Luke finally got his breath. ‘Minnie, will you please tell me what this is all about?’
‘I’ll tell you in two words,’ she raged. ‘Eduardo Viccini!’
His groan and the way he closed his eyes in despair told her all she needed to know.
‘You do know the man I’m talking about, don’t you?’ she snapped.
‘Yes, I know. I gather you’ve met him.’
‘Yes, I’ve met him. He came looking for you today and said some very interesting things. You should have been more careful, Luke. You should have warned him that I knew nothing about the interesting little scheme the two of you had cooked up. You lying, treacherous, two-faced-’
She broke off as more tears came, furiously brushing them away, trying to deny them, but unable to stop because she felt as though something was crushing her heart.
‘Minnie-’ He reached out to her but she flung his hand aside.
‘Don’t come near me.’
‘Look, I’m sorry you met him like that-’
‘You’re sorry I met him at all. At least, you are if you’ve got any sense. I wasn’t supposed to find out that you were planning to betray the lot of us until it was too late, was I?’
There was careful movement inside the house as the sounds of altercation brought the rest of the family to doors and windows, but silently. Nobody wanted to miss this, certainly not Primo and Olympia, who stood, arms entwined, watching the last act of a drama that was partly their own. Hope melted softly into the shadows.
‘I have not betrayed you,’ Luke said. ‘Any of you.’
‘Oh, I suppose it isn’t betrayal to sell out to a development company-’
‘I haven’t-’
‘Don’t lie to me,’ she cried. ‘You’ll be telling me next that you’ve never heard of Allerio Proprieta.’
‘I’ve done more than heard of it. I formed it. Allerio Proprieta is me, with some backing from Eduardo Viccini. I’m the boss but I need his finance. What I’m planning is going to be expensive.’
‘I’ll bet it is, starting with clearing the whole lot of us out.’
‘No, I swear it. Everyone who wants to stay is safe. You’ve said yourself that I can’t force anyone out, and I’m not trying to. Offering them sweeteners is another matter.’
‘You admit it?’
‘I don’t admit anything,’ Luke said, ‘because I’ve done nothing wrong. If a man has something I want I’ll offer him a fair price for it. He’s free to say no, and if he does he’ll get no trouble from me. If he says yes, it’s because he’s gaining something, and that is fair exchange.’
‘Some of them are leaving already. You must have worked damned hard to bring that about.’
‘You mean Mario in number eight? He’s been offered a good job on the other side of Rome and he wants to live close to it. It’s a promotion, so he can afford a bigger home, which is fine because his wife is pregnant.’
‘And I suppose it’s coincidence that he was offered that job now?’
‘Coincidence, nothing! Eduardo knows someone who’s always looking for people with Mario’s skills. Their meeting was a success, and now Mario has the job of his dreams. Do you think he feels ill-used? I promise you he doesn’t.’
While she tried to find an answer to this, Luke went on, ‘What about the couple in number twenty-three? They want to stop renting and buy, but they haven’t got the deposit for the place they want. Or rather, they didn’t have.’
‘And you gave it to them?’
‘No, I’m not Santa Claus, it’s an interest free loan, and now they’re happy as skylarks. If you don’t believe me, ask them.
‘I could give you a dozen other cases. They’re not all attached to the Residenza as we are. For them it’s just a place to live for a while, then pass on. I’m just making it easy for them to do that.’
‘And what about my family?’
‘They’ll stay. Anyone who wants to can stay, but plenty will leave, willingly, and I can start work, making it a smart place to live.’
She was silent, confused and troubled. One thing he’d said was flashing in her mind.
‘What do you mean, we?’ she asked.
‘We?’
‘You said, “They’re not all attached to the Residenza as we are.” We?’
‘Yes, I love it. I plan to live there. That’s why Pietro is moving out of the flat next to mine, and into a small one lower down. Boy, did that cost me! I need both those flats so that I can knock them into one and have a place that’s big enough for two people.’
‘For-two?’
‘Yes, I don’t think that you and I can live in your present home. Better to make a fresh start in our own place.’
‘Whoa, you’re going too fast for me. Who said we were going to live together?’
Luke drew a deep breath. ‘Well, people who marry usually do that.’
‘And who said we were going to get married?’
‘Netta said it. And Charlie said it, and Tomaso said it, and every single person in your family said it. But they only said it because Netta said it first. Now I’m saying it. It only needs you to say it, and everybody’s said it.’
‘Wait a minute!’ She held up a hand to stop him. ‘Are you proposing that we get married just because Netta’s given her orders?’
‘Why not? Your mother-in-law is exactly like my mother. People do what she says, sooner or later. Face it, Minnie! Netta had it sorted on the first day, so we may as well give in now.’
She stared at him, aghast.
‘And that’s a proposal is it? That’s the great romantic proposal?’
‘Well, I’m not at my best in front of an audience,’ he said, jerking his head to include the crowd standing behind him, grinning now and relishing every moment.
‘You-you’ve got a nerve-you dare-’
‘I’m just doing as I’m told. You know I’m right about Netta. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s actually decided on the church. She’s probably even picked your wedding dress. What is it?’
Minnie had gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth.
‘Minnie-what is it?’
She couldn’t answer. The eerie accuracy of his prediction had taken her breath away. It was as though fate had tapped her on the shoulder and said, This way!
‘Santa Maria in Trastevere,’ she whispered.
‘Is that the church where we’re marrying?’
‘Netta says so.’
‘Has she fixed the date?’
‘Probably-Luke!’
‘Come here,’ he said fiercely, and pulled her towards him.
In the long, long kiss that followed the rest of the Rinucci family emerged slowly and quietly, until they were standing on the porch, watching with pleasure the two who were embracing in the patch of light below. Only Hope stood a little apart, holding her breath for the issue that she knew was still to be resolved.
‘How could you think I’d stoop so low?’ he asked when he finally released her.
‘I don’t know, but it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I trusted you.’
‘That’s not what you used to say,’ he said wryly.
‘Not to your face, maybe, but I always knew you were decent and honest, no matter how many insults I hurled at you. And then, when I thought you’d cheated us-it was as though the central pillar of the world had cracked. Until then, I didn’t know how much I minded. Luke, don’t you understand, it’s the most terrible thing that can happen, to trust someone you love and then find out they were betraying you?’
‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘I do understand that. And that’s why-’ he was holding her hands tightly ‘-there’s something I have to say to you, and I want you to listen well, because it’s important.’
‘Yes?’ She was looking at him with shining eyes.