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The door swung open and Ricco made his way inside. The large man made his way to Salvatore Snr’s side and after offering him a hand, he pulled him up to standing.
Has he told Ricco?
I would be pleased for his sake if he had. I was convinced even without seeing his notes that the worst of the cancer was in his spine, just by the way he moved. And I was certain he needed help with many day-to-day things.
‘You’ve done well, Nipote.’ He smiled over at me. ‘Why don’t you go and catch up with Gi, until Salvatore gets back?’
And just like that I was superfluous to his requirements. Coming around his vast desk I gently placed my lips on the ring he offered me and moved myself quickly from his presence.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SERAFINA
‘That’s wonderful…Yes, yes… I can get a copy of that over to you right away.’
‘Once we have that, Serafina, then we can set a date for you to start. So, let’s take down some particulars… it’s Dr?’
‘Dr De…’ For a split second I paused. I thought about how long it may take to change the name on my degree and then how stupid I would be to change it, when my maiden name could possibly offer me a small amount of anonymity.
I cupped the old-fashioned phone and glanced around the vestibule where the antique phone was situated, making a note in my head to get my mobile phone sorted out.
‘It’s Dr Giordano.’ Aware that my voice had quietened, I looked around again using all my senses to check I was still alone.
‘Dr Giordano. And your address?’
I all but whispered my family’s address. As the anxiety rose inside me at my deception, I started to shift my feet on the tiled floor.
I could hear the administrator tapping away on the keyboard as he repeated the details I’d just imparted.
‘I’ll need your e-mail address please?’ I enquired.
‘[email protected],’ he confirmed.
I repeated the information out loud just the once and committed it to memory as Maria our housekeeper passed me carrying some clean bed linen. I gave her a quick smile of thanks.
‘Thank you. I’ll get what you need sent over today. Will you let me know when you’ve received it?’
‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘If everything is okay at your end…’ I glanced quickly at the stairs to visually check that Maria had gone. When I heard one of the bedroom doors at the far end of the corridor upstairs close, I carried on, ‘Could I start next week? I’m very interested in palliative care and feel I could learn a lot from you.’
‘We are always happy to welcome new volunteers, especially those who have medical training. So, I see no reason why not.’
‘Grazie, Pedro. I’ll email you within the next hour.’
‘I look forward to receiving your e-mail… Ciao for now.’
‘Ciao.’
I blew out a quiet sigh of relief. I didn’t find it easy keeping secrets and the guilt was beginning to weigh heavy on me. I hadn’t slept properly since Nonno had sworn me to secrecy, four days previously. I had worked out from a young age that I wasn’t that good at lying. Constantly having to make sure my body language didn’t give me away. Not biting into the side of my cheek when Salvatore had returned daily and asked what I’d been up to and how my day had gone. Walking daily on the beach to keep up appearances when my head, if not my heart, was occupied elsewhere as I tried to negotiate how I was going to achieve everything Nonno had asked of me.
Even though each night we had sated our needs in each other, and I’d fallen asleep wrapped up in his arms, I was convinced Salvatore was becoming aware that something wasn’t right. Now, I needed to tell him I was going to be volunteering at the hospice, without disclosing why palliative care was suddenly so important to me, and I needed to leave out the name I’d be volunteering under.
The mess of untruths had my mouth drying and my stomach flipping over.
The audible dialling tone permeated my thoughts and suddenly aware that I was still holding the heavy phone in both hands, I replaced the receiver into the cradle as carefully as I could.
The sound of it ringing almost immediately, caused me to stifle a gasp. Snatching the phone off the hook, I took in a deep, hopefully calming breath before I answered.
