She let her folded arms slide forward wearily. ‘I told you we had a big quarrel. He made some “You’ll be sorry” threat and I laughed at him. That set him off.’ Straightening, she sighed. ‘Finding out from Ursula’s husband how easily a private investigator located Harry, Brendon used one to contact Gerardo. He made Gerardo think he was concocting a brilliant surprise for me, lining up Gerardo to agree to confirm paternity as a kind of gift. He even pretended he saw Gerardo as his future father-in-law and wanted to send him money using PostePay … but it didn’t work so he should ask me for it. A thousand euros.’ Her smile was so raw with pain that Piero had to fight not to drag her into his arms. She made a noise that was half-sob, half-laugh. ‘It was genius-level cunning. Brendon knows all about my avid curiosity about my father. He wanted Gerardo to present himself to me as a greedy git specifically to disappoint me.’

Such calculated cruelty hit Piero in the heart. ‘So, Brendon didn’t even do this because he thought it would make you leave Italy and run back to him?’

With a sniff, she shook her head. ‘No. Just plain, old-fashioned spite.’

‘Wow.’ Piero absorbed her words. ‘What a shit.’

‘Yeah.’ She propped up her head as if there was too much inside it for her neck to support. ‘Gerardo’s gracious offer to officially acknowledge me free of charge came because his mum told him to, not because he’s had an attack of generosity.’ She paused to take a gulp of water. ‘He hasn’t mentioned Tori to me or even asked who looked after me when she died. There’s no caring in him. Zero.’

Then she straightened and curved her mouth into a smile that wasn’t reflected in her eyes. ‘Anyway, I still have until the middle of September and it’s only the 17th of August today.’

He tried to imagine her in rainy England. He’d visited Brighton but it had been a stag weekend so his memories were hazy. A pier, a pebbly beach and a plentiful number of clubs had been involved. ‘So, you’re abandoning your hopes of living here?’ The thought made him feel as if he was losing his grip on something precious.