‘It’s lovely. Bella.’
Luisa beamed, then indicated the open door behind her.
Maddie walked past her into a large bedroom, occupied by a massive canopied bed curtained in dark blue silk. The headboard and posts were made from some rich golden-brown wood, intricately and beautifully carved with festoons of leaves, flowers and grapes.
The same wood had been used to build the row of fitted closets which framed another doorway. Beyond it, Maddie could see the gleam of ivory tiles, and the glimmer of gold fittings. A bathroom, she thought, with a sigh of longing. Warm water to wash the bits of dried leaf, dust and whatever insects had inhabited last night’s mattress out of her hair, then to stretch out in and relax.
It felt like a wonderful dream. In fact, almost too wonderful...
She looked round at Luisa, who was placing the travel bag at the foot of the bed.
‘For me?’ She pointed to herself incredulously. ‘I am to sleep—dormire—here?’
The girl nodded vigorously, her eyes dancing. She went to the closets and opened a couple of the doors, letting Maddie see that the rest of the clothes she’d brought to Italy were hanging there, or neatly folded in the adjoining drawers and shelves.
While in the next cupboard were the jewel-coloured nightgowns and robes which were all she’d had to wear up to now.
Side by side, Maddie thought, swallowing. These two different people that I’ve somehow become and their very different lives.
One of which had to go, and soon, because she was convinced that her enforced stay at the Casa Lupo had to be nearing its end, and that she would be returning home to sanity.
When Andrea Valieri would undoubtedly be hoping she would tell Jeremy and his father that she’d been treated well during her captivity.
Why else would she have been moved like this from her former room to what had to be the best guest suite?
Although she had to admit that, apart from last night, for which she had only herself to blame, she’d been kept pretty much in the lap of luxury from the start. She’d even become quite fond of all those doors.
She swallowed. Whatever she said when she reached London, she would have to choose her words with great care. After all, the Sylvesters would also be looking for revenge.
And I wanted him punished, she reminded herself, feeling suddenly as if a knife was twisting slowly in her gut. I wanted them to lock him up and throw away the key—which could still happen. Only now, I’m not sure how I feel—or if even that is the truth...
‘Signorina?’
She realised that Luisa was watching her anxiously and summoned a smile.
‘Grazie, Luisa. I want nothing more.’ She spread her hands. ‘Niente.’
The girl nodded, showed her the embroidered bell pull beside the fireplace in the sitting room, then whisked herself away.
Left alone, Maddie headed for the bathroom with her toiletries and a change of clothing.
While the vast tub was filling, she stripped, then slid into the gently steaming water, submerging herself completely. She sat up with a gasp, pushing back her drenched hair and wincing a little as she felt the sting of the heat on her grazes.
Most of the bruising had emerged too, making her look rather like a piebald pony, she thought ruefully. Not the ideal image for the long-awaited reunion with Jeremy. On the other hand, it was precisely because of the wait that she’d been forced into desperate action. And so she would tell him. Or would she...?
She found she was examining her body more carefully, as if searching for tell-tale fingerprints. A different mark of Cain left by Andrea Valieri to betray her. Or to remind her how close she had been to betraying herself.
But she wouldn’t think like that, she told herself, reaching with determination for the shampoo. She couldn’t afford to.
In the end, it took three washings and a lot of rinsing with the hand spray before her hair felt really clean again.
As for the rest of her, she thought, switching off the spray, then gathering her hair into a rope and wringing the water from it, well—that might be a different matter.
She heard a faint noise and turned her head.
Andrea Valieri was standing framed in the doorway, his expression arrested, intent as he watched her, his eyes glowing with inner fire.
He said softly, ‘Che bella sirena,’ and took a step forward.
For a moment, Maddie was transfixed. When she found her voice, she said hoarsely, ‘Don’t come any closer.’ She lifted her hands to cover