Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,8

of my league. I spend most of my time dealing with breast enhancement, rhinoplasty, liposuction and sporting injuries. No gunshot wounds or snakes so far, I’m glad to say.’

Daniela moved the subject on to where to eat. After a brief discussion, during which Lucy tried her hardest to insist that she be allowed to treat them all to dinner, but in vain, the decision was taken to walk just a couple of hundred metres down to Piazza del Mercato. It was beginning to get dark as they strolled across the square and down a narrow road alongside the massive walls of the Palazzo Pubblico before emerging into a smaller piazza with another imposing medieval building directly ahead of them, also made of the same sun-bleached red bricks as so much of the rest of Siena.

Just a little way down from there they came to the restaurant. Although the sun was by now blotted out by the tall buildings all around them, Lucy could still feel the heat radiating upwards from the road as they walked along. From the look of the cloudless sky, it was a safe bet that tomorrow was likely to be another beautiful day and she smiled happily to herself. At her side, Bruno was also smiling and she wondered what was going through his head.

They chose a table on the terrace outside the restaurant, with five chairs around it. From there, they had a stunning view across the old market square with its covered central area supported on hefty brick pillars. Beyond it was a mix of buildings, all different shades of pinks and browns, built over the course of the last seven or eight centuries, no two alike. In the far distance were tree-covered hills crowned with ancient churches, farmhouses and towers, and framed by the ubiquitous cypress trees so common here in Tuscany. Lucy sat back and relaxed. She was still relaxing when the significance of the fifth chair at their table was revealed to her.

‘Ciao a tutti.’

A very glamorous woman with a sumptuous mass of jet-black hair appeared and immediately draped herself over Bruno. Lucy’s eyes instinctively checked out her ring finger but here, too, there was nothing. Was this his wife who didn’t go in for jewellery or just a friend – a very affectionate friend? After giving Bruno a big kiss on the lips, the new arrival went round the table kissing the others on the cheeks until she reached Lucy. Daniela made the introductions.

‘Virginia, this is Lucy. She’s English and she’s one of my oldest friends from way back. Lucy, this is Virginia. She’s Bruno’s girlfriend.’

‘Ciao, Lucy.’ Virginia and Lucy shook hands and then Virginia slipped into the empty chair on the other side of her boyfriend and caught hold of his bicep with both hands. Proprietorially.

Lucy reached for her glass and took a sip of wine. Somehow she wasn’t surprised that a good-looking doctor in his thirties was already taken. She had only been with Bruno for an hour or two tonight but she had been getting on so well with him, even if she no longer saw him in a romantic light. Seeing as he was pretty clearly hooked up with Virginia, this was for the best. She took another sip of wine and reflected that there would be other fish in the sea for her, although a handsome doctor was pretty high up the food chain and not to be found in large shoals. She set her glass down and looked across the table.

‘So what do you do, Virginia?’

‘I’m a hospital administrator.’ She had a local accent, like the others.

‘Virginia and I work in the same clinic,’ Bruno was quick to explain. ‘Her father’s the big boss.’

‘The owner.’ Virginia caught Lucy’s eye for a second and there was no missing the challenge. Lucy didn’t react, reminding herself that having a jealous woman across the table from her was far less daunting than having a two-metre-long, potentially deadly, black mamba slither over her foot.

‘Bruno’s been telling me about it. It sounds like a lovely place to work. Certainly a lot more civilised than my last place of work.’

‘And what do you do, Lucy?’ Now that the pecking order had been established, Virginia was also smiling now.

‘I’m a doctor… well, a surgeon actually.’

They had an excellent dinner. The restaurant specialised in grilled meats and Lucy chose delicious lamb chops, accompanied by asparagus and roast potatoes seasoned with rosemary whose enticing aroma arrived before they did. The conversation, after the