The American Contessa (8 page)

Speeding
north along the A1, Luca reflected on the last four days in Montepulciano.
 
The whole trip had been a complete
fiasco.
 
His interest in being at the
family’s country home had vanished within a couple of hours of arriving. Even
the news that his prize mare was with foal hadn’t provided him with any
enjoyment.

All
he could think about was the woman who didn’t want anything to do with him, the
woman he couldn’t have. The fact that she was in Florence and he wasn’t drove
him mad.
 
What was she doing?
 
Who was she with?
 
He had to return to Florence as soon as
possible.
 

Departing
within minutes of his decision, he couldn’t help observing that his
sub-conscious was way ahead of him.
 
He’d
been in Montepulciano four days and hadn’t yet unpacked.
 

Luca
pondered what he would say to her when he saw her.
  
It was quite apparent that he was “persona
non grata” as far she was concerned.
  
And although they had both agreed to stay clear of each other, he knew
he could no more stay away from her than stop the tide from coming in.

Arriving
in Florence by noon, he went directly to her hotel.
 
He had to see her; had to know if this misery
was his alone.
 
Banging on the door of
her room, he was met with unmitigated silence.

Damn!
 
She wasn’t in.
 
Looking down at his watch, he saw that it was
one o’clock.
 
Of course!
 
She must be out somewhere having lunch.
 
This could take some time then.
 
Lunch in Italy was not taken lightly –or
shortly.

Luca
sat down on the terrazzo floor with his back against her door.
 
He’d wait until she came back.
 
And while he waited he’d formulate a plan
that couldn’t fail to get Gaby to at least want to spend time with him.
 
The heat and desire was considerable between
them, he just needed the time and opportunity to fan the flames.
 
All the protestations in the world that they
shouldn’t be together wouldn’t deter him.
 
No-one would stand in his way –not even Gaby!
 
He had to make her his, and his she would be!

The
hours passed slowly, and as they ticked by, the feeling of expectation and anticipation
was replaced with despair and hopelessness.
 
Where was she?

Making
his way to the concierge, they told him what he had feared in his heart.
 
She had checked out the day he’d left for the
country.
 
She was gone.
 
Gaby was gone.

*****

Gaby
looked towards the door of the library warily.
 
Returning after an exhausting day of shopping, Carmina had retreated to
her bedroom for an afternoon nap and left Gaby to her own devices.

The
shopping trip had been more for Carmina’s benefit than her own, as she did no
more than window shop and carry her friend’s parcels and bags.
 
Although she appreciated Carmina’s kindness
in letting her stay at the Villa, there was no way she would frivolously spend
the money she was saving on accommodation buying non-necessary items.

When
touring the Villa on the night of her arrival, Gaby knew there was really only
one room she really wanted to see.

The
library.

Her
Grandfather had mapped out for her the exact whereabouts of the necklace’s
hiding place.
 
But on viewing the library,
Gaby was overwhelmed with apprehension.

This
was no ordinary room.
 
The ceiling had to
be about thirty feet high or more.
 
Staircases lead to balconies overlooking the main reading area, and
seemingly endless aisles of books reminded her of a City or University
library.
 
Gaby was awestruck.

Under
normal circumstances her love of the written word would have had her drooling
in anticipation of examining and reading some of the first editions the
Manetti’s possessed.
 
But instead, all
she could think about was how to locate the book with the hidden compartment; the
book that contained the necklace.

Her
Grandfather’s backup plan had been quite ingenious.
 
Appreciating that capture was constantly a
distinct possibility, he always had a plan in place that would ensure that if
he had to make a hasty departure, the stolen property would not be found on his
person.
 

Knowing
that the Manetti library housed thousands of books, he knew the bogus hardcover
he’d had constructed would be lost amongst the masses.
 
The fact that the title she was looking for
was “Crime and Punishment”, struck Gaby as ironic and humorous, and totally in
keeping with Gran-pop’s character.
 

Gaby
pulled the hand drawn map out of her back jeans pocket.
 
Her Grandfather had sketched it to the best
of his memory, but sixty years had passed.
 
His memory or the library could have altered substantially since
1952.
  

She
climbed the marble staircase to the second level and turned right as per the
map’s direction.
 

There
it was.
 
The window that Gran-pop had
told her he’d used to escape the Villa.
 
Looking down at the map once again, she counted how many aisles she
needed to pass to get to the one he had marked with a large red cross.
 
Gaby hesitantly walked in the required
direction counting in her head as she went.
 
According to his instructions, the book should be on the second shelf
from the bottom, three books in from the right.
 
Kneeling in front of the bookcase, her eyes searched the titles.
 

*****

Gaby
returned to her room to change for dinner.
 
Picking up her cell phone, she dialled absently as she looked through
her closet for something suitable to wear.

He
answered on the first ring.

“The
book’s not there.”

“What
do you mean, it’s not there?” her Grandfather said crossly.

“Just
that,” Gaby replied.

“Did
you follow my instructions to the letter?”

“Yes,”
she said softly.
 
She could hear the
exasperation in her Grandfathers’ voice.
 
He really needed to calm down.
 
It
couldn’t be good for him.
 
“I’ll find it
Gran-pop,” she continued.
 
“Something
must have happened in the last sixty years since you hid it, but I promise I’ll
try and find it.”

“I
know you will,” he said seriously. “I know you won’t fail me.”

Disconnecting,
Gaby sighed thinking about the enormity of what she’d promised.
 
Finding that book was going to be like
finding a needle in a haystack.

**********

Throwing
his bag down on the bed, Luca shucked out of his wrinkled shirt and jeans and
headed for the shower.
 
The realisation
that Gaby was gone was a fact he didn’t want to face.
 
Why did she affect him so?
 
Dumbfounded, he shook his head in wonder and
started the faucet.
 
He had to find her.

Placing
his hands on the shower wall, Luca bowed his head and allowed the hot water to
run over his neck and back.
 

Closing
his eyes, he summoned the memory of her touch on his arm; the fire in her eyes;
her smile. His breath became ragged with need.
 
Slowly his hand drifted down his body to stroke himself.
 
To release the stress in his tightly coiled
body.
 
It wouldn’t take much more than the
thought of it being Gaby’s hand touching him, to push him over the edge.

Luca
groaned.
 
This was insane!
  
He had never resorted to fantasizing about
any woman in this way.
 
Be damned if he
would start now! Angrily, he snatched his hand away, and set the water to cold.

“Luca?
 
What are you doing back from Montepulciano so
soon?” Carmina enquired with a smirk.

Making
his way down the staircase, Luca’s mouth was a grim line.
 
The cold shower had not helped his mood any,
in fact it had only pointed how pathetically desperate he had become –and all
because of some silly American woman.

“Are
you staying for dinner, brother?”

“No,
I’m not hungry,” he barked.

“But
it’s Veal
polpetta,
one of your favourites
…,”

“Carmina,
where is she?” he demanded, standing before her with a hint of anguish in his
eyes.

“Who?”

“Don’t
play dumb with me.
 
You know who?” he
said with an unwavering stare.

“If
you mean Gaby, perhaps I should ask.
 
What is it to you?” she asked innocently.

“It’s
nothing to me,” Luca lied with conviction.
 
“
She
means nothing to me.”

Carmina
shrugged.
 
“Then why is her whereabouts
of any importance?”

Luca
grunted at her and she giggled.
 
Turning
from him, he grabbed her arm roughly.

“Did
she return to America?”

“Not
yet,” Carmina retorted.
 
“And I won’t
tell you any more if you bully me.
 
Others may put up with your temper tantrums, but not me Luca.”
 

Luca
dropped his hand from her arm and looked defeated.
 
“I’m sorry.”

“That’s
better,” she answered with a small smile.

“Please
tell me.
 
Where is she and when is she
leaving?”

Laughing,
Carmina pointed to the top of the stairs.
 
“Why don’t you ask her?”

Luca
followed her finger to where Gaby stood gripping the railing and looking down
at him.
 
His stomach lunged at the sight
of her and he held his breath.
   
He
could feel himself falling towards her.
 
As she started to descend the staircase, he swallowed hard and tried
valiantly to compose himself.

Gaby
bit her lip.
 
What was he doing
here?
 
Appearing without any forewarning
was making her stomach flip-flop like she was on a trampoline.
 
She only hoped he couldn’t tell how desperate
she was to see him again.
 
His eyes bore
into her and she was afraid that she may fall down the stairs.
 
As she reached the bottom rung, he grasped
her hand and she felt a spark zip between them.
  

“Gaby,”
he whispered, almost a sigh.

“Luca,”
she replied uneasily, removing her hand from his.
 
“You’re not supposed to be back for two
weeks.
 
I thought you were spending some
time in the country with your prized horses.”

Luca
smiled faintly. “I tried.
 
But I suddenly
realized that Florence holds an attraction for me that I couldn’t ignore.”

Pretending
not to understand his meaning, Gaby murmured softly, “Well, I can understand
that.
 
Florence is an exciting city.”

“Yes.
Exciting,” he said breathily, “And …, unforgettable.”

Carmina
interrupted, breaking the spell.
 
“Well,
I’m all for extolling the virtues of our hometown, but dinner is waiting for
us.
 
Besides, you’ll have plenty of time
to catch up, now that Gaby is our houseguest.”

“She’s
our what?” he stammered clumsily.
 

“Our
houseguest.
 
Gaby is staying with us for
the remainder of her stay in Florence,” Carmina clarified.

Luca
looked somewhat dazed and Gaby exchanged glances with Carmina.
 
She knew he wasn’t going to be happy with the
arrangement, and she raised her eyebrows in a way that said “I told you so”.

“Now,
Luca,” Carmina was on the defensive, before he could even reply.
 
“It took some convincing on my part to make
her stay.
 
And don’t you dare make her
feel uncomfortable about it.
 
We have
plenty of
your
so-called friends come
to stay often enough.”

Holding
his hands palm up at her, Luca shook his head.
 
“Okay, okay.
 
It’s just a surprise
that’s all.”
 
He turned to Gaby.
  
“A wonderful surprise.”

Luca
grinned at Gaby and she couldn’t help but beam back.
 
She’d expected him to put up a humongous
fuss, but he was all charm and smiles.
 
Go with the flow girl, but be careful, she told herself determinedly.

“Accompany
me to dinner Gaby?” he asked, offering her his arm.
 
Gaby blinked back at him and nodded.
 
Obviously their pact to keep their distance
was quickly falling by the wayside. And, quite frankly, she brightened at the
notion.

“I
thought you weren’t hungry?” Carmina smirked, leading the way to the dining
room.

“I’m
starving,” Luca confessed, his eyes devouring Gaby.
 

*****

Luca
was at his charming best all through dinner.
 
Telling witty stories and anecdotes and keeping her dizzy with his
attentiveness.
 
But Gaby found that it
was his easy exchange with Carmina that drew her in.
 
Their conversation was honest and unaffected,
and Gaby learned more about him in those few moments than she had since she’d
met him.

By
the end of the meal, the three of them were talking and laughing like old friends.
 
But there was nothing friendly in the look
that Luca gave her, when Carmina announced she was going to retire for the
evening.
 

His
lustful gaze panicked her into proclaiming that she, too, was ready for
bed.
 
Luca’s eyebrow rose at her
declaration and she shuddered with awareness.
 
One thing was for certain, she wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight!