Page 76 of Never

They laughed dutifully.

Tony said: ‘And how about religion?’

He meant:Are you a Muslim?

Abdul said: ‘My family are Catholics, which is not unusual in Lebanon.’

Lena said: ‘Is Beirut in Lebanon?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, who knew?’

Tony, who was more knowledgeable than his wife, said: ‘But I believe they have a different type of Catholicism over there.’

‘True. We’re called Maronite Catholics. We’re in full communion with the Roman Church, but we use Arabic in our services.’

‘A knowledge of Arabic must be useful in your work.’

‘It is. I’m also fluent in French, which is Lebanon’s second language. But tell me about the Sorrentino family. Did you start the business?’

‘My father had a liquor store in the Bronx,’ said Tony. ‘I saw him braving the bums and the junkies for a dollar profit on a bottle of beer, and I knew that wasn’t for me. So I opened my own store in Greenwich Village and sold expensive wine for a profit of twenty-five dollars on a bottle.’

Lena said: ‘His first ad showed a well-dressed guy with a glass in his hand saying: “My, this tastes like a hundred-dollar bottle of wine!” And his buddy says: “It does, doesn’t it? But I got it at Sorrentino’s and paid half that.” We ran that ad once a week for a year.’

Tony said: ‘Those were the days when you could get a good wine for a hundred bucks,’ and they all laughed.

Abdul said: ‘Does your father still have the original store?’

‘My father passed away,’ Tony said. ‘He was shot in his store by a guy who tried to rob him.’ Tony paused, then added: ‘An African American guy.’

‘I’m very sorry to hear that,’ Abdul said automatically, but he was thinking about Tony’s afterthought:An African American guy. You had to say that, didn’t you, Tony? he thought. It means:My father was murdered by a black man. As if no murders were committed by white people. As if Tony had never heard of the Mafia.

Annabelle took the pressure off by talking about her work, and for the rest of the evening Abdul mostly listened. That night Annabelle came to his room in her pyjamas, and they spent the night in each other’s arms, but they did not make love.

They never moved into an apartment together. Tony refused to lend them the deposit, but that was only the beginning of a family campaign to prevent her marrying Abdul. Her grandmother stopped speaking to her. Her brother threatened to have Abdul beaten up by some people he was ‘connected’ with – though he dropped the threat when he found out who Abdul worked for. Annabelle swore she would never give in to them, but the conflict poisoned their love. Instead of a romance they were living through a war. When she could stand it no longer she ended the relationship.

And Abdul told the Agency he was ready for undercover work overseas.

CHAPTER 11

Tao Ting came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and another around her head. Chang Kai, sitting in bed, looked up from reading the newspapers on his tablet. He watched her open the doors of all three closets and stand gazing at her clothes. After a few moments, she dropped both towels onto the carpet.

He drank in the sight of his naked wife and thought how lucky he was. There was a reason why millions of television viewers were in love with her. She was absolutely perfect. Her body was slim and shapely, her skin was the creamy colour of ivory, and her hair was luxuriant and dark.

And she was fun.

Without turning around she said: ‘I know what you’re looking at.’

He chuckled. ‘I’m reading thePeople’s Dailyonline,’ he said, pretending to protest.

‘Liar.’

‘How do you know I’m lying?’

‘I can read your mind.’

‘That’s a miraculous power.’