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He could get out.
Perhaps he evenshouldget out.
As he and the pilot both agreed, it would be a waste of vital resources to have a pilot and helicopter sitting idle, just in case Geo changed his mind.
But Nico could not leave his father to his fate alone.
And neither could he leave Aurora behind.
He looked over to her, lifting logs, doing all she could to keep the old man safe.
‘Right,’ he said walking towards her. She was filthy from the effort and he watched the streaks of ash grow as she wiped her forehead. ‘Leave the firewood to me. What else needs to be done?’
‘Aren’t you leaving?’
‘No.’
Their conversation was interrupted with the arrival of Aurora’s father. ‘Nico!’
Bruno greeted him warmly, as he always did—and that consistently surprised Nico. The fact that he had refused to marry his daughter should have caused great offence, yet Bruno had confounded Nico’s expectations and still treated him as a future son-in-law.
‘You will stay with us,’ Bruno said.
‘No, no…’ Nico attempted, for he didnotwant to be under the same roof as Aurora.
Or rather, he wanted to be under the same roofalonewith Aurora. He wanted to strip her off in the shower and soap those breasts that now had sweat dripping between them.
He was trying to hold a conversation with Bruno even as filthy visions of the man’s daughter flashed in his mind. What waswrongwith him?
‘So you’re too good for us now?’ Bruno demanded.
They all spoke from the same script, Nico thought as he dragged his mind from Aurora’s breasts. To refuse Bruno’s hospitality would be an insult, and although in his professional life Nico did not care who he offended, he attempted to do things differently here.
Like it or not, while his father was alive, he still needed these people.
More, though, he wanted to do the right thing.
‘You can have Aurora’s bed.’
‘No. Absolutely not!’ Nico would not hear of it.
‘She will be out tonight, at Antonietta’s birthday party.’
‘Aurora should be at home,’ Nico said. ‘With the threat to the village I thought the roads would be closed.’
‘The main one is, but some are open between the villages, and the threat has been here for weeks,’ Bruno said. ‘Life goes on, and Antonietta’s father is the fire chief. The firefighters are camping on his grounds so it is the safest place for her to be.’
Nico wasn’t so sure of that—and it had nothing to do with the fire!
‘I could be on lookout,’ Nico said, but Bruno shook his head.
‘It is Pino’s turn tonight. I did it last night. You shall stay with us.’
‘Well, thank you for your offer, ‘Nico said, ‘but I shall stay only if I sleep on the sofa.’
‘Up to you.’ Bruno shrugged.
Before dinner Nico checked in on his father, who had drifted off into a drunken stupor. Aurora was already there, and rolling him onto his side, making sure Geo would not choke should he become unwell during the night.
