Delayed Death (Temptation in Florence Book 1) (18 page)

"And what's this?" Fabbiola stood in front of the cash register of Temptation and squinted at the golden display next to her. It was formed like a twisted horn that reached up to her hips, and it had an elegant engraving at the side that said 'special offers'. A puzzled expression crossed Fabbiola's face as she lifted one light-blue piece of lace up for closer inspection.

The sun glimpsed through the open door of Temptation and lured them outside with its golden light. Carlina longed to follow its siren call. Instead, she suppressed a sigh and continued training her mother. "It's a thong, Mama."

Fabbiola lifted one eyebrow. "You can't even use it as a handkerchief. Too many holes." She peered at the price Carlina had written with a gold pen onto the tag. "What's that? You want nine Euros for a bit of lace?" She turned to her daughter. "I have to say, Carlina, I had no idea what ridiculous prices you charge. Don't you think that's robbery?"

Carlina set her teeth. "You can ask Signora Barberini if her rent is robbery, then talk to me about my prices."

"Ah." Fabbiola nodded. "I can imagine how ridiculous her rents are. She has never been a generous woman."

Carlina shrugged. "We're on Via Tournabuoni, Mama. Signora Barberini charges a normal rent for one of the top locations in Florence. She may not be generous, but she's fair. I like her."

Fabbiola sniffed and glanced at a man standing in front of the window. His nervous gaze darted over the bras on display, and he bit his lips as if working up the courage to come inside. "Do you ever have men as customers?"

Carlina nodded. "I do. Not as many as women, but yes."

Fabbiola shook her head from left to right. "Your father would have died of mortification if he had ever set a foot inside a lingerie store."

A twinge went through Carlina.
Don't answer.
She turned away and fluffed up the thongs in the golden horn display, then went to the right where a rose bra with matching slips was displayed. "You can see I have drawers for all bra sizes underneath each model shown. It always starts with the smallest size on the left hand side in the top drawer and ends with the biggest size." She knelt and pulled out a drawer on smooth hinges. The rose colored model above appeared, each bra folded together. The symmetry of the display never failed to please Carlina. "Look here, Mama. When you follow that order, it's easy to find everything, and we don't have to clutter up the small storage room in the back. The slips are no problem because there are just three sizes, but the bras would otherwise fill rooms." She couldn't disguise the pride in her voice. It had taken ages to get the drawer system working properly because the first carpenter had not worked with precision and it had been a tug-of-war to make the mechanism function, but now, it was a gem and Carlina enjoyed the soft feeling of the drawers gliding in and out without a hitch.

Fabbiola looked around. "The store really is tiny, isn't it?"

Carlina felt like a mother with a child too small for its age. She wanted to fling her arms around Temptation and tell everybody to go to hell.

"Yes." Carlina clenched her teeth. "Do you want to comment on anything else? So far," she ticked each argument off her fingers, "you said I charge too much, you said Temptation is too small, and you said dad would have been mortified if he had seen my store." Her voice rose. "I don't believe that for one moment! I'm an independent woman. I earn my own money, and it gives me a comfortable living. Underwear is nothing reprehensible; it's necessary." She glowered at her mother. "I think it was a bad idea to ask you to tend my store. You have no idea how to run my business."

Fabbiola stared at her daughter with wide open eyes. Her mouth slack, she went to the cash counter, where she had placed her cushion. "You really are touchy, Caroline Arabella. I've offered to help, but if you think I'm not good enough, that's no problem at all." She picked up the cushion and went to the door. "No problem at all," she repeated. Her voice floated through the door, then she was gone.

Carlina covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

When she finally suppressed a hiccup and wiped her eyes, she saw Garini standing in front of her.

"
Madonna
." She closed her eyes. "I'm having apparitions." She averted her gaze and hunted through the pockets of her jeans for a handkerchief.

"It's not an apparition," he said.

"And it speaks." Carlina suppressed another hiccup and darted a glance from the corner of her eyes. He was still there.
Oh, God.

He held out a paper tissue. "This what you're looking for?"

She took it. "Thanks." She wiped her eyes with rigorous care in the hope that she wouldn't smear mascara up to her eyebrows, then blew her nose.

Garini watched her like a man who had all the time in the world, his stance relaxed, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

Carlina swallowed. "Is this store tiny?"

"Yes." He spoke without hesitation.

Of course it is.
"Is it expensive?"

"Yes." Again, he didn't hesitate.

His answer was right, and it enraged her. She flashed an angry glance at him. "Do you never make compromises?"

"Rarely."

She knew she should stop right now, but her emotions took a firm hold of her saner instincts and roller-coasted ahead. "Are you never perturbed by anything?" She flung it out like a challenge.

A small smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. "I am. All the time."

She threw him a dark glance. "It doesn't show."

"It's not supposed to."

There. Now he put me into my place.
Carlina swallowed. "Anything else you want? I've already told you all the family secrets."

He was silent.

Their eyes locked.

"Why did you cry?" His voice sounded soft.

She pressed her lips together. "Do you think my father would have been mortified that I own a lingerie store?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "Not unless he was bigoted."

She turned away and adjusted a hanger that was already hanging straight. "He wasn't."

"Then he would have been proud of you."

Carlina swiveled back to him. "What? Why?"

"You're loyal, hardworking, successful." He said it without any apparent emotion. "What parent wouldn't be proud?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't need your irony."

His face closed.

Carlina felt it like a kick in the stomach. What if he had been serious?
Don't forget he's still the Commissario, trying to find a killer.
"What do you want?" Carlina folded her arms in front of her chest. "You came here for a reason, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I was on my way home, and I--"

She narrowed her eyes. "Where is home?"

"I live next to the Hotel Porta Rossa." He answered her question with a smile, as if he understood why she sounded belligerent and found it funny.

"I see."
It's close enough to make sense.

"You forgot something at the police station today, and I thought you would need it." He moved to the side so she could see the cash register. Her helmet with the leopard print sat on top as if it belonged there. "You didn't hear me when I came in," he added.

How embarrassing. It wasn't like her not to notice people walking into her store. "It seems you have a knack of moving without making a sound."

He smiled. "I have that reputation, yes."

"Thanks for bringing the helmet." She nodded in what she hoped was a dismissive way. "Good-bye, then."

He inclined his head. "We'll see each other again."

No doubt.
Carlina wondered if it had been a promise or a threat.

"Carlina!" Lilly ran into Temptation and hugged her aunt.

Carlina lifted her niece and buried her face in Lilly's fragrant hair. "It's good to see you, cara."

Lilly squirmed. "You're squashing me!"

"Oops, sorry." Carlina put Lilly back onto her feet. "Where is your Mama?"

"She's still next door, but she said I could already go ahead to Temptation." Lilly's gaze fixed on a red bra with little flowers in white. "Oh, Carlina, this is so pretty!" She stood on tiptoe and took it off the hanger, then placed it across her chest and paraded around the store. "Does it look nice?"

Carlina grinned. "Very."

"Can I have one?" Lilly smiled at her aunt in an ingratiating way that had gotten her almost everything she wanted in the past.

Her aunt shook her head. "You're not big enough yet, Lilly."

Lilly pouted. "Yesterday, I looked at the mirror, and I think--" She gave her aunt a mischievous look, "I really think my breasts are growing."

Carlina suppressed a smile. "Your mother would say I'm crazy if I start to give bras to seven-year-olds." She took the bra and placed it back onto the hanger. "You don't need a bra yet."

"What's this?" Gabriella came into the store, loaded with glossy shopping bags. "Is she trying to convince you she needs a bra?" Her brown curls looked as if she had been through a storm.

"Yes." Carlina smiled at her niece. "But I said it's too early."

Gabriella shook her head and dropped the bags onto the low wooden seat in front of the cash register.

Carlina smiled. The wooden seat had been an addition last week, for exhausted husbands and women carrying too much to shop in comfort. She was glad it found instinctive acceptance.

Gabriella sighed. "I've told Lilly a million times it's too early, but she keeps talking about bras." She eyed her sister. "Do you really own one with leopard fur?"

Carlina laughed. "I do." She turned to Lilly. "That was supposed to be our secret!"

Lilly had the grace to look ashamed. "I didn't mean to say it."

Gabriella grinned. "It slipped out while we were at the zoo. Lilly said the leopard looked just like your bra. At first, I thought she had mixed up something."

Carlina leaned against the cash register. "Why are you here, in the middle of the week?"

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you forgot the birthday."

"Whose . . . ?" Carlina slapped her head with her flat hand. "Oh, no. Benedetta! I had such a dreadful day, it totally slipped my mind."
I don't feel like another birthday party tonight. I want to crawl into my bed and hide.

Her niece looked at her. "Why did you have a dreadful day, Carlina?"

Carlina waved a hand. "Oh, many things." She checked her wristwatch. "You know what, I think I can close up and come with you."

Lilly clapped her hands. "Can I ride with you on the Vespa?"

"You don't have your helmet, love."

Lilly's face fell.

Carlina bent forward. "The next time you come to stay with me, you'll bring your helmet, and then I'll take you, okay?"

"That's a good idea," Gabriella said. "I wanted to ask you anyway."

"Ask me what?" Carlina took out the cash and started to count it. It had been a meager day. Well, no wonder, distracted as she had been most of the time.

"I have to attend a conference next weekend and wanted to ask if you can take Lilly for two nights."

Carlina stopped counting. "I don't think that's a good idea, Gabriella."

Lilly's face twisted. "Why not? Don't you like me anymore?"

"Of course I do!" Carlina smoothed Lilly's curls. "But I'm really very busy at the store and--"

"It's only Sunday to Tuesday," Gabriella said. "The store isn't open on Sundays, and Monday, Lilly will be at school."

"Where is Bernando?" Carlina grabbed at straws.

"Bernando promised his mother to drive her to a friend's house in Pisa on Sunday night. She will go on vacation for one week on Monday morning." Gabriella said.

"Yes, and her plane leaves soooo early." Lilly started to hop around the store on one leg.

Carlina turned her back to Lilly and mouthed a desperate "No" at her sister.

Gabriella frowned. "What's up?"

"I can't do it." Carlina said under her voice.

"Why not?"

Carlina glanced at Lilly who had hopped to the end of the store but was still well within hearing. She whispered, "I'm afraid Garini will arrest me."

"The Commissario will arrest you?" Gabriella clapped her hand in front of her mouth.

Lilly pivoted around, her eyes too big for her small face. "You'll be arrested, Carlina?"

Damn
. "I don't know." Carlina sighed. "He took me to the police station today and put me through an awful interview."

"Did he say he would arrest you?" Gabriella stared at her.

"No." Carlina shook her head. "But he said I shouldn't leave town without telling him."

"Oh,
Madonna
."

Lilly's anxious gaze swiveled from her mother to her aunt. "Why does he want to arrest you, Carlina? Did you do something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why?" Gabriella frowned.

"He . . . " Carlina forced herself to say the words, but she said them in English so Lilly wouldn't understand. "He thinks I killed grandpa."

"But that's ridiculous!" Gabriella wiped the words away. "I'm sure you got him wrong."

Fat chance.
Carlina could still feel his cool gaze, dissecting her.

Lilly tugged at Carlina's blouse. "What did you say, Carlina?"

"It doesn't matter." Gabriella picked up Lilly's rucksack. "If you can't do it, then Mama will have to stand in."

"But it's more fun with Carlina than with grandma!" Lilly pouted.

Gabriella gave her a soothing smile. "Well, if Carlina isn't arrested, she can still have you."

"You're mighty cool about it," Carlina said.

"I think it's utter nonsense." Gabriella shook her head so hard, her brown curls bounced. She added in English. "Nobody who knows you would ever think you killed grandpa."

"Then who did?" Carlina lowered her voice even though she answered in the same language. "Garini believes it's someone from the family."

Gabriella shook her head. "No way. He's totally wrong."

Carlina regarded her sister.
If only I could share your conviction.