When I woke up, Terri was sitting next to me on my bed. She was reading some sort of text book and making notes on a pad.
"What ya' doin'?" I asked in a pretend American accent.
"I'm in the first year of a remote study degree," she explained. "But I had to stop when I dashed over to England to be with you. I was thinking about... like... trying to catch up but I've pretty much decided that it's just not on so I'll have to jump back on the course next term."
"I'm sorry!"
"Ain't your fault. Anyway, it means that I can have a bit of a holiday while you're here. I've gotta talk to Nonno tonight but I don't think he'll mind." She thought for a moment. "D'you wanna go swimming?"
"I can't go in the water with my poorly side," I explained. "But please don't let me stop you."
"I can't just abandon you. You're supposed to be my guest."
"No, you got to go!" I insisted. "I'll come and watch."
The swimming pool was absolutely incredible. It was huge and the back wall was made of glass so that it looked as if you were going to be washed away, down the hillside, into the sea! It was set on a terrace that was paved with the same red tiles that they had on the roof and there were all sorts of sun beds and tables and things around it.
I sat with my legs dangling in their little bubbly pool so the bubbles tickled my toes. I could enjoy the wonderful view whilst Terri swam her serious training lengths. It was probably a good thing that I wasn't allowed to swim - next to Terri's elegant crawl, my splashy doggy paddle would have just been embarrassing!
I jumped a bit when Nonno appeared out of the bushes behind us wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks and a pair of sandals with a towel draped over one shoulder. He was surprisingly muscly for such an old man but a bit wrinkly.
"Hello, Small Cat," he said. "Do you not swim?"
"I can't swim until my wound has completely closed," I explained.
When he heard that, his face darkened. "Theresa!" he said. "It is not good that you enjoy to swim when your sister cannot."
I didn't know what the rules were about interrupting Nonno but I knew I had to stand up for my sister. "Excuse me, Nonno. When I told Terri that I couldn't join her, she didn't want to go but I insisted that she did. I'm enjoying watching her."
"Then it is well, Theresa," he said. "I am happy of your kindness to your sister, Small Cat."
But then his eyes seemed to twinkle as he said, "I hear your walk, this morning, was eventful."
"Oh no!" I said, turning bright red. "Does everybody know about it now?"
"Naturally not. When I ask the guards why they smile, they ask to tell me in private."
"You must thank them for me when you see them."
"Not thank. They are of the family. It is the job and so none will ever know. However I say you..." He said something in Italian and looked to Terri.
"Appreciate their discretion," she translated and he nodded.
He thought for a moment then turned all serious and looked around. "Small cat," he said, "if ever I must send you a message and you must know the words are mine, I say, 'Beware the small crocodiles'. You, also, Theresa. No others will ever know this... excepting your Master, naturally."
"Si, Nonno," Terri and I said together.
He kicked off his sandals, put his phone and towel onto one of the tables and dived smoothly into the pool, cutting through the water like a knife. Then he and Terri had a bit of a race. I didn't quite see who won but it was very close.
Then, as the savage heat of the middle of the day began to fade, I collected my books and set to work on my Italian homework. Master had suggested that I pause the maths and concentrate on Italian while I was here and Francesca seemed to want to fill the gap.
Terri sat with me with her nose stuck in an economics textbook and, at some stage, Zi'Anna appeared and sat with me, knitting and helping me. She must have done this with Terri and the poor old dear was probably missing it!
And then it was time to get ready for dinner... and for my first make-up lesson!
The days slipped into a comfortable routine until Friday. I'd had my afternoon nap and was busy with my homework but, for some reason, Zi'Anna wasn't about.
I was about half way through when the old lady appeared. We gave her the usual two kiss treatment and she said something in Italian. "Nonno has asked us to attend him in his sitting room straight away," Terri translated for me.
Luckily, I'd managed to forget what Mr Bossy had told me about the visitor or I'd have felt guilty about hiding it from my sister. But my heart gave a funny little jump when I realised.
Terri must have noticed. "D'you know what this is all about?" she asked.
"I might be able to guess but I promised not to say anything so please don't ask," I told her because, by now, Mr Bossy's 'telling the truth when it would be easier to lie' thing had become a habit. I guess it made life easier in the long run but it was pretty uncomfortable right now.
So, fighting to squish down my excitement, I followed Terri and Zi'Anna through the maze of corridors to Nonno's private sitting room. As soon as we stepped into the room, Terri rushed over to Nonno and knelt beside him. "Be calm, little one," he told her, speaking English because I was there. He must have noticed that she looked worried. "All is well," he reassured her. He leaned forward and kissed her on top of the head.
Terri relaxed a bit when she heard that and smiled up at him.
He gestured to Zi'Anna and me to sit. I sat on the sofa closest to him but Zi'Anna moved to her upright chair by the door.
"A Dr Patel came to visit me today..." Nonno said.
Terri gave a funny little squeak and he rubbed her hair again and gave her a couple of seconds to sort her head out.
"He requests my permission to..." He paused for a moment then said something in Italian.
She hesitated for a moment, looking completely stunned. At last she managed to translate for me. "'Pay court', I suppose."
"He requests my permission to pay court to you. I would know how you feel on this. Will you answer now or will you think on it, Nipotina?"
Terri was quiet for a long time as Nonno brushed his hand over her hair to tell her there was no rush. Then she looked up to meet his eye. She tried to talk but no words came out so she cleared her throat and started again. "We only met briefly... and it was a really difficult time... and we hardly spoke to one another. But I have to say that I found him interesting..." she tried to look down but Mr Andretti would not let her and lifted her chin... "and attractive," she admitted, blushing beautifully. "I would like to get to know him better, if you think he is suitable for me, Nonno."
She glanced across at me and she had a lovely smile on her face, I smiled back.
"You can guess, Nipotina," he told her, "I would not say something to you if I did not think of him as suitable."
He leaned down and kissed her again then turned his attention to me. For you, also, I have a surprise. You go now with Zi'Anna. She brings the doctor back."
He said something to Zi'Anna who offered me her hand and led me from Nonno's sitting room to one of the larger public rooms where Dr Patel was nervously pacing the floor.
"Hello!" he said when he saw me. "How are you feeling? How's your wound?" Nonno would approve. He was obviously worried about what Terri would decide but he hadn't forgotten his patient.
"It's feeling much better, thank you, and Zi'Anna thinks that it's looking better too. At my word, he noticed the elderly lady's presence and charmingly leaned down and kissed her hand. She made a big show of not approving of this silliness and muttered something in Italian but she didn't look at all unhappy.
I bet that somebody, probably Master, had been coaching the good doctor. I mean... she had next to no official status in the Family, but winning her over was much as important as winning over Nonno himself.
Zi'Anna led the doctor from the room and I just stood there for a moment, not sure what I should do next, when I was startled by a voice from over by the window saying, "Ignoring me, I see, Kitten!"
"Master!" I squeaked. I wanted to throw myself at him but my trained reflexes took over and I dropped into my 'good kitten' kneeling pose. Unfortunately I was wearing clothes but he really couldn't hold that against me.
He walked across to me and I closed my eyes and squirmed with pleasure as he ran his finger along the line of my kitten necklace. It wasn't quite as good as my collar but at least I was wearing something to show I belonged to him.
"Home has been quiet without you, Kitten," he told me as he carried on stroking me. "I have missed you."
I couldn't contain myself and started to rock backwards and forwards, completely under the spell of that stroking finger. I could feel myself getting all soggy for him and I needed to squeeze my thighs together but I had to stay in the proper 'good kitten' position. I mean... with Terri and all the lovely things at the villa I had sort of been distracted but, deep down inside, I'd been missing Master terribly.
As he kept on with his stroking, pulses began to build inside me, starting at my neck and passing through my whole body, before flowing out between my legs. A good kitten is expected to stay silent but, still, a little moan leaked out.
He leaned down so that he was breathing across my ear. "I can smell that you like that," he whispered, kicking off another wild surge.
But then he started to move his finger slowly... slowly... down my spine. I stopped breathing and went completely rigid. My body was totally under his control and I knew, at a word, I would completely melt for him. He breathed across my ear again as his finger sank even lower.
But then he broke the spell by planting the most tender of kisses on the back of my neck. My body hated him for not finishing what he had started but my mind was grateful that he had not caused me to totally lose myself in a public room. "Later, Kitten," he promised me in a whisper.
"You may rise," he said so I stood up, wrapped my arms round him and squeezed myself into him. I felt something jabbing into my tummy and was about to say something when I realised that it was his body telling me that it was happy to see me too. I wanted to die of embarrassment, of course, so I jerked away and looked down.
But he wouldn't have that. "Kitten, look at me," he said.
I was shrivelling up inside but I was his obedient kitten.
"I am not embarrassed by my body's reaction, Kitten," he told me, doing his looking into my very soul thing, "and so you are not to be."
"I'll try," I promised. Master had given me an order.
"Good Kitten," he said and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Now I understand that I was interrupting your Italian homework."
So I led him back through the twisty maze of passages to my room.
Mr Bossy chuckled when he saw that he'd been put into the room next to mine. "Very diplomatic," he said.
I gave him a puzzled look
"It is unthinkable that the two of us be put in a room together as we are not married," he explained, "but, in the eyes of your Nonno, you are already hopelessly compromised in that way, so we have been allowed to determine our own sleeping arrangements."
That made sense.
"However I'm sure that his untarnished granddaughter, Theresa, will be much more carefully protected. Dr Patel will probably be locked up in one of the cellars at night - or, more likely, given a place of honour in the other wing, next door to Mr Andretti, where the armed security guards will discourage any nocturnal shenanigans!"
I had to giggle at that - poor Terri!
About an hour later, I was out on our little terrace, busy with my homework. Mr Bossy was now showered and changed and shiny and beautiful in a pair of long Khaki shorts and a light shirt. He was sitting with me and testing me on my irregular verbs. Why can't the stupid Italians follow their own rules on these things? It would make life so much easier!
We were disturbed by a group coming up through the gardens. Terri and Dr Patel were walking together, her arm resting comfortably on his; and Zi'Anna was following a couple of yards behind.
"Nil said that he should look at your wound," Terri told me. She seemed bright and bubbly and very much at ease at this sudden new turn that her life had taken. "Then you might be able to come swimming with us tomorrow.
"Should I go and lie down?" I asked the doctor.
"That would be easiest," he replied.
So I tidied my work together and carried it into the bedroom. Master stood to accompany me but Zi'Anna had decided not to let 'Dr Aniello' out of her sight. It meant leaving Terri alone with Mr Bossy but I guess she thought he was, in a way, a member of the Family and not such a great risk.
Dr Nil stepped into the bathroom to wash his hands and, by the time he returned, Zi'Anna had removed my dressing for him - one less excuse for the dangerous doctor to get his hands on my tummy!
The good doctor probed and prodded and stretched the skin. It didn't hurt but it was quite tickly. When he was done, he was completely happy. "You may now leave it open and go swimming and so on," he told me. "Complete your current course of antibiotics and, if it gets sore... and, in particular, if it gets hot, you are to seek medical attention immediately."
As soon as he had finished, I stepped outside but dear old Zi'Anna waited until the dangerous doctor had finished rewashing his hands. I guess she was worried that, if she left him alone in my room for a moment, he'd start investigating the contents of my knicker drawer or something!
Afterwards, we all sat together on the terrace behind the house and enjoyed the amazing sight of the sun setting over the sea. Master had found a bottle of wine from somewhere and as I sat there and snuggled my head into his shoulder, I could feel waves of calm washing over me.
And then it was time to get ready for dinner and, for the first time, I had to do my makeup all on my own. Zi'Anna had to show Dr Aniello to his room - and keep an eye on him, of course!
As usual, dinner was served out on the terrace and it was, I decided, a good thing that Mr Bossy and Dr Nil had arrived at the same time. Terri and I had been enjoying having a sister after being alone for so long and it would have been tricky for either one of us to be left on their own again.
After the meal, Terri and I were sent on our way, as usual, as Mr Andretti continued to entertain the other guests, including our two men. Unusually, Zi'Anna chose to walk with us. She'd not been at the dinner but suddenly appeared when we set off towards our rooms. I guess she wanted to make sure that Terri didn't get lost on her way to bed!
Half an hour later, Terri and I were sitting in my bed together and she was telling me all about her new admirer when we were disturbed by a slight noise at my door - somebody was gently rolling their fingers along the frame.
I felt a little surge inside me!
"I've got to go," I told my sister, giving her a hug. "It's Master."
She nodded and gave me a funny look. I don't know whether it was sympathy or jealousy. She probably didn't know either!