Sleeping With The Enemy (9 page)

‘Not exactly…’

* *
* * *

Ferdinando
Imposimato arrived at his apartment in a hurry and went straight to the TV. He
switched it on and his lover’s face filled the screen.

She was saying,
‘I hate arrogance for what it does. It leads to human error. Recently I learned
from someone that when the French Palace of Versailles was built it didn’t have
toilets or bathrooms…’

Imposimato laughed.
He was impressed that she had remembered that piece of information he had
supplied her with.

‘…That is human
folly we can certainly live without. And it is very unfortunate that even in
today’s supposedly civilized world we still have human errors that should be abolished.’

‘Such as?’ the
host prompted.

Ferdinando stood
there, completely absorbed in the interview.

‘Such as
neglecting those in our society who are underprivileged,’ answered Rosina.
‘Politicians use the word “underprivileged” – when it is clear that you cannot
be underprivileged when there’s nothing to make you “privileged” in the first
place.’

‘Is it true that
you’re involved in charity work?’

‘It is something
that I dedicate generous amounts of my time to. I would love to do more, but a
person can only do so much. I am devoted to the children who live in a home
outside the city. They’re a bunch of beautiful kids who need nothing from
society but love.’

‘You sound really
compassionate—.’

‘Every day I can’t
stop dreaming and hoping that someday we as a people will be able to get rid of
poverty. John Wesley said: Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.’

The host faced
the cameras. ‘Let’s go for a short break. We’ll return shortly for more tender
moments with Rosina Ameliano.’

A L’Oreal
commercial came onto the screen, followed by several others. During the commercial
break, Imposimato quickly fixed three A3-sized pictures onto their respective
picture frames and then hung the pictures on one of the walls in his bedroom.
He stood back and watched the woman in those pictures: Rosina Ameliano, a
beautiful goddess, smiling beautifully, frozen in time. He turned around to
face the TV when he heard the noise of the studio audience clapping as the show
returned.

The camera
zoomed into the talk-show host and her guest. They sat facing the crowd on two
off-white couches, positioned next to each other. Behind them, illuminated with
bright light and written in beautiful lettering, was the show’s name:
Tender
Moments With…

The host smiled at
the camera. ‘Welcome back…and Rosina, thank you again for sharing these tender
moments of your life with us.’

Rosina just
smiled.

‘I understand
you have an undying love for New York City.’

‘I love New
York. I really cannot imagine living anywhere else in the world. I mean…where
do I start? The vibrant art scene, the places of interest, the vibe of the
city…New York is one of the few big cities in the world where you can get by
without a car. The transport network is excellent.’

The host smiled
at her mischievously. ‘Tell us, I understand—.’

‘Uh-oh, here we
go,’ Rosina interjected with a smile.

The audience
laughed.

‘I understand
there is a new man in your life.’

‘Oh God.’ Rosina
fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. ‘Could we end the interview, please?’

‘No, Rosie,’
Nicky said with a laugh. ‘People want to know, most of all me. Is it true that
you have found love?’

‘Um…please
rephrase that question,’ Rosina said shyly.

The host laughed
in amusement. ‘Okay, is there a guy in your life?’

‘Well…um…’ Rosina
screwed her eyes evasively. ‘There’s some element of truth in it.’

‘Alright,’ the
host interestedly turned in her chair to fully face Rosina. ‘Tell us about
him.’

‘I don’t know…’
Rosina groaned uncomfortably. ‘I mean I don’t want him to get a big head.’

Ferdinando
laughed.

‘Is he kind and
loving?’ Nicky prompted.

‘I can say he’s
everything I expected him to be – at the moment,’ she added quickly.

‘Wow!’ Nicky
said in a congratulatory tone. ‘I’m happy for you. And I really hate to sound
pessimistic, but given that it is almost a nightmare for public figures to find
– let alone keep – love, do you think it will last?’

‘Um…it is really
up to him.’

‘So with you, as
things stand it’s fine?’

‘Sure,’ Rosina
said tersely, clearly not wanting to divulge more on the subject.

‘May I just be
intrusive and ask how he makes you feel?’

Rosina sighed
deeply and took a moment to respond. ‘He makes me grow intellectually,
emotionally and…um…otherwise.’ A mischievous look covered her face.

Nicky Greenwall hadn’t
become famous by missing opportunities. ‘You mean sexually?’

Rosina quickly
covered her face in her hands and groaned aloud. ‘Oh God.’

Laughter broke
out in the audience.

Imposimato
laughed and bit into an apple he had fetched from the fridge.

‘Okay,’ Nicky said
when the laughter had died down. ‘Final question – and I’m keeping my fingers
crossed for the viewers’ sake that you’ll answer me positively…Can you tell me
his name?’

‘Oh…’ Rosina dragged
out the word. ‘I’m doubting…doubting…but, well…No…’ she shook her head. ‘I can’t
do it. No, sorry.’

‘Please, Rosie,’
pleaded the host.

Defeatedly,
Rosina sighed. ‘His name is Ferdinando Imposimato.’

‘Oh wow,’ said
Nicky Greenwall.

* *
* * *

‘Oh wow indeed,’
echoed Cambiaso with a sneer on his face.

‘Italian?’ Nicky
Greenwall asked.

‘In the flesh and
blood,’ Rosina responded with a naughty smile.

‘With an exotic accent?’

‘The woks.’

Laughter.

Cambiaso said to
his man without turning from the TV, ‘Get the car. The leopard is ready  to
strike.’

* *
* * *

‘Shit!’ Imposimato
exploded furiously when his lover mentioned his name for public consumption. He
grabbed his keys and rushed out of the apartment without bothering to switch
off the TV.

He took the elevator
down to the basement garage and quickly got inside his customized Mercedes Benz
Vito that he kept parked there for emergencies. He started the car and drove it
at a dangerously fast speed out of the basement parking lot.

* *
* * *

Rosina was given
a hug of thanks by Nicky Greenwall, then she spent some time signing autographs
for members of the live audience. After half an hour she left the hotel and walked
outside.

She was walking
outside happily when she was suddenly grabbed by the waist and hoisted into the
air. She started to scream but her mouth was covered by a strong, determined hand.
Before she had time to register what was happening she was hurled into the back
of a van. Her assailant was Cambiaso, but she had no time to see him until he
went quickly to sit behind the wheel of his van and started the engine.

He was about to
drive away when a big van came and blocked his way at the front of his van. Cambiaso
cursed and threw a glance at the other van. He noticed that Ferdinando Imposimato
was behind the steering wheel of that van. Then he smiled to himself when he
noticed another car, a big black Lincoln Navigator, siding up next to Imposimato’s
Vito.

 A double barreled
rifle emerged from the passenger seat of the Navigator and as soon as it appeared
it coughed up noisy shots, all of them directed at Imposimato. He ducked and
disappeared from view. Momentarily, a rambunctious noise was heard coming from
the inside of Imposimato’s van. The back doors of his van flung open and he
shot out of the van on top of a motorbike.

While all this was
happening, Rosina had the presence of mind to set herself free. She leapt out
of the van and sprinted down the road, not caring where she was going, as long as
she was as far away as possible from her captor.

Imposimato saw
her running wildly cross the street, in the opposite direction, and he turned
the motorbike in a dangerous U-turn and raced after her. As he got closer to
her he yelled her name and she stopped. He stopped the ’bike next to her and
she stared with wild eyes at him.

‘Jump on!’ he
shouted.

She leapt onto
the ’bike behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso as he raced the
’bike down the road. He saw the traffic lights up ahead change from green to amber
and made a crucial decision that he would have to make the cut if he would get
rid of the Navigator that was gaining speed behind him.

He charged the
motorbike at full speed and it managed to squeeze through as the traffic from
the other ends started traversing the road he was on. The lights turned red and
the Navigator’s tires screeched noisily to a halt. Cambiaso’s men watched helplessly
as the motorbike was swallowed up in the heavy traffic of New York City.

Imposimato rode
the ’bike and went round the block of high-rise Manhattan buildings until he came
back to the street where he had left the van. He turned the motorbike and headed
towards his abandoned vehicle.

Cambiaso was
still trapped inside his vehicle.

Imposimato aimed
the motorbike at the back of the van, from which he had emerged moments earlier.
He pressed a remote control device in his hand and an inclined platform lowered
itself down onto the tarmac. Imposimato rode the motorbike on this platform
into the back of the Vito panel van. Quickly, he leapt from the motorbike and
swung the doors closed. He pressed the device in his hand as he went quickly to
sit behind the steering wheel and the inclined platform rose back to its
holding position under the car.

Then he started
the van and sped quickly down the road, followed quickly by Cambiaso’s van.

* *
* * *

Imposimato and
Rosina were now on the freeway, speeding away from the city, towards his home
in the Hamptons when they noticed in the rearview mirrors that Cambiaso’s van as
well as the Navigator were following steadfastly behind them.

Both the van and
the Navigator came in line with Imposimato’s van, flanking it. The Navigator’s passenger’s
window slid down and a gun coughed out bullets. Rosina ducked quickly at the
sound of the gunshots, but Imposimato remained sitting still, unconcerned with
the gunfire.

Rosina stared at
him in shock.

He smiled at her
and explained. ‘The van’s body’s bulletproof. Sometimes I forget too.’

Cambiaso’s men
realized this too and they stopped firing.

The three cars approached
an overpass. Imposimato stepped on the gas and sped the Vito forward, leaving
the two other cars behind. When he reached the overpass he did a hair-raising
turn in the middle of the road, turning the van in a half-circle that left the
Vito’s right side facing the oncoming two cars of his pursuers.

Cambiaso and the
other driver noticed too late what Imposimato was doing and they both
simultaneously tried to swerve from hitting the van. The Navigator was the more
successful of the two vehicles. It managed to dodge hitting Imposimato’s van
but succeeded in slamming into the protective roadside rail. It leapt into the air
on impact and did a downward spiral to the road below. The car spun and
nosedived relentlessly to the underpass. It dropped hard onto the heavy tarmac
with its nose and immediately burst into a raging inferno of flames, causing
oncoming traffic to screech to a frantic halt.

Meanwhile, on
the overpass, Cambiaso caught a glimpse of Imposimato and Rosina on top of a
motorbike that shot out of the back of the Vito moments before his own van crashed
headlong into the other’s side.

There was no
explosion. Just the explosive sound of the airbags as they sprang into action. And
the sound of crashing metal.

Imposimato and
Rosina rode away without bothering to look back.

Fifteen

They got to the
house in silence.

As soon as they arrived
at the house he went straight to the fridge to get himself some water to drink.
He stared at her and questioned her with genuine concern on his face. ‘What was
that?’

‘I do not know
what got into Lucas Cambiaso.’

Imposimato was
visibly shocked. ‘You
know
him?’

She cast her
eyes down in embarrassment, and then looked up at him with a miserable face. ‘I
was married to him.’

‘Jesus!’ It escaped
voluntarily from his lips and he placed the glass of water down and covered his
face in his hands.

Rosina stared back
at him silently.