[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] `Cesare, don't lose your temper ...' `Don't what?' He almost bared his teeth at her, his eyes black with rage. 'Woman, keep out of this! Women have caused enough trouble as it is! Woolly thinking and clouded emotionalism! My God, there is going to be a reckoning for this! Giulio will think himself lucky if he escapes without being strangled ! How dare he ! Black- mail my mother! I'll kill him ...' She clung to him apprehensively. 'Please, don't do any- thing violent!' A devil seemed to be leaping mercilessly in the grey eyes. He turned upon her a look that froze the blood in her veins. 'Don't talk to me of violence! I have been civilised and restrained for far too long. It is time there was some violence!' With a twist of his arm he flung her off and stalked away. Amanda hesitated, wondering whether to follow him or to go back to the Contessa. But if she did rejoin the Contessa, what could she tell her which would com- fort her? She would bear nothing but ill tidings to her aunt. She decided instead to hurry after Cesare in the hope of averting, somehow, the worst of the brewing storm. As she fled down the street after Cesare's striding figure she became aware of stares and curious exclama- tions. Even in her modern dress she was now recog- nisable, she realised, with a sinking heart. How long would it take to live down that ghastly pageant? 16o HAWK IN A BLUE SKY `Hi, Beatrice ... hey, can I take a snap of you ?' A cheerful young American hailed her. She smiled sweetly at him, but pretended not to under- stand English. She scurried past him and dived down a dark alley which led directly to Giulio's shop. Ahead of her Cesare still strode, oblivious of the interest their pro- gress aroused in the citizens who knew them both. As they drew nearer to the antique shop Amanda heard muffled sounds which alarmed her. The closer she came the louder the sounds grew until she was certain what they were ... She was hearing angry shouting and the smashing of fragile objects! A small crowd had gathered already outside Giulio's shop. They backed slightly as Cesare approached, scent- ing both danger to themselves and an escalation of the exciting violence. Cesare glared at them. 'Have you nothing better to do than gape there all day ?' he demanded ferociously. They uneasily moved back under his stare, like sheep under the eyes of a wolf, but as soon as Cesare had stalked into the shop they scurried back to hear what happened. Amanda, arriving a moment later, squeezed her way to the front of the crowd and vanished inside the shop, too. A whisper ran round the crowd as they watched her. Giulio and Piero were in the back of the shop, out of- view of the crowd outside, although their voices were loud enough to explain what was going on between HAWK IN A BLUE SKY 161 them. Broken glass and china lay scattered around the floor. Giulio was white and tense, and Piero was looking more like Cesare than she had ever seen him look. His handsome face was tougher and more masculine. His eyes were chips of ice. `You low-down, sneaking bastard!' he snarled at Giu- lio. 'I'm going to break your neck!' `That is my privilege, I think,' Cesare drawled, step- ping forward. Piero shot him a look. Giulio began to wear a desper- ate air. One Druetso was bad enough; two of them was too much to swallow. Piero said tautly, 'Look, Cesare, keep out of this. It is my affair. This piece of flotsam used me as a lever to get the things out of Mamma ' `But she's my mother, too,' said Cesare. 'I have a right to join in, don't I?' `Can't you let me handle anything on my own? I'm capable of sorting out Giulio, don't you worry ...' 'I am the defender of the family honour, not you,' Cesare said. 'You forget that!' `Forget it? Who could forget it? With that damned hawk everywhere we look ... on the seal, in the paint- ings, on the walls, in the tapestries ... the whole of San Volenco is dominated by you and your damned symbol of authority! How could anyone forget you, Cesare?' They faced each other belligerently, looking oddly alike. Amanda watched as Giulio, taking advantage of their absorption, began to creep away on tiptoe. Then she said cheerfully, 'He's sneaking off, boys!' The two Druetso men swung as one and lunged for 162 HAWK IN A BLUE SKY him. Cesare caught him by the left arm, Piero by the right. Cesare grinned at his brother. `So what shall we do with this rat?' `Throw him and his girl-friend out of the city for good,' Piero nodded. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl blacksoulman.xlx.pl