Aware that they were being watched by their fellow diners, she removed her hand from his. ‘I’m sure we’ll see each other again,’ she said encouragingly.
‘Are you?’ he entreated, leaning forward over the table. ‘I wish I could believe that.’
She could think of nothing to say. She wanted to run away, but Vicenzo was always there at the back of her mind. She was still afraid of what Koch might do if she rejected him. Eventually, as they sat in silence, she could bear it no longer. ‘I think I ought to go,’ she said quietly.
‘You really won’t come with me?’ he pleaded disbelievingly.
‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘I’ve explained why – please don’t ask me again.’
He looked away, his face flushed – with anger, she assumed. He clicked his fingers impatiently and asked for the bill.
‘There is something else,’ he murmured, almost inaudibly.
She leant forward to hear him better.
‘It’s something I must tell you before I leave,’ he went on.
Her heart began to race. She should have been nicer to him, she realised. He was going to punish her now – tell her that Vicenzo would be handed over to the Germans. ‘Go on,’ she said nervously.
‘Vicenzo is being released from prison.’
‘What?’ Isabella was incredulous.
‘Yes, this evening.’
She reached across the table, took his hand and kissed it. ‘I can hardly believe it. Thank you, Pietro.’
He stood up abruptly and threw some money onto the table. ‘I’ll drive you home now,’ he said.
She would have liked to refuse him. All she wanted was to leave the restaurant and take a taxi to Vicenzo’s house and be there when he got home. But Koch stood waiting for her by his car. And while she hated the idea of being alone with him, after all he had done for Vicenzo, the least she could do was accept a lift from him, she thought.
Driving through the quiet streets, she glanced across at him. He looked broken. ‘Will you be safe in the north?’ she asked.
He shrugged. ‘What do you care?’
‘I worry for you,’ she went on. ‘You think you’re a hero of the Fascist cause, but people will say you’re a traitor. Surely, it’s not too late to give yourself up, to fight for the other side.’
He laughed ironically as he pulled up outside her house. He turned to look at her. ‘I don’t think you understand how the real world works, Isabella.’ He gazed at her and touched her cheek. ‘You have lived in the world of make-believe for so long, you can’t see the truth in front of your eyes.’
She smiled nervously, struggling to follow his train of thought.
‘I may be many things, Isabella,’ he went on, ‘but I am loyal to a cause and would never go back on my word. I can’t turn my back on Fascism now. What I have done, I did for the love of my country, and I will go on doing so – even if it costs me my life.’
She stared into his black eyes. He really believed it, she realised.
‘Well, goodbye,’ she said, feeling for the door handle.
‘One more thing before you go,’ he said, reaching across her and covering her hand with his. ‘I want you to promise me something.’
‘Yes?’
‘That you will be careful.’
‘Me?’ she asked. ‘Why?’
‘You have been denounced as a collaborator. I think you should go into hiding, or I fear you’ll be in trouble.’ He took her hand in his and kissed it delicately. ‘I wonder if your friend Vicenzo will help you, as you have helped him?’
‘I don’t understand,’ she said.
He smiled ruefully. ‘It has been an honour to know you, Isabella Bellucci.’ He bowed his head, and kissed her hand again.
As she climbed out of the car, she looked back at him. He was gazing up at her with tears in his eyes. She slammed the car door shut, and watched as he drove away.
The following day, Isabella woke with a sense of relief and anticipation. Vicenzo had been released, the Allies would soon be in Rome and Koch was gone, at last.
At home, she paced the house, waiting for Vicenzo to call. Surely, now he had been released, he would ring to tell her how grateful he was. But there was no word from him.
By six o’clock, she could wait no longer, so took a taxi to his villa in Via Salaria. To her surprise, the gate was open, and as she walked up the familiar drive, she could hear