Aged for Vengeance Read online

  AGED FOR VENGEANCE

  (A Tuscan Vineyard Cozy Mystery—Book Five)

  FIONA GRACE

  Fiona Grace

  Fiona Grace is author of the LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY series, comprising nine books (and counting); of the TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY series, comprising six books (and counting); of the DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books (and counting); of the BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY series, comprising six books (and counting); and of the CATS AND DOGS COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books (and counting).

  Fiona would love to hear from you, so please visit www.fionagraceauthor.com to receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.

  Copyright © 2020 by Fiona Grace. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright Zoom Team, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

  BOOKS BY FIONA GRACE

  LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY

  MURDER IN THE MANOR (Book#1)

  DEATH AND A DOG (Book #2)

  CRIME IN THE CAFE (Book #3)

  VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4)

  KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5)

  PERISHED BY A PAINTING (Book #6)

  SILENCED BY A SPELL (Book #7)

  FRAMED BY A FORGERY (Book #8)

  CATASTROPHE IN A CLOISTER (Book #9)

  TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY

  AGED FOR MURDER (Book #1)

  AGED FOR DEATH (Book #2)

  AGED FOR MAYHEM (Book #3)

  AGED FOR SEDUCTION (Book #4)

  AGED FOR VENGEANCE (Book #5)

  AGED FOR ACRIMONY (Book #6)

  AGED FOR MALICE (Book #7)

  DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY

  SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF MURDER (Book #1)

  SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF CRIME (Book #2)

  SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF DEATH (Book #3)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A KILLER CUPCAKE (Book #1)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON (Book #2)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A PERILOUS CAKE POP (Book #3)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A DEADLY DANISH (Book #4)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A TREACHEROUS TART (Book #5)

  BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A CALAMITOUS COOKIE (Book #6)

  CATS AND DOGS COZY MYSTERY

  A VILLA IN SICILY: OLIVE OIL AND MURDER (Book #1)

  A VILLA IN SICILY: FIGS AND A CADAVER (Book #2)

  A VILLA IN SICILY: VINO AND DEATH (Book #3)

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Arriving for work on a breezy winter morning, Olivia Glass was surprised to see a woman in a chic gray business suit pacing impatiently outside La Leggenda’s tasting room door.

  Olivia was puzzled, because the winery’s opening times were well advertised online, and also displayed on the shiny brass sign at the gate. She had arrived an hour early to get the place ready, and didn’t expect to find anyone there.

  She hurried along the paved driveway while she tugged her scarf into place and patted down her shoulder-length blond hair.

  Enthused by the change in pace, Olivia’s adopted goat, Erba, capered ahead, her shaggy, orange-and-white winter coat rippling in the wind. The young goat detoured mischievously to one of the ornate stone planters in the parking lot—where, Olivia noted, a brand new silver Range Rover was parked. Erba jumped nimbly into the planter. There, she tugged at the geranium bush, swathed in a bed of straw to protect it from frost.

  “Erba! Out!” Olivia reprimanded her goat. Clearly, she was taking advantage of the situation to show off to this early visitor.

  “Buon giorno!” Olivia greeted the strange woman. She guessed from her dark hair and stylish outfit that she was probably a local. “Posso aiurtala?”

  Although her pronunciation was still clumsy, Olivia felt proud to be asking “can I help you?” in the local language. She was making enormous progress. A month ago, she’d never have been able to do this.

  Disappointingly, the other woman didn’t seem impressed with her efforts.

  “You don’t sound Italian,” she said in a crisp British accent after glancing disapprovingly in Erba’s direction. “You’re not one of the Vescovis who own this place, are you?”

  Busted, Olivia shook her head ruefully.

  “I’m not part of the Vescovi family,” she admitted. “I work here. I’m the head sommelier.”

  She took a breath to ask who the woman was, but before she could speak, the woman continued hurriedly, as if she didn’t have time for any chitchat or explanation. “I’d like to take a look around, if I may.”

  “We don’t open for an hour, so we can’t offer you a wine tasting. Would you like a tour of the facilities, or are you looking for some other reason?” Olivia asked. She hoped this strange woman would agree to come back later, once they were properly open. Or, at least, explain why she was here.

  She did neither. Instead, she folded her arms, tilted her head back, and stared down her perfectly straight nose at Olivia.

  Olivia had a nasty feeling that asking anything further might offend her. And what harm could it do to let her have a quick look?

  “Please come in,” she invited, taking out her keys and unlocking the imposing wooden door. The diamante cat token on her key chain, a gift from her new boyfriend Danilo, glittered in the low morning sun. Looking at the cat always made Olivia feel happy.

  Smiling, she stood back as the charcoal-suited stranger powered into the lobby, her heels clip-clopping on the granite tiles.

  What was she doing here? Olivia wondered. This was very mysterious! Although the woman knew about the Vescovi family, she didn’t seem to know them personally. None of the three Vescovis—Marcello, Antonio, or Nadia—had mentioned anything about this yesterday.

  Olivia hoped this stranger didn’t think it was too chilly i
nside. Lighting the fires in the lobby and tasting room was one of her first daily tasks, and the main reason she came in early on these sharp mornings. The spacious, high-ceilinged rooms were freezing cold at the start of the day.

  “It’s much warmer with the fires burning,” she said helpfully, knowing that she was stating the obvious, but wanting to make some conversation. Even though this woman was in a rush, there was no reason why she shouldn’t be put at ease.

  To Olivia’s alarm, the woman rummaged in her large leather purse and took out a black clipboard. She began jotting notes on it.

  Was she a health and safety inspector? Olivia wondered. She’d only been working at La Leggenda a few months and had no idea if in-person visits might be made from time to time. Although she would have expected such an individual to be Italian, and to drive a more ordinary car than that bright silver statement vehicle outside.

  “Are you inspecting?” she asked, hoping to get a handle on the situation.

  “Open up for me, please,” the woman said, indicating the wide, arched doors that led through to the tasting room.

  Doubtfully, Olivia pushed them open. The customer was always right, but this encounter felt very untoward. Was she going to explain why she was here?

  No, she was simply going to march into the large, neat and tidy tasting room without so much as a thank-you! Olivia wondered if she felt a thrill of excitement at seeing this majestic space, with framed posters and information on the walls, chairs and tables placed throughout the room. And, of course, the centerpiece—the long, wooden tasting counter, with its dramatic backdrop of wooden barrels, and the La Leggenda logo in gold above.

  The woman paced around the room with Olivia following a few steps behind.

  “Where are your bathrooms?” she asked suddenly.

  “They’re down—” Olivia began, but she was interrupted.

  “It’s all right. I see the signage now. Not prominently displayed,” the woman said disapprovingly.

  She headed purposefully down the corridor and, to Olivia’s consternation, marched straight into the men’s restroom!

  “That’s the wrong one!” Olivia called out, but there was no response from inside.

  She must be inspecting, Olivia decided. She couldn’t have made such a basic mistake. The signage wasn’t that un-prominent! At least, at this early hour and with no other visitors, there would be no chance of embarrassing incidents.

  Olivia waited at the end of the corridor, fidgeting uneasily.

  A minute later, she was out, and into the ladies’ room.

  Then the door swung open and the woman stomped back to the tasting room, scribbling notes as she walked. What notes? Olivia wondered, wishing she wasn’t frowning as she jotted her impressions down. It made Olivia worry that they were negative.

  She gazed across the tasting room to the doors at the far end.

  “You have a restaurant on site?”

  “Yes. It’s quite famous,” Olivia supplied, hoping to improve on her track record of not impressing this woman by anything she’d said so far.

  “Let’s see.” Clearly still unimpressed, the other woman addressed the comment to herself, but even so, Olivia followed in her wake as she strode purposefully through the double doors.

  “Why are you looking around?” Olivia tried, hoping her words struck a note that was closer to “conversational question” than “I’m becoming suspicious of your behavior.”

  She didn’t get a reply, and sensed that the woman thought her questioning to be nothing more than irrelevant background babble.

  After a swift glance around the restaurant, with its polished tables and furniture sparkling clean and ready for the day ahead, the woman went into the kitchen.

  “Wait!” Olivia squeaked. The woman ignored her, of course.

  Olivia felt her stomach twist. This was the domain of her rival, Gabriella. The tawny-haired restaurateur was Marcello’s ex-girlfriend, who had kept her job after the relationship had ended. Ever since Olivia had arrived at the winery, Gabriella had regarded her as a threat, and the relationship between them had been nothing but stormy.

  If Gabriella were to walk in now and find a stranger nosing around her kitchen, she would be furious—not with the dark-haired woman, but with Olivia, for allowing it.

  At that moment, Olivia heard an impatient scrunch of wheels in the parking lot. The sound of Gabriella’s sporty Fiat was unmistakable. At the worst possible moment, she was arriving!

  Olivia swiveled around to stare anxiously at the parking lot, and then turned back to the kitchen, where the woman was still busy.

  “Are you finished in there?” she called, but the only sound was receding footsteps as the woman prowled even further into Gabriella’s territory.

  From outside, a car door slammed. Olivia felt like waving her arms in consternation. It didn’t seem possible for her to remove this officious stranger without grabbing her arm and physically hustling her out. But if she didn’t act fast, World War Three might erupt at any moment. In fact, Olivia revised her ideas as she heard the hurried click of Gabriella’s heels on the paving outside. There was no “might” about it. They were moments away from an explosion, unless Olivia could come up with an emergency plan to avoid it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  There was only one strategy Olivia could think of on the fly. She needed to buy time by delaying Gabriella at the door. Since the strange woman seemed to be in a hurry, she probably wouldn’t spend much longer looking around. If Olivia could stall the restaurateur, trouble might be avoided completely.

  Olivia rushed to the restaurant’s side entrance, arriving at the same time as Gabriella. With her tortoiseshell hair pinned in a perfect chignon, and her makeup flawless, though heavy on the mascara, Gabriella looked as picture-perfect as always.

  The moment she saw Olivia, her mood soured, and she glared combatively at her.

  “What do you want?” she demanded.

  “I wanted to ask you something,” Olivia said innocently.

  Gabriella looked immediately suspicious. “What?”

  That was a very good question! Olivia felt her synapses smoldering as she racked her brains for a topic.

  Luckily, inspiration struck.

  “That pond there,” she said, pointing to the scenic water feature in the distance, beyond the restaurant gardens. “One of the customers asked me yesterday if there were fish in it. I had no idea, so I thought I’d ask you.”

  Gabriella gave her an incredulous look, as if Olivia had started babbling in Ancient Greek.

  “There are no fish in the pond. It is ornamental only. Why are you asking me this, anyway? I am too busy for stupid questions about pond life! Next time, ask Marcello. Or go and look for yourself.” Her glare was so intense, Olivia felt as if she were getting an X-ray. “You should be doing your work. I see the fires aren’t yet lit!”

  Olivia bristled at the unsolicited career advice. Did Gabriella think she was Olivia’s boss? What was she doing, ordering her to light the fires, when for the past two weeks, Olivia had lit them before Gabriella had even arrived?

  That was the problem, Olivia decided. Gabriella did think that she was her boss, and that was partly why she didn’t have any respect for her.

  Gabriella wasn’t finished yet. Warming to her topic, she continued.

  “Your job is to sell wine to the guests. Not to encourage them to roam the grounds in search of fish!”

  As Olivia bit back a defensive comment, she heard footsteps behind her. Hopefully, that meant that the gray-suited woman had finished her lightning inspection.

  “Thank you for the information,” Olivia said coolly, turning away. She’d gotten an answer, even if one heavily cloaked in rudeness. More importantly, she’d managed to avoid the explosion of Gabriella finding a stranger in her kitchen!

  Gabriella stomped inside, still muttering in angry tones, “Fish! Fish?”

  Olivia hurried back to the tasting room, wondering if the woman needed any more help
, and hoping she’d finally explain who she was and why she was here.

  But she was too late. The woman was already marching out of the lobby. By the time Olivia rushed outside, the Range Rover was accelerating down the driveway, its engine growling.

  She had left without even saying goodbye, or providing a reason for her mysterious appearance, and Olivia couldn’t help worrying that this odd visit would end up landing her, or La Leggenda, in trouble.

  Trying to put the incident out of her mind, Olivia hurried back into the lobby to start the job she would have done even without Gabriella bossing her so rudely. As she arranged the wood in the fireplace, Olivia seethed over the restaurateur’s disrespectful attitude.

  Olivia was all out of ideas on how to handle it. She’d tried being friendly and helpful. She’d experimented with being icily professional. Teasing a flame out of the kindling, Olivia remembered she’d even tried to ignore Gabriella, but that was impossible, with them working in adjacent rooms in the same busy winery.

  They’d gotten off on the wrong foot from the start, Olivia remembered, while she used the antique leather bellows to blow life into the fire. Being Marcello’s ex-girlfriend, Gabriella would have been jealous of any single woman that he hired. The fact that there had been a spark of attraction between Marcello and Olivia hadn’t helped.

  After she and Marcello had agreed not to take things further romantically, as it might compromise their working relationship, Gabriella had picked up on this and been friendlier for a while. Olivia had made a point of mentioning her new boyfriend when Gabriella was around, hoping it would contribute to world peace. It had briefly done so, but then Gabriella had found a different reason to be angry. She’d started resenting Olivia’s status as head sommelier, and her increased responsibilities.

  Her growing role was a blessing, Olivia thought. At least it meant she could work independently. Imagine if Gabriella was her boss! Life would be unlivable.