Page 32

M a video-calls Pa the minute we lock up and I’m forced to endure a joint telling-off before I make my escape to the roof terrace.

But I have another reason for being up here.

I cross to Giulio’s side, practising my apology in my head as I knock on his door and wait for the sound of his footsteps.

But the silence stretches on. Is he so angry I blabbed to Ma, that he won’t even talk to me now?

That’s when I hear it – a familiar drawl behind me.

‘Looking for me, Scotland?’

I spin around, blinking in surprise, to find Giulio lounging in the hammock. ‘Wait – have you been there this whole time, just letting me knock like an idiot?’

‘It’s my hammock...where else would I be?’ His legs are so long he can push off the balustrade with his feet to make it sway.

‘Yours?’ I point to the railing dividing the terraces. ‘But it’s on Nina’s side.’ As soon as I say the words, they sound ridiculous even to my own ears. I can’t imagine Nina relaxing there...or anywhere. Ever.

Giulio sits up, balancing easily, and I envy his irritatingly effortless grace.

‘It’s sunnier here in spring,’ he explains.

‘By summer, though, it’s cooler on my side.

’ The corner of his mouth hitches up as he adds, ‘I was going to move it back, but this annoying girl showed up. She was so... stressata , I figured she needed it more than I did.’

I plant my hands on my hips in mock outrage, but I’m working hard to hide my own smile. He’s teasing me...and if he’s teasing me, he can’t be angry. My relief is...is...

Telling? Inner Isla supplies in a dry voice.

‘Did it ever occur to you,’ I counter, ‘that you were the one stressing this poor girl out?’

‘Me? I’m too much of a gentiluomo to ever do that.’ His grin is bright in the darkness, but it’s definitely not gentlemanly. Especially when he shifts and pats the spot beside him. ‘Look...I’m even willing to share.’

I hesitate for a second. Inner Isla snorts. You share so much already – the bar, Nina’s troubles, her favourite Roman hotspots. Go right ahead. I would.

I sing a little tra-la-la in my head to drown her out and attempt to sit back into the hammock, smooth and Giulio-style...but it shifts and rocks beneath me. I shoot a suspiciously blank-faced Giulio an accusing glare. ‘You’re doing that on purpose!’

I grab hold as it lurches sideways, my arms windmilling, my legs flailing for balance.

And then Giulio’s arms wrap around me, pulling me to him. Steadying us both.

We are close.

Awkwardly close.

Closer than on the Vespa. And this time, we’re face to face – our breath mingling in the few centimetres separating my mouth from his. And I seem to have developed an extra sense – one that is purely for him.

‘Comfy, Scotland?’

Hardly. The whisper of his words sends goose-bumps up my spine and, ommioddio , I don’t think I’ve ever felt less comfortable in my life. My heart is pounding in my chest, my throat...even in my fingertips.

He watches with an amused smirk and I scramble for something to say. Anything at all.

‘I’m sorry I told Ma.’

Agh! No! Not that!

Giulio looks up at the dark haze of the sky. ‘It had to come out sooner or later.’

‘I suppose.’

‘And maybe your mum will have some other ideas we can use along with the Vespa.’

My hand hovers over his forearm, not daring to touch him. ‘You heard Signora Pedretti. She said not to do any deals with Bertolli...that he can’t be trusted.’

Giulio’s big brown cow eyes are serious for once. ‘I could never enjoy it again. Not if Nina loses the bar just because I wanted to keep it. I know you think she’s not my family...’

I cringe at the memory and dip my chin, not realizing there’s so little space I’ve practically buried my face in his chest. I jerk my head up again and take a deep breath.

‘Look, I’m sorry I said that. I get it now.

I was...jealous. I’ve been away for so long and.

..I felt like you were taking my place. ’

Oddly, I’m more relieved than embarrassed by my confession. Today is a day for truths.

Giulio’s soft laugh stirs the frizzy strands of hair around my face. ‘And I thought you would take mine.’

I blink. ‘Me, take Golden Boy Giulio’s place? That’s ridiculous!’

He fake-scowls at the nickname. ‘ Davvero? Is it? Because I was worried she’d be so happy to finally have her actual granddaughter here, she wouldn’t need me any more.’

My lips part in disbelief. We’d both been thinking the same thing all along, worrying we’d taken up too much space in the other’s life. It’s as if I’m seeing a whole new side to him, a side that understands exactly where I’ve been coming from, a side that sees the real me.

‘And how do you feel now?’ OK. I really wish I’d worded that differently...and that my voice wasn’t so breathy. And did my body really strain towards him without my say-so?

The hammock is perfectly still now, but everything around us feels like it’s tipping...waiting. It’s just us, balancing between the old and new understanding we have of each other.

‘Now . . .’ Giulio’s lips are a mere whisper from mine . . . brushing them as he murmurs. ‘Now I feel . . .’

‘Livia!’

Ma calls up from the bottom of the stairs and Giulio and I startle like a jump scare in a horror film. The hammock rocks wildly and...

‘Uh-oh!’ Giulio’s eyes widen.

Before either of us can stop it, we tip right over, crashing on to the terrace floor in a jumble of limbs and heavy fabric. My elbow jabs into his side, and I groan as his chin bumps against the top of my head.

We untangle ourselves, red-faced but grinning like idiots.

‘Ma has impeccable timing,’ I mutter, half embarrassed, half exasperated, as she calls again, asking if I’ve seen her favourite cat pyjamas anywhere.

If only she knew what she just interrupted.