‘No, because it was sold by their family to yours. And you couldn’t be more wrong about how my family will feel.’ Luca’s gaze never left hers. ‘Once you meet my mother, I think you’ll understand.’
She stared into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth.
‘What time do you leave tomorrow?’ he asked. ‘Or haven’t you booked your flight yet?’
‘I leave at midday,’ she said.
His expression gave nothing away, and she wished it had. She wished he’d immediately asked her to stay longer, that he’d looked disappointed. But instead, he only raised a brow in surprise and smiled.
‘Well, then we’d better make the most of things until then.’
22
Georgia looked at Luca as he reached for the front door to his family home, which was a large, extravagant-looking residence in Cologny, on the outskirts of Geneva. His grin was infectious, despite how nervous she was. Technically it wasn’t a date, but she couldn’t help thinking that she’d never been taken to meet a man’s mother before, and no amount of trying to tell herself it was a business dinner was working to calm her nerves.
‘You look scared.’
‘I am scared!’ She didn’t return Luca’s laugh.
‘Scared of what? My mother can’t wait to meet you.’
Georgia sighed. She hoped he wasn’t just saying that. But when Luca knocked lightly and then opened the door, and they found a very attractive woman rushing out into the hallway, an apron tied around her waist and a smile as big as her son’s, Georgia realised he hadn’t been trying to make her feel better. He’d clearly been telling the truth.
‘Georgia!’ his mother said, taking her by the shoulders and kissing both her cheeks, her English heavily accented. ‘I’m Marj. What a pleasure it is to meet you. Luca! Take her coat and make us a drink, my love.’
Luca grinned, kissing his mother before moving past her, as Georgia was led into a room that looked as if it had just been completed by an interior designer, with throw cushions covering the sofas and soft cashmere blankets folded at each end.
‘Please, take a seat. I’m so happy to have you and Luca here tonight.’ His mother sat across from her, and Georgia couldn’t help but admire her thick dark hair, the same nearly black shade as her son’s, only hers was peppered with silver. ‘He’s told me so much about you.’
‘He has?’ She hadn’t expected his mother to know anything about her, other than that she was in possession of the sapphire.
‘When I saw him yesterday, I asked him who the woman in his life was.’
Georgia felt her eyebrows lift in question, although she didn’t know what to say.
‘Only a woman can make a man smile in that way.’
‘Mama, your drink,’ Luca said, entering the room at just the right time and passing first his mother, and then Georgia, a glass. ‘Champagne, since it’s a celebration.’
Georgia was surprised for the second time in as many minutes. ‘Celebration?’
‘After all these years, all these generations, we have finally solved the mystery of the missing sapphire,’ Luca said. ‘I think I speak for my mother, too, when I say that it was about time.’
Luca’s mother laughed and shook her head. ‘It was about time. Although I can see that perhaps everything has happened precisely when it was supposed to.’
‘Mama,’ Luca cautioned.
She held up her hands as Georgia took a little sip of her champagne.
‘I’m sorry your husband spent so many years of your marriage obsessed with the sapphire,’ Georgia said. ‘Lucaexplained to me that the mystery of it all caused some difficulty?—’
‘Ah, my husband,’ his mother said, putting down her drink and standing. Georgia watched as she crossed over to a large side table adorned with photo frames, taking one and walking back across the room with it. She sat down beside Georgia and passed it to her. ‘This was my husband, and his father beside him.’
Georgia could see the family resemblance—Luca looked just like his father.
‘My husband was a brilliant man, with an eye for rare items and jewels that few possessed. But it wasn’t only your sapphire that drove him to madness. There were many things over the years that he became so focused on, that we almost lost him to.’ She sighed, and when Georgia glanced at her, she could see she was still staring at the photo, as if becoming overtaken by the memory. ‘It would have been a wonderful thing for you to meet him, for him to finally solve the mystery, but you mustn’t blame yourself or your family heritage for what happened.’
‘I feel as if so much about my family’s past was hidden, and yet it still managed to cause you and your family so much pain.’
