Page 64 of Once Upon a Time in Venice

Brad shook his head. ‘I thought that at first, but then the last transaction was made a few days ago from right here in Venice, for five thousand dollars. I haven’t bought anything that cost that much – unless that snow globe was a lot more expensive than I realized,’ he laughed.

Issy tried to smile back but was overwhelmed by guilt and fear, nauseous at the thought of Brad discovering that she’d stolen from him. Buying the snow globe for her on the opening night of Carnival had been such a sweet gesture, yet this was how Issy had repaid him.

Her mother, Darlene, was behind on her rent, and Issy had wired her enough to cover the back payments – it was the largest amount she’d taken, and she’d been an idiot to think no one would notice. At the time, it had seemed as though she didn’t have any other options, but right now she felt sick, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Issy hated lying to Brad, and hated betraying his trust in her. She’d always intended to pay the money back when she received her next pay cheque, but recently it had got out of control, with her mother viewing her like a cash machine. The amounts had spiralled, and there was no way Issy could afford to return everything she’d taken; it would cost her every salary cheque for the rest of the year.

‘I’ll look through the receipts, see if anything jogs my memory,’ Issy promised, hoping Brad would change the subject.

‘Thanks, Iz. I knew I could rely on you,’ Brad grinned, and Issy felt like the world’s worst human being. She knew in that moment that she could never, ever let him find out that she’d taken the money – she would be fired without hesitation, and she’d never see Brad again. The thought was unbearable.

‘You’d better get going, you don’t want to be late,’ Issy chided, hoping he would leave soon so she could be alone with her guilt.

‘You’re right.’ Brad checked his watch and grabbed his bag. Then he hesitated. ‘There is one more thing I wanted to ask.’

Issy’s heart sank. She couldn’t cope with any more difficult questions today. ‘Yeah?’

‘I wondered if …’ Brad sounded uncharacteristically nervous, and Issy looked up from the growing pile of packages. ‘Do you want to go to the Doge’s Ball tomorrow night? It’s one of the most exclusive events on the Carnival calendar – by invitation only. Gina arranged tickets for me and Lexi, and it was supposed to be a surprise – but anyway, she can’t make it, and I thought maybe you and I could …’ Brad trailed off, the unspoken question hanging in the air.

Issy’s heart leapt, a rollercoaster of emotions racing through her, from shame and guilt at having rearranged his calendar to ensure Lexi couldn’t attend, to sheer joy and elation that Brad had invited her instead. ‘Yes! Yes, I’d love to,’ she cried. Then her face fell. ‘Oh, but I don’t have anything to wear.’

‘Oh, yeah, hey, just leave it with me. The organizer is a designer who makes costumes based on the theme of the ball. I’ll call her,’ Brad winked, his eyes dancing. ‘See you later.’

He swept out of the suite, and it was all Issy could do not to punch the air. She knew that her imagination was running away with her – Brad had only asked her because his wife, the incredibly beautiful, world-famous movie star Lexi Parker, couldn’t attend, Issy reminded herself. But she felt like Cinderella, finally realizing she could go to the ball with her very own Prince Charming.

Then she remembered her mother, Darlene, and just hoped that her fairy tale wasn’t about to turn into a horror story.

‘Anything I need to know?’

Gina had her daily update from Vittoria over coffee that morning in her office. It had been the usual catalogue of quietly insistent demands from their wealthy guests. One of them wanted a dog-massage session arranged for their pampered Pomeranian, while another was complaining about the colour of the water in the Lido.

‘Oh, yeah,’ said Vittoria, ‘I forgot to mention, we had a detective asking to speak to Lucia de Santis.’

Gina almost choked on her espresso. ‘What? A policeman – why didn’t you tell me before?’

Vittoria looked contrite. ‘Sorry Gina, this is the first chance we’ve had to chat to each other today. Anyway, he’s very discreet, you wouldn’t even know he was cop.’ Vittoria checked her notebook. ‘He said his name is Inspector Gallo, from Cannegia.’

Gina tried to keep her face neutral. ‘Did he say what he wanted?’

‘Apparently he’s looking for someone, some woman. We couldn’t really stop him, Gina.’

Gina took a deep breath. She was trying to think firstly of the hotel – police always unsettled guests and discretion was paramount – but beyond that her mind was screaming, What the hell did he want?

‘I’ll deal with this. Did he leave a number?’

‘I don’t think so, he isn’t staying here. He’s already spoken to La Leonessa.’

Damn.

‘Oh yeah, the other thing I needed to tell you is that La Leonessa is on the warpath again.’

Gina felt her heart sink. Could the two things be related?

Vittoria gave her an encouraging smile. ‘Anything I can do? Remember, la vita è come una fotografia. Se sorridi, viene meglio! Life is like a photograph. If you smile, it’s better.’

Gina knocked on the door of Lucia’s suite, her heart pounding. Once again, she’d been summoned by La Leonessa and, once again, she knew it wouldn’t be for anything good.

Lucia let her inside without saying a word. She looked immaculate in a white trouser suit, with no shirt beneath the jacket, only a diamond-encrusted bra. Gina tried not to feel intimidated by how rich and famous Lucia was, but it was as though Lucia was flaunting her glamour and wealth, a power play to keep Gina in her place.

‘Signora de Santis. How may I be of assistance?’ Gina said coolly.