Italian Romance (3 page)

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“Er no, I’m fine,” Kay mumbled, glad that the alley was dimly lit
and she could only see the shadowy outline of his face. As she collided with
him she had caught a whiff of his cologne, spicy and musky, mixed with the warm
man-smell of him. It was delicious but Kay took two rapid steps back to
distance herself from it. Why was she so attracted to him?

“Well Kay Starling,” even in the murky light Kay could feel
Alessandro’s gaze fix on her, “now you have rushed to your sister’s side, what
are you planning to do here in Rome?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well it’s obvious this isn’t a holiday. Rome doesn’t interest
you.”

Kay bristled at his assumption she was indifferent to Rome. He
took a lot upon himself.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice hardening.

“You’re here to convince your sister to come to her senses and go
back to New Zealand, aren’t you?”

When Kay didn’t answer, he continued. “Good luck - I’ve had no
success convincing my brother he’s making the biggest mistake of his life.”

It was strange, but even though she was against Melissa and
Vincenzo’s impending wedding, she didn’t like the intended slur he was making
against her sister.

“
Melissa
is making the biggest mistake of
her
life,”
she responded frostily, “and I’m intending to tell her that tomorrow – not that
the rest of my family haven’t done so already.”

When Alessandro didn’t immediately respond, Kay continued, “maybe
she hasn’t filled you in on the details but Kay was engaged to Jake Cutler, a
man she’s supposed to be marrying in September. A month ago, she goes off to
Italy on holiday, falls for your brother and
emails
Jake to let him know
the wedding's off and she’s not coming back to New Zealand. She left behind her
fiancé, her friends, her job, her home – for a man she hardly knows. Everyone
thinks she’s been brainwashed.”

“
Brainwashed
?”

“How else can you explain it?”

“Maybe Melissa hasn’t filled
you
in on the details of my
brother’s life before he met your sister,” Alessandro shot back, “Vincenzo was
engaged to marry a girl he’d been with since they were both twenty-two and he
left her for Melissa.”

“Twenty-two?” Kay replied incredulously, “but he’s in his early
thirties now!”

“Engagements last a long time in Italy,” Alessandro’s voice was
getting more glacial by the moment, “it takes a long time to save up for a
deposit for a house and secure a mortgage. Vincenzo and Sabina had been
together so long it was as if they were married. It broke the hearts of two
families when your sister arrived on the scene. She has no idea what she’s
done.”

“Neither has your brother,” Kay snapped, “it’s a wonder you’re
still speaking to him. I’m the only one in my family who is still talking to
Melissa but she doesn’t seem to care.”

“Our parents have told Vincenzo that unless he gives Melissa up
and goes back to Sabina, they want nothing more to do with him,” Alessandro
said. “That’s a terrible thing in Italy. Family is everything here but your
sister has bewitched Vincenzo. I’ve begged him to reconsider but he won’t
listen.”

“My sister hasn’t
bewitched
anyone,” Kay countered, “she’s
the one who’s been influenced, the one who was in the most vulnerable position
– on holiday in a romantic city, away from her family and friends. It was easy
for your brother to prey on her.”

“Vincenzo isn't a predator!” Alessandro’s voice cut through the
humid night air, “women like you like to lay the blame at a man’s feet. Your
sister knew what she was doing. She wasn’t some innocent girl! She got her
hooks into Vincenzo the moment she met him!”

“What a load of rubbish!” Kay’s anger flared, “you’ve got a
twisted mind if that’s the most logical scenario you can come up with. My
sister was in love with her fiancé! This is obviously just some holiday fling
that’s gotten out of hand. And for the record, you don’t know the first thing
about me so don’t start telling me what I like or don’t like. You hardly seem
an expert on women. You’re just another reason I don’t want Melissa to stay on
in Rome. If Vincenzo is anything like you, Melissa wants nothing to do with
him!”

 Shaking with rage, Kay stalked to the hotel’s entrance and
stabbed the intercom. Mercifully, the gate clicked open and Kay pushed through.
She could feel Alessandro Falcone’s gaze piercing her through the darkness but
she didn’t look back. She wished she hadn’t lost her temper but his arrogance had
goaded her.

She had to convince Melissa to rid herself of this man and his
family.

***

Kay sat outside the pizzeria and watched passers-by trickle across
the sun-baked square. Underneath the shade of an awning it was pleasant to sit
outdoors, while just a few feet away Rome’s cobbles were hot enough to fry an
egg on. Kay took a sip of sparkling water and watched the waiter slide a
bubbling
margherita
pizza onto the table in front of her. Melissa had
ordered a pizza topped with rocket and cherry tomatoes. Despite the heat, both
women were hungry. They tucked into their pizzas and Kay marveled at how bread,
tomato and cheese could be so delicious.

 They were half-way through their pizzas when Melissa wiped her
hands on a napkin and fixed her sister in a level gaze.

“So Kay, you’ve been biding your time but now you might as well
come out with it.”

“What?” Melissa’s directness caught Kay off guard. She had a
mouthful of pizza and was attempting to mop up the oil that was dribbling down
her chin.

“I can read you like a book,” her sister continued, “your
disapproval radiated down the phone line even before you got here. Now we’re
face to face its screaming at me. Come on, let’s get this over with and then
you can enjoy the rest of your stay in Rome.”

 Kay swallowed her mouthful of pizza and took a sip of rapidly
warming beer.

“There's no need to get defensive,” she said finally.

“It's hard not to be,” Melissa replied, “when you feel someone
mounting an attack against you. Come on, spit it out.”

Kay frowned. She hadn’t wanted to broach the subject like this. Melissa
had a knack for throwing her. Deciding subtlety wasn't going to work now, Kay
took a deep breath.

“You're making an enormous mistake Mel,” she began, watching her
sister's face closely as she spoke, “and I couldn't sit back in Wellington and
let you do it. Think how this appears to everyone. One minute you're madly in
love with Jake, about to get married, you've even bought a house together –
then you go off on holiday to Italy and drop everything for the first man who
crosses your path. No wonder mum and dad are livid. Jake's a mess. I had to do
something. I arrive here to find you totally complacent about what you've done.
Don't you have a conscience?”

Kay sat back in her chair and waited for Melissa's response. Her
words had been harsh and cutting but they'd had to be. Melissa's face was
hooded for a few moments. She looked down at her plate and when she looked up
again, Kay saw her sister’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“I know I broke things off with Jake in a cowardly way,” she
began, her voice low, “I thought it would be less messy if I didn’t have to
speak to him.” Melissa pushed her half-finished pizza away. Her appetite had
faded along with her carefree mood. “I've hurt him and I wish I hadn’t. He’s
not a bad man but when I came here and I met Vincenzo I realized that for years
I’d been pretending to want the life I had when I didn’t.”

Kay stared at her uncomprehendingly, confused by Melissa’s
convoluted argument. Melissa saw she’d lost her and so she sought to explain
herself better.

“For years I thought I’d done so well. A great career, the boyfriend
all my friends wanted but over the last two years I’ve felt like I’ve just been
going through the motions. I took the safe track Kay. I could have done what some
of my friends did: travelled, tried out different countries, different jobs. Instead,
I’ve spent the last decade living a serious, confined life. I never realized
what I was missing out on until I came here.”

Kay frowned. She and Melissa had been living similar lives until
Melissa absconded to Italy. Kay felt insulted. Melissa may have felt her life
was serious and confined but Kay’s wasn’t.

“Sounds like some kind of early mid-life crisis to me,” she said,
not liking the sniping tone she was using but unable to stop herself.

“Maybe it was,” Melissa sighed, “but I’m glad it came. I love it here
Kay and I can’t believe how lucky I was to meet Vincenzo. Few people ever meet
their soul mate and I have.”

“Soul mate!” Kay spluttered, “but you’ve only known him a month!
You sound like an infatuated teenager!”

“And you sound like a bitter old maid!” Melissa shot back, “for
god’s sake, you’re only twenty-nine. Way too young to be so jaded. I’m
surprised you didn’t get on better with Vincenzo’s brother because you sound
just like him. People are so quick to judge, to tell you what you should and
shouldn’t do. Vincenzo and I just want to be together. Some people stay in a
relationship for years and never really know the other person. So what if
Vinnie and I only met a month ago. Time has no importance.”

Kay breathed in deeply and let the simmering anger which grappled
her around the throat, slowly ease back. She didn’t want to lose her temper but
she was seconds away from doing so.

“I am not bitter and jaded,” Kay ground out, “and I don’t sound
like Alessandro. That man’s charmless and egotistical. I’m not judging you, I’m
just worried you’re on the brink of throwing away everything you’ve worked so
hard for over for a holiday fling.”

Melissa sighed once more and took a deep breath as if she too was
trying to control her temper.

“You’re entitled to your opinion but you and Alessandro are both
wasting your energy in trying to convince Vinnie or myself to give the other
up. It’s never going to happen. We are getting married in a month and if I
can’t have your blessing then you can do as mum, dad and Vincenzo’s parents
have done – and ex-communicate us.”

Kay stabbed a fork into her congealing pizza and pushed its
remains around her plate. This was not going as she’d envisaged. Melissa had
developed a stubborn streak she’d never noticed before.

“But what kind of family are you marrying into?” Although Kay
could see she was wasting her time trying to reason with Melissa, she couldn’t
give up without one more attempt, “if Alessandro’s anything to go by, you’re
going to be isolated here without family and friends, with nothing but hostile
in-laws to contend with.”

Melissa smiled and shook her head. “I can make friends here and
Alessandro’s bark is worse than his bite. He’s Vincenzo’s older brother and
he’s just being protective. Alessandro’s a bit of a confirmed bachelor. He had
his heart broken a few years back and now is convinced most women are
manipulative gold-diggers like his ex. Vincenzo adores him and I trust his
character judgment. Maybe the reason you’ve reacted so strongly to him is you
two are alike.”

“What!” Kay shouted.

“It’s okay, I take that back – don’t bite my head off,” Melissa
laughed, “although I have to say it’s a while since I’ve seen you react so
strongly to a man.”  

“I react strongly to him,” Kay lowered her voice but her eyes
still flamed with anger, “because he is rude and lays the blame for this mess
on you.”

“It’s only natural he’d think that,” Melissa replied, “as you
think it’s all Vincenzo’s fault. You two are just going to have to learn to
live with it because I’m staying here.”

***

The train rattled through a tunnel and emerged into bright
sunlight. Kay replaced her sunglasses and peered through the grimy glass. Ahead,
the sign announcing the next station loomed:
La Rocca Laziale
. This was
where she was getting off.

Kay got up, ignoring the lingering glance of the man seated
opposite, and picked up her duffel bag. The train rumbled to a stop in front of
a small station. Kay got off and walked along the platform. She caught sight of
her reflection in the mirrored windows of the station building and was shocked
to see her transformation in only a week in Italy. She was no longer pale and
tense. The Mediterranean sun had bronzed her skin and her face glowed, relaxed
and happy. Her long auburn hair was loose and the sun had burned coppery
highlights into her curls. She wore a short linen skirt, showing off her
shapely legs and a light blouse clung to her curves. In just a week she had
learned to ignore and at times even enjoy the admiring gazes of Italian men.
Knowing they found her attractive made her walk taller and she had turned down
numerous invitations to ‘take a coffee together’ or ‘go out for a beer and
pizza’. During the last five days, she had wandered through Rome, taking in the
city’s monuments, museums, fountains and markets - and in five days she had
fallen in love with the Eternal City.

A week was a short time but already Kay didn’t feel like the same
woman who had struggled through Trastevere with an over-stuffed suitcase while
cursing her sister. She had just four days left before she had to board a plane
back to New Zealand and it surprised her to realise she was a little sad about
that.