Prologue #3
His air of suppressed excitement made her put down her fork.
‘What? Is there a celeb at the hotel?’ Como city was the travellers’ gateway to Lake Como and, occasionally, a personality made an overnight stop at Villa Panorama, when staff would joke that the guest was on their way to George Clooney’s villa.
Only trusted staff and family members were permitted to supply room service to the honoured visitors sequestered in the luxury suites on the topmost floor, accessed discreetly via an exclusive lift.
When Rocco and Mairead had owned the hotel, the top floor had been for storage or live-in staff, and the lift had been the service lift, but Sheenagh and Ferdinando had completely transformed both.
‘Celeb? No.’ Leo’s eyes shone with excitement.
Jade made a series of wild guesses. ‘You’ve won the lotto? You’re going to play for AC Milan? Or drive for Ferrari F1?’
Leo tilted his head, as if solemnly considering these options, before giving way to her curiosity. ‘You remember I shared a house in Edinburgh with Bryce? He’s working at a big, new events centre now.’
‘Is he coming over?’ It didn’t seem madly exciting to her, but Leo had spent his university years living with his friend so it might be big news to him.
He’d even taken advantage of Bryce’s contacts to spend a couple of summers working at the Edinburgh Festival rather than coming home to Como sunshine and prosperity.
Leo shook his head, then took a gulp of wine. ‘He’s recommended me for a job! I applied and took a video interview. And it’s mine if I want it.’
For a second, Jade shared his jubilation. ‘That’s fantastic. But won’t your parents mind you leaving Villa Panorama? Where’s the events centre?’ Then she noticed the spark of apprehension in his eyes and her heart pitched. ‘Oh. Bryce doesn’t live in Italy . . . the job’s in Scotland.’
‘England,’ he corrected her, taking her hand.
‘A swanky place outside Birmingham. It’s owned by a big chain so there will be opportunities to progress.
’ His eager words began to trip over one another.
‘The venue isn’t open yet. They’re recruiting.
There are loads of roles you could apply for too.
We could live together in the city. What do you think? ’
Jade’s tongue felt frozen to the roof of her mouth.
He squeezed her fingers and laughed awkwardly. ‘Sorry if I’ve taken you by surprise. I’m excited. It’s all happened so quickly – literally over two days.’
Her mouth refused to smile back. She had to swallow before her words would come out. ‘I’m not going, Leo.’
His brows, darker than his hair, sank slowly over eyes that no longer shone.
‘Without even seeing what roles are available for you? Are you annoyed that I didn’t tell you about my application and interview?
I’m sorry. It happened fast.’ He gave her hand a tiny shake.
‘Come on, Jade. We’re twenty-three and there’s a big world outside of Como.
I know it’s fantastic here,’ he added hastily.
‘It’s beautiful and historic, but it can’t grow because it’s hemmed in by mountains and the lake.
It can’t change, because nobody wants it to.
I want to experience places that are developing instead of always traditional and controlled. Something different.’
Unwelcome images of concrete and glass buildings soaring twelve or more storeys above crowded motorways slid into her mind.
She licked dry lips. ‘I’d let myself forget how ambitious you are,’ she said huskily.
‘You went to uni when I didn’t. But I suppose I thought.
. .’ She freed her hand to lift her wine glass, shaking, to her mouth.
Just this morning, Gran had said that Sheenagh hoped Jade would be enough to keep him in Como.
Pain seared her heart to realise that she wasn’t. First Joey, then Geneva. And now Leo.
He leant forward as if that would help him understand, his body heat reaching for hers across the table.
‘I should have talked to you before I went applying for jobs.’ His gaze was guilty, and though he was twenty-three, the same age as Jade, today he felt younger – or at least less mature.
All the time he’d been a student and working at Villa Panorama – only until something better came up, it now seemed – Jade had been living real life, gradually easing the pressures of Pensione Three Sisters from Gran’s shoulders to her own.
She tried to smile, though her wobbling lips wanted to turn down at the corners instead of up. ‘I won’t abandon Gran.’
A frown had replaced his earlier laughter and light. ‘Surely Mairead wouldn’t hold you back?’
Now he felt like a stranger. She shoved back her chair, rising unsteadily. ‘I wouldn’t give her the choice. I’m all she’s got. Leaving her – leaving Como – would feel like wearing my skin inside out.’ She turned towards the door.
Leo jumped up, towering, loud and incredulous. ‘You’re not even staying to talk?’
Jade cast a last look at his bed across the room. All day she’d been picturing herself there, her limbs tangled with Leo’s, his mouth on her skin. But that was before. Before she realised how naive and foolish it was to expect Leo Sartori to stay in Como. With her.
She shook her head and quietly let herself out – of his apartment and his life.
She’d never trust so readily again.