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asks.
    ‘Soon.’
     
     
    Chapter 7 – Present
     
Loving Lilly
     
     
    ‘Luxury is just too easy to get used to.’
    I lean back into the comfortable leather passenger seat of Lilly’s shiny black Aston Martin convertible. The hardtop roof is slicked back into the boot. Lilly’s hair writhes around the headrest of the driver’s seat in the wind. She likes the car despite her aversion to ostentation. I smile briefly at the irony and at the change in her.
    ‘Yes. It is.’ I reach a hand over to her lovely slender leg, stroke down the cream coloured skirt until I find the bare flesh I’m seeking.
    ‘Behave. Unless you want me to crash?’ Lilly laughs, throwing back her honey hair.
    She’s had it straightened, cut shorter, part of the change of image for our new existence. We are Mr and Mrs Gabriele Caccini. After years of hiding it, I felt it might be interesting to use my original name. My sources at the passport offices, the birth and marriage registrars, various bank clerks who are well paid to move money electronically for me, don’t care. They would never even assume that this was my real identity. My money buys real documents, real identities and real loyalty.
    Technology is an amazing thing. It has become easier, not harder, to be who I wish. All I need to do is to create records of movements, credit history, bogus trips through customs. So straightforward. So easy when you have the money, because in any century that is all that most people care about.
    My hand slips farther up her thigh, finds the soft folds beneath. She rarely wears underwear, but something silky greets my fingertips. She squirms, a smile playing across her face.
    ‘Please...’
    I pull my hand away, taking pity on the other road users. A crash will not kill us, but it may harm others and draw unnecessary attention to us. My fingers tingle from touching her skin and I raise them slowly to my lips, licking her essence from the tips.
    ‘You’re outrageous,’ she says, but her eyes are on fire with mutual lust for me.
    ‘I know.’
    She brushes her skirt back in place taking a deep gulping breath. ‘I’m still not used to it.’
    ‘I don’t know, you seem to have a lot of skill.’ I smile.
    Her look quells me. ‘You know what I mean. Your touch is electric.’
    ‘Yours is to me.’
    ‘It feels different then? To when you have been with others?’
    I raise an eyebrow, surprised. Is my darling jealous? I like the thought.
    ‘There are no other women that could compare to you, Lilly.’
    A slight smile fights to spread from the corners of her mouth. It’s the expression she has when she doesn’t want me to know she’s pleased with me. We’ve been together for a year now, and I’ve never been happier. I’ve lived a hundred lives; changed my name, my hair, my age, my religion, all to suit the style and conventions of the time. Now I find I have a future with a beautiful woman who loves me. This is a new experience. This is all I have ever wanted.
    Lilly steers the car around a sharp bend. I watch her face as she concentrates. Even her serious expressions are compellingly addictive. She is the biggest rush I have ever had.
    ‘Are you going to explain?’ she asks.
    I don’t reply.
    ‘You’ve been dragging me all over Europe for the last few months. It’s clear that we are supposed to be looking for something... or someone. Then you disappear for hours and don’t tell me where you are. I could be very suspicious and suspect there is another woman.’
    I keep my eyes on the road ahead, but feel her looking at me. I don’t flush with guilt. A lifetime of experience hiding my emotions pays its dividends at that moment. We join the long line of traffic that takes us around Piccadilly towards our hotel. Lilly navigates the road perfectly and I relax again in my seat, hoping she won’t pursue her earlier questions. I’m too uncertain of everything.
    Lilly sighs. Her irritation permeates the air like a gust of invisible