“Certamente, on one condition?”
Nico paused.
“I examine you next.”
He hesitated a moment but perhaps the look in both Alessia and Maddie’s eyes showed him he would be fighting a losing battle if he were to argue. With compressed lips, he nodded. “Fine.”
Another man arrived then, and after a few words it was apparent he was the vet. He moved to Dante, shaking his head in obvious disapproval, before turning to Alessia. He spoke in Italian and Maddie was too frazzled to translate.
“Inghiltera? English?”
He shook his head more slowly, so Alessia could translate. “His ribs aren’t fractured, but he’s in a lot of pain. He’ll need to go to the vet’s surgery for a full examination.”
Maddie gasped, lifting her hands to her lips. “Oh, no.” Tears formed in her eyes. If anything were to happen to Dante because of her…she couldn’t bear it. “Please let him be okay.”
At that, the vet nodded, and when he spoke, his tone was reassuring. Alessia translated. “He believes it’s just bruising. He’ll do an x-ray at his surgery and sedate him overnight to keep him comfortable. More than likely, Dante will be back to licking palms in a week or so.”
Maddie squeezed her eyes shut, the awfulness of this too much to bear. She wouldn’t be here to see him, to hug him, to thank him. She stood up, moving to the dog, wrapping her hands around one of his paws. “You’re such a good boy,” she dropped her head, nuzzling her brow to his. “Thank you, Dante.”
He made a soft yelping sound and her tears fell more freely now. For the rest of her life she’d never forget the generous way this dog had thrown himself between her and danger – nor the way Nico had done the same.
“The man was known to you?”
Nico nodded. His head spun. Michael and Maddie? Michael was the man Maddie had told Nico about? The man who’d made her life a living hell? Obviously that was the case but it just seemed almost impossible to comprehend. Had she known their connection? It sounded as though she had. I should have told you before now…
“Yes. We went to school together.” He couldn’t believe he’d been about to bail Michael out, yet again. Oh, this time he’d made sure there were conditions attached to the money, so Michael couldn’t just blow it all, but still. It hadn’t been a business decision. He’d made a choice to finance the man he thought of as an old school friend.
A friend!
That betrayal felt like a python wrapping around his neck now. The certainty he’d just spent an hour sitting opposite a man who had terrorised Maddie, made coffee for him, laughed with him…Even with no way of knowing, Nico felt like he’d betrayed her in some vital way.
“And the woman inside?”
How could he describe Maddie?
“They were involved, at one time. It was a violent relationship.”
“I see. And her connection to you?”
Nico’s chest felt hollow. Empty. “We’re friends.”
The detective paused, then nodded, scribbling something in his notebook. “They didn’t come here together?”
“No. She was here with me.” He frowned. “She came to Ondechiara seeking refuge, to get away from him. She had no idea Michael was coming today. Michael didn’t know she was here. It was a…coincidence.”
He didn’t really believe in coincidences but what else could the situation be called? Maddie hadn’t come here looking for him. Unless…was it possible there was truth in what Michael had said? Had she used Nico to get back at Michael?
The words Michael had hurled at him, a sneer on his handsome face as he’d been folded into the back of the Carabinieri van sticking with Nico, racing around his mind. Why else would she have jumped into your bed? Of all the men in all the world, why you? Why Ondechiara when she only knows about this place because of me? Think about it. She’s using you because she still loves me.
The idea made his gut clench painfully, but he dismissed it almost completely.
He could see why a man like Michael might say that, but Nico knew Maddie, and he knew what she was and wasn’t capable of. It was odd that he was so willing to defend her, to believe her, after what he’d been through with Claudette, and yet on some soul-deep level, he simply knew Maddie. He understood her, and yes, he believed in her.
She was all that was good in this world.
“Did he know?” The detective thumbed his hand towards where the car had been, with Michael stowed in the back. The space was empty now but Dante’s eyes fell to it.
“No.” A hollow sound. “If I had made him wait a week, this would never have happened.” And Nico would never have known the truth. Because Maddie hadn’t been going to tell him, had she?