Last Night at Villa Lucia: A totally addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist by Simon McCleave

Author:Simon McCleave [McCleave, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2024-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

LUCIA

Twelve Months Earlier – Friday, 8 July 2022

Lucia De Nardi watches the sleek white BMW glide past her on the track that leads down from the villa. She waves away the cloud of dust thrown up by the fancy car and narrows her eyes.

That bitch from the property company, she thinks to herself. Who does she think she is, driving like that?

Lucia had heard that Martina wasn’t even from Tuscany, let alone Chianti. Someone in the village told her she’s from Milan! And she knew what people said about the women from Milan. Cold, unemotional, fake and they only eat polenta.

Lucia gazes up at the villa. She can see a figure standing outside.

Cerys.

If she is honest, Lucia has mixed feelings towards Cerys Williams. Even though she resents Cerys buying the villa, she can’t help feeling sorry for her sometimes.

Cerys and her pig of a husband, Nick, bought the villa a year ago. Then he left and moved back to London. And now she is there on her own.

Cerys reassured Lucia and her husband, Lorenzo, they would have the same arrangement as before.

Lucia is in charge of cleaning the villa, changing beds, towels and linen on changeover days and getting them laundered. Responsibility for keeping the garden and flowerbeds neat and tidy, as well as cleaning the pool and making sure that the balance of chemicals in the water is correct, falls to Lorenzo. They have the same arrangement with two other villas in the area and that has kept them solvent. Plus Lorenzo is a fantastic cook so sometimes guests ask her and Lorenzo to come and cook a traditionial Tuscan supper. Most of the guests are rich idiots. But Lucia is happy to take their money even though she resents them being there. It sometimes makes her feel better about what had happened to Villa Lucia.

‘So, Cerys owns the villa on her own?’ asks a deep male voice.

It is Lorenzo.

There’s a curiosity to his expression but it vanishes as he turns his head and his eyes flick towards her. His lips twitch at the edges.

‘Yes,’ she mutters. ‘She does.’

Lorenzo looks at the old watch on his tanned wrist. ‘What time are we going up there?’

‘Eleven,’ she replies.

Lucia looks at him knowingly, raises her eyebrow and snorts. ‘I wonder if she knows il malocchio is up there?’

In Italian folklore, il malocchio is an ancient curse. It means ‘the evil eye’ and causes misfortune, illness or bad luck.

Lorenzo shakes his head and rolled his eyes. ‘It’s 2022. I’m pretty sure no one believes in stuff like il malocchio.’

Lucia feels her anger rising. She finds Lorenzo’s indifference to Italian folklore and tradition irritating.

‘Well, Cerys should believe it. Think of everything that’s happened to her since she moved in,’ she growls.

‘Maybe it’s a new start for her?’ Lorenzo suggests.

‘I don’t think so. Whatever you say, I know my father still watches over Villa Lucia.’

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