Chapter Twenty-ThreeOstend, Belgium, Spring 1989
The sound of the piano concerto filled the room, and the woman closed her eyes and allowed the music to enter into her mind, her soul. The boy, a young man now, was incredibly handsome, and his hands moved with the practised skill of a concert pianist as they danced across the keys, almost in a blur. At his side his brother stood, violin in hand, ready to reinforce the performance. As his hand moved to draw the bow across the strings of the instrument and the two of them began to play together, the woman was enraptured by what she heard.
Arturo and Alexei were fifteen years old, though the casual observer would have taken them for twenty at least. They were tall, well-muscled, and athletically built, and the woman considered that the time
