The Italian Inheritance (6 page)

They walked across
a tiled entrance hall, through a big arch
typical of Mediterranean style properties
and into a
dark
kitchen
. Vialli flipped
a
switch and Anna gasped in delight
for t
he kitchen could have been from
one of her Italian cookery books
.
It was rustic, with wooden beams in the ceiling, sporting a couple of different sized hanging baskets. The floor was like the entrance hall, laid with big, textured terracotta tiles. The stove was modern, set amidst wooden cupboards with granite tops which doubled as work surfaces. There
were
even strands of hanging garlic and
drying
herbs.

“Have a seat.” Vialli motioned to a table positioned beside a huge wooden framed window
. “I don’t know about you, but I need a cup of coffee.”

Without waiting for a reply h
e put the kettle on and grabbed two mugs from an overhead cupboard.

Anna sat at the sturdy table and looked out of the window. The kitchen overlooked
a little courtyard
decorated
with an assortment of pots and urns
. Outside the sky was brightening. It w
ould
soon be morning.

“This is a lovely kitchen,” re
marked Anna
trying to make conversation
as he
spooned filter coffee into a glass plunger
.
No such thing as instant for this guy.
She wondered briefly if there was a Mrs. Vialli around.
The kitchen was
so neat and tidy and the hanging garlic and herbs definitely
reflected
a woman’s touch.

Vialli grunted
, clearly not in the mood for
small talk
,
so Anna lapsed into silence. She watched as he plunged and poured the steaming dark liquid into two mugs
,
one of which he set
in front of her. 

“
Thanks.
”
She wrapped
her hands around the warm mug,
letting the
heat fortify her.

Vialli
leant against the counter
, sipping his coffee and
surveying her.
Anna waited for him to speak. Her eyes fluttered to his chest.
Why didn’t he go and put on a shirt?
His naked torso was
distracting.
Perfectly formed pectorals merged with bulging deltoids and an impressive trapezius.
Okay, she was a maternity nurse, but her training still meant she was well
placed to admire such
superior
muscular definition.
Basically
,
the man was build like a god.
Lucky Mrs. V, if there was one.

“I think you’d better start from the beginning,” he said eventually. “And please tell me who
this
Lara is and what baring she has on this case?”

“Lara?” Anna laughed
in surprise
. “Lara is my house mate. We live together
in London
. She has nothing to do with this, except she tried to convince me not to come.”

“I see...” said Vialli, still looking confused.
“
So w
hy did you come to Italy
against your friend’s advice
?”

Anna rolled her eyes.
They’d been through all this before. He probably hadn’t
paid any
attention yesterday.
Come to think of it, he had been rather distracted.
“I told you yesterday.
I was going through my mother’s things when I found a
letter.” She looked at him pointedly. “T
he one I showed you.
”

“The one addressed to my office?”

“Yes. And once I’d read it, I realised
Giovanni
could
be my biological father. So I came to
Italy to
check it out.”

“That’s it? You came because of the letter. You had no other proof that Giovanni was your father?”

Anna shook her head
. If only she did
.
But then as she’d said before, nothing in life was ever easy.

“No, in fact up until I found the letter, I thought my father was killed in the Middle East. That’s what my mother told me anyway. I had no idea he could still be alive and living in Italy.”

Vialli
placed his empty cup on the counter top. Anna hadn’t touched hers yet
.
“So you
have no other information
about Giovanni Albertosi?”

“Nothing.
I don’t know where he lives, or what he does. I don’t even know what he looks like.
” Anna gazed up at him
,
well aware that he was her only hope.
Please let him be compassionate enough t
o help her?
At the moment those dark eyes were giving away nothing.

“How can he be your
birth
father if you have no other information about him? Surely your mother would have said something to you over the years.
There must be papers...
”
The thought had crossed her mind too. It was a valid point.

“She died when I was very young.”
He didn’t need to know the details.
Sadly there was no paper trail of her father, whoever he was. Her birth certificate
had a blank space
under
the section,
“
F
ather’s name.
”

Vialli
looked
at her curiously. At least that was better than the suspicion of a few minutes ago.
“The letter is not conclusive. There is no way to verify it.”

“I know, but it’s all I ha
ve
to go on.
Can’t you see?
I came because I need to know for sure.”

Vialli nodded slowly. Anna prayed she was getting through to him.
“Will you tell me something about him?”

The eyes narrowed again.
“What makes you think I know anything?”

Anna sighed.
Come on
. Give me a break. Why all the cynicism?

“Well, he’s your client for starters, which means you must know something about him.
Like what he
does
or where he lives.
” She studied his expression closely but Vialli didn’t react, so she continued, “
Obviously he trusts you
, since you screen everyone who comes looking for him
. You’re also incredibly loyal considering you won’
t let me near
him
and I’m hardly a threat.
”

She saw him wince and knew she was on the right track.
He was overly protective of
his client
for some reason.
Giovanni
must be super-
wealthy or something.

“Will you help me?” She stared up at him pleadingly. When he didn’t immediately reply she added, “You are my only lead. If you
d
on’t help me...” She looked down at her hands.
“
I don’t know what I’m going to do
.
”

If he didn’t help she’d have to go home. There was no point in running around Capri breaking into properties trying to find a clue to Giovanni’s whereabouts. That was
foolish, desperate behaviour—a
nd she was neither. Okay, maybe she was a tad desperate to find her father, but he was the only living relative she had.
Surely that justified a small degree of desperation?

“Ms. Crawford...” he began, thoughtfully.

“Please, call me Anna.”

“Anna. To be honest with you I can’t decide whether you’re telling the truth or you’re just a very good liar.”

“Liar! But I...”

“Please, let me finish.” He held up a hand. Anna looked down at her cup. This couldn’t be happening. She’d really thought at last she was getting through to him.

“You broke into my property
in the middle of the night
. That is not a good indication of your
honesty
.
”

Anna blinked back tears of frustration. It was five in the morning actually, but she got the point. Breaking in had been an utterly foolish thing to do, but it was done, and she couldn’t undo it, so there was no point in crying over spilt milk. Granted, it didn’t paint her in a very good light
,
but he’d left her with so
few
option
s
.

“So what do you expect me to do now?” she asked him plaintively. “Go home? Is that it? I must just go back to London when I might well be Giovanni’s daughter?”

Vialli leant forward, putting his hands flat on the table. He gazed directly into her eyes as if daring her to dispute him. “
I’m afraid I can’t write a
ten
million dollar cheque just because you
might be
Giovanni Albertosi’s long lost daughter.”

Anna stared at him in astonishment.
Did he just say
ten
million dollars? This was getting weirder by the minute.
“I don’
t want
ten
million dollars,” she snapped. “
I just want to meet my father.
Why is that so difficult to understand
?”

Vialli ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Because Giovanni Albertosi left
ten
million dollars to an unknown
illegitimate
heir in his will.”

Anna’s head started to spin and she felt sick.
What had he just said?
She didn’t give a hoot about the money. Her mind could only focus on what his words meant.

He couldn’t be... Surely not... Not now that she’d finally found him...After all this time...

Her hold on
the
coffee mug tightened
. “You mean....he’s...he’s...?” she stammered, unable to say the words.

“Yes.” Rafael confirmed her worst fear. “Giovanni Albertosi is dead.”

If Anna wasn’t sitting down she would have fainted.

“No...” she whispered beginning to shake. “I don’t believe it.” She stared desperately at Rafael. “When did he die?”

“Six months ago.”

Anna dropped her head into her hands. It wasn’t fair. She’d come all this way, after all these years only to miss him by six months. Life was so cruel. She’d been orphaned at the age of twelve, then when she finally found out she did have a father, he died six months before she got to him. The bile rose in her throat.

“Excuse me,” she whispered, rising from the table. “I need to use your bathroom.” Vialli pointed back towards the entrance hall. Anna ran.

Inside, she
leant
back
against the cold wall, gasping for breath. He was dead. Her father was dead. She shook her head in disbelief.
It was hard to believe what was happening. After coming all this way to see him, he wasn’t even here. Oh, the irony! Anna nearly sobbed with despair. She’d so badly wanted to meet her father.
Even if she never saw him again, just the fact that she had a dad would have been enough. It would have meant she wasn’t an orphan. She had a family. Now she’d never have that. She’d never know for sure that he sired her, or what happened between her mother and Giovanni that caused them to split up. Her multitude of questions would remain unanswered for eternity.

With supreme willpower she managed to get her breathing under control. It wouldn’t do to fall apart now.
For the last thirteen years she’d survived on her own, knowing
, or rather thinking,
she was an orphan. She’d learnt to depend on herself, something she
was proud of. Look how far she’d come? She had a good job
at the hospital, great friends and one day she’d have a husband and lots of kids. Life was good.

So her father was dead.
Big deal.
She hadn’t known him anyway.
Theoretically she was no worse off than before.

At that point her legs turned to jelly, so she
collapsed
on the edge of the toilet seat.
That was the problem. She hadn’t known him. If she’d just gone through her mother’s things a year ago... That damn box had been in the attic for years. She would have found the letter and got
ten
to Giovanni before he’d died. At least then they would have had some time
together. Now he’d never know that he had a daughter either.