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“You and your mom have been trying to make her go out with her friends for weeks! And now she finally does, you can’t hunt those friends down like they’re criminals.”
“As far as I’m concerned, they are criminals!”
“They are her friends. How is she going to feel when she finds out you have gone after them? She’s a teenage girl. She is going to be so embarrassed.”
“I don’t care. I only care about her being safe.”
“Don’t be so stubborn!” I said sharply. “Please don’t do anything that will upset her. You don’t know how cruel teenagers can be. I bet you were always popular. You never had anyone shun you, and that’s what they might do to her. It’s tough being a teenage girl. If you want to be kind to her, then you will choose a softer approach.”
The fierce expression on my face seemed to surprise him. He finally nodded, grudgingly.
“Thank you.” I kissed him on the cheek. “You go shower, and we can go down to breakfast together.”
He shook his head. “No, I need to—”
“You need to eat something. You look done in. And you being hangry isn’t going to be good for anyone.”
I half expected him to protest, but he nodded.
When we went down to breakfast together, his mother was not there. The housekeeper came in and informed us that Vittoria had sent Amara off for swimming, but hadn’t eaten anything. She jerked her head in the direction of the lounge next door.
I made her a plate of the things that I had noticed she liked to eat. A couple of mini pastries, a thick swirl of yoghurt with fruit, a piece of toast and one poached egg. I told Marco to take it through to her.
He did as I asked.
“How is she?” I asked when he returned.
“Exhausted. Upset. She blames herself for what happened. She also blames me.”
I bit my lip, feeling sad for Vittoria. She couldn’t even eat breakfast in peace in her own house after an emotionally exhausting ordeal because she didn’t want to face me.
“I should leave,” I said. “It’s not fair for me to be here after all this.”
“No!” he said harshly. He took my hands in his. “I need you, carissima. My mother will need you too, though she won’t admit it. And so will Chiara and Amara. Especially after Chiara comes home.”
I bowed my head, unconvinced.
He tipped my chin up with his finger and made me look at him. “Mamma wouldn’t even be having her breakfast without you. I sure as hell wouldn’t have thought to try and persuade her.”
I frowned. Swatted my hand on his chest to show him I thought this was completely unacceptable.
He chuckled. “Or I’d have taken her a pile of bacon and sausages, and she’d never have eaten that!”
We burst into laughter. I clamped my hand over my mouth and hushed him. I didn’t want her to overhear and think we were laughing after she had been through such a terrible night.
We ate our breakfast together. “When is Chiara coming home?”
“Probably not today,” he said. “The doctors want to keep an eye on her. Hopefully tomorrow.”
“I wonder what made her do it?”
He looked surprised at my question. “She’s a teenager. They always get up to some crap eventually. You can’t imagine half the stuff my brothers and I got up to. Poor Mamma. I never thought Chiara would give her a worse fright than we ever did.”
I shook my head. “But Chiara is not like that at all. She seems so sensible, if a bit cheeky and angsty. Not a party animal at all. Half the time she was refusing to leave the house. Your mother had to push her to accept her friend’s movie night invitation last night.”
“And boy, is she blaming herself for it now,” he said miserably.
“But that is my point. It’s not her fault. It’s like… something triggered Chiara’s trauma.”
