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‘Say you do not discuss your personal life with the press.’
‘Personal...but won’t he think that you...me... I...?’
‘He already does, but people do not print anything about me unless they are very sure of their facts.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m not known for sitting back and, erm,takingit.’
‘My visit to Grandpa would have been a mistake, wouldn’t it?’
Her expression prodded his sympathy into life. ‘Who knows?’
‘I said goodbye via video call.’
‘That went well...?’ he said, studying her face.
‘No... Yes... That is, one of the trustees answered initially and I could hear him in the background and then Grandpa looked directly into the camera. I’m not sure if he could see me but he...he just...snarledat me to keep my mouth shut or I’d regret it... He looked...’
The protective urge to comfort her, even if that comfort was based on a false premise, was too strong for him to combat. ‘Do not overthink it. He is not himself most of the time.’
Her smile still held an edge of the seeds of suspicion he had seen in her green eyes, the suspicion he knew that she would not admit even to herself.
‘That’s true. Other times, though, he is sharp as a tack. He doesn’t always know who I am when we play chess but he wins...he genuinely wins.’
‘And when you return, I imagine he will not know you were away.’
She nodded. ‘I suppose you’re right. The staff have said they will let me know if there is any...change in his condition. So how long is that likely to be, do you think, before the job is over?’
‘Shall we just call this an open-ended arrangement? Unless you want something less irregular...a contract with—’
‘No, that works for me.’ That was probably what all the women said to Soren before he broke their hearts... Luckily this was a purely business arrangement.
One of the flight attendants passed and Soren spoke to her in Italian. ‘I’m having a coffee. Would you like anything?’
‘I usually have a brandy before take-off to steady my nerves... It’s sort of a...thing for me...’ The effect of hanging in the air in a large lump of metal that any enterprising bird could down if it felt so inclined did not even make the same page as flying with this man. ‘Is it too late now, do you think?’
His lips quivered. ‘I thought you didn’t like brandy.’
‘I like landing a lot less and it doesn’t really matter what it is.’
‘Fair enough, anaesthesia it is.’ He turned to the attendant and said something rapid in Italian.
‘So, you were brought up speaking three languages,’ she said enviously.
‘Everyone in Iceland speaks English. I learnt Italian later on—’
‘Your mother didn’t...sorry, I’m being... Thank you.’ She smiled in gratitude as the attendant brought her drink.
‘My grandfather had some sort of dynastic marriage arranged for my mother, but she met my father. When they married my grandfather disowned her. She never spoke Italian to me or spoke of the Vitale family.’
His matter-of-fact delivery was almost as shocking to Anna as the facts themselves.
‘So, my grandfather was your father’s friend, not just colleague?’
The muscles around his jaw quivered as he fought to maintain his languid pose, resisting the urge to reveal the truth, reveal that the old man she revered was actually a callous, manipulative, lying bastard.
‘He knew all the family.’
‘I really don’t understand why he never spoke of his time in Iceland.’
He tilted his head in a neutral acknowledgment; he didn’t trust himself with any other response.
