A Moment on the Lips - By Kate Hardy Page 0,57

and she’d work out what to do for the best.

‘Do that. He’ll check in with me later, so I’ll make sure he knows about it.’

‘Thank you, Mariella. I appreciate it.’

‘Prego.’

Carenza sighed as she hung up. She was about to start scanning the documents when she realised how big the file would be by the time she’d finished; it’d take ages to download and be a nuisance for Dante. Perhaps she could drop the papers in to his office instead.

And see him.

Ha. How pathetic was she?

All the same, she took colour photocopies of the invoices, numbered them all, and composed a seriously businesslike note. Just so Dante didn’t think this was simply a pathetic excuse to contact him.

#1, Invoice from dairy supplier. Sent me their copy instead of customer copy. Quantity and price both lower than on customer copy. Rang them and pretended to be dippy new secretary. They faxed me more—#2–7. Note the invoice dates and numbers are the same, but the unit costs and quantities are different. Note also who signed them.

Mancuso. And it made her blood boil, the lying, cheating, smarmy …

Ditto invoices from fruit supplier, #8–12.

Her blood pressure went a notch higher.

Nonno pays everything in cash, so the person who signed must be pocketing the difference between what the supplier charges and what we actually pay. Embezzlement? Fraud?

And then came the kicker. What she could actually do about it. If she involved the police, then her grandfather would have to know about it, and the shock of Mancuso’s betrayal could cause him to have more chest pains—a full-blown heart attack, even. Nonno could die. And no way did she want to lose him—she’d already lost more than enough people in her life.

On the other hand, she couldn’t let this carry on unchecked. It was the reason why Tonielli’s was failing—and she owed it to her staff to be fair, to fix this. To make things right.

Maybe Dante would have a bright idea about how she could do it without any risk to her grandfather.

Would really appreciate talking strategies with you. Thanks—CT.

There. Completely businesslike. Signed with her initials. Just as if she weren’t crazily in love with him and wanted to shake him for being so damn stubborn and refusing to listen to her.

But maybe if she could show him that she was learning from him, she could also show him that he could learn from her. That they had a real chance. Maybe.

She printed off the note, put the lot into an envelope, sealed it, and headed over to Dante’s office.

Mariella looked at her and frowned. ‘You’ve got shadows under your eyes and your face is thinner. You haven’t been eating properly. Or sleeping, I’d guess.’

‘I always look like this without foundation. I was busy today and just forgot to put my make-up on,’ Carenza lied.

Mariella sighed. ‘Dante’s in the same state, you know.’

Carenza wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It showed it was bothering him as much as it bothered her; but she also hated the thought that she was causing him pain. ‘I’m working on it,’ she said, forcing a smile to her face. Just, so far, she wasn’t doing very well. Dante was the only person in her life who had ever said no to her, and she didn’t have a clue how to change that because she’d never had to try before.

‘I don’t know when he’ll get a chance to come back to you,’ Mariella warned. ‘It might not be until tomorrow.’

‘Fair enough.’ Carenza shrugged. ‘I thought it was easier to drop them over than to send an enormous computer file.’

‘Good idea.’

Though Carenza knew that Mariella had guessed: she’d also had a pathetic hope that Dante might just be there. ‘Thanks for your help,’ she said, and bolted. Before she said anything pathetic and needy.

She wasn’t pathetic and needy. And, really, she shouldn’t be leaning on Dante. Did she really need to ask him what to do, when her course of action was obvious? She was going to have to confront Emilio Mancuso with the proof she’d found, and ask him to leave the company.

Dante rubbed his temples. It had been a long, long day. And now he had a few moments before his next meeting. He glanced at his watch. With any luck he’d catch Mariella just before she left for the evening. He speed-dialled his office, and to his relief his secretary answered. ‘Mariella, it’s me. Anything important come up?’

‘Carenza came in.’ Mariella paused. ‘She looked terrible.