Part 31 (1/2)

'Jeez!' said Ruby. 'What the f.u.c.k!'

'It was his idea,' said Gina, strolling towards them with her helmet under her arm.

Mitch.e.l.l followed. There was something odd about him, Sasha thought, a vague unfocussed air, like he couldn't tell you what day of the week it was. Nevertheless, she was aggrieved. She and Ruby had been abandoned without explanation while he and Gina had disappeared into the wide blue yonder on a motorbike, for G.o.d's sake.

'Where have you been, Dad?'

'I thought you two would be glad to be rid of me,' he said. 'You'd made the apartment so cosy and you knew I was going to find somewhere else. When I rang you last night you couldn't wait to get me off the phone.'

'But why didn't you tell us anything? Like where you were staying, or planning to have your breakfast or lunch. What were we supposed to do?'

'I'd given you plenty of money, Sash. You weren't going to starve.'

'Like, not even a text!'

'That's not true, you weren't answering this morning. I'd left the charger in the apartment, which was stupid, I agree, and I didn't realise I'd run out of battery. But you're okay, aren't you?' He tried to clasp her but she shook him off. 'When you were little you used to get so worried when I was flying. Especially after the attack on the Twin Towers. Mum kept having to rea.s.sure you that planes generally got back in one piece. In the end you learned that I did too.'

Sasha wanted to tell him to shut up, that wasn't the point. She and Ruby hadn't minded getting shot of him, diverting themselves. But she did mind, gravely, that he had spent those missing hours with Gina Stanhope. 'Where did that bike come from?' she demanded.

'I think it's awesome,' said Ruby. 'Can I sit on it?'

'Sure, if you want...'

She'd already hopped astride the warm leather seat and was leaning forward over the handlebars. 'Go on, Sash,' she called. 'Take my picture on your phone.'

Sasha obeyed, but as she clicked on the b.u.t.ton she noticed a silver Alfa dawdling past. Kerb-crawler, she thought, what a w.a.n.ker. Then, with a shock, she recognised the car. Had Signor Boletti recognised them? Perhaps, after all, he wasn't ogling Ruby's bare legs, the grip of her thighs. She lowered the phone. He was wearing sungla.s.ses so she couldn't be certain, but he seemed to be looking past her. She turned. Gina had looped her arm through her father's, in a display of affection that to Sasha was totally unnecessary, and was brus.h.i.+ng a lock of hair from his forehead in an intimate gesture. They made a striking couple, she had to admit. She glared.

Mitch.e.l.l disentangled himself, clearly unaware of the context. 'I suppose you girls want a ride too,' he said with forced jollity. The Alfa slipped away.

'Yes please!' crowed Ruby.

'I can't take you both at once but I've hired it for twenty-four hours so there's plenty of time left, and...'

'Go on,' said Gina. 'Give the girl a whirl. Head up the Gianicolo. You can hammer those hairpin bends and show her the view.' She followed up this suggestion by giving Ruby her helmet to put on.

Ruby fastened the strap around her chin and made faces through the visor, indicating that Sasha should take some more shots on her phone.

Mitch.e.l.l was reluctant. 'I didn't mean right away. We've only just got back.'

'So? You can see she's itching to go for a spin.'

'What about Sasha?'

'Don't worry, I'll look after her, take her to the flat.'

'Please, Paul,' came Ruby's m.u.f.fled voice.

'Okay, Sash? I'm not deserting you, sweetheart. You'll get your turn.'

Why was he looking so anxious, as if he didn't want to leave her alone with Gina? Of course, she'd rather have Ruby by her side, but since they had to get him out of the way that wasn't possible. Ruby was doing her bit and Sasha had to man up to this confrontation by herself.

'What are you waiting for?' said Gina. 'Get a move on. Go!'

As Mitch.e.l.l kick-started the engine back into life and Ruby gave a regal wave, Gina grabbed Sasha's elbow as if she wouldn't let her go and steered her down the street. 'We have some talking to do, you and I.'

'Yes.'

'You've got it with you, haven't you?'

'Yes.'

Gina seemed to unbend a little then. She released Sasha, bounded ahead of her up the staircase, breezed into the apartment and flung open the shutters to let in the daylight.

The sitting room had an even more dishevelled air than usual, the chairs disarranged, a sheaf of loose papers tottering on the sideboard, but to Sasha it was still a significant location. She'd been holed up here with Joe and it wasn't a period she was likely to forget. She sat down on the sofa where she had tried to sleep, where she had lain listening to the chimes of the clock on Santa Maria, and clutched a cus.h.i.+on to her chest like a s.h.i.+eld.

'D'you want a drink?' said Gina. 'Tea, coffee, wine, Martini, beer, water, vodka? No c.o.ke, I'm afraid.'

'No thanks.'

Gina poured herself a slug of red wine. 'G.o.d, I've had a harrowing few days! I so need this. Mostly,' she scowled over the rim of the gla.s.s, 'on account of you.'

'Me!'

'Things were going well. I had an exhibition, something I'd been angling after for years. Some good publicity too. A book commission in the offing. I was flying high. You turn up and there's that stupid business with the glue and then the picture... And as for your father '

This was unfair. 'He used to be your boyfriend, didn't he? But how could I know that? It's not like you told me anything.'

'What difference would it have made?'

'A lot, if you'd been seeing him recently...'

Gina flapped her hand dismissively. 'Well, I hadn't. We split up ages ago, when he met your mother.'

'Oh.' She was relieved to hear this, though it sparked another train of thought. 'Do you mean if she hadn't come along you two might have stayed together? And then you might have been my mother instead? Wow.'

'Sorry to disappoint, but no. Because you wouldn't have been born.'

Sasha hadn't meant the observation seriously, but Gina's tone puzzled her. It was fraught with bitterness. 'Hey, what did my dad do to you?'

'Nothing. That's the nub of it, Sasha. It's the sins of omission that matter. He neglected me, you could say. You may have noticed: I'm an attention seeker. I don't care to be overlooked.'

Every time Sasha decided Gina's att.i.tude was insufferable, she would make some unexpected remark that showed she was sensitive after all. Now she'd kicked off her pumps and curled up in the chair opposite, nursing her gla.s.s and looking pensive, even a little bit tragic. And Sasha couldn't help hauling her up in her estimation again. If you had a stepmother manque, wouldn't you want her to be like this fascinating, enviable, mysterious woman?

'There's nothing for you to worry about,' Gina said. 'We've been going over a bit of old ground but I'm not stealing him back. Too much water under the bridge. So now that's out of the way, will you give it to me, please?'

'What?'

'You know perfectly well what I'm talking about.'

'No.'