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Chapter Thirty-Nine
‘So? Has she gone?’
I was sitting in the car with Lorenzo outside Geli’s house.
It had been a busy morning. I’d called the au pair agency first thing to tell them Holly would be leaving with immediate effect due to concerns about her safety and that we’d be in touch once we’d taken legal advice. Then Geli and I had gone to Holly’s host family’s house to pick up all her stuff. Understandably, she was still upset about what had happened and couldn’t face going back there. She was still adamant that she didn’t want to go to the police, so we had to respect her wishes.
When we came back to Geli’s, Holly said she’d decided to go and stay with her friend in Florence for a few days. Geli tried to persuade her not to leave, but Holly said she needed to get away and clear her head. So Geli was now in the house watching Leo, whilst Holly packed.
Once I’d finished speaking with Lorenzo, Geli would drop Holly off at the train station. She’d offered to take her all the way to Florence after she’d driven me to the airport, but Holly didn’t want to wait. She said she needed to get out of town as quickly as possible.
Fair enough. I supposed part of her was also worried about having a long car journey with us trying to persuade her to report Silvestro. We wouldn’t have done that, though. As much as I wanted him to be punished, I knew Holly had to do whatever felt right for her, right now.
After he’d come inside and spent some time with Leo, Lorenzo had asked if we could have a quick chat. As Geli’s mum was resting at home, I knew things might get heated and I didn’t want to argue around Holly because she needed a calm environment, I suggested we sit here instead. So here we were.
‘I cannot ask her to leave,’ Lorenzo sighed. ‘Mamma has told me that she would not do anything to hurt Leo. She said she was looking after the milk for Claudia because her fridge was broken and she must have picked up the wrong bottle to give to Leo by mistake.’
‘Oh, come on!’ I rolled my eyes. ‘And you believed her?’
‘She is my mother.’
‘So that means you believe everything she tells you?’ Lorenzo was normally a level-headed, intelligent man. But he had been blinded by Marta. In his eyes, she could do no wrong. ‘She’s a liar! I don’t know how you can’t see that!’ Lorenzo ground his teeth.
‘Sophia, this is a very difficult situation. I love you, very, very much, but I am not happy that you insult my mother. Without my brother here, I am her only family. She needs to be in our lives, so I am asking you to find a way to accept her.’
‘Well, I can’t,’ I snapped.
He sighed again. I could tell he was torn, wrestling with himself about what to do for the best, but I wasn’t budging. I knew he loved Marta and that it must be a tough decision for him, and ordinarily, even though she wasn’t my favourite person in the world, I wouldn’t have dreamt of asking him to choose between us. But these weren’t ordinary circumstances. His mother or not, she’d well and truly crossed the line.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say, Lorenzo looked at his watch.
‘I have to go back to work. We talk about this later?’
‘Unless she’s leaving, there’s nothing to talk about. I’ve already told you, I’m not staying there withher. She’s not the sweet innocent lady you think she is.’
‘No!’ He raised his voice. ‘Mamma is a good woman. She has done so much for me.’
I had no doubt that she had. Just like he worshipped her, she absolutely adored him. That was clear. But that didn’t mean that she was perfect. Nor did it excuse her actions.
We were going round in circles.
‘Look, I need to pick up our passports and get some stuff to pack for Leo to take with me to London, but like I said, I don’t want to see your mother. Do you know if she’ll be going out this afternoon?’
‘Sì. She will go to check on her house today after lunch, so should be out between three and four.
‘Okay.’ I got out of the car. ‘I’ll make sure I go during those times.’
As I watched him leave, another piece of my heart crumbled. Before Marta moved in, things were fine between me and Lorenzo. We were back on track. Even through our ups and downs, amongst all the challenges of living here, he was always my one certainty. The person I could rely on to have my back. But that stability had gone. Lorenzo and I both believed we were in the right. We’d reached a stalemate. We couldn’t seem to find a way through this. His mamma had finally come between us. In a big way.
And now, because of Marta and her meddling, I was on the verge of losing the love of my life.
For good.
