‘To be sure. I would always trust you to do what was unscrupulous.’

‘How well you know me! However, the wedding took place. It must have been at the last minute, when she saw that he was near the end and moved fast to secure an inheritance.’

‘Are you sure there’s been a marriage at all?’

‘Yes, I’ve heard from her lawyers. The Signora Helena Veretti-as she now calls herself-is about to arrive and claim what she considers hers.’

The coldly sardonic edge in his voice startled even Raffano, who was used to it.

‘Of course you feel bad about it,’ he said. ‘The factory should never have been left to Antonio in the first place. It was always understood that it was to go to your father-’

‘But my father was busy getting into debt at the time and my great-aunt thought she was doing the sensible thing, leaving it to Antonio,’ Salvatore supplied. ‘That was all right. He was family. But this woman isn’t family, and I’ll be damned if I stand by and see Veretti property fall into her grasping hands.’

‘It’ll be hard for you to challenge the will if she’s his legal wife, however recent the marriage.’

A frightening smile came over Salvatore’s face.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘As you said, I know how to be unscrupulous.’

‘You make it sound almost like a virtue.’

‘It can be.’

‘Just the same, be a little careful, Salvatore. I know you’ve had to be ruthless ever since you were very young, to save your family from disaster. But sometimes I wonder if you’re going a little too far for your own good.’

‘My own good? How can being firm possibly harm me?’

‘By turning you into a tyrant, a man to be feared but never loved, and consequently a man who will end his days alone. I wouldn’t say this unless I was your friend.’

Salvatore’s face softened. ‘I know that,’ he said. ‘A better friend no man ever had. But don’t worry. I’m well-protected. Nothing can touch me.’