Morning came at six when they were both jerked awake by Piero’s phone bursting into life. Zia’s heart pounded as she listened to his end of the conversation and realised the caller was Durante. Squinting against the early sunlight burning through the curtain fabric she searched Piero’s handsome face for clues as to whether the emergency had deepened. A calm, ‘Sí, sí,’ did a lot to assuage her fears, however. Piero nodded. His eyes flicked to her as he said, ‘Poi dico a Zia di chiamarti.’

She remained silent until the call ended then burst out, ‘Is everything OK? Why did you tell him you’d ask me to call him?’

He dropped the phone on the bedside table and kissed her neck. ‘Lucia passed a stable night but there’s no improvement. Durante wants me to gather his clothes and sponge bag and take them to his cousin’s house in Torgiano, just outside Perugia.’ His phone beeped. ‘That’s probably him texting the cousin’s address. I can combine taking the bag with visiting a distributor in that direction. He wants to FaceTime you when you’re in the office so he can talk about the guest side of things. Both Villino La Quercia and Villino Il Tasso have changes of guests today so Fiorella will be coming to help with cleaning and linen changes.’ A sudden grin transformed his face. ‘He didn’t want to disturb you this early but knew I’d be getting up for work. I thought you might prefer me not to mention we were in bed together.’

She flushed. ‘Ah. Thanks. That would definitely have felt like over-sharing. I’ll get dressed and try him from the office.’

She made to roll from bed but Piero hooked his arm around her waist. ‘You OK?’ He nuzzled her neck.

‘I’ll cope.’ The nuzzling felt like exactly the right level of contact: intimate without being sexual. Despite her anxiety over Lucia, her arms twined themselves around him and she pressed close.

His breath was hot on her skin. ‘That feels fantastic but you’re completely taking my mind off what we have to do.’

Her hands slithered down to cup his buttocks. The feel of his skin took her breath and she shifted to bring herself fully against him, discovering from his hardness exactly where his mind had gone. She murmured, ‘But maybe we have a few minutes …?’

He dropped his mouth to her breasts, making her gasp and arch against him, body pulsing. ‘A few minutes is enough?’ he breathed.

She groaned. ‘Sometimes, it’s exactly right.’