Violent Daylight

by Caroline Angus Baker

  Canna paused; he had a point. “Our last directors meeting left everything in a total mess. Then I hear you want me to be scared into doing whatever you want.”

  “We all have our roles to play at Caraceni Industries. Yours, the Marine business, isn’t a prodigious player. Mine, with the media business, and Agnoli with the banking sector, we have more interests at stake. None of the others on the board want to be CEO. That is a figurehead role at best, and you are perfect for that.”

  “Giuseppe was the CEO before me, and it wasn’t a figurehead role. He controlled everything.”

  “And now with you, we have more freedom for each department to control their affairs. We love that, Catherine. I’m sure you have your own business to take care of now.”

  “I do. I have a tremendous deal awaiting my attention. I want to control the biggest marine project in the world.”

  “Exactly. The bulk of our money comes in through the Vatican, to be laundered through our businesses. With more freedom awarded to each department, it’s easier to have the money funnelled through to the Austrian bank accounts. If you need, we can launder more money through your boatyard.”

  “I need to fake up new accounts, and you could funnel the money through there. I could use the cash injection.”

  “As you wish, you’re the boss, Catherine.”

  “Do you ever wonder where the Vatican gets the money?”

  “It’s not our business to interfere with the role of the church, or the side businesses they control. We launder the cash and pay them what we owe out of the Austrian accounts. It pays not to get too involved; money comes in, we do business, make a profit, and the money disappears. Like I say, you don’t need to be involved in the details, you just need to sit in the chair and be the head of the company.”

  “Like a puppet.”

  “Like a puppet who asked us for half a billion Euros last week.”

  “A fair pay-out, I would think.”

  “You could stay and make more money. Catherine, you aren’t a threat. Giorgio Savelli, he is a threat. He runs Caraceni Construction and the business is a fucking mess. His bribe to the Naples government was a disaster. I had to allow the prostitution scandal to be printed in the papers to hide the bribe.”

  “It made me look amateurish. ‘Contessa di Caraceni and her prostitutes.’ I didn’t know anything.”

  “That’s the unfortunate side of the being the figurehead, Catherine. We needed the government minister to be shamed. He needed to understand the risk of losing his job and family. It makes him work harder to hide the bribery. To save Caraceni Construction’s reputation, we needed to destroy someone else’s. It will work. Giorgio is a threat and a partner in the CEO role. We don’t feel he has the subtly you bring to the position.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to keep Giorgio close, rather than to push him out? Then we can control him.”

  “Unless he’s dead.”

  Canna sat back and thought of how Giuseppe had Marino Bruni, her former lover, killed in Rome earlier in the year. She thought of what that did to Marino’s family. “Do we need to kill Giorgio? I’m sure we can get him to fall into line. I have video footage of him having a threesome with prostitutes in Naples a few weeks ago. We could make it a sex-themed blackmailing extravaganza at Caraceni Construction.”

  “It’s a start, but I won’t rule out killing him.”

  “Fine, but it won’t be my guy who does the hit.” Canna glanced over at Giancarlo, who screwed up his face. She knew Giancarlo would enjoy putting a bullet in Giorgio.

  “Either way, Catherine, we want you to stay at Caraceni. No one wants you out.”

  “Because you need a silent figurehead?”

  “We need to go about our business quietly. Business is good, but if Caraceni collapses and businesses split away from the partnership, thousands of people would be out of work. The Italian stock market would collapse. It’s already in woeful shape. Giuseppe created this business before you were born. The privileges he has given you in his death are tremendous. Obviously he saw the benefit of having you in the title role.”

  “He owed me a lot, Ernesto.”

  “Then he has paid in full. Take a few weeks off and concentrate on your own interests.”

  “I do have a number of things to take me away from Milan.”

  “I’m busy as hell. Everyone is busy. Business is good. If your sources tell you that I want you out, they’re wrong.”

  “I know what I need to do.” Canna got out of her seat. “I won’t take up any more of your time.”

  Fibonacci stood and shook her hand. He showed her and Giancarlo out without another word spoken.

  “That went well,” Giancarlo remarked as they walked together down the driveway in the fading afternoon light.

  “I suppose. You never know when you’re getting the truth.”

  Giancarlo shrugged as he unlocked the Mercedes. “That’s true about anyone in the world. Everyone lies.”

  Canna nodded as she got in the car.

  “Home?” Giancarlo asked as he started the car.

  “Yeah.” Canna sat back and looked through her phone. Claudio had rung every single day even though she had no phone privileges in rehab. She went to her diary and saw something that she had forgotten. “I might take the new motorbike and get out of town for a few days.”

  “Straight to London?”

  “No. Claudio can feel guilty about dumping me in rehab a little longer.”

  “That’s mean. What should I tell him, if he calls me?”

  “Tell him that I stayed in Aosta an extra week.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “It’s not your job to tell me what to do, Giancarlo,” Canna replied. “You’re paid to drive me, report on people, and stop people from killing me. Where I’m going, I’ll be fine alone.”

  CHAPTER 19

  HELSINKI

  Hotel Kämp in Helsinki was a beautiful building. Dane’s room of natural beige tones had touches of white around the place. It was calming; almost too calming. He stood in front of the full length mirror in the small room and looked at his suit. No matter how many times he did the tie, it seemed wrong, like a navy blue jumble around his neck. He shrugged off his black suit jacket and tried adjusting the tie yet again. Dane was the best man for his sister today, at her wedding to be held downstairs in the hotel’s majestic Mirror Room. Danica would be a bride today, and her parents had refused to come, because she would marry Eerika, the other bride at the affair.

  Four short, sharp knocks on the door interrupted his tie battle. He left it undone and went to welcome the interruption. His heart skipped a beat when he opened the door. “Canna! What are you doing here?”

  “Nice to see you, too!”

  Dane looked Canna up and down, dressed in a long sleeved navy blue gown. Sparkly silver shoes peeked out underneath the long hem. Her smile shined as much as her diamond nose stud. “Um…”

  “Danica didn’t tell you that I was coming to the wedding, did she?” Canna asked as Dane welcomed her into the room. “I asked her to surprise you.”

  “And she has! You both have.”

  “I rang Danica a few days ago. I had the date of the wedding in my diary so I called to congratulate her on the wedding. She invited me to come along, as long as you and I were in a good place. She was under the impression that we were friends after our break-up.”

  “I told her that we had become friends. It is true…

  “I would like it to be. I’m with Claudio, as much as he drives me crazy… and I want Virtuosi to work. So we need to be friends, but I can leave if it helps you. I only came 2500 kilometres on my motorbike to get here.”

  “You drove here?”

  “I had a few days to spare, so I thought it was a good opportunity to go for a ride. I haven’t done it for a while. It was FANTASTIC. Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Amazing!”

  “I can imagine. Claudio never said you were coming.”

 
“Claudio doesn’t know.” Canna watched Dane smile. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “Like what?” he grinned.

  “Like we’re doing something wrong. I’ll tell him, but this isn’t about Claudio. That time, in Rome, when Danica and Eerika came to visit us on the tour, and she told you that she was bisexual… that was a momentous occasion.”

  “A big one I would have fucked up if you weren’t there to help me through it.”

  “And Danica told me how your parents don’t support her choice to marry a woman. It seems so sad.”

  “I’m glad you came, Canna. Really glad.”

  “Where’s Rebecca? What is she wearing for the ceremony?”

  Dane’s eyes went straight to the beige carpet. “Rebecca didn’t come.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “We had a fight.”

  “Oh,” Canna said slowly. “What a shame that you couldn’t put it aside for the wedding.”

  “It was about the wedding.” Dane turned and sat down on the bed. He gestured to the small couch across the room, and Canna obliged.

  Canna sat carefully in her silk dress and waited. Dane looked genuinely upset. “I won’t ask if you don’t want to tell.”

  “Rebecca doesn’t believe in gay marriage.”

  Canna snorted. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously! I was shocked, too. Finland doesn’t permit gay marriage anyway. It’s a ‘Registered Partnership’ here.”

  “How romantic!”

  “The same-sex marriage debate rages on here, like at home. Finland is Eerika’s home, and Danica lives here, so they have to play by these rules.”

  “But for tonight, it’s a ceremony and a celebration, regardless of the paperwork,” Canna said. “For all intents and purposes, they will be married.”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For being so supportive of my sister.”

  Canna shrugged. “I believe what I believe. For course gay people should be able to marry. It’s absurd to think otherwise. I just hope Rebecca changes her mind; she has to if she wants to be with you. If she had come, she could have seen the love here, irrespective of gender.”

  “If I’m honest, it was about something more serious than just our opinions on same-sex relationships.” Dane began to wring his large hands.

  Canna chuckled. “Oh boy.”

  “Danica and Eerika want to start a family. Gay couples can adopt here, but one parent must be the biological parent, the other the adoptive one.”

  “That’s restrictive.”

  “It is, unless Eerika has a child and Danica adopts the baby.”

  “It could work, I suppose.”

  “They asked me to be the father.”

  Canna’s face lit up in surprise. “Wow! So you would have a baby with Eerika, and your sister would be the adoptive parent in your place?”

  “Yes, that’s the plan. The baby would be fathered by a blood relative.”

  “That’s amazing. What did you say?”

  “I said I would think about it. It’s not how I thought I would become a father. But I’m 39 this year, and other than… you know…”

  “My pregnancy scare earlier this year…” Canna finished for him. “I’m sorry about that. But you seemed remarkably unready to have a child when that came up.”

  “Circumstances didn’t permit me to be at peace with the prospect.”

  “I apologise.”

  “Either way, Rebecca doesn’t like the thought of me having a baby with Eerika.”

  “Would this be a natural conception, or…”

  “Oh God, no! I wouldn’t sleep with Eerika. No, no, no. There are other methods…”

  “I will never look at my turkey-baster tube the same way.”

  Dane threw her a look as he tried not to laugh. “I haven’t agreed.”

  “Rebecca may be jealous. Perhaps she wants to be the one to bear you a child. A baby, especially the first child, is a remarkable thing. You would deny her that right.”

  “We aren’t that serious in our relationship. We have only been together a few months.”

  “Rebecca must see a future with you. She loves you.”

  “She needs to love Danica and her wife if she wants to be with me.”

  “I hid a drug addiction from you while we were together, not to mention the emotional affair I had with Claudio. You forgave me. You can forgive Rebecca. Time is the answer.”

  Dane took a deep breath and smiled. “I’m really glad you came.”

  “That’s because I’m good at kicking your ass into gear when you’re not organised.”

  “There is that. I could have spent the rest of my life mad at you, and I just can’t be.”

  “We could be great friends one day.”

  “One day?”

  “It’s still early since our break-up. We need time, too. But one day we’ll be devoted friends, even if our last meeting didn’t go so well.”

  “That was my fault.”

  “And mine. Do you need help with your tie?”

  Dane stood up and watched her approach. “Just like old times.”

  “You know,” she said as she began to tie a Windsor knot in the fabric, “I miss working at Virtuosi. Not just because I got to tie a lot of ties and bowties on you upstanding gentlemen. It was fun.”

  “If we do a world tour, you could come along with us. Lea won’t be able to do it alone.”

  “I could help, I suppose.” Canna patted the tie. “Done.”

  Dane turned and looked in the mirror. “Perfect.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve had a lot of lovers, so I’ve had lots of practice.”

  “Not that many.”

  “Not as many as you, you man-whore.”

  Dane laughed and picked up his jacket off the bed. “I suppose I should go in search of the bride. I’m walking her up the aisle tonight.”

  “That’s so sweet.”

  “Someone has to do it.”

  “You’re a rather wonderful man, Dane Archibald Porter.”

  Dane scowled. “Just because you’ve seen my passport doesn’t mean you can share my middle name.”

  Canna laughed. “I shall leave you to wedding preparations. I will be standing at the back if you need someone to chat to after the ceremony.”

  “No, come and stand near the front where I’ll be.”

  “I can’t!”

  “You can. The only family we have here are Eerika’s parents and sisters. Other than that, it’s all friends. Please, be my date, be with me.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Oh please, Canna. Everyone here rattles on in Finnish. I’m the lonely Englishman.”

  Canna rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. Many Finnish people speak English.”

  “They do, but still, be my friend, please.”

  “Will you do me a favour?”

  “Sure.”

  “I can’t drink, Dane. I have to be alcohol-free, and that’s hard at parties.”

  Dane saluted. “Best behaviour, guaranteed… from you, anyway.”

  Canna let him open the door, and she stepped out into the hallway. As she stepped in her heels without standing on her dress, she didn’t notice Dane’s eyes trace along the delicate cowl neckline of the gown. “I’m glad you don’t mind me coming to the wedding.”

  “It’s weird, Canna, I can’t lie. But it’s a charming weird.”

  Canna laughed as Dane watched her head down the hallway toward the elevator. The warm glow of Canna’s presence started a dangerous game that Dane was happy to play.

  ~~~

  Canna stood in silence and looked around the Mirror Room of the hotel, a large and minimally decorated space, with only standing room for the ceremony. The understated style appealed to Canna; her first wedding had been so elaborate and decorated. Because they were standing, it seemed easier to find somewhere to place herself out of the way, near the front like Dane requested, but still tucked out of sight. O
r not.

  “Excuse me,” a woman asked in accented English. “Are you here with Dane?”

  Canna smiled at the twenty-something woman and her female companion. “Yes, I am.”

  “So lovely to meet you, I’m Annika, and this is Cora.”

  Canna shook their hands hello. “Are you friends of Danica’s?”

  “Yes, we work at the ski field. We’re excited to meet Dane, the famous brother of our friend. We have heard a lot about him. Will he sing tonight?”

  “Yes, he will. Danica’s favourite song that Dane performs is from an opera called La Boheme, so he is happy to perform that tonight. It’s beautiful.”

  “Is it from the first Virtuosi album?” Cora asked, and Canna nodded. “I can’t wait for the next album. I would love to see them perform.”

  “You may get the chance near here next year,” Canna smiled.

  “Sounds you have all the secrets,” Annika said with sheer excitement. “Danica told us all about Dane. Apparently he broke up with his girlfriend earlier this year. He proposed to her at a show in Oslo, and she agreed, and then cheated on him!”

  “What a vile thing to do,” Cora added.

  “Wicked,” Canna added, and the pair nodded.

  “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to talk about Dane’s ex-girlfriends,” Cora giggled.

  “That’s okay, I know who you’re talking about,” Canna said. “She deserves to be vilified for all she did to Dane.”

  “How well do you know her?” Cora asked.

  “I am that girlfriend.” Canna watched the faces of the two women turn from cheerful to horrified. “It was lovely to meet you.”

  The two women couldn’t get away fast enough. Canna couldn’t help but laugh. When music started to play to signal the start of the ceremony, she felt relieved. There was nothing worse than idle chit-chat.

  Canna had missed the weddings of all her four brothers, including her gay brother Tomasso’s wedding to Marcus. When she saw Dane’s face when he walked his sister down the aisle, it hurt. Canna’s family hadn’t come to her own wedding to Giuseppe, and she would never experience seeing her siblings, Mario, Patrizio, Matteo and Tomasso, marry. Canna made many mistakes, which resulted in things like missing out on family moments, but it hadn’t occurred to her until now.