Relief

Paolo was mighty relieved. On the one hand there was a plausible(ish) commercial reason why Livia and Flaherty’s wife should be speaking to each other, and on the other, his relationship with Livia was unharmed in the asking.

Paolo continued, “Thanks for telling me. I’ll relay that to Tony.”

“No Paolo, I will tell Tony myself and tell him good. How dare he suggest what I think he’s suggesting when he’s not even prepared to accept that Terry’s dead, let alone bury him! I can handle Tony alright, and if he gets remotely heavy with you... well he’ll regret it!”