‘Why can’t we have a place like this?’ she pouted. ‘Everyone I know has a summer place. I think it’s time we started seriously keeping up. I don’t mind starting to look; I can visit some estate agents when I go to Milan for the shows.’
Marcus shifted uncomfortably and moved over to the rail. ‘Oh look, I think the boat has come from the Villa d’Este. Shall we have a wander downstairs and meet them?’
Molly walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘You know how you hate being the first at a party,’ she murmured in his ear. ‘Let’s go back into the bedroom and think of some way to waste a bit of time.’
Marcus smiled and took her hand. She hoped he wasn’t going to be tiresome over the issue of overseas property. A woman like her needed a villa or two. But then again, she thought, I can be very persuasive.
The grounds of the palazzo were so enormous that it had been easy for Summer to find a secluded spot away from the braying guests where she could think. Staying at the villa also brought with it the very real possibility of being confronted by the happy couple, Karin and Adam. So why have you come? Summer asked herself for the thousandth time. She felt physically sick just being here, but when Karin had phoned her personally to invite her, insisting she would not take no for answer, Summer could not think of a believable excuse. Molly had also been insistent, convinced that her daughter could still convert her relationship with Adam into something more substantial. ‘Look, darling, fucking Adam is one thing,’ she had said, ‘but this could be your last real chance to stand side by side with Karin and show him that he is with the wrong woman.’
Worst of all, Adam had insisted she come, particularly when he’d found out that she had a modelling job in Milan on the Monday after the party.
‘It will look odd if you’re not there,’ Adam had told her in bed a week before the Como party, when Summer was once again feeling hesitant and guilty about attending. ‘You’re the face of Karenza swimwear. Don’t make her suspicious. You know what she’s like.’
Summer had desperately wanted to finish their affair after he’d told her about his engagement, but when he had appeared at her flat, several days after their dinner at the Fat Duck, Summer had found it impossible to resist him. Life without Adam had felt so wretched, empty and pointless that she came to the swift conclusion that she was prepared to accept their relationship on whatever terms it now came.
But it didn’t make her feel good. Summer sat down on a bench she had found between two long cypress trees and pulled her feet up so her knees tucked under her chin. She picked a fuchsia-coloured flower and began to tear the petals off slowly, letting them twirl to the ground one by one. Molly was right. This was probably the last real chance of reclaiming Adam from his fiancée before the wedding plans went so far it would get too messy and embarrassing to stop them. And what her mum didn’t know was that she had a much bigger reason to make it happen. Her period was two weeks late. A home pregnancy test had confirmed that she was pregnant.
By eight o’clock the sun was setting, spilling russet-gold light across the lake, the cypress trees surrounding the grounds silhouetted black like sentry guards. Erin had gone out to wander through the gardens, cool and sweet-smelling in the dimming light. As she had walked across the terrace, Erin had spotted Karin sitting alone on a wall by the swimming pool, smoking a cigarette. She knew this was her opportunity. She took a deep breath to compose herself and went down to sit beside her, the stone cold under the thin fabric of her dress.
‘I didn’t know you smoked,’ said Erin, wondering if she was coming across as strange, forced. She certainly felt it.
Karin shrugged and threw the cigarette stub on the floor. There was a gentle hiss as it fell in a splash of water from the swimming pool.
‘Haven’t smoked in ten years, but sometimes needs must,’ she smiled. ‘It’s been a big day.’
Erin glanced up at her ex-boss, her face illuminated by the light shining from the palazzo. There was a slight lift to her brow, a subtle flare of her nostril; it was the arrogant yet slightly surprised look of someone who knew they could get whatever they wanted but still couldn’t believe their luck that it had finally arrived. It made Erin press on.
‘You know, I went home to Cornwall last week to see my grandmother and I was telling her where I was going. She asked me how you were going to top this for your wedding. You’re going to have to go some.’
Karin smiled slightly, but Erin thought she looked flustered to hear her talk of home. ‘Yes, I heard you’d gone back to see your family. Adam does get terribly panicked when you’re not around, but I tried to tell him that you have your own life and you’re not at his beck and call twenty-four hours a day. After all, you’re not Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.’ Karin laughed a little harshly. ‘At least, I hope not.’
As Karin rose to leave, Erin touched her arm. ‘What, darling?’ she said, irritated. ‘I really have to get back to the party.’
‘My grandmother told me something about you while I was back in Cornwall.’
Karin’s brow furrowed. As she turned towards Erin, her foot kicked over a glass of red wine that Erin had left on the floor.
‘What? Something she read in the gossip section of the Daily Mail?’
Erin felt a flutter of sickness in her stomach. Karin had a formidable presence: not just with her imperious manner, but in her four-inch Manolo heels she stood over six feet tall.
‘I know your real name is Karen Wenkle.’
‘Oh, darling that’s no big surprise. You’ve worked for me before. You’ve probably seen my passport.’
‘And I know your father was Terence Wenkle. The man who destroyed my father’s business. My grandmother told me everything.’
Karin snorted and turned away from Erin, opening her tiny clutch bag to take out another cigarette, which she promptly lit. ‘Well, I’m surprised you didn’t know that either,’ said Karin, blowing smoke back over her shoulder at Erin. ‘Do you walk around with your eyes and ears closed?’
Erin looked up at her ex-boss who was holding her cigarette aloft and staring out into the darkness. Erin felt more bold having come this far. ‘Did you know who I was when you gave me the job?’
Karin nodded. A gust of wind blew a sheaf of raven hair across her face.
‘So why do it?’ snapped Erin angrily. ‘Did you want to rub my nose in everything you’ve got and I haven’t? Or was it pity?’
She had felt so angry for so many years about her father’s death, and now she had someone to project all that raw, violent emotion onto.
Karin pushed the hair out of her face and took a step towards Erin, her eyes cold. ‘I gave you the job as a favour,’ she said, her mouth curling, ‘because I thought you could do with the break, you ungrateful cow.’