Lucy Gordon: Her Italian Boss’s Agenda

‘The other one-put a stop to it-?’

‘Primo, the one who stands about scowling at you and Luke. Watch out for him, because he’ll block it if he can.’

‘I’ll be careful,’ Olympia promised. ‘But don’t count on my marrying Luke. Things aren’t always what they seem.’

‘Don’t be silly, dear. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Goodbye, now.’

Three days later there was news from England.

‘Mamma’s done it!’ Luke announced triumphantly as he came off the phone. ‘Don’t ask me how, but she’s made Justin and Evie see sense and the wedding’s going to take place here, next month.’

Olympia spent an evening with Hope, who was happily deep in wedding plans. She had a natural gift for organising that was almost as great as Olympia’s own, and soon the entire family had been turned into lieutenants, scurrying hither and thither at her command.

Justin, Evie and Justin’s son, Mark, were to stay at the villa and arrived two days early.

‘I know it’s not usual for the bride and groom to start from the same house,’ Hope said to Olympia, ‘but neither of them has a home here, and this way I can keep an eye on them.’

‘You’re afraid they’re going to escape you again,’ Olympia teased. Hope laughed and didn’t deny it.

Toni and Primo, newly returned from England, went with her to the airport to greet them, and that evening everyone congregated at the villa. Olympia was immediately taken by Evie’s wit and her ready laugh, which obviously covered a sharp intelligence. Justin was an interesting man, apparently harsh, yet seeming to cling to Evie. If she left his side his eyes followed her around the room.

Mark was already a favourite with the family and now he won Olympia’s heart with his cheeky antics and his happiness at being there. After Hope, he was the person most anxious for the marriage to take place without delay.

‘He’s a bit like Primo, when I married his father, Jack Cayman,’ Hope confided. ‘He wanted a mother so badly. I’ll never forget the way he smiled when he finally felt certain of me.’

But that certainty had proved an illusion, Olympia thought. His ‘mother’ had been taken from him and, although she had been restored later, he’d never felt completely safe again.

Hope’s use of the name Jack Cayman brought a host of other memories back. Now she saw how Primo’s early experiences had shaped him. Beneath the apparently solid self-confidence was something rootless, constantly mobile, as though he were seeking something that could never be found.

It didn’t take much insight to deduce that much the same was true of Justin, whose life had been built on even greater confusion. Snatched from his mother at birth, he had later been rejected by his adoptive parents and abandoned in an institution. He’d reached manhood angry and bitter, caring for nobody, ready to do anything.

Against all the odds he’d made something of his life and was now a wealthy man and the head of a huge firm. But the scars remained and they had made him reject Evie, who loved him, for her sake. Now, thanks to Hope’s intervention, things had come right for them, and the whole family had joined to wish them well.

Since Primo had been the one to find him first, Justin had asked him to be his best man. Toni was to give the bride away as Evie had no family. And the day before the wedding Olympia’s parents arrived, at Hope’s invitation, the clearest signal that she was still plotting.

On the morning of the wedding the entire Rinucci family gathered at the villa, which made an impressive sight. Some were staying there, some had travelled up early in the morning, until at last everyone was there.

Galina, as always, was a knockout in a light blue chiffon dress that contrived to be fairly restrained, for church, while leaving no doubt about her glorious figure. Olympia’s honey-coloured linen, which had seemed so elegant in the mirror, now looked dull. In fact, she told herself that she looked almost middle-aged beside Galina’s vibrant youth.

Primo noticed her and drew Galina across for a greeting. The morning sun flashed off something around the girl’s neck, which closer inspection proved to be a gold chain with heavy, elaborate links.

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ Galina squealed when Olympia admired it.

‘Did Primo give you that?’ Luke asked.

Galina just giggled. Olympia stared out of blank eyes. A gift so valuable was a declaration of intent.

‘It’s time the groom was leaving for the church,’ Hope said, bustling over. ‘And those of you who are going with him, the car’s ready outside.’

Justin appeared, dreadfully pale, and was taken in charge by Primo. A few minutes later the two of them departed together, with Galina.

More cars were lined up before the house; people started checking themselves in the mirror, taking care of last minute details.

Then everyone was silenced by the arrival of the bride. Evie had chosen a simple ivory-coloured dress with a short veil held in place by flowers. She looked beautiful, but she also looked honest, calm and strong. In fact she was exactly what the man she loved most needed.

And Hope knew it, because she gave her new daughter a special mother’s embrace before taking her hand and putting it in Toni’s.

‘You will give her away,’ she said, smiling, ‘and then she will be ours.’

No bride could have asked for a better welcome, Olympia thought as she and Luke headed out to the cars. But she knew now that it could never be hers. There could be no marriage between herself and Luke, whatever other people thought, and it was time for her to leave.

His brotherly kindness had lulled her into a sense of security and she had lingered too long. But now it was time to depart and set a distance between herself and the Rinucci family. That way she need no longer see Primo with Galina.

But then she thought of working with him, seeing him day after day, and knew that moving home wasn’t enough. She must go away entirely, back to England, to another job. It would mean starting again.

But I can do that, she thought. I’ve done it before.

The wedding ceremony was an impressive ritual, but the most impressive part was when two people claimed each other with quiet fervour. Then the organ pealed out and they started back down the aisle into the sunlight, where the photographer was waiting.

So many photographs to be taken, so many family combinations. Nobody must be left out, and Olympia found herself kindly dragooned into many pictures where she felt she had no right to be. But Hope was determined and nobody could stand up to her.

‘Not if they want to live,’ Luke commented wryly.

Then the formal reception, the speeches, Justin almost inarticulate, having to be rescued by his son, saying cheekily, ‘Dad hasn’t got much Italian yet, so I’ll do it.’

At last the tables were cleared for dancing. Olympia watched the bride and groom, standing well back against the wall, a glass of champagne in her hand.

‘Making plans?’ Primo’s voice asked ironically.

‘Oh, shut up,’ she said, abandoning tact.

‘But how much longer can you keep us all on tenterhooks while you delay the announcement? Soon you will be my sister-in-law-or you would be, if I acknowledge that Inglese as a brother.’

‘Primo, will you please stop talking nonsense? Of course I’m not going to marry Luke.’ She faced him, suddenly angry and too full of regret to care much what she said. ‘How could you ever have believed it for one minute?’

‘Because you went to live with him.’

‘Only because I was angry with you. You should have known that. You did know it. Where have your wits been all this time?’

He stared at her. ‘This is my fault?’