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It was her decision. But asking her to do what she really was best at seemed reasonable enough. She’d seemed to enjoy commenting on the draft report, and she’d made a very thorough job of it. So Gabriel gave Clara another couple of reports to read through.
The sea breeze and the sun kissed her cheeks, where he couldn’t. Wearing something that blended in became a matter of summer dresses, and shorts and T-shirts for hikes along the beach. His parents both liked her, and he saw his father showing her around the walled garden at the side of the house, which was his pride and joy, delicate plants protected from the wind by high brick walls.
‘Nice flower.’ When Clara joined him on the balcony outside his private sitting room, Gabriel nodded towards the bright bloom that she’d pinned to the front of her dress. ‘That’s quite a compliment, you know. My father doesn’t give flowers to just anyone.’
Clara smiled. ‘He’s very kind. And he knows so much about all the different plants. He’s even got some that are medicinal.’
‘Well, that’s the best of both worlds for him. He likes plants and he’s got an interest in medicines as well.’ Gabriel stared out at the tranquil sea.
‘All that digging must be hard work. He’s not getting any younger.’ Clara dropped the remark so casually that anyone would think it had no point to it. But Gabriel knew that it probably did. Clara seldom said anything without weighing it up first.
‘He’s never asked me.’
‘Funny. That’s the same thing he says about you.’
Gabriel puffed out a breath. He loved it that Clara wanted to help, but there was no changing his relationship with his father. Not even Clara could work that kind of magic.
‘My father and I...we co-exist. He’s a part of my life and I’m a part of his, but if we spend any appreciable length of time together we end up arguing.’
‘He talks about you, though. He was telling me about teaching you to swim when you were little. Teaching you and your cousin how to climb...’
The thought of those days made Gabriel’s heart ache. He’d had a great childhood, and he owed that to a man he hardly even spoke to now.
‘It’s hard to explain, Clara. Things were a lot simpler when I was a kid, my parents were a bit over-protective but I understood why. They just wanted me to be all right, and it was easy enough to fulfil that ambition for them.’
‘And now?’
‘Now? He wants to retire, but he needs to find someone to continue in his place. He’s handing everything that he’s worked so hard to build over to me. What kind of son and heir would I be if I refused to take it on?’
Clara frowned, and Gabriel reached out, brushing the back of her hand with his fingers. ‘I appreciate that you care, Clara. My father and I get on best when we don’t spend too much time alone together. We know how to play nice with each other when we’re with family or in the boardroom.’
‘Have you never told him that you’d prefer to keep working with the charity you’ve built? That you don’t want to take over DeMarco Pharmaceuticals?’
‘No. It’s my duty to take over from him. I’m the only son he has left.’ That was fixed, and there was no way to escape it. But it hadn’t happened yet... Gabriel rose from his seat, looking out at the sea. ‘Would you like to come swimming?’
‘Forget about tomorrow and live for today, you mean?’ Clara always seemed able to read his thoughts.
‘Yeah. I’ve got a video conference with Alistair and then the Dream Team in an hour, and I could do with a bit of exercise first to clear my head.’
Clara nodded, taking the flower from her dress and dropping it into the half-drunk glass of water by Gabriel’s chair. ‘Okay. A swim sounds nice. I’ll race you down there...’
* * *
That evening the four of them had gathered around the huge kitchen table as usual for dinner. Clara had worn the flower on her dress and received a smiling compliment from his father, which was much the same as the one that Gabriel would have given her if he’d felt able to.
His mother was smiling, and they lingered over dessert and coffee. Clara was becoming the glue that held them together. Almost as if this was a proper family again, instead of a broken one.
As the days went by, Gabriel began to see the strain that his father had been under. There had been questions about DeMarco Pharmaceuticals’ ability to properly test the new drug, which had to be answered in detail. His father had been called away for the day to attend a press tour of their new manufacturing plant, to deflect allegations that the conditions for their workers were below standard, and arrived home looking more world-weary than Gabriel had ever seen him.
He was at a loss. He knew he should have been there for his father, but his attempts at support were dismissed. When his father raged, it was Clara who calmed him, with her businesslike daily report of the security situation, which gave practical ways in which each issue was being handled. If there had ever been any doubt about the value of bringing her here, it was dispelled. Gabriel could rest easy that his own personal reasons could stay well hidden.
They’d been in Italy for a week when she called the family to the kitchen table, making sure that everyone was sitting down and had coffee before she spoke. It was either a very bad sign or a very good sign, and Gabriel wondered which.
‘I’m happy to tell you that we have solid evidence against the people responsible for the attacks on your family.’ There was real warmth in her sudden smile. ‘Because these attacks involved computer hacking, an attempt to do Gabriel physical harm by drugging him and various other criminal activities, it’s now a police matter.’
His mother clapped her hands together, smiling. All she needed to know was that the family was safe. Gabriel needed to know more.
‘Heidi... Has she been exonerated?’
