THE INNOCENT WIFE

CHAPTER FOUR

"Not here." Roseanne shook her head obstinately, her feet planted firmly in the paved footpath that ran along the front wall of Lisa's Roman villa.

"Si," Lisa grunted, shouldering open the gate and waiting for Roseanne to follow her.

Roseanne eyed the elegant building with distaste. It was stunning, of course. Just the kind of home a person like Lisa Manoban would own. Set on the outskirts of Rome, in the premiere Residential district, it had spectacular views over the whole city. She could see the Forum, and the Colosseum, and the spikes and turrets of the Vatican. The view had enchanted her, initially. But now it brought back too many vivid memories of long evenings, alone, looking out and wondering where her wife was. And who with.

The villa itself was grand and imposing. Set behind a tall, red brick wall, the house was four stories high and rendered in a pale brown.

The roof was original – small terracotta squares that spoke of an ancient time in Roman history.

Roseanne ran her shaking fingertips over the fence, but did not step inside the gates.

The twelve months she'd spent as mistress of Villa Vista had not been happy.

"Roseanne," Lisa said quietly, Lisa's eyes beseeching. "The villa is the most secure place I could think of to bring you."

It was the first property Lisa'd bought. Then, in the beginning flush of obscene wealth, and with the certainty that her father's past could reach out and ruin everything, Lisa had needed somewhere safe and secure. Villa Vista was a fortress. Discrete cameras hooked into the roofline captured every angle of the property. Their footage was reviewed by an independent security agency, as well as an automated system constantly scanning for unusual activity. The property was alarmed; the windows were bullet proof, the front door impenetrable, and there was an enormous safe room that could be accessed from his bedroom.

Faced with a need to protect Roseanne as Lisa was presently, this had been the only option.

"I swore I'd never come back," Roseanne remarked bitterly, her eyes drawn again to the house. The black wrought iron balconies that stepped out from each bedroom on the top two floors were like bulging, black eyes. Roseanne stared at them, and wrapped her arms tight around her middle.

"You used to like it here," Lisa said, quietly interrogating her.

"Maybe at first. But not for a long time."

"You were happy in Rome," Lisa pushed, scanning Roseanne's pale face with renewed curiosity.

Roseanne seemed to close up before Lisa's very eyes. Roseanne squared her shoulders and shot Lisa a look of obvious disbelief. "That you thought so shows how little you knew me." Still, what choice did she have? If someone was actually targeting her, until she knew who and why, she was wisest to stay away. And whatever threat was out there, she felt safe with Lisa. At least, safe from others. Not safe from the fires of need that seemed to flare between them.

Roseanne stepped into the walls of the villa and shuddered.

That fateful day, when they'd had their last argument, Roseanne'd promised herself that she would leave without looking back. And she had. She'd returned to London and returned to her maiden name. She'd worked hard to banish Lisa from her mind and memories. But standing in the forecourt, Roseanne had the strangest sense of past and future colliding, to form an entirely different present. An almost 'out of body' sensation gripped her. She took great pains to conceal the maelstrom of feelings from Lisa. It was another skill she'd perfected during their marriage. Keeping Lisa at emotional arms length. A tact Roseanne'd honed out of necessity that now felt like second nature.