One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(71)

“I can’t. I have an appointment.”

“Tell me right away who you’re going out with,” Babi said.

“You’d never guess.”

“Do I know her?”

“Very well indeed. Excuse me, but first of all, why don’t you ask me if this is a man or a woman.”

Babi heaved a sigh of annoyance. “Is this a man or a woman?”

“A man. I’m seeing your father.”

“My father?”

“He came looking for me at my house. When I phoned, he was there waiting for me. We made an appointment to meet in a few minutes at Piazza dei Giuochi Delfici.”

“What does my father want with you?”

Step put on his jacket. “I don’t know! But once I find out, I’ll call you and tell you. All right?”

He gave her a powerful, dizzying kiss. She let him do it, still stunned and surprised by that piece of news.

Step went galloping down the stairs, hurtling over the last few steps, and she watched him vanish. Then she went back inside, silent, sincerely worried. She tried to imagine the two of them meeting. What would they talk about? And what would come of it?

Then, worried especially about her father, she just hoped they wouldn’t come to blows.





Chapter 30



When Claudio arrived, Step was already there, sitting on the low wall, waiting for him and smoking a cigarette. Claudio parked nearby and got out of his car.

“Hello.”

“Good evening, Stefano.” They shook hands. Then Claudio lit a cigarette, too, to feel more at ease. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. That young man really was strange. He just sat there, smiling at him in silence, staring at him, in that black jacket.

He was very different from his brother. Among other things, he was a lot bigger, Claudio thought to himself. Suddenly, just as he was about to sit down next to him on the low wall, a sort of sudden recollection burst into his mind. That boy had beat up his friend Accado. He’d busted his nose. And now he was dating his daughter. That young man was dangerous. He’d a thousand times rather be talking to his brother.

Claudio remained standing. Step looked at him curiously. “Well, what are we going to talk about this fine day?”

“Well, here’s the thing, Stefano. At my house, we’ve been having some problems lately.”

“If you only knew how many problems I’ve been having myself…”

“Yes, sure, I understand, but you see, we’ve always been a very happy family. Babi and Daniela are two very good girls.”

“It’s true. Babi is a special young woman. Listen, Claudio, is it okay if I call you Claudio? I’m already not that much of a talker. If I have to be all formal, well, then I really lose touch.”

Claudio smiled. “Certainly.” Deep down, this young man was likable enough. If nothing else, he still hadn’t tried to hit him.

Step stood up from the wall. “Listen why don’t we go sit somewhere else? We could talk more comfortably and maybe we could even drink a little something.”

“All right. Where are we going?”

“Not far from here is a little place some friends of mine opened up. It’s like being at home. No one is going to bother us there.” Step got on his motorcycle. “Follow me.”

Claudio climbed into his car. He was happy. His mission was starting to look easier than expected. That’s a relief, he thought.

He followed Stefano down toward the Via Farnesina. At the Ponte Milvio, they turned right. Claudio took care not to lose sight of that small red taillight as it raced through the night. If he made that kind of stupid mistake, Raffaella would never forgive him.

Step turned to look back every so often, making sure that Claudio was still behind him. Luckily, he thought to himself, this guy wasn’t one of those drivers who cling fearfully to the steering wheel and are terrified of using the gas pedal.

A short while later, they stopped on a small street just behind Piazzale Clodio. Step pointed Claudio to an empty spot where he could park his car while Step left his motorcycle right in front of the door to Four Green Fields. They went downstairs. The place was jumping. There were plenty of young people perched on stools in front of the long bar. Other people, some of them older, were seated at round wooden tables scattered throughout the room, talking animatedly.

The walls were painted dark brown, and light-colored columns divided the big room into sections. All around were paintings and logos of brands of beer from various countries. A guy with round wire-rimmed glasses and unkempt hair was moving frantically behind the counter, making fruit cocktails or simple gin and tonics.

“Ciao, Antonio.”

“Oh, hey, ciao, Step. What can I get you?”

“I don’t know. We’ll talk it over and decide. What’ll you have?”

As they were going over to sit down, Claudio remembered that he hadn’t had anything to eat yet. He decided to go easy. “A Martini spritz.”

“So a nice blond beer and a Martini spritz.”

They sat down at a table in the back of the place, on the left, where things weren’t quite so loud and crazy. Almost immediately a beautiful, dark-skinned young woman named Francesca came over. She brought what they’d ordered, and she stayed at the table awhile to chat with Step.