‘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?’

She thought of Galina and sadness overcame her.

‘No, mine too, I suppose. I wasn’t very clever from the start, or I’d have seen through you.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘Let’s face it, you didn’t really do it very well. You didn’t fool me. I fooled myself. I wanted to believe in my own cleverness. I’ve nobody to blame but me, so I think we should part friends and forget it ever happened.’

‘Friends?’ he murmured, and then, ‘Part?’

‘Yes, I’m leaving. It’s time this was over. I’m going back to England.’

He stared at her, seemingly unable to think of a reply. When it came it wasn’t the one he would have chosen.

‘You can’t. You’ve got a contract.’

‘Sue me.’

She turned and began to walk away, moving out on to the terrace. But he came after her and pulled her round to face him.

‘People will see,’ she said frantically.

‘Let them. It’s time we had this out. You’ve been playing me for a sucker for far too long.’

‘I’ve been-?’

‘Everything you’ve done recently has been done to punish me. Living with that Inglese, making my whole family see you as a couple. You were teaching me a lesson, weren’t you? I thought better of you.’

‘Oh, don’t give me that,’ she said angrily. ‘We both behaved badly. We both thought better of the other, and we were both disappointed.’

‘Which seems to leave us about even,’ he said, giving her a curious look.

‘Yes.’ She sighed. ‘And that’s a good place to finish.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ he asked, looking at her strangely. ‘Some people might say it was a good place to start.’

‘What?’

‘Don’t you realise that what you’ve been saying for the past few minutes gives us the best chance we’ve ever had? Olympia, for the first time we can be honest with each other. That’s a great start.’

There was a gleam far back in his eyes that obscurely disturbed her, but she refused to take any notice. She had made her decision and this time she would stick to it.

‘I can’t believe you’re saying this. After what we did to each other-’

‘That was bad, and we needed some time apart to get over it, but we’ve had that and now we’re ready-’

‘Will you stop telling me what to do?’

‘Somebody needs to, because you’re lost and confused. Almost as lost and confused as I am, but this is where it stops. Tell me that you love me.’

She gasped in outrage. ‘Is that an order?’

‘Yes, it is! And look sharp about it, I’m tired of waiting.’

‘The devil I will!’ she said, trying to turn away again.

‘The devil you won’t,’ he said, pulling her back. ‘Now listen to me. I stood there in that church, watching Justin and Evie and wondering how I’d ever let things go this wrong.’

‘But so did I-’

‘Then tell me that you love me.’

‘Now, look here-’

‘Say it-’

Before she knew it his lips were against hers and his arms about her.

‘Say it,’ he muttered.

‘I’m blowed if I-’

‘Say it!’

But in the same instant he made it impossible for her to say anything, kissing her until she was breathless and incapable of thought. She had deadened herself to emotions, not once but twice-first for David and then, recently, trying to kill her love for Primo. But now the sweet, uncontrollable feelings rose up and refused to die down.

She loved him. She might deny it from now until kingdom come, but it would still be true.

‘Say it,’ he murmured again. ‘Or I’ll kiss you forever until you do.’

‘In that case, my lips are sealed.’

He was laughing, his body shaking, sending tremors through her too.

‘I love you, I love you,’ she said. ‘But don’t stop.’

All tension and sadness seemed to melt away in kiss after kiss. She was only distantly aware of a door opening and closing behind her, but then she felt Primo draw back a little in dismay.

‘Well, well,’ said Luke’s voice.

Shocked, she whirled and saw him standing there, leaning against the wall, regarding them both with apparent amusement.

‘So you reached the finishing line at last,’ he said. ‘I thought you would if I was patient.’

‘You-?’ she said uncertainly. ‘You mean you-all this time-?’

‘I think I’ve been rather clever,’ Luke said with a grin that might have been aimed against himself. ‘That first night, when you got mad and wanted to leave, I had to find a way to keep you in Naples-’

‘Why?’ Primo asked at once.

Luke gave a crack of derisive laughter.

‘Because I knew she was the one woman who could bring you down, of course. And I wasn’t going to miss the fun. And has it ever been fun! The sight of you not knowing whether you were coming or going has been the best laugh I’ve ever had. I’ve seen jealousy on your face that you could barely control. I’ve seen you driving yourself crazy because you wanted something you couldn’t arrange to have, and you couldn’t even admit it to yourself. Did I enjoy that? You bet I did!’

Primo began to swear softly under his breath. Olympia couldn’t follow the names he called his brother, but they must have been outrageous because Luke relished every one of them.

‘Don’t!’ Olympia got diplomatically between them. ‘Don’t let anything spoil it now. Primo, whatever his reasons, your brother did us a favour.’

‘Don’t call him my brother-’

‘Of course he’s your brother,’ she insisted. ‘Only a brother would do you a huge favour and insult you afterwards, and then laugh at you and with you-’

‘You’re going to be a good influence on him,’ Luke observed. ‘You could even knock some of the nonsense out of him.’

‘Luke, you were never in love with me, were you?’ she asked hopefully.

He shrugged. ‘Maybe just a bit. But not enough to worry about. I’ve been a perfect gentleman so that you could stay here without worry, and it all worked out right.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘Mind you, there might be a problem. Your mother likes me better.’

‘I’ll bet she does,’ Primo murmured. He still eyed Luke askance, but he was calming down.

Olympia kissed Luke’s cheek and was enfolded in a brotherly hug. As he turned to go, Primo called, ‘Hey, Inglese!’

He waited until Luke looked back before saying quietly, ‘Thank you.’

‘Hah! You think you’ve won, but she’ll lead you a merry dance, and I’ll be there, laughing all the way. Starting with the altar. I want to be your best man.’

‘I wouldn’t have anyone else.’

Luke walked away.

‘Yes, I think I’ve won,’ Primo said. ‘I know I’ve won. I’ve won everything I want in the world.’

He seized her in his arms again. Neither of them saw Luke turning at the last minute. He watched them for a moment, then touched his cheek where Olympia had kissed it and murmured, ‘Maybe just a bit.’

Olympia’s conscience was troubling her.

‘What about Galina? You weren’t trying to make me jealous, surely?’

‘No, because I didn’t think I could. I wanted to save my face, so that when you and Luke announced your engagement I wouldn’t be standing there alone like a lemon.’

‘But if she’s in love with you-’

That made him roar with laughter.

‘My darling, as far as Galina’s concerned I’m an old man. She’s eighteen. I only know her because her parents are friends of mine. When she found out what was happening-and it’s hard to keep anything from that girl-she said, “What you need is window-dressing, Uncle Primo, and I’m the person to help you.” So I turned up with her on my arm, just to save my dignity. She came to my rescue again after that, but she’ll be glad it’s over so that she can go back to boys of her own age.’