Page 24 of Livia in Rome
‘The thing is...’ There’s a pause, and now it’s Giulio who’s uncomfortable. ‘Nina asked me to keep an eye on her, so I wasn’t—’
‘Wait.’ I cut him off, my voice rising. ‘You’ve been spying on Ma? For Nina? Are you kidding me?’
Giulio holds up his hands. ‘No! It’s not like that. Nina just asked me to report back on any...private meetings. That’s all. And if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t said anything.’
I narrow my eyes. ‘Not even about Ma and Signora Pedretti’s little chats?’ Although, as I say it, I rememberNina seeming to reprimand him about that very thing.
Giulio shakes his head. ‘If Caterina knew about the debt, she’d go straight to Nina. And I want to come up with a solution first...if I can. I want to offer Nina hope, not add to her worries.’
I press my fingers to my temples, torn between the guilt of keeping Ma in the dark and the fear of burdening Nina when she’s already vulnerable. ‘So, what...we say nothing?’
‘Buy some time with the Vespa, I suppose.’ Giulio looks at the sky, his expression pained. ‘Give Bertolli what he wants.’
‘But it belonged to your nonna! Youractualfamily.’ I surprise myself with the strength of my outburst. I mean, what do I care about his Vespa? Or him, for that matter.
Still, I don’t like how Giulio’s whole body shrinks away from me...or the challenge in his voice when he speaks. ‘Nina and I might not be related by blood, but I told you, she’s been there for me my whole life. I owe her.’
Sunshine gleams off the Vespa. ‘So, you’d actually give it up?’
Giulio folds forwards, elbows on his knees. He mumbles, but I can’t tell if it’s because his chin iscupped in his hands or if he’s reluctant to say the words. ‘If it saves the bar...if it buys Nina more time...allora sì, I’ll give it up.’
I believe him. He’d be willing to sacrifice something of his nonna’s to help Nina...formynonna. And while my feelings are tangled up about that, surprise knotted with jealousy, I’m all too aware I’m only here for the summer and not sure I have any right to be part of this at all.
‘What if Ma already knows about the debts?’ I blurt, grasping at straws.
‘There’s nothing in the paperwork she’s been looking at, and I haven’t heard her mention anything to your dad...’ An uncharacteristic flush appears on Giulio’s neck. ‘I was trying to get information,’ he adds, hurriedly. ‘A way to help Nina – money I didn’t know about. Anything.’
I fold my arms across my chest. He’s been spying and eavesdropping, as I suspected all along. ‘Are you keeping any more secrets? Do you know what Ma and Signora Pedretti have been whispering about?’
‘I don’t, Scotland. I promise. But Nina’s right. Signora Pedretti loves to meddle. When you were in class, she had that new phone of hers out, asking me to video-call Flaminia. Then she remembered an “errand” and left us to it. Honestly, you’d think shebought that phone just to get us together.’
I swallow this information, but for some reason it sticks in my throat.
Unaware of my inner turmoil, Giulio slides off the wall.
‘Come on, Scotland. I can’t avoid Bertolli for ever. And now that you know, maybe you can help me.’
Bertolli’s gone when we get back, and Giulio must be so relieved he doesn’t even realize his body has sagged against mine, his back pressing softly against my front. But as soon as he parks in his usual spot, he tenses again – grip tightening on the handlebars, knuckles whitening.
‘Wait here.’ He steps off the Vespa and heads towards his apartment building, stopping at the mailboxes fixed to the outside wall.
Ignoring him, I follow close behind, my heart thudding in my chest as he pulls something from one of the slits. It’s a torn scrap of paper with words scribbled across it, written in a hurry and shoved in without much care.
‘Is it from Bertolli? What does it say?’ I stand on my tiptoes and try to read the messy scrawl.
Giulio crumples the note in his fist. ‘The offer to take the Vespa as payment is valid for two more weeks. After that, the bank will take legal action if we can’t repay the debt in full.’ He stares past me, his jaw tight.I can tell he’s looking at his Vespa, wondering how much longer it will belong to him.
I open my mouth to ask the question I’ve been putting off – to know exactly how much Nina owes – but Ma steps out of the bar.
That radar of hers? It’s been programmed to alert her when I’mthisclose tothisboy.
There’s a faint pillow crease on her cheek; she must’ve been having a nap. She checks the smart-watch Pa bought her for Christmas – the one she still only uses to tell the time. ‘I’m just reopening. You’ve been gone a while. Everything OK with Nina?’
Giulio’s silent plea pokes into my back like a finger.Don’t tell her about the debts. Not yet.
I usher Ma back inside, blinking at the shift from bright sunlight to the bar’s dim interior. ‘Actually, I think she smiled at me today.’
‘Because I wasn’t there to ruin her day,’ Ma huffs, then waves her hand, trying to dismiss the comment.
