you seen your German officer?’ he asked, changing the subject.
‘Wolff? No. He seems to have disappeared.’
‘He’s gone up north,’ Vicenzo said. ‘He’s been replaced – by a man named Kappler; he’s the new Gestapo Chief. He works in tandem with an evil little bastard called Pietro Koch.’
‘That’s an odd name.’
‘Yes. He’s Italian, but he has a German father, I gather. He runs a special Fascist police unit, with orders from Kappler to root out partisans.’
‘You must be careful.’
‘I am,’ he replied. ‘They raided a seminary last night in the Vatican City.’
‘A religious building. Why?’ asked Isabella.
‘It was a partisan hideout – so they must have had good intelligence.’
‘Did everyone get away?’ she asked.
‘Some did. Kappler’s decided to increase the SS police forces in Rome – they’re going to be making house-to-house searches, looking for every able-bodied man.’
‘You too?’ she asked, her eyes widening in fear.
‘Why do you think I went into hiding?’
‘I see. But you’re safe… wherever you are?’
‘For the time being, yes. But if they come looking for me, you must just say I’m away, do you understand?’
‘Of course. You can rely on me,’ she reassured him.
‘Isabella, little Bella.’ He held her firmly by the arms and looked down at her with dark thunderous eyes. She felt herself once again under his spell. ‘There is something you need to know.’
It sounded ominous. Was he about to confess to loving someone else – Livia perhaps? He looked away awkwardly as if he was embarrassed suddenly.
‘Tell me,’ she insisted, her heart racing.
His grip on her arms weakened and his hands fell limply to his side. ‘I cannot love women,’ he said flatly, before turning away from her.
‘What do you mean?’ Isabella replied, genuinely puzzled.
‘Unlike other men, I don’t find women attractive, do you see?’
‘Who do you find attractive then?’ she asked.
He laughed quietly. ‘Men, of course.’
She felt a curious sense of relief. ‘So you don’t love another woman?’
‘No!’ he said. He swung round and held her face between his hands. ‘If I love any woman at all, it is you, little Bella, and only you.’
She smiled and stroked his cheek with her gloved hand.
They were interrupted by the noise of the crypt door being opened and footsteps on the staircase.
‘We should get out of here,’ he whispered. ‘Quickly, follow me.’
He led her through a series of small rooms, each more macabre than the last, before finally they reached a door. Moments later, they were outside on the street. He pulled her into a side street, turning up the collar of his coat and tugging his hat down over his eyes. It made him look like a street vendor, she thought.
‘I won’t be around for a while,’ he said. ‘All I can tell you is that I am working for the Resistance. You will only hear from me again when it’s safe.’
‘Don’t go yet,’ she implored him. ‘Please.’
‘I must, carissima Bella.’ He kissed her on the cheek and was gone.
Walking back through the snow to Vicenzo’s villa, Isabella mused on what he had told her. She had heard of men who loved each other, although she was not exactly sure what it meant. He had told her he loved her, and if that love couldn’t be quite as she would have liked, she could learn to live with that. To be loved by him was all that mattered. She would care for his home, care for his beloved dogs. They would share their love of art and of cinema. They were soulmates, after all. They belonged together. She would do anything for him, anything at all. That, after all, was what real love was all about.
Twenty-Two
Florence
January 1944
It was late in the afternoon, and almost dark as Livia hurried home. Letting herself into the apartment, it seemed strangely quiet.
Unusually, her father was not working at the dining table. Nor was he in his bedroom, nor the kitchen. She called his name, but no answer came. She could hear the muted voices of Sara and Jacob up in the attic. They had come to an arrangement with Giacomo when they had first arrived, that it would be safer if they stayed upstairs as much as possible – particularly if both Giacomo and Livia were out. That way, as Giacomo said, if they were raided and the apartment searched, there was a chance they would escape detection. And so, as soon as breakfast was finished, they went back upstairs, only re-emerging in the evening to help with dinner. As soon as the meal was over,