustly. ‘People sometimes call me an interfering busybody, but I’ve never let it stop me yet.’

This caused a general laugh and Hope patted her hand.

‘I knew there was a reason I like you so much,’ she said triumphantly.

As the evening drew to a close Olympia sought refuge in the cool night air, from a position where she could glare at Vesuvius across the bay.

‘You’re a real pain in the butt,’ she informed him. ‘In future, shut up.’

He loomed in tactful silence. He’d had his fun.

It was a relief to be away from the chattering crowd. Her head was starting to ache from the confused impressions she had received tonight.

Primo’s face was in her mind, pale and strained as she’d seen him in the first moment, then cool and smiling as he’d introduced his glamorous companion.

‘Oh, it’s nice to be out in the fresh air!’

It was Hope, further down the terrace, echoing Olympia’s thoughts.

She was about to speak up when she heard Primo’s voice, saying, ‘Yes, come and sit down for a moment, Mamma. You’re looking tired.’

‘I am, but it’s been a wonderful evening. Galina and Olympia are both so beautiful. I wonder when-’

‘When we’ll see Justin again,’ he interrupted her quickly.

‘Yes, that too. Every family party feels as though something is missing.’ Hope sighed.

‘But you used to say that before we found him,’ he reminded her. ‘Then he was truly missing. Now you know where he is, and that he will come here again soon.’

There was a silence, then Primo said, ‘Are you thinking of what Olympia said?’

‘Of course I am. It’s so tempting to think that she was right, because then I’d have an excuse to act.’

‘And you always like an excuse to act.’

The words were not said in criticism. Olympia could hear the fond humour in his voice.

‘True, but I suppose my wise son would counsel caution?’

‘You do me an injustice, Mamma. I think Olympia is right.’

‘You, agreeing with Olympia? I thought you didn’t like her, chiefly because she and Luke are in love.’

‘You’re wrong-’ Primo sounded as though he’d been about to blurt something out, then checked himself. ‘You’re wrong, Mamma. I do not dislike her, and I think she’ll make an admirable wife for Luke. But she’s also a wise woman who’s learned some hard lessons about love.’

‘You sound as if you know her well.’

‘I do know her, better than you think. Tonight she spoke to you out of her wisdom and her pain. You should listen to her. If Evie and Justin belong together then we should do everything possible to help them overcome whatever troubles them.’

‘You say this?’

‘That surprises you?’

‘A little, because although it was you who found Justin, I don’t think you feel like a brother to him.’

‘That doesn’t matter. I know now that to find the ideal person and then lose them because-’

Olympia heard him take a sharp breath and then go on with difficulty.

‘Because of what?’ Hope asked curiously.

‘Because of their own foolishness, and because there was nobody to help them find the way that they had lost-it can happen too easily, and then the worst thing is to know that it was your own fault. I wouldn’t wish it on any man. Not Justin. Not Luke.’

‘Not yourself?’ Hope asked gently.

Primo gave a curt laugh. ‘I can take care of myself.’

‘Can you, my son? I thought so once. Now I’ve begun to wonder. Once you seemed so strong-’

‘I’m much stronger now, Mamma. A man is always better for making discoveries-especially about himself. From what you say, Justin has discovered many things, but they have left him confused. Olympia has spoken the truth. You must help him through that confusion.’

‘And you? Are you confused?’

Primo spoke quietly. ‘No, Mamma. My confusion is over. Now, come inside. It’s getting chilly.’

Olympia didn’t move but sat there silently until she knew that they had gone. She discovered that her face was wet, but she couldn’t remember when she had started to weep.

As part of the Maggio dei Monumenti celebrations Enrico was laying on a ball for all the ‘notables’ as he called them. His guests included most of the Council of Naples, who organised the festival, the older Neapolitan families and many of his employees. This year the number of employees was greater and included many from England, to mark the successful merger.

He had persuaded Angela and Harold to extend their visit for a few days and join him. On the night they set off, with Luke and Olympia, for one of the local palazzos, now owned by the city, where he had hired the ballroom.

It was a grand occasion. The Rinuccis were there in force-Francesco with the girlfriend on whom Hope was pinning expectations, Primo escorting Galina, who looked like a model in a white satin dress that plunged down at the front, down at the back and up at the side. She had exactly the perfect figure to get away with it and Olympia reckoned that if Primo was making a point then he was doing it in style.

She herself was elegant in deep blue silk, but she was glad she hadn’t worn white. She could never have competed with the luscious Galina.

Enrico was ebullient. The occasion had gone to his head and he was set on marking it symbolically. He gathered Primo and Olympia to him to receive directions.

‘It will be a wonderful evening,’ he enthused, ‘and the culmination will be the moment when the two of you take the floor together for the waltz.’

‘Surely that’s not really necessary,’ Olympia said.

‘Of course it’s necessary. We are celebrating the merger of our two firms, ushering in a time of peaceful co-existence, of happy union-’

‘It’s two firms not two kingdoms,’ Olympia pointed out. ‘Can we keep a sense of proportion?’

‘I agree,’ Primo said through gritted teeth. ‘I think you should forget this idea.’

‘I will not forget it,’ Enrico spluttered, enraged. ‘It is essential to tell the world of our blissful-’

‘Well, I don’t feel blissful,’ Olympia said firmly. ‘Why can’t you dance with someone?’

‘If I do, my wife kill me,’ he said mournfully. ‘No, it must be you.’

‘No,’ they both said together.

‘What nonsense is this? I demand that you dance together.’

They yielded to placate him, and took the floor for the first dance.

‘I’m sorry about this,’ Primo growled.

‘Don’t worry. I’m getting to know Enrico’s little ways by now. He’s harmless. We only have to smile and be polite, then go our separate ways.’

‘Our separate ways. Do you know how melancholy that sounds?’

‘New roads always lead to something,’ she reminded him.

‘But suppose it isn’t the place we want to go?’

‘You have Galina waiting on your road. She’ll probably take you somewhere interesting.’

‘Shut up,’ he said softly. ‘Don’t talk like that, do you hear me?’

‘Why not? What difference can it make now?’

‘You speak as if I’d betrayed you. But if you can say Galina, I can say Luke. Tell me that you’re not in love with him. Let me hear you say it.’

‘Didn’t I once tell you that I never fall in love with unsuitable men?’

‘Yes, and I asked what kind of man did you fall in love with. You said you couldn’t remember. But that was then. This is now.’

‘And life grows more complicated as time passes.’

‘Witch,’ he said bitterly. ‘Strega.’

‘Yes, you should beware of me.’

His mouth was so close to hers that she could feel the whisper of his breath across her lips. The sense of sweet pleasure was so intense that she felt faint. She longed for him to kiss her, longed for it so intensely that nothing else mattered. She was swept by a desire to forget all her careful, self-protective plans and kiss him first.

At any moment she would do so and the world could think what it pleased-any moment-

The music slowed. It was over. People were applauding the dance that symbolised the creation of the new firm. In the midst of the applause Primo led her to Luke, inclined his head in a little bow and walked away, back to Galina.

The next morning they went their separate ways.

OLYMPIA saw her parents off at the airport.

‘We’ve had such a lovely time, darling,’ Angela said, ‘and it’ll be so lovely coming out for your wedding. Luke’s a delightful young man, but don’t you let the other one put a stop to it.’

‘The other one-put a stop to it-?’

‘Primo, the one who stands about scowling at you and Luke. Watch out for him, because he’ll block it if he can.’

‘I’ll be careful,’ Olympia promised. ‘But don’t count on my marrying Luke. Things aren’t always what they seem.’

‘Don’t be silly, dear. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Goodbye, now.’

Three days later there was news from England.

‘Mamma’s done it!’ Luke announced triumphantly as he came off the phone. ‘Don’t ask me how, but she’s made Justin and Evie see sense and the wedding’s going to take place here, next month.’

Olympia spent an evening with Hope, who was happily deep in wedding plans. She had a natural gift for organising that was almost as great as Olympia’s own, and soon the entire family had been turned into lieutenants, scurrying hither and thither at her command.

Justin, Evie and Justin’s son, Mark, were to stay at the villa and arrived two days early.

‘I know it’s not usual for the bride and groom to start from the same house,’ Hope said to Olympia, ‘but neither of them has a home here, and this way I can keep an eye on them.’

‘You’re afraid they’re going to escape you again,’ Olympia teased. Hope laughed and didn’t deny it.

Toni and Primo, newly returned from England, went with her to the airport to greet them, and that evening everyone congregated at the villa. Olympia was immediately taken by Evie’s wit and her ready laugh, which obviously covered a sharp intelligence. Justin was an interesting man, apparently harsh, yet seeming to cling to Evie. If she left his side his eyes followed her around the room.

Mark was already a favourite with the family and now he won Olympia’s heart with his cheeky antics and his happiness at being there. After Hope, he was the person most anxious for the marriage to take place without delay.

‘He’s a bit like Primo, when I married his father, Jack Cayman,’ Hope confided. ‘He wanted a mother so badly. I’ll never forget the way he smiled when he finally felt certain of me.’

But that certainty had proved an illusion, Olympia thought. His ‘mother’ had been taken from him and, although she had been restored later, he’d never felt completely safe again.

Hope’s use of the name Jack Cayman brought a host of other memories back. Now she saw how Primo’s early experiences had shaped him. Beneath the apparently solid self-confidence was something rootless, constantly mobile, as though he were seeking something that could never be found.

It didn’t take much insight to deduce that much the same was true of Justin, whose life had been built on even greater confusion. Snatched from his mother at birth, he had later been rejected by his adoptive parents and abandoned in an institution. He’d reached manhood angry and bitter, caring for nobody, ready to do anything.

Against all the odds he’d made something of his life and was now a wealthy man and the head of a huge firm. But the scars remained and they had made him reject Evie, who loved him, for her sake. Now, thanks to Hope’s intervention, things had come right for them, and the whole family had joined to wish them well.

Since Primo had been the one to find him first, Justin had asked him to be his best man. Toni was to give the bride away as Evie had no family. And the day before the wedding Olympia’s parents arrived, at Hope’s invitation, the clearest signal that she was still plotting.

On the morning of the wedding the entire Rinucci family gathered at the villa, which made an impressive sight. Some were staying there, some had travelled up early in the morning, until at last everyone was there.

Galina, as always, was a knockout in a light blue chiffon dress that contrived to be fairly restrained, for church, while leaving no doubt about her glorious figure. Olympia’s honey-coloured linen, which had seemed so elegant in the mirror, now looked dull. In fact, she told herself that she looked almost middle-aged beside Galina’s vibrant youth.

Primo noticed her and drew Galina across for a greeting. The morning sun flashed off something around the girl’s neck, which closer inspection proved to be a gold chain with heavy, elaborate links.