Lili pushed the door open with her foot and went in avoiding looking directly at the men, one in particular, her boss, who had changed into faded jeans and a shirt. She did however, manage to notice that he’d rolled his sleeves up. He was standing by the window that looked out over the gardens rolling down to the lake. This was one of Lili’s favourite rooms, the library/office.
The solicitor, an older man, was sitting in a chair and stood up politely when Lili came in. Corti said, ‘Just put the coffee down anywhere,grazie,Miss Spirenze.’
She smiled at the solicitor who sat back down and busied herself tranferring the pot and cups from the tray to the table, along with the freshly basked biscotti.
They seemed happy to resume their conversation with her still in the room. Corti said, ‘I just don’t know if I want to sacrifice my freedom for the sake of the villa, it’s no secret that I have an ambiguous relationship with it.’
‘Of course, and no one is denying how much this place must remind you of what happened…’
Lili ascertained they were referring to the tragic crash that had killed Corti’s entire family. It had happened somewhere not far from here. She couldn’t even imagine what a loss like that would do to someone.
Corti made a non-committal sound, and the solicitor went on. ‘But you can’t ignore the fact that Cortis have owned this villa for generations. The last thing locals want is for some celebrity to move in, or a hotel chain to snap it up and carve it into pieces.’
Lili took the tray and moved silently to the door, pulling it behind her again. She noticed one of her laces was undone on her sneaker and rested the tray against the wall before bending down to retie it.
The solicitor was speaking again and it was audible through the door. ‘Cassian, you’ve always known about this rule of inheritance—if you’re not married with an heir by the time you turn thirty-three in a year’s time, you forfeit the right to keep the villa and it must be sold.’ He went on, ‘All you need to maintain ownership of your inheritance, is a wife who is willing to give you an heir. She could reside here and never set foot outside the gate if she so wished.’
Corti snorted incredulously. ‘As if such a woman exists. Who on earth would want to hide away here forever?’
Everything inside Lili went very still. He’d literally just spoken her fantasy out loud. Living a quiet life here, feeling protected and at peace.
Now the solicitor snorted. ‘Haven’t you got a Rolodex of women lining up to bear a Corti heir? What about that blonde from last night?’
‘She wouldn’t last ten minutes in this villa without complaining about having nothing to do, and I can’t think of any woman who would willingly destroy their figure to bear my child. A child I do not want, by the way, nor a marriage. I lost my family once, I won’t ever take that risk again. I’m a racing car driver, I couldn’t be less suitable to be a father.’
‘Cassian, what happened was an awful tragedy but you can’t let that stop you from having a family of your own. Don’t turn your back on a legacy that is hundreds of years old. You won’t always be racing.’
‘I have a duty, is that what you’re telling me, Giorgio?’ He sounded bitter.
‘In a word, yes. A duty to at least try.’
Lili couldn’t move. It was as if she was frozen into that position, on her haunches, fingers on her lace. She was in shock. Stunned by what they were discussing and also shocked by Corti’s palpable grief. Not to mention cynicism.I can’t think of any woman who would willingly destroy their figure to bear my child… I have a duty, is that what you’re telling me?
Lili stood up, reeling. Her hand automatically went to her belly. She had always wanted a child. Above almost anything else. A child of her own that she could lavish with all of the love and attention she’d never received from her parents. Because the fundamental flaw in their ability to bond with her had been because they’d adopted her.
They’d tried to have children for years before eventually adopting and from what Lili had gathered over the years, her mother had just never bonded with her, not helped by the fact that Lili hadn’t been the delicate, petite girly girl she’d wanted for a daughter.
And then, a couple of years after adopting Lili, they’d got pregnant through IVF, and had twin boys. Lili’s brothers. Almost overnight, all attention and any scant care she’d received had been deflected to their biological children and Lili had been more and more neglected.
Her biological parents hadn’t loved her enough to keep her and her adopted parents hadn’t loved her enough either. A double rejection that had clung to her like a bruise her whole life.
Through those horrific days of the kidnapping, she’d fantasised about living in some idyllic place, with a child. Just the two of them, protected from the evils of the outside world. She would ensure no harm came to her child. She would protect them with every fibre of her being, showing them thatsheloved them. If they were ever in danger she wouldn’t hesitate to lay down her life for them.
She was well aware that a psychoanalyst would probably tell her that the child she wanted washerselfand that she was just trying to heal that part of herself that had never got over the sheer cruelty of her parents’ negligence.
But, her deepest unconscious motivations aside, she had always felt the need to be a mother. To nurture someone outside of herself. To care for a life. To give and receive unconditional love.
The solicitor spoke again and this time he sounded like he was admitting defeat. ‘Are you really going to walk away from the legacy your ancestors and parents nurtured for you?’
Corti’s voice was cold. ‘That was an archaic rule set down in a time when the world worked very differently.’
‘And yet no Corti has failed to secure the next generation’s inheritance, until now.’
‘That’s a low blow.’
‘It’s the truth.’
Lili picked up the tray and left, walking blindly back down to the kitchen. Her head was buzzing with all she’d heard.
