Between Two Mountains - 9. Chapter 9

Cosmo was lonely.

But, to be honest, he probably deserved to be.

He had proven himself to be every bit the disappointment his younger brother had expected him to be… and, after the way he’d shamed himself in the woods the other day, he could probably add ‘borderline sexual predator’ to the list of black marks against his name.

Great work, Cosmo. Way to turn a fucking corner.

And now…? Marco and Giorgio were gone, Luca was off living his best summer life with Emilia, and Elisabetta…

He hadn’t seen the older girl in four days. He supposed he could have tried going to her house, but he knew better. She would have answered his texts if she wanted to be found.

Well, she had texted him once. Late yesterday afternoon, there had been a single, enigmatic message.

‘Stay home tonight.’

But she had ignored all his requests for clarification, and he was left none the wiser.

So, what’s the deal, Betta? Are you looking up an ‘old friend’ in another town again? Are you living a double life and making nice with your uncle Maurizio?

…or do you just find everything about your life so shit that sometimes you have to check out for several days?

If so, say no more. I can relate.

In the long, slow days that had passed since their last encounter and his disastrous meet-up with Giorgio and Marco, he had spent most of his time at the house in Monte. The jones for weed had worn off; he supposed he hadn’t had enough time to get properly addicted; but he was painfully bored. Once a day or so, he tried walking the path that led up into the mountains, but the sea of chestnut trees and bracken did nothing for him and he always ended up coming back unfulfilled.

After a couple of days, he had surprised Luisa and Mario by asking them if he could fetch them anything from the shops in town and, gently and without fanfare, it had become a daily thing. It got him out of the house for a while, it felt more purposeful than his aimless wanders in the woods, and it did his foster parents a favour while giving them a break from his company. In other words, everybody won… for real, this time.

Yesterday morning, word had got back to him via Luca that Vincenzo had been brutally and bluntly turned down by Isabella, in front of several witnesses on the waterfront in Amalfi. It seemed his imagination wasn’t completely dead yet, as he had visualised the scene in detail, imagining his ex-crush’s humiliation from a variety of entertaining angles. The mind picture had made him feel slightly better, at least for a while.

Saturday morning found Cosmo making the third of his visits to the shops. June had finally ticked over into July during the week, and the weather was already sultry and hot. In his pocket, he clutched a carrier bag and a shopping list of ingredients for the fresh pizza Luisa was hoping to prepare that evening.

Fior’ di latte, fresh tomatoes, bread flour, yeast, anchovies…

He had tried to memorise the list, in the hope of keeping his brain from dying of boredom. So preoccupied was he with this as he made his way along the quiet bottom section of Via Roma that it took him several moments to notice the knot of anxious-looking people who had gathered outside Da Rossi. When he finally registered the familiar timbre of their voices, he drew to a halt, looking up curiously.

Anna Rossi, who looked pale and tired, stood outside the restaurant flanked by her mother-in-law Marta and her father Sergio. The older man had a comforting arm around her shoulders. He looked much stronger than he had the last time Cosmo had seen him, although with his free hand he was still leaning on a walking stick for extra support.

They were talking with Marco’s foster fathers Gianni and Angelo, and next to them… Marco himself. So far, Marco was the only one to have noticed Cosmo. His cool grey eyes were locked onto him with a narrow, sideways sort of glare.

What have I done this time…?

“I should have been here,” Anna was saying. “Pietro never normally has to lock up on his own.”

“But then the stranger might just have attacked you both, Anna,” Marta insisted.

Anna gave her a look that seemed to plead with her not to be so understanding. “Of course, I’m not a fighter… but don’t you think that just by being there I might have made a difference? He shouldn’t have been alone.”

Cosmo looked on with alarm. Someone had clearly gone for Pietro… and they were talking like he was dead.

Suddenly, Elisabetta’s promise to him of a few days ago surfaced in his memory.

‘I will sort him out for you, Cosmo. I just need to get the lie of the land first.’

Cosmo’s heart rose to his mouth in horror, leaving a sour taste at the back of his throat.

What’s she done…?

“He wasn’t alone,” Gianni said firmly, putting an arm around his foster son’s shoulders and pulling him closer. “Marco was there. It was an impossible situation for any fifteen-year-old to face, but he acted. If it weren’t for Marco, things might have ended up much worse.”

Cosmo sagged slightly in relief.

Okay. Maybe he’s NOT dead.

Anna stepped forward and placed her hands on Marco’s shoulders.

“And I’m very grateful,” she said tearfully. “As far as I’m concerned, you can stop by the restaurant for lunch any time you like. Even if you have no money, you’ll be welcome.”

Marco looked back up at her awkwardly. “It was nothing, signora,” he mumbled. “I wish I’d done something more quickly.”

Anna shook her head, returning to her father’s side. “I should have been there,” she repeated.

“Now, tesoro,” Sergio rumbled. “Don’t take it on yourself so. The only reason you weren’t there is because you were looking after me. Now, I suppose it’s my turn to take care of you again.”

“Where’s Pietro now, Mamma?” Angelo asked Marta. He, too, looked tired, his dark eyes shadowed and serious, as if he had been awake all night. “When can we see him?”

“He’s back at the family home in Scala,” Marta replied. “Fabrizio is watching him.”

“So, we can…” Angelo began, but Marta shook her head.

“Pietro needs to sleep today,” she said sternly, “and the last thing he said to me this morning was that he didn’t want a fuss.”

Angelo pursed his fingers in frustration. “If his upper lip were any stiffer, he’d British!” he exclaimed, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Gianni. “What about Claudia?”

“She wanted to come straight home,” Marta replied, “but I told her not to be so silly. Pietro will be just fine in a few days.”

“And the restaurant…?” Gianni asked Anna. “You’re not seriously planning to open as usual today?”

Anna gave him a wan smile. “It’s what Pietro would want us to do.”

Gianni frowned. “Is there anything we can do to help…?”

But, at this, Anna even managed a faint laugh.

“I’ve got Marta, and Papà will be there, keeping an eye on me,” she insisted. “We’ll be fine. Go to Salerno, do your shopping. There’s no reason why this should ruin everyone’s day.”

“And you’ve reported the attack to the Carabinieri?” Gianni asked.

Anna nodded. “They’ll be making their enquiries. Valentina said she’d take care of it personally.”

Cosmo had heard enough. He turned and began to slink away, but then he heard gasps of surprise and running feet, and he was pulled fiercely back by the wrist.

Anger and suspicion seemed to have lent extraordinary strength to Marco’s grip. Cosmo found himself face-to-face with a pair of furious grey eyes.

“Pietro could have died last night,” he spat. “Did you have something to do with this, Cosmo?”

“What…?” Cosmo blustered. “Why would I…?”

“He fired you, didn’t he?” Marco countered fiercely. “Who else would want to hurt him? I bet it was you! You, or your psycho g…”

Cosmo shook himself free. “Get off me!” he shouted, making sure to cut Marco off before he could finish. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know we can’t trust you anymore,” Marco replied, whispering so only Cosmo could hear. “Not after what happened in the woods.”

Cosmo’s eyes widened in dismay. “You told them about that?”

Marco shook his head. “Not yet.”

Gianni extended a hand towards Marco, appealing for him to come back.

“Come on, Marco,” he said evenly. “Let’s leave the investigating to the police, shall we?”

“Fine,” Marco muttered. With one last suspicious glare at Cosmo, he returned to his foster father’s side.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Cosmo cried desperately, appealing to the adults. “You have to believe that!”

He found little support or sympathy in their wary gaze.

“I’m sure the truth will out, Cosmo,” Marta replied calmly. “But, for now, I think you’d better leave.”

Cosmo didn’t need to be told twice. He pushed past them, stumbling blindly towards the shady confines of the shops. Once he was out of their sight, he diverted up a narrow side turning, where he paused, gasping, and fumbled a horrified text to Elisabetta.

‘Jesus, Betta. What did you DO?’

This time, her reply came without delay.

‘Guy had it coming.’

Cosmo stared at the text in disbelief. ‘The police are gonna be coming for me now!’

‘You have an alibi, don’t you?’

Uncomprehendingly, Cosmo nodded, barely aware that she wasn’t here to see it. ‘Yeah. I was home with Luisa and Mario all night.’

‘Then they can’t touch you.’

Feeling sick, Cosmo deleted the message thread. Shoving the phone roughly back into his pocket, he hurried on, hoping against hope that she was right.

* * *

“This is a difficult situation for everyone,” Valentina Forza said. “I’m sure you understand we have to explore all possible avenues.”

“Of course,” Luisa said anxiously. “We quite understand.”

The Carabinieri chief took another sip of the caffè latte Luisa had thrust upon her, then adjusted her smart black uniform and turned to Cosmo, who looked back miserably, nursing his own coffee. His foster parents looked on pensively.

“Cosmo,” she said, “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see you again so soon… it feels like only yesterday that I released you into the care of Luisa and Mario.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry that we have to speak again under these circumstances, but I’m afraid I have to ask you where you were between ten o’clock and eleven o’clock last night.”

Cosmo glanced unhappily out of the large picture window. They were sitting at the dining table at the house up in Monte, and the view of the valley and the distant sea was spread out below them. The sky was a vivid blue, and the afternoon sun was shining fiercely on the whitewashed buildings and terracotta rooftops of Ravello. It looked way too hot to be walking, but Cosmo wished he was out there all the same… anywhere but here.

“Why are you assuming it was me?” he protested, glancing back at Valentina’s stern brown eyes.

“We aren’t assuming anything,” Valentina replied evenly, “but like I said, we have to explore all possible avenues. Your name has been mentioned as someone who might have a reason to hurt signor Rossi.”

“Who mentioned me?” Cosmo grumbled. Could it have been Marco…? But, he supposed, any of the adults he’d seen that morning could also have known enough to mention it.

“I’m going to have to insist that you answer the question,” Valentina countered.

Cosmo glared at her. “I was here, okay?”

“You didn’t pop out at all?” Valentina pressed. “Even for a few minutes?”

Cosmo shook his head. “I stayed home all evening.” He gestured towards his foster parents. “Ask them.”

Valentina gave Luisa and Mario an enquiring look. Mario inclined his head.

“It’s true, chief. We were both at home last night, and if Cosmo had gone out, one of us would have noticed. It can’t have been him.”

Valentina nodded; she looked a little relieved.

“Good. To be honest, that tracks with what we’ve heard. Aside from the victim, we only have one other witness, but the limited accounts they were both able to provide don’t really point to a suspect of Cosmo’s height, build, or…” she tailed off, seeming to think the better of it.

Or what…? Gender?

“But, unfortunately,” Valentina went on, “that leaves us no closer to knowing who did this. We don’t know who else would have the motive.” She turned back to Cosmo. “Signor Rossi’s concussion was quite severe, and his memory of the incident is hazy, but he mentioned the attacker saying something like ‘you shouldn’t be so quick to drop people.’” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Are you sure there’s nobody else who might have felt inspired to do this on your behalf?”

Cosmo glared at her for a few more seconds. He wasn’t happy about what had happened, but Elisabetta had done this for him. He wasn’t about to drop her in it, but lying to Valentina’s face was hard. He dropped his eyes to the tabletop.

“Like who?” he asked sullenly. “There’s nobody here who gives enough of a crap about me to do that.”

Valentina sighed slightly. “If you do know something, if there’s someone you’re protecting, now’s the time to say it. It’ll be the worse for both of you if you don’t.”

Cosmo forced himself to look up and gave her the stubbornest look he could manage.

“I don’t know anything,” he insisted.

“Very well.” Valentina seemed to have decided that she would get nothing else out of Cosmo for the moment. She drew back slightly and drained her coffee glass. Her eyes turned back to Luisa and Mario. “You’ll get Cosmo to contact me, won’t you, if he remembers anything else?”

Luisa nodded. “Of course, chief Forza. Thank you for coming all the way up here to see us at home.”

Valentina nodded. “I find people are sometimes more forthcoming on their home turf, where they feel safe,” she replied. She got to her feet. “Thank you for the coffee, signora Verdi.”

Cosmo watched her go, relieved that the interview was over, but troubled by a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite define.

Safe…? he thought bitterly. I’ve never felt freakin’ safe in this town.

Once the door had closed behind Valentina, Cosmo’s foster parents turned to him with slightly anxious smiles.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Mario ventured. “Only…” his strained smile faltered slightly. “Your friends… the ones you were drinking with the other night… are you sure…?”

“Oh, please, don’t go there!” Cosmo snapped. The nagging feeling at the back of his mind was getting stronger, and it was making him feel hot and irritable. Taking a deep breath, he forced a note of calm back into his voice and pushed his half-finished coffee away from him. “I need to lie down… can I be excused?”

Luisa nodded. “Of course, caro,” she said quietly.

Cosmo retreated to the welcome solitude of the lower floor and flung himself onto his bed. The cornflower-blue sheets were crisp and fragrant, freshly changed that morning by Luisa, and he hadn’t even noticed.

Suddenly, to his own astonishment, hot tears were pouring from his eyes, spattering the clean sheets with dark dots. It was as if the pressure at the back of his mind had broken through at last, like a beleaguered dam finally giving way, flooding his being with… what, exactly?

It’s guilt, you utter idiot.

Luca’s voice again. This time, Cosmo could almost see him rolling his eyes.

But… I didn’t do anything! Cosmo protested.

Imaginary Luca folded his arms. Oh, really? YOU poured your self-pitying shit out to Elisabetta, the only person you know who’s crazy enough to pull a stupid stunt like this. What did you THINK she’d do? You HEARD her say you’ve got to stick together… you’ve SEEN how she’s willing to smash anything that stands in her way. It may not have been your own gun, but you still pulled the fucking trigger.

Wash your mouth out, little bro, Cosmo thought wretchedly, but the damage was done.

He WAS responsible. Thanks to Cosmo’s wounded pride, Pietro, who’d only tried to give him a chance, was now nursing a severe concussion, a broken nose, two cracked ribs and bruising that would last for weeks.

And what next… will he have a messed-up face forever?

Elisabetta can’t have thought she’d get away with this. The police would get round to her in the end, it was surely only a matter of time. Did she WANT to be sent down for assault… attempted murder, even?

Imaginary Luca shook his head pityingly. Don’t try to make sense of it, Cosmo. I told you, she’s crazy.

So, what can I do? he thought desperately.

Imaginary Luca sighed. Stay away from her, of course. If she so set on going to hell, don’t let her take you with her.

He would try. His friends had tried to show him the way, but they were gone now. Maybe, though… maybe he still had his family.

* * *

Cosmo’s eyes cracked open sometime later and, through the bleary haze, he saw that the quality of the daylight had changed. He must have dozed off for a while.

“Cosmo…?” said a voice.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to clear them. Luca – the real Luca – was sitting on the side of the other bed, freshly showered, wearing clean shorts and a vest top, with his wavy hair tousled and damp and his vivid green eyes concerned and curious over his fine cheekbones.

It was like looking in a strange mirror at the boy he, Cosmo, should have been. Cosmo found himself wondering what the hell had gone wrong.

“Bro…?” he mumbled.

“What’s going on, Cosmo?” Luca asked anxiously. “They’re saying Pietro was attacked – everyone’s talking about it. Half of them seem to think you did it because you got fired. The rest are saying that it was a random attack by a stranger and none of us are safe.”

Cosmo shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”

But Luca still looked uncertain. “Mamma and Papà said you had a visit from the Carabinieri chief this afternoon.”

Cosmo nodded. “And they backed me up when I said I didn’t do it. I was here all night. It wasn’t me, little bro.”

Luca scowled. “Yeah, well I don’t think it was a stranger, either.” There was a bitter pause. “It was the bête noire, wasn’t it? She did it for you. Did you put her up to it?”

“No!” Cosmo protested. “I didn’t want this, little bro, I swear!”

Luca sighed raggedly. “What difference does it make? It’s happened, you’re covering for her, and tomorrow you’ll probably go running back to her just like always.”

Cosmo shook his head again. “No, I won’t,” he replied quietly. “I want to be better. I need you to help me be better.”

“You really expect me to believe that?” Luca retorted, but his voice sounded less assured, and the certainty in his green eyes had clouded a little.

Cosmo sensed there was a battle taking place within the younger boy, and he wondered at it.

After everything that’s happened, he still has hope… where does he find it all?

“I’ll prove it,” Cosmo entreated him. “Let me hang with you tomorrow. We’ll do whatever you want. I’ll even, I dunno… do something for your freakin’ nature. Please, just give me a chance!”

Luca’s green gaze regarded him doubtfully. “One day,” he countered.

Cosmo nodded fervently. “One day! I’ll take that.”

Luca sagged into himself a little; it seemed he had given up the fight.

“Fine,” he replied dully. “One day. I’ll talk to Emilia.”

Cosmo attempted a smile, but Luca’s eyes had already slipped down to his phone, so he lay back down on his bed and stared unseeingly at the clock on his bedside table. If he did this thing, maybe he could start to make up some ground… or at least feel a little better about himself.

Okay, Cosmo. He’s given you a chance. Don’t fuck it up.

* * *

“Let me get this straight,” Cosmo said. “We’re building a hotel… for fucking bugs?”

Luca nodded. “That’s right. Is that a problem?”

They were gathered in a shady, inconspicuous corner of one of the formal gardens at the Villa Cimbrone. It was another fine, hot morning, and the pine trees in the surrounding spaces rung with cicada song. At the back of one of the flowerbeds there were a few bricks, some chipped and battered terracotta roof tiles and a couple of old wooden pallets, which had been thoughtfully provided by the owners. Luca and Emilia had brought a handful of household tools, including a saw, a cordless drill and some sanding gear, but even so, Cosmo wasn’t sure how the small pile of junk could be turned into anything you could call a hotel.

“Nah, I’ll do anything,” Cosmo replied. “It’s just… aren’t bugs a bad thing? Don’t they, like, eat buds and suck the life out of plants or something?”

“Some bugs do,” Emilia replied patiently. “Aphids, for example. They’re like little vampires, just like you said. But, you know what? Nature has a solution for everything. Ladybirds and lacewings eat aphids. You just need to give them a home so they can survive the winter.”

“Also, some insects pollinate plants,” Luca added. “We’d be lost without bugs, Cosmo. Don’t you know anything?”

Cosmo shrugged. “I guess not. I usually just splat them.”

Briefly, the dying twitches of a crushed ground beetle flashed through his mind. He shuddered inwardly and tried to brush the memory away.

Jesus, grow up… it was just a BUG.

“Then it’s time to start making up for seventeen years of ecocide,” Luca said. He thrust the saw into Cosmo’s hands and gestured towards the pallets. “Start by sawing a couple of good solid quarters off each of those. We’ll use the rest for scrap.”

Cosmo blinked at the tool he’d suddenly found himself holding. “What, there’s manual labour now? And we’re doing all this for free?”

Luca shrugged. “Not everything’s about money, Cosmo.” He glanced at his girlfriend. “Sometimes the work’s its own reward… right, ’milia?”

Emilia rolled her eyes. “What Luca’s trying to say is that sometimes it feels good to do something to help without expecting anything in return.”

Luca nodded. “That’s nature conservation in a nutshell.”

“What, you mean the creepy-crawlies don’t even say thank you?” Cosmo remarked.

Emilia snickered slightly, but Luca gave her a reproachful look and she hastily composed herself.

Nope. Too soon for jokes. We’re not all friends here.

“So, ah… what will you guys be doing while I’m slaving my guts out with this saw?” Cosmo asked.

“We’ll be down on the lower terraces, looking for habitat to stuff it with,” Luca replied. “Twigs, fallen branches, sprigs of dry leaves, that sort of thing.”

“So, I’ll be on my own?” Cosmo grumbled.

Luca spread his hands nonchalantly. “What else is new?” At Cosmo’s slightly wounded look, he relented a little. “We won’t be too long. We’ll build it together, I swear.”

“See you in a bit,” Emilia offered, and they set off together.

Cosmo sighed and turned his attention to the pallets. Soon he was sawing away, brushing beads of perspiration from his brow and trying to ignore the curious stares of the visitors who were passing on the main central avenue, luxuriating in their renewed freedom and the colours, aromas and syrupy warmth of their summer holidays.

Before too long, he had ceased to notice them. Maybe there was solace to be found in hard work.

* * *

The bug hotel was built to exacting standards under Luca and Emilia’s direction. Cosmo found himself drilling holes into lengths of tree branch to make inviting winter retreats for all manner of critters, and even sanding the edges so their wings wouldn’t be torn by wayward splinters. Soon, a multi-tiered structure had emerged, with the gaps between the pallet sections stuffed with all manner of densely packed habitat. They even managed to create a pitched roof using the old terracotta tiles, to keep the hotel and its occupants warm and dry during the winter.

It was a far cry from smashing beetles in the woods. Cosmo could tell he was doing good, and Luca and Emilia seemed to take great satisfaction from their work.

Cosmo, however, felt nothing. As they stood back to admire the finished structure, which had commanded at least two hours of his life, he could have cheerfully kicked the whole thing back down again. The future denizens of the hotel felt no more real or important to Cosmo than they had when he had started.

Just a bunch of stupid bugs. What the fuck do I care?

For a while, the project had distracted Cosmo from his problems, but now that he had finished, he found they were all still alive and well, waiting for him.

He had hoped for more, but it wasn’t nature that he had offended. Not really.

Like this was EVER going to make a difference, Cosmo?

It was that mocking voice at the back of his mind again… only, this time, it didn’t sound like Luca. It sounded more like Elisabetta.

Build as many bug hotels as you like. You’re still the loser with no prospects who smokes drugs and tried to put the moves on your girlfriend’s kid brother, and that’s never gonna change.

“I think that looks really great,” Luca ventured. “What do you think, ’milia?”

Emilia nodded. “Absolutely.” Her astute brown eyes turned to Cosmo. “It was good to create something together, don’t you think?”

Now they were both looking at him anxiously. Feeling it was expected of him, Cosmo nodded.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” he grunted.

Emilia looked pleased, but Luca’s green eyes lingered on him a while longer, looking troubled.

What’s going on in your head, little bro? Did I finally do something right… or are you secretly hating the fact that I’m here at all?

“I’m thirsty,” he said. “You guys want a drink?”

“I could go for something,” Emilia conceded.

“You mean you’ve still got some money left?” Luca murmured thoughtfully. “You haven’t spent it all on weed already?”

Cosmo shook his head. “Betta doesn’t make me pay for it,” he said without really thinking about it. Realising how weak that sounded, he paused, gathering his resolve as best he could. “Anyway… I’m not going to see her anymore. Not if I can help it.”

A little flicker of something rippled through Luca’s pensive expression; it was gone before Cosmo could fully register it, but then the younger boy nodded slowly.

“Sure. A drink would be cool.”

* * *

‘Where are you, Cosmo? Why are you ignoring me?’

Cosmo regarded his phone screen warily. It was his fourth unanswered text from Elisabetta that evening.

His phone pinged again.

‘They got to you, didn’t they?’

He hastily set his phone to ‘do not disturb’ and placed it face down on the little patio table, wondering about the older girl’s state of mind.

Night was falling, and he was sitting in the courtyard by the light of the outside lamp. He was surrounded by curtains of magenta bougainvillea flowers, which shone warmly in the golden glow. The night was typically balmy. If he had been sharing it with someone special, he supposed it might have been magical.

As it was, he was feeling pretty low. The atmosphere over dinner had been kinda strange. Luisa and Mario had been overtly polite and friendly, talking a little too repeatedly about Cosmo’s innocence in relation to the attack on Pietro; it didn’t quite jive with the nagging, wary anxiety he saw lurking at the backs of their eyes. Luca, meanwhile, had been quiet and subdued, lacking the prickly animosity to which Cosmo had become accustomed. It hadn’t tipped over into overt trust or appreciation; it had just been supplanted by a vaguely avoidant air of confusion.

Luisa had prepared a wholesome summer dinner of tomatoes stuffed with bread, cheese and herbs, which Cosmo had enjoyed well enough, but he had found the awkward family setting suffocating, and he had excused himself from the table at the earliest opportunity. He had sensed a lessening of the tension around the dining area as soon as he had left.

The cuckoo in the nest, that’s me, he had thought. It’ll be so much easier for them when I’m gone.

But he wasn’t going anywhere, was he? He was stuck here, the perpetually unwanted child, until he’d found a way to sort his life out. Maybe he’d made some progress with Luca, or maybe he hadn’t; either way, it felt like the tiniest of first steps along a long and claustrophobic road.

There was a clattering noise from above him; Cosmo’s eyes looked up automatically.

Oh… fucking great.

Vincenzo stepped out onto the terrace. He was back in his loosely fitting dressing gown, but he no longer looked like a vision of Eros to Cosmo. He was hot, sure, but he also looked like the primitive, preening idiot that he must always have been.

Vincenzo snorted. “Well, look who it is. It’s the loser next door.” He looked Cosmo up and down. “Only, you seem a bit less greasy than usual. Could it be that you’re actually making an effort?”

“You can talk,” Cosmo shot back. “I heard Isabella subjected you to a shameful public humiliation. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

The young man’s expression darkened. “Well, at least I didn’t beat her up for rejecting me,” he retorted. “Thankfully, most of us are too damned decent follow the Neri approach to life.”

“Shut up,” Cosmo said quietly. “That wasn’t me.”

“D’you really expect anyone to believe that, with your family background?” Vincenzo spat. “Like father, like son, I guess. Well, we’re not having it. Not here.”

“What are you going to do?” Cosmo responded desperately. “Run me out of town?”

The young man shrugged. “Nobody would miss you if we did.”

With that, Vincenzo stalked back inside and slammed the terrace door. Cosmo glared after him.

Stupid ass. He doesn’t care about Pietro. He’s still just sore about the gay thing.

But… he wasn’t wrong in the end, was he?

Who WOULD miss me, really?

The thought made him feel hollow inside, and he brooded on it for a while. Not far away, he knew, the people who belonged here – the locals, and the visitors they welcomed every summer – were chatting and laughing, enjoying the chilled-out refrains of the cathedral square on a warm Sunday night in July. Free of the tyranny of school, even the young children would still be up, playing chase in the middle of the square under the watchful eye of the community. For them, this was paradise.

Part of Cosmo would have liked to get out there and join them, but the rest of him railed against it. The real Cosmo Neri had no place among their company. To truly belong in this town, he would have to become someone he wasn’t. And now, as he sought to become that new person, the one who would do the right thing, his world had got smaller still. He had to stick to his new family. This house, and this courtyard, had become his prison.

Out there, somewhere, was Elisabetta, and all the bad temptations that she represented. Here, at least, he was safe.

After all, even Betta wouldn’t be crazy enough to turn up HERE.

“Hey, there, boyfriend.”

Cosmo looked up in dismay. The girl in question was standing in the doorway from the street. Her face was a pale triangle in the darkness, and her clothing, her hair and her eyeliner were somehow blacker than ever.

“Betta…!” he whispered. “You can’t be here.”

Closing the street door behind her until it stood ajar, Elisabetta sidled over to the table and sat down in the other chair, regarding Cosmo coolly with her dark eyes.

“You ghosted me, Cosmo,” she said quietly. “Not cool, especially after what I did for you.”

“What you did for me?” Cosmo repeated incredulously. “I didn’t ask you to attack Pietro! I’m in trouble with the police, and it’s not just them, either. Half the town thinks I fucking did it!”

Elisabetta scowled. “But you didn’t do it. Who gives a crap what the people in this lame backwater town think?”

“I do!” Cosmo insisted. He gestured at the house behind him. “I’ve got a family now. I’m trying to make things right with them. If I can prove to them that I can be trusted, then…” he gazed wistfully out at the street door. “Maybe there’s hope for everyone else.”

Elisabetta shook her head. “Wow, they’ve really done a number on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is what families do, Cosmo,” she said bitterly. “They bring you into this world, load you up with all their baggage and worst habits and then blame you when things go wrong.”

Cosmo shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t think…”

Elisabetta pulled the strap of her crop top aside, revealing the burn-shaped scar she concealed beneath it.

“I tried to be daddy’s little girl, and where did it get me?” she whispered. Her dark eyes blazed with suppressed feeling.

“You’ve never told me about this stuff,” Cosmo said quietly. “What did he do to you?”

“I guess you could say he taught me the tricks of the trade. We’d be out somewhere, and he’d get me to cause a distraction while he pocketed what he wanted… or he’d use me as a mule, because who would challenge the cute little girl shopping with her father? It all seemed like a game at first, but before long I’d gone from the babe on his lap to his trusted accomplice.”

“What about your mother?”

Elisabetta snorted. “She was too weak to stop him, and anyway, she liked all her nice new things. Anyway, as I grew up, I couldn’t get by on cute anymore, so I had to use my brains and learn some tricks of my own. Soon, I could run rings around Papà. I don’t know whether he was jealous or whether he couldn’t stand seeing what he’d turned me into, but he hated me for it.”

“He hurt you?” Cosmo asked.

Elisabetta nodded. “When he was feeling low, and he needed someone to blame.” She released the strap, and the scar disappeared from view. “Those are just the scars you can see. The rest…” She tailed off. “Don’t let this lot do the same to you.”

Cosmo frowned. “But Luisa and Mario… I don’t think they’re the sort of people who would do that to…”

Elisabetta gave a harsh sigh of frustration. “It doesn't matter how they’ll do it. Maybe they’ll use their tongues rather than their fists, but they’ll tear you down all the same.” Her eyes flicked accusingly to the front door. “It’s already started, the way they’ve all got you thinking about yourself…”

In the face of her intense determination, Cosmo’s arguments were waning. Try to fight it he might, but wasn’t that exactly how he’d been feeling himself?

“I know they don’t want me here,” he said at length. “I’ve tried to fit in, but nothing I do is ever good enough.”

Elisabetta nodded approvingly. “You’re finally getting it! It’s cool that you’re trying to stick up for them, but you don’t owe them anything.”

“Then I guess nobody gives a crap about me,” Cosmo said miserably.

“That’s not true, Cosmo,” Elisabetta said. Her hands clasped Cosmo’s with a sudden, fierce energy. “You’ve got me.”

Cosmo nodded uncertainly. “I guess…”

“Who else would go to bat for you like I did?” she went on. “I’m sorry if I did it the wrong way, if it wasn’t what you wanted. But you and me, we belong together. The two of us could take on the world.”

“Me and you…?” Cosmo repeated doubtfully.

“You and me,” Elisabetta whispered. Her hands tightened around his own. There was a new light in her eyes: a feverish gleam that he hadn’t seen before. “Come away with me! We’ll make our own future, like Bonnie and Clyde, or Thelma and Louise.”

“But… they all ended up dead.”

Elisabetta gave a sick sort of smile. “Yeah, but what a death.”

Cosmo shook his head. “I don’t want to die.”

Elisabetta spread her arms helplessly, releasing Cosmo’s hands. “So don’t… but if you stay here, it’ll be death for sure… death by routine, death by a thousand missed opportunities. Don’t you see? It’s your life. It should be up to you.”

There was silence for a moment. Cosmo stared at the older girl, half in thrall to her words, half running in terror.

“Well…?” Elisabetta pressed. “What’s it to be?”

Cosmo swallowed anxiously. “Sure… I’ll think about it.”

There was a clatter from the front door; someone was coming.

“Gotta go,” Elisabetta hissed.

“Cosmo…?” came a voice. It was Mario, standing in the doorway in a dressing gown of his own. “Was there someone here…?”

Cosmo looked round; Elisabetta was gone, the door to the street neatly closed.

He shook his head. “I…”

“Never mind,” Mario sighed. “It’s late. Everyone else is going to bed.”

“Fine. I’ll… be there in a minute.”

Mario nodded and retreated to the house. Cosmo lingered a minute, troubled, hands clutching tightly at the tabletop.

She said we could take on the world.

Did Elisabetta really want them to embark on a wayward life together, or was that just talk? It had almost sounded like she wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.

Does she really think that would be… cool?