The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander (ebook reader screen TXT) 📕

gave it to Alfia to deliver, telling her to give it to no one but him. I dozed for a while after she returned. He’d sent no reply.

Sometime in the early afternoon, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. Bia had gone to see a friend, so I would be free from her scorn for a few hours at least. I sat in the Sala dei Pappagalli with a book on my lap, but could not focus enough to read. I stared at the parrots painted on the walls, half in a trance.

Which is probably why I didn’t react quickly when Father Cambio came through the door and closed it behind him. The bleeding knuckles on his right hand told me how he’d got past my servants.

“It is time for us to reconcile,” he said, coming toward me.

I stood up and backed away. “There will never again be anything between us.”

“I don’t agree,” he said and held up a sheaf of papers. “You recognize these, yes?”

I nodded. It was Friar Baldo’s inventory.

“I’ve had you followed for months, Mina,” he said. “I wanted to see what you were doing. No one who’s seen you delight in the pleasures of passion could believe you follow Savonarola. I knew you to be a wanton trollop, but I never suspected you’d steal from your friends. What do you intend to do with your bounty? Move to the countryside and fill a villa?”

“That was never—”

He waved me off. “Don’t bother. The questions were rhetorical. I don’t care what you do with any of it. I do, however, care very much about the power your actions have bestowed upon me. I don’t support Savonarola any more than you do. We are similar creatures, Mina. We both know what it takes to survive. But if I were to expose what you’re doing—to the little friar, to your friends—your life would be destroyed. I always thought it was our son who would enable me to do what I wish to do to you, but you’ve given me a far greater gift. Now I can take what I want without having even to invoke his name. I’m not a monster; I have no desire to cause him any embarrassment or discomfort. Not that I suppose he ever would have suffered, even if I had publicly named him. For all we know, he’s long gone from Florence. How old would he be now? Fifteen?”

I did not answer. I stepped back again and felt the wall behind me. He laughed.

“This is a game we never before played, you pretending to want to get away from me. It’s more arousing than I would have thought. I’ve always preferred a willing partner, but you, Mina, you have always tempted me like none of the others.” He lunged forward, gripped my neck with his hands, and pressed me hard against the wall. “Struggle as much as you want. Nothing will stop me from taking my pleasure.”

I could hardly breathe, let alone scream. I kicked at his legs. He flung me onto the floor and pinned me there with the weight of his body. I stopped moving and let my knees fall open, wanting to lull him into a sense of security. He responded exactly as I expected he would, raising himself slightly and pulling up his cassock. I grabbed him where I knew it would wound him the most, dug in my nails, and twisted.

He shrieked and leapt to his feet, shaking his head. “You will pay for that, Mina.”

“I don’t agree.” Cristofano was standing in the doorway. “She’s obviously in no need of my help, but if you think I won’t have a go at you all the same, you’ve never met a man.”

“This is not what you think,” Father Cambio said. “She is the worst sort of slattern, although I suppose you know that as well as I. You were suspiciously close friends for quite a while, weren’t you? I’m certain you took full advantage—”

Cristofano silenced him with a blow to the jaw that sent four of the priest’s teeth skidding across the floor, but that did not deter my adversary. He struggled to his knees. I grabbed a heavy marble bust of Venus from the table and brought it down on the back of his head. He slumped down and did not move.

“Is he dead?” I asked.

Cristofano felt for a pulse. “Yes, and I can’t say I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”

“No,” I said. “Thank you for rescuing me, again.”

“There’s no need for thanks. You had the matter well in hand and were in no need of rescue.”

“Did you come because you read my letter?”

“I did.”

“I shouldn’t have rejected your proposal.” A sob caught in my throat. Some mistakes can never be corrected.

“It seems like that happened in another lifetime, to another man.” He did not meet my eyes. “What are we going to do about the dead priest on your floor?”

“I don’t suppose we could convince anyone he died of the plague?”

Cristofano gave me a wry smile. “No, but I can testify that you acted only to defend yourself.”

“No one will believe he attacked me,” I said. “He’s a well-respected priest.”

“Why did he hate you so much?”

Tears started to fall down my cheeks. “Because I loved him once.”

“That was your secret,” he said.

“Along with this.” I removed the half charm hanging around my neck and handed it to him.”

“You have a child.”

I nodded.

“A son or a daughter?” he asked.

“A son. Salvi.”

“Good name.” He passed the necklace back to me. “And that is why you wouldn’t marry me?”

“It is.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. “So foolish, Mina, so very foolish. Why would I have cared? It would have changed nothing.”

“I didn’t believe that. I couldn’t.”

“Then you were right to reject me,” he said. “I would never want a wife who had so little faith in her husband.”

For a moment, I let myself imagine that I’d married Cristofano. That we’d found Salvi and brought him into our home, saving