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‘I can feed the firefighters,’ Aurora responded. ‘Anyway, Pa says the village is safe.’
‘Aurora…’ Nico kept his voice even, but fear licked at his throat at the thought of her staying here.
The village was not safe. Far from it. Nico had, after all, just viewed the fires from the sky, and heard the worrying comments from his pilot, who was ex-military. Bruno, Aurora’s father, was probably regretting his foolish decision and just putting on a brave face.
‘Leave.’
‘No.’
He persisted. ‘Come with me now and get out.’
‘I already told you—no.’
‘I could insist…’ Nico said, and it angered him when she snorted.
Did she not get that the village was going to go up in smoke and that the fire would destroy all in its path?
‘I could just put you over my shoulder—the same way I am tempted to do with my father.’
‘And then what, Nico? What will you do with me in Rome?’
He gritted his teeth.
‘My father would not object,’ she said. ‘In fact, all the villagers would come out and cheer if you carried me off.’ She gave him a smile that did not quite meet her eyes. ‘But then you would surely return me, Nico, and that wouldnotgo down very well.’
No, Nico thought, it would not. ‘Don’t youeverthink of leaving?’ he asked.
‘Why would I?’ Aurora shrugged. ‘La famigliais everything to me. Give me good food and family and my day is complete. What more could I want?’
‘You should deepen your voice, Aurora,’ Nico said, ‘when you impersonate your father.’
‘But I wasn’t impersonating him.’
‘No? You’ve heard it so often you believe it to be your own thought.’
‘Why do you have to criticise?’
‘I’m not.’
‘Oh, but you are.’
Nico took a breath. Aurora was correct. Hewascriticising—and he had no right to. Especially when she did so much for his father.
He addressed that issue. ‘You still haven’t sent me your bank account details so that I can pay you for the time spent with my father.’
‘I don’t count it as work.’
No, she saw it as duty. Nico knew that.
Even though he had not married her, she had taken on the role of caring for his family.
‘Aurora…’
‘I don’t have time for this, Nico. I want to move the firewood away from your father’s home. I thought my brother had done it…’
‘Give me a moment,’ Nico said.
Walking away from the house, he took out his phone and made a call to his pilot.
