"Ah, divina, come in," Luigi Amedeo di Monteturro said as he lifted Vanessa's hand to his lips. "Come in, make yourself comfortable. I will prepare a drink for you."
"How was your flight to Toronto?" he asked as he opened the left side of an ornate armoire in the seventeenth century Venetian style. The grace and charm of the elegant antique were accented by floral patterns repeated on the two off-white doors. The legs and sides were slightly curved. Its right side held a small refrigerator. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Did you gather any useful information during the weekend?" He poured a flute of Dom Pérignon for Vanessa and handed it to her with a bow.
Vanessa sipped and murmured her thanks. "Yes," she said. "I found quite a bit of information about Tanya…um…Howard. First, and most important: her birthday is June seventh, 1976. She has access to Kevin's villa at all times. She has a small workshop for painting at the entrance, where she can catch the best light."
"Good work, my friend," Luigi Amedeo said with a smile.
Vanessa stretched her legs and slid them along the smooth leather of the off-white chesterfield. "What did this woman do to you?" she asked.
"If she is who I think she is, then…"
"If she is what?"
"The offspring of the people who deprived me of my birthright. The people who cheated my father and drove him to ruin, to suicide." He stood stiff and quiet for a moment, his eyes looking inward, his lips drawn back from his teeth in an unconscious snarl. He blinked, looked at Vanessa. "What did she do to you, that you should hate her as you do?"
"She stole Kevin from me, replaced me in his heart. She had no right to do that." Vanessa sat straight, both feet planted firmly on the floor. Her hands grasped each other in her lap.
"But Vanessa, my divina, you told me you left him. You said you left Kevin because he bored you, not the other way around."
"No. Well…yes. Yes and no. I told him I needed a break, not to break up with him, just…just a temporary interruption in our relationship. He had no right to replace me." Her fingers grasped each other with such force, the tips were white.
"Ah, I see. And so, you will help me to get close to this Tanya?"