Treasured Dreams (12 page)

‘No nightmare then?'

‘No. All good.'

She studied his eyes, searching his chocolate brown irises for the truth. She saw it there; he had indeed enjoyed a night free of bad dreams. Maybe he sensed she'd arrived at that conclusion, because he bent forward to kiss her, a lingering good-morning kiss.

He pulled back and finger-combed her hair. ‘Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital today?'

She cleared her throat, piecing together what day it was. It finally fell into place. Monday. The day she'd have her cast removed. Her spirits lifted. ‘No I'll be fine; it's just as easy to take a train from Signa. I'll spend a few hours with Nonna this morning before I go anyway.'

‘Mmmm.'

‘Mmmm what?'

He shrugged and looked away.

She pushed up onto her elbow. ‘What, Archer?'

His tongue skipped over his lips. ‘Maybe you could talk to Nonna. You know, about us leaving again.'

‘I still think it's too soon.'

‘It's been nearly two months.' He sat up and swung his legs off the bed. ‘I can't sit around here doing nothing anymore.'

‘You haven't been doing nothing, Archer, you've been repairing
Evangeline
.'

‘Only for three weeks. Before that, I did nothing all day.'

‘You were recovering from broken ribs.'

‘You don't get it. I can't stay here with a blank agenda day after day.'

‘But this is where I live.'

‘
Evangeline
is where you live. Your home can go anywhere.'

‘What's wrong with staying in Livorno? You can start your business here.' Archer's treasure-hunting business, in which he created fake treasure hunts for thrill seekers with bundles of money, was a huge success. People came from all over the world to cruise around on Archer's multi-million-dollar yacht, looking for fake treasure Archer had planted. Rosalina couldn't see any reason why it wouldn't be a success here in Italy, as it was in Australia.

‘I don't want strangers aboard
Evangeline
anymore.' He turned to her, drilling his dark eyes into hers. ‘I just want you.'

She cocked her head. ‘And Helen, Jimmy, Alessandro and Ginger. Right?'

He grinned. ‘I kinda like having them around.'

‘So they can help you look for the
Awa Maru
? Or the Calimala treasure?'

He crawled on his hands and knees to her, then straddled her and lifted her palm to his lips. ‘Treasure hunting is what I do, babe. You know that.'

It was true. Archer had been born into treasure hunting, and it was only because his father was killed by a shark that Archer had left it for a while. It was in his veins. She didn't know that when she'd first fallen in love with him, but she knew it now.

‘I know.' She lowered her eyes. ‘But it's dangerous.'

He kissed her other palm. ‘But now that Nox and Ignatius are both dead, there will be no danger. Only fun.'

She looked up to the gleam in his eyes, and when he tilted his head and the gold flecks in his eyes dazzled, she knew it was a pointless argument. The man she loved was a treasure hunter; he was born into it, and he was good at what he did. She was the one holding him back from living his dream. Rosalina reached up to his pendant. The ancient slice of solid gold was heavy in her palm. This very piece had changed their lives forever. She couldn't decide if the change was good or bad. ‘Which treasure will you go after?'

He pushed up on his hands and hovered above her so his pendant rested between her breasts. ‘Not me!
We
. I'm not leaving you, babe. We stick together. Remember?'

She cupped his cheek. The rough stubble brushed beneath her palm. ‘I don't know, Archer. There's no way to know how long we'll be gone, and Nonna needs me.'

‘Why does Nonna need you? She's as strong as an ox.'

‘Because of Filippo. You know he gives her trouble.'

Archer rolled off her and sat at the edge of the bed again. ‘But why is that your problem? He's twenty-one. He needs to sort his own stuff out.'

It was Rosalina's turn to crawl to him, dragging her cast behind her. ‘I know that. It's just …'

‘You can't undo the past, Rosa. What your mother did was shameful, but not your fault or Filippo's. Nothing you do now can undo it. In fact, it would be better to pretend you didn't know. Then everything could carry on as it did before.'

She flopped back onto the pillow, and he turned to her. ‘Why don't you talk to Nonna? Tell her that we're going to look for another treasure and see what she says. Good relationships are about good communication.'

‘Oh, really?' That was a bold statement, coming from the man whose secrets once tore them apart.

‘Yes.' He nodded sincerely. ‘I've learnt my lesson.'

She huffed because he was right. Being torn between her fiancé's wishes and what she believed to be her grandmother's wishes was not an ideal situation.

Rosalina had always believed in fate. Leaving Italy to discover the world when she was twenty-three had been one of her greatest leaps of it. That decision had turned out to be one of the best she'd ever made. Maybe she'd let Nonna chose her fate this time. ‘Okay.' She accepted Archer's challenge. ‘I'll talk to Nonna.'

He crawled on top of her again. ‘Thank you, babe. I think she'll want you to go on this most magical adventure.'

‘Magical adventure?' She burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of his comment.

***

After a quick breakfast of ham and cheese croissants and freshly brewed coffee, Archer walked Rosalina to the front of the marina. ‘You're actually getting the hang of those crutches,' he said, as he opened the security gate for her.

‘Yeah, right. Today had better be the last day.'

‘I'm sure it will be.' Giovanni, the driver they'd had since they'd arrived back in Livorno, had them waiting five minutes before he met them at the gate. He jumped out and opened the back door for Rosalina.

‘Mr Archer, Miss Rosalina. Sorry, sorry, the traffic, it's bad today.'

‘It's okay, Giovanni.' Archer assured the panicking driver by resting his palm on the man's shoulder. ‘We're not running late.'

Archer helped Rosalina into the car and then passed the crutches into her. ‘Ring me with how you go with Nonna. And the doctor. Okay?'

‘I will. Love you.'

‘Love you, too.'

Archer paid Giovanni one hundred euro and told him to keep the change.

‘To Villa Pandolfini?' Giovanni asked, once he eased into the driver's seat.

‘Yes please.' Rosalina settled into the seat and pulled her book from her handbag. Before long, she was lost in the pages of
The Rosie Project
. The feel-good comedy made the ninety-minute drive disappear in a flash, and it only seemed like ten minutes before they pulled into Villa Pandolfini's driveway.

She was surprised to see the boom gate up. That meant either one of her family members had just arrived, or Nonna had gone for a quick drive to the shops. Rosalina instructed Giovanni to pull up around the back of the villa, grateful that she wouldn't have to walk too far.

She thanked him, told him she'd call later for a pickup, said goodbye and watched the car drive away.

That was when she heard yelling.

It came from the villa. A man's voice. It took a couple of seconds for her to recognise Filippo, but the rage in his tone drew a vice across her chest. And then she heard Nonna. Her grandmother's obvious panic had Rosalina gripping the crutches and charging at the back door as quickly as the darn aluminium sticks allowed. She burst through the door and aimed for the yelling.

‘I don't care what you think, you had no right—'

‘What's going on?' Rosalina cut in on Filippo as she lunged into the kitchen. He towered over Nonna, who was at the table with her hands over her eyes.

Nonna spun to her. Her bulging eyes were a mixture of relief and horror.

‘That's just great. How typical that you'd turn up right now.' Filippo's cheeks blazed with anger.

Rosalina raced to Nonna's side and draped her arm over her grandmother's shoulder. ‘Tell me what happened.'

Nonna wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘It is my fault.'

‘Damn right it is.'

‘Shush, Filippo. That's enough.' Rosalina spoke through clenched teeth.

‘It's not nearly enough. Right from the moment I could talk she's been demanding I keep our sordid family secret hidden. And then what do I find out? She's told you.'

Rosalina's stomach lurched. ‘Talk to me, Nonna.'

Filippo slapped his hand on the table. ‘Yes, Nonna.' Her name snapped off his tongue. ‘Tell her how for years, you've threatened to cut me off if I told anyone. And yet the second you come home, she's telling you all about our slutty mother.'

‘Filippo! That's enough.' Rosalina clenched her jaw and glared at him.

‘Is it?' He edged up to her, jutting his chin in her face. ‘Did she tell you about your father calling me a bastard? Or how he slapped me for calling him Daddy?'

Rosalina cupped her mouth. Tears stung at her eyes. Her father had always treated Filippo differently to his other children. After her mother died, Rosalina had reasoned he was sad and upset. She'd never imagined this.

Filippo leant on the table, and with a clenched jaw, he lowered to eyeball Nonna. ‘You allowed this to happen.'

‘I didn't!' Nonna stood up, knocking her chair over. ‘I loved you; I only did the best for you.' Tears streamed down her face. ‘I'm sorry, Filippo. I'm so sorry.' She turned and fled the room. Rosalina would've run after her but couldn't. Instead, she turned to her brother. He was so dissimilar to her other brothers in both looks and temperament, yet never in her wildest imagination would she have thought he had a different father.

‘Filippo, you're still the same brother to me. No matter what I know.'

‘Really? You can just forget that our mother fucked around and I was the result?'

She pursed her lips. ‘Yes! Yes, I can.'

‘Your father blamed me for killing Mum. Me.' He jabbed his thumb to his chest. ‘I was a baby.'

‘He was wrong.'

Movement at the corner of the room caught her eye, and Rosalina gasped when the madman who lived in her nightmares stepped into the kitchen. Although he looked different, she'd never forget the pure evil in his eyes.

She backed up and screamed, a pure gut-wrenching scream of terror. The sight of the gun made her stop.

‘You're … d-d-dead.'

His eyes zeroed in on her. ‘So I've been told.' Nox pointed the gun at Filippo.

The fear that had her rooted to the spot shot up her spine. ‘Get away from him.'

‘Who are you?' Filippo stepped towards Rosalina, and she clutched his arm.

‘I am the divine Nox.' Nox aimed the gun at Rosalina. ‘She tried to kill me. She failed.'

Rosalina stepped in front of Filippo, putting herself between her brother and the madman. ‘I shot you with the spear gun.'

‘You did. I lived.' Nox tossed a rope at her, and it fell at her feet. ‘Tie his hands behind his back.'

Rosalina didn't move. She could hardly breathe.

‘He either comes with us, or I kill him now. Which do you prefer?'

A vein throbbed in Nox's temple, his left eye twitched, and she knew he wasn't bluffing. It was thoughts of Nonna returning downstairs that jolted her into action. Holding back the scream burning in her throat, Rosalina reached for the rope with trembling hands. ‘Where are you taking us?'

‘Shut up and do it.'

She could smell him now. As she looped the rope around Filippo's wrists, Nox's putrid stench poisoned the air and filled her beloved kitchen with hate. Her heart set to explode as she watched the grim smile creep across Nox's lips.

She'd shot him. Saw the spear pierce his belly. Watched him tumble overboard, never to be seen again. Everyone had said he was dead. Everyone … including the police.

She finished tying the knot. ‘Are you okay?' She touched Filippo's arm.

‘No!' Filippo snapped. ‘What's going on?'

Suddenly, Nox lunged. In a flash of movement, he stabbed a syringe into Filippo's neck. Filippo screamed and tumbled to the floor, clutching the stab wound with his bound hands.

Rosalina lowered herself to Filippo's side. ‘What did you do? Filippo? Filippo!'

Nox shoved the gun at her nose. ‘Get up.'

‘No!' She glared over the barrel at him.

He aimed the weapon at Filippo's head. ‘Get up now or I'll shoot him.' His calm voice shuddered fear through her.

Filippo whimpered as Rosalina used the chair to climb to her feet.

‘Get your crutches. Walk around the table.'

Filippo was silent now, but he looked up at her with red spider veins bleeding the whites of his eyes.

‘I'm not going anywhere.' She clamped her jaw.

‘You'll do exactly as you're told.' Nox walked around Filippo and touched the gun to her brother's knee.

Her stomach lurched. ‘No!'

‘Then get moving.' Nox indicated with the weapon towards the door.

She hooked the crutches up under her armpits, and with a glance at Filippo, her heart exploded in her chest as she hobbled away. Her knees nearly buckled when she felt the press of steel in her back.

‘Keep moving.' Nox hissed in her ear.

‘I am!' She spoke through gritted teeth and took another awkward stride with the crutches. She went out the back door and saw the silver car in the driveway. Her breath shot in and out as she realised if she got in that car, it could be the end of her. She could vanish forever.

The small gravel stones made the walk difficult, but she slowed even more, praying for a miracle. She pictured smashing her crutch over his head, crushing his skull with the blow. But she knew it would never be. She'd have no chance; her plastered leg made her movements stiff and uncoordinated. And she needed to keep moving before Nonna came downstairs.