Chapter 27
Lucia was lounging in her king-size bed beneath luxury Egyptian cotton sheets, having a well-deserved rest after another flawless performance at La Fenice the previous evening, when there was a knock on the door of her suite.
‘Come in,’ she called. She stretched luxuriously, looking forward to the attractive sight of Massimo bringing her hot water with lemon and the morning papers. A few moments passed, then the knock came again.
‘Yes, enter,’ Lucia called out, more irritably now. What was wrong with Massimo? Why didn’t he just come in?
After the third knock, Lucia let out a scream of frustration, jumping out of bed and wrapping a silk dressing gown over her naked body.
‘What’s the matter, why didn’t you …?’ she began angrily as she wrenched the door open, then stopped in her tracks. The man standing in the corridor wasn’t Massimo. He was shorter, older, far less attractive. And he wasn’t dressed like a member of staff. For a moment, her heart contracted, and she felt a bolt of fear. Was he a crazed stalker who had somehow bluffed his way up to her room?
‘ Buongiorno , Signora de Santis,’ the man began, reaching into his inside pocket where he retrieved an ID card which he held up for Lucia’s inspection. ‘My name is Detective Roberto Gallo. I’d like to ask you a few questions.’
Lucia’s blood ran cold, but she pulled herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders, snapping into full diva mode as she threw her long hair out behind her and looked at him imperiously. She stood aside, letting him enter, then closed the door behind him.
‘Detective, what can I do for you?’ she asked coldly. ‘Would you like an autograph, is that why you’re here?’
An amused smile played across his face. She saw him discreetly looking around the suite, taking in the luxurious surroundings, and felt as though she had the upper hand. Looking at Detective Gallo’s scuffed shoes and shabby suit, she doubted he had ever stayed anywhere remotely as grand as this in his life.
‘No, that’s not why I’m here. Nice suite,’ he nodded. ‘I bet you’re used to this sort of thing.’
‘I’ve been very lucky,’ she answered airily, ‘but I have worked hard and earned this … comfort.’
‘We sure don’t have anything like this in Cannegia.’
Lucia raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. ‘There is very little of anything at all in Cannegia, Detective. That’s why I left at the first opportunity.’
He scratched his head and stroked his stubble in thought. ‘Except that’s not entirely true, is it, Miss de Santis?’
‘What do you mean, Inspector?’ she said coldly. ‘You’ll have to spell it out, I’m not a clairvoyant.’
‘Something did happen in Cannegia, a decade ago now. A young man went missing.’
‘I read about the case in the newspapers.’ Lucia pulled her dressing gown more tightly around her, uncomfortably aware that she was naked underneath. ‘Such a terrible tragedy.’
‘His name was Lorenzo Mancini. Did you know him?’
‘I don’t remember, Inspector. Cannegia is a small village, as you know, and it was a long time ago.’
Detective Gallo paced the room, strolling to the window and looking out at the view of Venice across the water, with its orange rooftops and pastel-coloured palazzos, domed churches and lofty bell towers. ‘Yes, you’ve done very well for yourself, Signora de Santis,’ he said, without turning round.
‘That’s a statement, not a question.’
Roberto reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph. Holding it up, he walked back across the room until he was at arm’s length from Lucia. ‘Tell me, do you recognize this girl?’
Lucia kept her face absolutely immobile, ensuring not a glimmer of emotion or a telltale reaction passed across it.
She knew who the girl was the instant she saw the picture; she would have recognized her anywhere, even a decade later. Staring at the photograph, Lucia was assailed by memories of Cannegia, of her childhood and adolescence, of everything that had happened in that small town. But she still didn’t betray a flicker of recognition.
‘I’m afraid I can’t help you, Detective,’ Lucia said, looking him straight in the eye. ‘I’ve never seen her before in my life.’
‘Hey, Iz?’ Brad Redford was rushing out of the door, on his way to set. He was filming a love scene today, and Issy found herself feeling envious of Alicia Park, the up-and-coming starlet who was playing Brad’s love interest in the movie, and who would get to spend the rest of the day passionately kissing a shirtless Brad Redford.
‘Yeah?’ Issy replied.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask, does the name Darlene Winters mean anything to you?’
Issy stopped dead, her mother’s maiden name sending a wave of fear washing over her, like cold fingers walking down her spine. She was wrapping up parcels that needed to be returned, and tried to continue as nonchalantly as she could, screwing up her face as though she was deep in thought. For a moment, Issy considered telling Brad the truth – admitting everything, and confessing all about her mother. Then she thought about what was at stake, and what she stood to lose. She thought of Brad’s trust in her, then imagined the way he would look at her if he found out what she’d done, and Issy heard herself saying, ‘No, it doesn’t … Why?’
Brad rolled his eyes. ‘My accountant called. There’ve been payments made from my card to this name, and he can’t tie up what they are – there’re no receipts or anything.’
‘That’s strange.’ Issy kept her eyes down, focusing on the bubble wrap and Sellotape. ‘Maybe it’s a clothing boutique, or a food delivery company, or something you’ve forgotten about.’
Brad shook his head. ‘I thought that at first, but then the last transaction was made a few days ago from right here in Venice, for five thousand dollars. I haven’t bought anything that cost that much – unless that snow globe was a lot more expensive than I realized,’ he laughed.
Issy tried to smile back but was overwhelmed by guilt and fear, nauseous at the thought of Brad discovering that she’d stolen from him. Buying the snow globe for her on the opening night of Carnival had been such a sweet gesture, yet this was how Issy had repaid him.
Her mother, Darlene, was behind on her rent, and Issy had wired her enough to cover the back payments – it was the largest amount she’d taken, and she’d been an idiot to think no one would notice. At the time, it had seemed as though she didn’t have any other options, but right now she felt sick, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Issy hated lying to Brad, and hated betraying his trust in her. She’d always intended to pay the money back when she received her next pay cheque, but recently it had got out of control, with her mother viewing her like a cash machine. The amounts had spiralled, and there was no way Issy could afford to return everything she’d taken; it would cost her every salary cheque for the rest of the year.
‘I’ll look through the receipts, see if anything jogs my memory,’ Issy promised, hoping Brad would change the subject.
‘Thanks, Iz. I knew I could rely on you,’ Brad grinned, and Issy felt like the world’s worst human being. She knew in that moment that she could never, ever let him find out that she’d taken the money – she would be fired without hesitation, and she’d never see Brad again. The thought was unbearable.
‘You’d better get going, you don’t want to be late,’ Issy chided, hoping he would leave soon so she could be alone with her guilt.
‘You’re right.’ Brad checked his watch and grabbed his bag. Then he hesitated. ‘There is one more thing I wanted to ask.’
Issy’s heart sank. She couldn’t cope with any more difficult questions today. ‘Yeah?’
‘I wondered if …’ Brad sounded uncharacteristically nervous, and Issy looked up from the growing pile of packages. ‘Do you want to go to the Doge’s Ball tomorrow night? It’s one of the most exclusive events on the Carnival calendar – by invitation only. Gina arranged tickets for me and Lexi, and it was supposed to be a surprise – but anyway, she can’t make it, and I thought maybe you and I could …’ Brad trailed off, the unspoken question hanging in the air.
Issy’s heart leapt, a rollercoaster of emotions racing through her, from shame and guilt at having rearranged his calendar to ensure Lexi couldn’t attend, to sheer joy and elation that Brad had invited her instead. ‘Yes! Yes, I’d love to,’ she cried. Then her face fell. ‘Oh, but I don’t have anything to wear.’
‘Oh, yeah, hey, just leave it with me. The organizer is a designer who makes costumes based on the theme of the ball. I’ll call her,’ Brad winked, his eyes dancing. ‘See you later.’
He swept out of the suite, and it was all Issy could do not to punch the air. She knew that her imagination was running away with her – Brad had only asked her because his wife , the incredibly beautiful, world-famous movie star Lexi Parker, couldn’t attend, Issy reminded herself. But she felt like Cinderella, finally realizing she could go to the ball with her very own Prince Charming.
Then she remembered her mother, Darlene, and just hoped that her fairy tale wasn’t about to turn into a horror story.
‘Anything I need to know?’
Gina had her daily update from Vittoria over coffee that morning in her office. It had been the usual catalogue of quietly insistent demands from their wealthy guests. One of them wanted a dog-massage session arranged for their pampered Pomeranian, while another was complaining about the colour of the water in the Lido.
‘Oh, yeah,’ said Vittoria, ‘I forgot to mention, we had a detective asking to speak to Lucia de Santis.’
Gina almost choked on her espresso. ‘What? A policeman – why didn’t you tell me before?’
Vittoria looked contrite. ‘Sorry Gina, this is the first chance we’ve had to chat to each other today. Anyway, he’s very discreet, you wouldn’t even know he was cop.’ Vittoria checked her notebook. ‘He said his name is Inspector Gallo, from Cannegia.’
Gina tried to keep her face neutral. ‘Did he say what he wanted?’
‘Apparently he’s looking for someone, some woman. We couldn’t really stop him, Gina.’
Gina took a deep breath. She was trying to think firstly of the hotel – police always unsettled guests and discretion was paramount – but beyond that her mind was screaming, What the hell did he want?
‘I’ll deal with this. Did he leave a number?’
‘I don’t think so, he isn’t staying here. He’s already spoken to La Leonessa.’
Damn.
‘Oh yeah, the other thing I needed to tell you is that La Leonessa is on the warpath again.’
Gina felt her heart sink. Could the two things be related?
Vittoria gave her an encouraging smile. ‘Anything I can do? Remember, la vita è come una fotografia. Se sorridi, viene meglio! Life is like a photograph. If you smile, it’s better.’
Gina knocked on the door of Lucia’s suite, her heart pounding. Once again, she’d been summoned by La Leonessa and, once again, she knew it wouldn’t be for anything good.
Lucia let her inside without saying a word. She looked immaculate in a white trouser suit, with no shirt beneath the jacket, only a diamond-encrusted bra. Gina tried not to feel intimidated by how rich and famous Lucia was, but it was as though Lucia was flaunting her glamour and wealth, a power play to keep Gina in her place.
‘Signora de Santis. How may I be of assistance?’ Gina said coolly.
‘How was your date with Marco?’ Lucia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Gina was shocked. ‘How did you …?’
‘That’s not important.’
‘You didn’t call me up here to talk about my personal life.’
‘Oh, you’re wrong,’ Lucia said, her eyes glittering dangerously. ‘I did. I called you up here to tell you to keep your grubby little paws off Marco DiMaggio.’
Gina shook her head in disbelief. ‘I don’t understand. Why—’
‘No, clearly you don’t understand,’ Lucia cut her off. ‘It’s very simple, I’m sure even you can get your pretty little head around it. Stay away from Marco, or your shameful little secret might just end up splashed across the newspapers.’
Gina’s thoughts were racing, her mind full of unanswered questions. What did Lucia want with Marco? And why did she want it badly enough to threaten Gina? Gina didn’t want to stop seeing Marco – they’d had a perfect evening together, and for the first time in a very long time, she’d found someone with whom she could envisage a future. Would Lucia really follow through on her threat? And was Gina really prepared to risk everything to find out?
‘A detective came to see me earlier,’ Lucia continued, as though she knew exactly what Gina was thinking. ‘He showed me a photograph. I told him I didn’t know a thing – that I didn’t recognize the young girl in the picture. But who knows, my memory might suddenly come flooding back, and I don’t think you’d want that, would you, Gina ?’
Gina felt anger rise in her; who the hell did Lucia de Santis think she was? ‘I’m not sure who you are confusing me with,’ she said coldly, ‘but my personal life is none of your business.’
Lucia laughed cruelly. ‘Oh, but I think it is, and you know it, too.’
Gina needed to think quickly to neutralize the situation.
‘Marco is here to work on the filming and my job is to facilitate that. That’s all. Anything else is purely your imagination. Now, if there is nothing else, I wish you a good morning. Massimo is here for your day-to-day needs, as you know.’
A sneer crept across Lucia’s face. ‘You can’t hide from the truth, Ms Bellini .’ Lucia emphasized her surname . ‘Just stay away from Marco.’
The two women glowered at each other, before Gina turned swiftly on her heel.
Once she had left, Lucia swept across the room and picked up her phone. She scrolled to her agent’s number and placed the call.
‘Bianca? I need you to cancel tonight’s performance. Don’t ask why, just do it. I have an understudy, don’t I? Well then, she’s just got her big break.’
Lucia hung up and looked out of the window over the Venice cityscape, inhaling deeply to bring her breathing back under control. It was all going exactly as she had planned. In Lucia’s world, everything always turned out just the way she wanted it.