temptation in florence 04 - expected in death Read Online Free PDF Page B

suppressed a sigh. Who had said that anybody can deal with disaster but that your real strength appears when facing the petty details of every day life?
    They might have had a point.
    The rest of the day passed so quietly that Carlina started to feel anxious. The Mantoni family was a closely knit clan and didn't think anything of calling each other fifteen times a day. However, this Monday, the telephone didn't even ring once. Carlina checked both her cell and her landline repeatedly, but they worked just fine. She tried to call her mother – no answer. She tried to call Uncle Teo – no reply. Starting to feel more than a little uneasy, she also tried to get in touch with her cousin Emma and her aunt Benedetta, but got the same result. Hmm.
    At long last, it was time to close the store. Carlina hurried home on her Vespa, avoiding with the ease of long practice the disoriented tourists who stumbled onto the streets with no eyes but for the beauty of the buildings. When she finally arrived home in the historical street close to the Santa Croce cathedral, she was filled with a feeling of foreboding so strong that her hands shook. Where was everybody? Out of breath, she pulled the heavy wooden doors of the Mantoni house open, only to stop dead in dismay.

Chapter 4
    I
    On the staircase, her cousin Ernesto sat with bowed head, both hands burrowed deep within his red hair. This was so unusual that Carlina gaped at him with her mouth open. Like every eighteen-year-old, Ernesto claimed not to care about his exterior but that didn't stop him from spending a lot of time in front of the mirror, gelling up his hair until it stood up just right. Never before had he forgotten himself enough to destroy The Look.
    “Ernesto? Are you all right?”
    A mute shake of the head was the answer.
    “What happened?” She realized her voice sounded shrill and tried to tone it down. “Where is everybody?”
    “Gone.” His voice was low.
    “Gone? What do you mean, gone? It's almost time for dinner!”
    “There won't be any dinner tonight.”
    Carlina sank down onto the step next to him. “No dinner?” Never before had the Mantoni family omitted dinner. It was as sacred as going to church on Christmas Eve – it was a duty only to be dropped if you were dead. “Did something happen?” Her voice became a whisper.
    “Olga happened.” His voice was taut.
    “Olga!” Carlina controlled her anger. “What did she do?”
    “She made Mama crazy.” He finally lifted his head and looked at Carlina with huge eyes. “I've never seen anything like it. Do you think Olga is possessed?”
    “Possessed?”
    “Yes. By a demon.” He was one hundred percent serious. “I can't believe she would spout diabolical stuff like that unless she wasn't in her right mind.”
    Carlina gripped him by the shoulder. “Ernesto. You're killing me here. Can't you be a bit more specific? What did Olga do? Is anybody hurt?”
    He laughed in such a bitter way that Carlina recoiled. “No, physically we're fine. Though I wouldn't bet on Olga's survival for long . . .”
    Carlina clenched her teeth and shook her young cousin by the shoulder. “Ernesto. Tell. Me. Now. What happened?”
    He dropped his head again into his hands. “She talked to Mama about me.”
    “About you? But what can she have said about you?”
    “She said that gaming corrupts the soul and destroys every basic bodily function.”
    “Gaming?” Carlina's jaw dropped. “But you're not gaming. Why, have you ever even been to a casino?”
    “No, of course not.” He shook his head. “I'm only gaming at the Internet Café, and you know how Mama feels about that.”
    Carlina winced. “Ouch.”
    He sighed. “Yeah. Olga riled her all up until Mama couldn't decide if I would die of a 'severe heart dysfunction due to minimal bodily exertion' or would suffer from a 'total loss of all my interpersonal skills' before the year is out. I tried to calm her, but she more or less broke down, and I decided I