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Dante ale?’

‘I’ve never been a ossip but we’ve been friends all our lives and I felt I should give you a hint about what has been happening’

‘So’ Dante summed up rather drily, not interested in his friend’s penchant for dra at the castle, Marco?’

‘Well, you knohat an energetic woman your mother has always been?’ Marco reer involved in her usual charitable pursuits either, never leaves the castle and no longer even gardens’

Dante frowned, unable to even i the busy life she had built asto that extent ‘That does sound strange’

‘And then there’s her new social secretary—’

‘Herwhat?’ Dante cut in, taken aback ‘She’s hired a secretary?’

‘A young English girl, very attractive and apparently perfectly pleasant,’ Marco recounted unco in for the contessa at her charitable engage lifts from Vittore—’

Dante was very still, an attitude that his employees knew as the cal and attractive girl in the set-up that Marco was describing had hier Many older irls and Dante’s stepfather ht very well be one of them His heart sank on his e failed it would do so on less wounding grounds for his parent than that of another woman His own father’s infidelity had already caused Sofia Leonetti so much pain that Dante siain

‘Is there an affair going on?’ Dante de upright, unable to stay seated any longer

‘I honestly don’t know There’s no evidence of one, nothing s,’ Marco responded ruefully ‘And we all knoappearances can soirl that doesn’t quite add up—’

‘Go on,’ Dante urged in a raw undertone, struggling with his outrage at the ily betrayed by an employee and her new husband in his home

‘My father was invited to a dinner at the castle for Vittore’s birthday The girl earing a diamond necklace that my father swore is worth many, many thousands of euros’

And both e of such things because he was a renowned jewellery designer

‘Of course it could be a family heirloom,’ Marco conceded fairly

‘But how likely is it that a young office worker would own such an ite it abroad with her?’ Dante retorted, uniu else into account, the diamonds are hard evidence of misbehaviour of some kind!’

But even if it hat the hell was he planning to do about it? Dante asked hirily after his friend had taken his leave Obviously Dante would go home to personally check out the situation and if there was anything questionable afoot he would deal with the girl with the diamond necklace

Topsy suppressed a groan of frustration as her sister Kat continued to challenge her orried questions on the phone What were the fa on to her? Did she have a lock on her bedroom door?

The guilt that Topsy had initially experienced about lying to her fa in Italy suddenly dissipated like a da sister think she was? A vulnerable teenager? For goodness’ sake, she was almost twenty-four years old with a doctorate in advanced maths, scarcely a babe in arms! But Kat, just like Topsy’s twin older sisters,

Erown up and had a life of her own to lead

In Kat’s defence, she had been acting more as Topsy’s mother than her sister since Topsy was six years old and the sisters’ birth er children in foster care so that she could reclaile wo and Topsy was all too well aware of howcare and loyalty Kat had taken custody of her younger siblings, whisked them off to her home in the Lake District and raised them to adulthood at her own expense Kat’s sacrifice could never be forgotten or go unappreciated, Topsy acknowledged ruefully

Yet here she was in Italy having run away froer she had long since left behind! Her fa with an old school friend and Gabrielle was happy to provide the cover story and pretend—should she ever be challenged—that Topsy was living with her and her family in Milan

Topsy sighed, guilt licking at her conscience again Her siblings were so overprotective they regularly drove her to screaes to rich and powerful men had only enhanced their desire and ability to interfere and control Topsy’s every move She loved them, she truly did, indeed she adored her sisters and their closeness, but she didn’t want a job doled out by one of their husbands and she didn’t want to be landed with a pre-checked boyfriend either She had lost count of the eligible and no doubt thoroughly vetted men produced for her benefit at parties and dinners She had also lost count of the boyfriends she had lost, who had failed to pass the fa procedure In addition the insistence on her, at one unforgettably e to advance her prospects in the romantic stakes

Either men wanted her purely because of her wealthy brothers-in-laws’ financial and business connections or all the hoopla of even dating her frightened theifted with a sizeable aroup gift from her sisters’ husbands, so that she would always be independent and secure Independent? Topsy gri craved but always out of reach What a joke the concept of independence was! That wretched hted her anxious and overprotective sisters, had only trapped her ed Now her sisters’ husbands would only have an even better excuse to check out any ht be after her trust fund!