Chapter 22

After Washington D.C. intermittent sunshine and rain, Trapani, Sicily looked so unreal and beautiful — just like a coloured postcard. The streets lined with palm trees whose leaves were green and lustrous, the hotels dazzling white and glinting in the sun, the layered rows of houses softly washed in pastel colours, over all of the town the brilliant azure sky making it look more like a film set than anything Ella could remember.

They drove from the airport in a hired car which she had booked from Rome. Javier knew the route well from previous visits, his long hands capable on the wheel, his hard profile abstracted in thought.

“Your older brother lives here, doesn’t he?” asked Ella. Oddly enough, she felt slightly irritated by his apparent unawareness of her presence beside him in the car.

He turned his head, the dark hair brushing against the collar of the dark brown shirt he wore. “Yes. Piers, my second older brother,” he answered with a slight nod. The piercing blue eyes skimmed over