Page 16 of ‘I Do’ for Revenge
Tommaso appeared again and whisked Benji away. Flora said redundantly, ‘Thank you, but I can take him out myself. I don’t expect your staff to dog-sit. Anyway, we’ll be leaving soon.’
Flora had been following Vittorio into a room off the living room. It was a dining room, through which she could see a kitchen and hear someone whistling. The domestic sound was comforting.
Vittorio pulled out a chair where there was a setting laid out. Flora sat down. Vittorio sat opposite her. He said, ‘It’s no problem. Tommaso is happy to help. So, where exactly are you planning on going?’
Flora was distracted by Sofia appearing with a light pasta starter that smelled delicious. She looked at Vittorio. ‘I’m sorry, what?’
‘You said you’ll be leaving soon. Where are you planning on going?’
Flora’s insides cramped a little. She didn’t have anywhere to go. And with a dog in tow that would be even more challenging. She affected an airy tone. ‘Oh, we’ll find somewhere. I have some contacts.’
‘Not many places will take a dog.’
Flora wanted to glare at him. She didn’t need to hear her fears articulated back to her. ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine.’ She speared a piece of pasta and put it in her mouth.
‘So far you’ve been on the streets, then in a hostel and then a women’s aid centre—your track record hasn’t exactly been...stellar.’
Now Flora felt defensive. ‘I did the best I could with what little I had. The wedding dress didn’t fetch as much as I’d hoped.’
‘You sold the dress?’
‘It was all I had to sell.’
She saw Vittorio go pale under his tan at the thought of her being driven to drastic measures, and said hurriedly, ‘It never came to that. It wouldn’t have.’
‘It could have,’ he said darkly.
‘Well, it didn’t. I sold the dress for a few hundred euros and that kept me going.’
‘It was worth thousands.’
Vittorio had bought the dress. Flora said, ‘The second-hand designer wedding-dress market isn’t as robust as you might think.’
‘You could have made a lot more for the engagement ring, but you left it behind.’
Flora recalled what she’d said to him. ‘I’m sorry for saying you had no taste. That wasn’t very nice.’
Vittorio pushed his half-finished plate away. He emitted a sound halfway between a bark of laughter and incredulity. ‘You’resorry? I’m the one who sent you out into the streets to fend for yourself.’
Flora squirmed a little. ‘You thought I had money.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Then he made a face and said, ‘I wasn’t exactly receptive to hearing your side of things.’
‘You could say that, yes.’
Sofia came and took the starters away and returned with mains of chicken in a white wine sauce with baby potatoes and salad. Flora tried not to behave like someone who hadn’t had a square meal in months, but it was hard.
She forced herself to leave some food on the plate and had to stop herself asking Sofia if she could bag up the leftovers for Benji. As if reading her mind, though, Sofia winked at Flora and said, ‘Don’t worry, Benji will get some choice pieces of chicken.’
Flora grinned at Sofia. Who would have known she’d find such a sanctuary in Vittorio Vitale’s home? She looked at him and he had an arrested expression on his face. She stopped smiling. ‘What is it? You keep looking at me as if I’ve got something on my face.’
He shook his head and cleared his throat. ‘The fact is that we both know that you’ve got nowhere to go.’
Flora sat up straight. ‘That’s not true, I have lots of...’ She trailed off and sagged back a little. She never had been much good at lying.
Sofia brought coffees and biscotti. Flora took a fortifying sip. As the tart strong drink went down her throat she said, ‘I’ll find something. It’s not your concern.’
‘Well, I think it is. I feel responsible for letting you go the last time without ensuring your well-being and security. I was distracted and blinded by besting your uncle. I don’t like to admit it, but you were peripheral to my agenda with him and this time I’m going to take responsibility for my actions.’