Kitabı oku: «The Secret Kept From The Italian»

CHAPTER ONE

THE THIRTY-SECOND FLOOR of the office building was dark as Maisie Dobson pushed her trolley of cleaning supplies down the hallway, the squeak of the wheels the only sound in the ghostly building. After six months of night cleaning she should be used to the other-worldliness of the experience, but it still freaked her out a little. Although there were half a dozen cleaners in the building, they were all on separate floors, the rooms silent and shadowy, the lights of Manhattan glittering from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

It was two o’clock in the morning and her body ached with fatigue. She had a nine o’clock performance tutorial tomorrow, and she was likely to fall asleep in the middle of it. That had always been her dream—music school, not cleaning. But one meant the other, and that was fine. Maisie was used to working hard for what she wanted.

She paused as a light gleamed from an office down the hallway. Someone had left the light on, she supposed, and yet she couldn’t keep a flicker of unease from rippling through her, the little hairs on the nape of her neck prickling. No one had ever left their light on before; most of them were on automatic timers. By the time the team of cleaners arrived at eleven o’clock at night, the high-rise in Manhattan’s midtown was completely dark, everyone having gone home. Maisie pushed the trolley onward, the squeak of its wheels sounding even louder in the empty corridor, her heart beginning to thud.

Don’t be such a baby, she scolded herself. There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s a light, nothing more.

She stopped the trolley in front of the lit-up office and then, taking a quick breath, she poked her head around the half-open door... and saw a man.

Maisie stilled, every sense flaring. This wasn’t just any man, the usual paunchy corporate stiff staying late. No, this man was... Her mind spun emptily, trying to think of words to describe him. Ink-dark hair flopped over his forehead, and strong, slanted brows were drawn over lowered eyes, so his spiky eyelashes fanned his high, blade-like cheekbones. His mouth was twisted in a grimace as he contemplated the half-empty glass of whisky dangling from his long, lean fingers.

He’d taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, so a sliver of bronzed, muscular chest was visible between the crisp folds of cotton. He fairly pulsated with charismatic, rakish power, so much so that Maisie had taken a step into the room before she even realised what she was doing.

Then he looked up. Piercing blue eyes pinned her to the spot. ‘Well, hello,’ he drawled, his mouth twisting into a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. His voice was low and honeyed, with the trace of an accent. ‘How are you this very fine evening?’

Maisie would have felt alarmed or even afraid, except in that moment she saw such anguish in his eyes, in the harsh lines of his face, that her heart twisted inside her and she took another step into the room.

‘I’m all right,’ she said quietly, taking in the bottle of whisky planted on his desk that was mostly empty. ‘I think the real question is, how are you?’

The man tilted his head back, revealing even more of his throat and chest, the glass nearly slipping from his fingers. ‘How am I?’ he repeated. ‘That is a good question. A very good question.’

‘Is it?’ Maisie said. Something about the man’s intense sadness reached in and grabbed hold of her heart. She’d always had a lot of love to give, and so few people to give it to. Her brother, Max, had been the main recipient, but he was independent now, wanting to make his own way. That was a good thing. Of course it was. She just had to keep telling herself that.

‘Yes, it is,’ the man answered, sitting up and flinging his arms wide so glinting drops of whisky sparkled in the air and then splashed on the floor. ‘Because I should be fine, shouldn’t I? I should be fantastic.’

Maisie folded her arms. ‘Oh? Why should you?’ She was intrigued now, as well as empathetic. Who was this man? She didn’t think he worked here; she’d been cleaning this office building for six months and she’d never seen him. Of course, she hadn’t seen many of the men and women who worked here, coming in late as she did, and yet she couldn’t escape the sense that this man didn’t belong here, in a corner office on a middle floor of an anonymous building. He seemed too different, too powerful, too charismatic. Even drunk, as he had to be, he exuded both charm and strength, making Maisie’s stomach fizz in a way it hadn’t in a long time, if ever.

She pushed those feelings aside as she waited for his answer, for beyond this man’s potent sexual charisma he exuded a pain that reached out to her, inside her, and made her remember her own pain. Her own grief.

‘Why should I be fantastic?’ The man raised one dark slash of an eyebrow, an amused smile curving his mobile mouth. ‘For any number of reasons. I’m wealthy, powerful, at the top of my career, and I can have any woman I want.’ He laced his fingers together and stretched them over his head as he stared at the ceiling, a pose that seemed strangely sad and even vulnerable. ‘I have homes in Milan, London and Crete. I have a forty-foot pleasure yacht, a private jet...’ He lifted his head to laser her with a sardonic, bright blue gaze. ‘Should I go on?’

‘No.’ Maisie swallowed hard, daunted by that oh-so-impressive list. This man definitely didn’t belong here. He should be on the top floor with the vice-presidents and CEO, or have a whole floor to himself. Who on earth was he? ‘But I’ve lived long enough to know those kinds of things don’t make you happy,’ she told him, although she thought they probably helped a little. She couldn’t remember a time when money hadn’t been tight, the wolf panting and clawing at the door as she struggled to keep her and Max afloat.

‘You’ve lived long enough?’ Amusement flashed in the man’s eyes, along with a deeper interest. ‘You don’t look old enough to have left school.’

‘I’m twenty-four,’ Maisie answered with dignity. ‘And I am in school. Cleaning offices is my night job.’

‘It is night, isn’t it?’ He turned to stare out of the window, the lights of the Chrysler Building glittering against a dark and fathomless sky. ‘It is a dark, cold, black night.’

His flat voice, the utter bleakness of his tone, sent a ripple of apprehension through Maisie. She was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about the weather.

‘Why are you here?’ she asked softly. ‘Drinking alone in an empty office building?’

He didn’t answer for a long moment, his gaze still on the dark view outside. Then, like a dog shaking its wet coat, he turned to her with a sudden smile, bright and hard. ‘But this building isn’t empty, and I’m not alone.’ He fumbled for the glass he’d left on the table. ‘Why should I drink by myself?’ he challenged as he poured a full measure of whisky into the glass and thrust it towards her.

‘I can’t...’ Maisie said, taking a step back as if he’d forced the glass to her lips. ‘I’m working.’

He glanced around the room, that amused quirk lifting his lips once more. ‘Working?’

‘I clean this office building,’ Maisie said a bit stiffly. ‘This is the last office on the floor.’

‘Ah, then you’re almost done.’

She was, but it didn’t matter. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning and she had school tomorrow. ‘I still can’t drink,’ she said firmly. ‘And I really should get on with cleaning...’

He glanced around the room, with its desk, a couple of chairs and a leather sofa against the wall. ‘How much can there be to clean?’

‘I need to spray all the surfaces, empty the bins, vacuum...’ For some unfathomable reason Maisie felt herself blushing as she listed her humble duties.

‘Then let me help you,’ the man said. ‘And then we’ll have a drink.’

She stared at him in surprise, his suggestion completely unexpected. ‘You don’t—’

‘I want to.’ He sprang up from his chair with surprising alacrity, considering he had to have drunk most of a bottle of whisky, and plucked a spray bottle of cleaning fluid and a cloth from the bucket of supplies Maisie had left by the door. ‘Right, here we are.’ He swept his papers into a pile and then sprayed the surface of the desk while Maisie watched gormlessly. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.

Occasionally she’d stumbled across men or women who were pulling a late night at the office, and more often than not they allowed her to work around them while occasionally emitting deep sighs to indicate the inconvenience she was causing. She’d scurry around and then leave as quickly as she could, murmuring an apology.

The man had already finished wiping the desk and was now cleaning the coffee table in front of the sofa. He glanced at her, his eyes full of surprising laughter. ‘I’m starting to think you’re lazy.’

‘Who are you?’ Maisie blurted.

‘Antonio Rossi.’ He finished the table and then reached for the waste-paper basket under the desk and emptied it into the garbage bag hanging from her trolley. ‘And who are you?’

‘Maisie.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Maisie.’ He nodded at the vacuum cleaner behind her. ‘All that’s left to do is a quick vacuum and then we can have that drink.’

She was lovely. Antonio stared at the woman—Maisie, she’d said—in expectation. She looked stunned by his help, and he supposed he was a bit surprised, too. He didn’t normally help the cleaning staff, although there was certainly no shame in it. He’d had worse and lower-paid jobs in his lifetime.

But he liked the look of Maisie, with her tumbling auburn curls and wide green eyes, her curvy figure only partially hidden by the shapeless blue coverall she wore as some kind of uniform. He wanted to have a drink with her. He needed to keep forgetting, and over the years he’d found that alcohol was the best way to do that. Sex wasn’t far behind.

Slowly, still looking a bit shell-shocked, Maisie turned and reached for the vacuum. She plugged it in and then, impatient, Antonio reached for the handle. Her head jerked up in surprise, curls bouncing around her heart-shaped face. Freckles were scattered across her nose like gold dust.

‘I’ll do it,’ he said, and he whipped around with the vacuum, the noise filling the space and vibrating in his chest, only for the silence they were plunged into when he cut the power to feel expectant and hushed.

Slowly Antonio wrapped the cord around the handle while Maisie simply stared. He wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t feel a flicker of guilty unease at seducing a cleaner in an empty office building in the middle of the night. But then, she would either be a willing partner or she would walk away; was there really anything to atone for here? He already had enough sins to deal with.

Besides, it might not even go that way. Maybe she was married, or had a serious boyfriend. Except he didn’t think he was imagining the spark that had snapped to life between them when their eyes had met. Just to test it, he brushed her fingers with his as he put the vacuum away, and he felt a leap inside him as he saw her pupils flare. Yes, it was there. It was definitely there.

‘So,’ he said. ‘Shall we have that drink?’

‘I really shouldn’t...’

Already her willpower was starting to crumble. Antonio fished another tumbler from the desk drawer and poured a generous measure.

‘Shouldn’t is such a dull word, don’t you think? We shouldn’t let our lives be ruled by shouldn’ts.’

‘Isn’t that an oxymoron?’

He laughed, impressed by her quick wit. ‘Exactly,’ he said, and handed her a glass. She took it, her pale, slender fingers wrapping around it as she studied him.

‘Why are you here?’

‘I suppose it depends what you mean by here.’ He took a sip of whisky, willing her to taste her own. The burn of alcohol at the back of his throat and the ensuing fire in his belly were a welcome comfort.

‘In this empty office building, late at night, drinking by yourself.’

‘I was working.’ At least he had been, until the dark memories had started crowding in, taking him over, as they did on this day every year. And so many other days, as well, if he let them.

‘Do you work here?’ She sounded disbelieving.

‘Not as such. I’ve been hired for a certain job.’

‘What’s that?’

He hesitated, because, while the takeover was common knowledge, he didn’t want to encourage gossip. But then he decided she was harmless, and she probably didn’t know anyone who worked here anyway.

‘I assess the risks involved in a corporate takeover,’ he said. ‘And try to minimise loss and damage during the hand-over of power.’

Her eyes widened. ‘This company’s being taken over?’

‘Yes.’ He cocked his head, noting her look of alarm. ‘Do you know anyone who works here?’

‘Only the other cleaners. Will...will our jobs be at risk?’

‘I shouldn’t think so. Offices will always need to be cleaned.’

‘Oh.’ Her tense shoulders slumped a little in relief. ‘Good.’

‘Shall we toast to that?’ Antonio suggested lightly. ‘Yours are some of the only jobs that won’t be affected.’

‘Oh.’ Her mouth, lush and pink, turned down at the corners. ‘That’s sad.’

‘But not for you.’

‘No...’

He raised his glass. ‘Cincin.’

Slowly, so slowly, she took a sip of whisky, wrinkling her nose at the taste of the alcohol, but swallowing it without a splutter.

‘What does cincin mean?’

‘It’s a common toast in Italy.’

‘Ah.’ She nodded. ‘Is that where you’re from?’

‘Guilty.’ The word sprang to his lips and soured his gut. Guilty. He was so guilty, and not simply for his heritage. For so much more. Things he could never undo. Things he could never forget, even if he tried to let himself.

‘I’ve never been to Italy.’ She sounded wistful. ‘Is it beautiful?’

‘Parts are very beautiful.’

Maisie looked down, and then took another sip of whisky, shuddering a little as the liquor went down. ‘It tastes like fire.’

‘Feels like it, too.’ Antonio tossed back the last of his drink, savouring the burn, craving the oblivion. If he closed his eyes he’d see his brother’s face, the smile curving his mouth, his eyes sparkling, everything in him young and carefree for a moment. If he kept his eyes closed that face would change, turn lifeless and pale, the pavement beneath his head wine-red with blood even though he’d never seen his brother like that. Never had the chance.

That was why he needed to keep drinking. So he could close his eyes.

‘Why are you here?’ Maisie asked softly. She’d lowered her glass and was giving him a searching look, her eyes wide and so very green. ‘I don’t mean work. I mean drinking alone late at night.’ Antonio shrugged, about to say something dismissive about needing to work late, but then she skewered him with her next sorrowful observation. ‘You looked so sad. As sad as I’ve felt.’

The quiet admission pierced him right through. ‘You’ve felt...?’

Her lips twisted, her lashes sweeping down to hide her gaze. ‘My parents died when I was nineteen. When I looked at you, that’s what I thought about. You looked...you looked the way I felt then. Sometimes the way I still feel.’

Her honesty felled him. He’d never encountered such raw, simple truth, unvarnished, unafraid. It humbled him and it left him speechless. Finally he found some words, but they weren’t the ones he’d expected. ‘That’s because I’ve lost someone as well, and I was thinking about him tonight.’

What? He never talked about Paolo. Not to anyone. Certainly not to a stranger. He tried not to think about him, but of course he always did. Paolo was always on the fringes of his mind, in the corners of his soul. Haunting him. Accusing him. Making him remember.

‘Who did you lose?’ Her eyes were sad and yet full of compassion, her face so heartbreakingly lovely. Her auburn hair framed her face in a curly, fiery nimbus, and her mouth was lush, her expression open. Antonio wanted to sweep her into his arms, but more than that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to tell her the truth, or at least as much of the truth as he could bear to reveal.

‘My brother,’ he said quietly. ‘My little brother.’