No, she wasn't going to argue with Rory over this, not now. She'd had her fill of that this morning. Pippa gave his forearm another caress and sighed. "Alessandro? Oh...I'm sure he'll be...well, he'd like to meet you."

And the old maestro would be gracious to Rory's face, she knew. The consummate host in every way. He'd save his true thoughts for once the Irishman was gone again. It was another of those things that troubled Pippa but seemed to have no easy solution. Far too many half-truths told to protect people and in the process giving Alessandro an unclear picture of just what happened in New York.

"And Marcello..." She smiled at her friends name on her lips. The photographer was far more forgiving than her mentor and would genuinely enjoy Rory, she thought.