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‘I’m on that…’
‘My wife?’
‘She left by the south-west door, heading in the direction of the sunken garden, twenty minutes ago.’
Lifting a finger in acknowledgement, Dante picked up his pace, leaving the military figure behind.
Bea dropped the flower she had just picked and froze, trying to figure out if she was having a dizzy spell or… The answer to her question came in the form of a deep primal subterranean roar that went on and on, it felt like for hours. She wasn’t swaying but the ground was.
It stopped, and there was a total silence. Not even a bird sang or a bee buzzed, then, as if a switch had been flicked, individual sounds began to emerge from the silence. The noise built; there were cries from all directions mingling with the distant sound of sirens.
Beatrice hadn’t moved; there’d just been an earthquake. What did she do, stay outside or go indoors? The sounds were mostly coming from the buildings.
She was still standing in frozen indecision when a familiar figure wearing running shorts and a gym vest appeared. She let out a sigh of relief. Dante was here; things would be all right. It might be illogical when you were dealing with the forces of nature, but she believed it. But he didn’t know she was there.
Tears ran down her face as she tried to cry out, but nothing came, then, it was a miracle, just before he would have vanished from her eyeline, he turned.
A moment later he was racing towards her.
His name was lost in the warmth of his mouth as he grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her into him. Crushing her as he kissed her with the hunger of a starving man.
When the kiss stopped, he lifted his head. ‘Beatrice, you’re safe…you’re safe… Oh, God!’ he groaned, dragging his hands down either side of her face, framing her delicate features, a mixture of frustration and fascination stamped on his face.
‘I want…this is…’ Teeth clenched, he set her away from him. ‘We experienced an earthquake.’ Unable to take his eyes off her, he ran his hands up and down her arms as he scanned her face. ‘There may be aftershocks. You can’t be here. Are you hurt?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m fine. So that was an earthquake.’
‘Yes.’
He sounded very calm and maybe it was catching because she could breathe again without panting. ‘I’m scared.’
‘Yes.’
‘I want to help…’
‘No—no, you don’t.’
Hands on her shoulders, he led her firmly back in the direction she had just come into the open green space of the gardens. He pushed her down on a stone bench and squatted down beside her.
‘Listen carefully. I have to go,’ he admitted, frustration etched in the strong lines of his face. ‘But I won’t be long. You stay here and if… There might be aftershocks and if there are, just get under this.’ He patted the bench. ‘You’ll be safe, and I’ll be back.’
She nodded. ‘Be careful.’
Already feet away and jogging, he turned and grinned over his shoulder, waving a hand as though he were off for his morning run.
An hour later, Dante was relieved to see Bea sitting in the same place he had left her, but she seemed to have been joined by a dog.
The dog gave a warning growl when he approached, then licked his hand when he offered it. By the time he knelt beside Beatrice they were best friends.
‘He just appeared,’ she said, adding urgently, ‘The earthquake, Dante?’
‘So, right, first indications are it’s not too bad.’
‘Thank goodness!’ She hadn’t really been conscious of how high her tension levels were until they lowered, leaving her knees literally shaking as she reached out to stroke the fawning dog.
‘What does not too bad mean?’ she pressed cautiously as he pulled himself to his feet. It was weird that she loved the fluid grace of his movements, even at a time like this.
‘Riota had the worse of it.’
