Proserpina
Just as I was opening my mouth to talk to Tara, she said, in a sneering tone that I faintly recognized as being similar to the tone her friend Madeleine Nord used,
‘So you noticed that I was not around, Mumma? How is that?’
I gaped at her, my mind in a whirl. This derisive, mocking child, with her beautiful face twisted in a mixture of spite and fury, standing before me, her small fists clenched in anger.
Could this be the little girl I had cherished and carried, fed at my breast tenderly? Her Pappa’s pet?
And then, she said something that made me gasp,
‘How did you get time away from f*cking Pappa?’
In a flash, I had risen and struck her across the cheek, so hard that she stumbled back, her hand on her cheek, her mouth open, eyes wide. I had never hit her, in fact, I had never had a need to raise my hand on any of my children, except once on Ria, perhaps; but this was too much. Already upset over Philippe, I was too taut to handle it.
We stared at each other, shocked. She could not believe that I had hit her, I was having a surge of guilt.
*
Even as I took a deep breath, and moved forward, wanting to take her in my arms, and asking her to forgive me for having raised my hand on her, the door was flung open and Ria rushed in, her long hair in a messy bun, tendrils sticking out, her eyes wide in shock and horror.
My heart sank.
She knew about Philippe, I thought wretchedly.
*
Her distracted gaze skittered in the direction of her younger sister but since everyone knew of Tara’s tendency to dramatize, she ignored her younger sibling. Coming to me, she threw her arms around my neck and sobbed,
‘Mumma, Mumma, it is true, isn’t it? Something bad has happened to Philippe, hasn’t it?’
I stroked my hands down her back tenderly as her body shook with sobs,
“No, darling,’ I said gently, leading her away to the couch.
As I pulled her down, her face on my chest, I looked around to speak to Tara.
But the girl had disappeared.
*
Tara
She rushed up the stairs. She could see Dom and Lou, who were lurking about in the corridor worriedly. Dom tended to chew on his fingernails when he was distraught; now he looked so upset but she had no time to say anything. Locking the door behind her, she threw down her school satchel and flung herself on the bed, furious tears flowing down her cheeks.
“I HATE Mumma,’ she told herself over and over again.
Rolling over onto her back, she stared at the ceiling, wondering why Ria had been so sad; had something happened to Philippe?
Tara was fond of him; he was kind and caring, had often supported her when she was younger and the boys, Dom and Lou, had ganged up against her.
She crinkled her nose and sighed.
Bad things always happened to good people. Folks like Mumma, who had hit her, always got away scot-free, she fumed indignantly.
And then, like a sign, the phone, forgotten in the melee, beeped.
Eagerly, she turned to pick it up, her breath coming faster in joy.
Iusuf.
It was her friend Ben Iusuf.
*
Paddy
His lids fluttered slightly as he made a supreme effort and he heard the nurse give an excited gasp. She ran out of the room, crying out to Camille. A few minutes later, he hear the quick, firm tread of the older woman, who was now Tony Beston’s wife
And he felt a sense of relief somewhere in his heart. Camille would know how to help him leave this box of a body he was imprisoned in…
Hila
She turned to look at him, her eyes wide, acting the part of the surprised dumb woman.
In a faltering voice, she lisped, uncertainly,
“ye…yes sir…?
Piers stepped closer and now she could see the pale eyes boring into her. She wanted to flee; something about the young man, perhaps a few years younger than her, made her defensive.
She, Hila, was feeling threatened by a mere youth?
But he was speaking, his tone cold and hard as he said,
‘What are you doing here?’
“I…I …lost my way…’ she fumbled. He stood silently, watching her and in that instant, Hila knew she had made a big mistake.
The young man facing her, his cold eyes seeming to dig behind her facade, was no callow fool. He was the son of the dreaded Mafia Don and would become as astute and cruel as his father, said a small voice in her.
She blinked, feeling the sweat break out on her upper lip as she tried to keep her eyes on his face.
His hands thrust in his pockets, he studied her, curiously. The overhead light threw his face into shadow and she could not read his face as he stood, rocking slightly on his heels.
Then, he gave a quick, dismissive nod as he said curtly,
‘This floor is not to be accessed. There are the stairs.’
He indicated the direction with his chin and she nodded weakly. Turning, she moved as fast as she could, fleeing down the stairs. And it was not just because of the cold trickle of fear for she knew that his cold grey gaze was fixed on her back as she made her way.
It was because, after a long time, she felt a sharp stab of desire for a man.
She had thought she was beyond that. The men who had captured her, the fighters of the enemy, had raped her repeatedly and she had been a broken mess when she had been rescued by her unit two days later. But after the intense torture they had subjected her to, she had no illusions. She did not feel safe and did not feel any good emotions, as her sister-in-law used to call those feelings when she met men. But this, this chance encounter with the man whose father she had come to kill, it left her feeling dizzy and breathless.
*
Piers.
He watched the figure stumble unsteadily down the silent corridor. He had no illusions about anyone; a broken engagement had made him steel his heart against love. Yes, the occasional tumble in the bed with a friendly face, girls who knew the no-strings-attached score, kept him happy. Piers did not have the insatiable hunger for sex that his father had had, a hunger which he had handed down to Claude; he did not need a woman every day.
But this woman, for she was definitely older than him, her skittish, panic-stricken expression, had intrigued him. He felt strangely interested. Her name badge said that she was Ava Morrison, twenty-five years old…
He made a mental note to find out more about her…