‘But you weren’t serious, were you?’ he asked, sounding slightly alarmed.
Choosing not to answer this, she diplomatically closed her eyes and pretended to doze for the rest of the journey.
When they reached home he came upstairs with her, and it was only when they were in her apartment that she said, ‘Actually, I wasn’t joking back there. I’m going to Naples and I’m going to stay in that luxury hotel while I look around. I’m due for some time off. I haven’t had any for ages, and you can authorise it. It’s simple.’
‘It’s not a good idea.’
‘It’s a wonderful idea. It’s fate. And after what happened tonight I’m even more certain that this happened because it had to.’
After what happened tonight. That stopped him in his tracks.
‘Jack, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking-about the way things are going.’
‘I know,’ he said slowly.
‘You know what I want and how determined I am to get it. It doesn’t make me a nice person, but I can’t change. I simply have to go for my goal.’
‘Primo Rinucci. But he isn’t here.’
‘I know. And he’s never going to be here, I see that now. So I must go to him.’
‘What?’
‘That’s what I mean about fate. I can work on my Italian, learn some Neapolitan. It’ll give me better chances than staying here.’
‘But what about Curtis? It was your ambition to take over.’
‘Well, maybe the world doesn’t begin and end with Curtis. Maybe I’m broadening my horizons.’
‘Which means-?’ he asked suspiciously.
‘Ambition alone is not enough,’ she declared with the air of someone quoting eternal truth. ‘Ambition plus flexibility yields results.’
He stared at her. ‘Who said that?’
‘I did.’
‘I mean, who said it first?’
‘I did. You just heard me.’
He passed a hand over his eyes, trying to get control of his thoughts.
‘You sounded as though you were quoting an authority,’ he explained.
‘I was. Me.’
‘Oh, well, in that case-!’ he said wildly. ‘Why not jot it down and put it in a book when you’re running the Stock Exchange? Notes On How I Did It. You too can rule the world. Just roll over everyone like a steam-roller.’
‘How dare you call me a steam-roller!’
‘It’s that or a three ton tractor. Take your pick.’
‘Jack, where’s your spirit of adventure?’
‘It passed out under the table in the nightclub, and as far as I’m concerned it can stay there. Olympia, what’s got into you? It’s bad enough for you to be laying traps for this poor fool-’
‘Don’t call my benefactor a fool!’
‘So now he’s your benefactor?’
‘He will be, when I’ve finished with him.’
‘Then he is a fool,’ he said recklessly. ‘And so are you for hunting him down, because it’ll frighten him off.’
‘He won’t even know. I’ll just turn up in Naples, look around-’
‘You’re out of your mind.’
‘You mean you won’t help me?’
He took her shoulders, shaking her very slightly as though this would get him into her head.
‘Olympia, you’re living in a dream world. It’s a delightful fantasy, but not if it means turning your back on what’s happening between us.’
‘We’re having a pleasant flirtation. It’s lovely, but it doesn’t lead anywhere. We enjoy each other’s company and then pass on. That’s always been the deal.’
‘I don’t remember making any deal.’
‘I was always honest with you. You knew my terms and you didn’t refuse them.’
‘Then I guess I just hoped you’d soon see things a bit more clearly. I don’t think it’s all on my side. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t feel anything for me.’
‘After tonight, I can’t. But I won’t let it happen. I felt something like that once before, and I know where it leads.’
‘I know where it would have led if you’d stayed with him. You saw him in the nightclub. You saw his wife, what marriage to him has turned her into. Be glad you escaped.’
‘I am glad, but that’s hindsight. All that kind of thing is over for me. You’ve always known that.’
‘All right, I’ve known it, but I’ve tried not to believe it. And I won’t believe it now. You keep trying to make me think badly of you-’
‘I want you to see me as I am,’ she flashed. ‘I’m hard and cold-’
‘You weren’t hard and cold in my arms tonight.’
‘That’ll never happen again. I won’t let it.’
‘Stop it,’ he said fiercely, seizing her in his arms and giving her a little shake. ‘Don’t talk like that. I forbid you.’
‘Who are you to forbid me?’
His answer was to tighten his grip and pull her hard against him, kissing her with something close to ferocity.
For a moment she tensed against him, but then her refusal melted in the warmth and sweetness he could inspire in her with such treacherous ease.
‘This is who I am,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘Don’t you recognise me now?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered, kissing him back.
‘You know me-you know me-’
She knew him. He was the one who haunted her dreams, resisting all attempts to banish him. She would escape him now while she still could-while there was time-but there was no time-
She kissed him again and again, each time promising that this would be the last.
‘How can you leave when we have this?’ he demanded hoarsely.
‘Don’t you see, it’s because we could have this that I’m doing what must be done.’
‘You mean you’re running,’ he said scornfully. ‘Running like a coward who’s afraid of life.’
The words were bitter, brutal, but he couldn’t help it. The pain of her rejection was intense.
‘Maybe I am,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want to feel all that again, Jack, and you frighten me. You could take me to a place where I don’t want to be-’
‘If we were there together, like tonight-’
‘It will never happen again. I won’t let it.’
He drew apart from her, gasping.
‘Wait here,’ he said through gritted teeth, and walked out of the room without a backward glance.
He went all the way downstairs before he called Italy on his cellphone, taking no chance of being overheard. First he called Cedric Tandy.
‘Cedric, I know it’s late but I need a favour from you-’
It was a short call, very satisfactory, and ended with him saying, ‘Cedric, you’re a lifesaver. Go back to bed now.’
Next he spoke to Enrico, who wasn’t best pleased at being hauled out of bed, but who also agreed to what Primo wanted, because people always did. After nearly half an hour he returned to Olympia. Secretly he was glad she’d forced the issue, driving him to a decision.
‘It’s settled,’ he said when he rejoined her. ‘I’ve been telling them about you and Leonate wants me to take you out there so that he can get to know you.’
‘And what then?’
‘You’ll work in Naples for a while, then in a few months you’ll know what you want to do. You may decide you want to return here and run Curtis. If so, you’ll make a better job of it for having worked at the centre of things. Or you may decide that you like Naples and want to keep your job there.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’m flying out with you and staying for a while, to see you settled in, but I won’t be living at the hotel. I have an apartment.’
‘Wait, I can’t get my head round this. Who’ll run Curtis while you’re away?’
‘Cedric. His retirement package contains an option for another six months.’
‘Does it? I saw it and I didn’t see anything about another six months.’
‘It’s a recent development,’ he said hurriedly, not choosing to tell her how recent. ‘It gives me a breather while I make decisions about his replacement. He won’t mind if I invoke that option. It keeps your options open too.