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‘Do you want some company?’
Happiness fizzed up at the casual words. ‘Of course, but don’t you need to work? Don’t worry about me if so...’
Giuliana, one of the maids, set a cup, a small teapot and a plate laden with sweet bread, slices of fruit, cheese and a couple of pastries in front of Sophie. Her preference for herbal tea first thing had caused some consternation in the caffeinated household at first, but the staff had eventually adjusted to both tea and her very un-Venetian need for a breakfast more substantial than a few bites of something quick. Sophie nodded her thanks, grateful as the familiar ginger aroma wafted up, displacing the bitter scent of coffee and settling her queasy stomach.
‘A few days off seems like the perfect plan right now,’ Marco said as Sophie started to tuck in. ‘I need time to think about where my business is headed, how I can continue to grow and still meet my obligations to the family business.’ His mouth twisted into a rueful smile. ‘I realised yesterday that even if I don’t want to take over I still need to be involved. Besides, when I started out I used my contacts here to source antiques, but it was important for me to be in London to build contacts for the other side of the business, the people I would sell to. I’ve been based there ten years, own a house in Chelsea. In many ways it’s my home.’
Right there and then the chasm between them widened even further. Sophie rented a shoebox on the top floor of a building on a busy road. Buses thundered past at all hours of the day and night, streetlights lit up her room, casting an orange glow over her dreams, and the bass from the flat below provided a thudding soundtrack to everything she did. Half her pay went straight to her landlord. Owning a home of her own was a distant enough dream, her city shoebox well out of her range. A whole house? In Chelsea? Not for the likes of her.
It was all going to make telling him about the baby even harder. If only they were equals financially... She pushed the thought away, adding it to her ever-lengthening list of things to worry about in the future. ‘But now?’
‘I still need an office and a base in London, but those contacts are secure. I have a whole global network of dealers, buyers, designers who know and trust me. I’m having to work a little harder on the Italian side now. There’s a new generation of suppliers coming along and I don’t have the same links with them, the same trust. It means I’m no longer the automatic first choice and that could impact my future stock.’
‘So, you need to spend more time here?’ Her heart twisted. She had no idea what her future held, but she hadn’t expected to have a baby with a man she wasn’t committed to, a man who spent half his life out of the country.
Suck it up, she told herself fiercely. This will be your reality. Deal with it.
‘I do. But these are thoughts for another day. I’m very much aware how much we owe you, Sophie. Bianca would have imploded if you hadn’t stayed. Let me make it up to you. Anything you want. How do you want to spend the day? A trip to the lakes? To Roma? Buy out the whole of the lace shops on Burano?’
Guilt twisted again. She’d had her own selfish reasons for staying, for getting close to Marco’s family. But she couldn’t pass up this opportunity to spend a day with the father of her child—and she didn’t want to. She wanted to spend the day with him, to get to know him a little better, to have one last carefree day before she shattered his world. ‘Nothing so elaborate. Show me your Venice, Marco, the things you love most about the city. That’s what I’d like to do today. If you’re okay with that.’
‘Really? That’s what you want to do? You’re willing to take the risk?’ He looked surprised, but he was smiling. ‘In that case I’ll meet you back here in half an hour. Wear comfy shoes and wrap up warm. We may be out for some time.’
CHAPTER TEN
SOPHIE INSTANTLY FELL in love with the Dorsoduro. Although there were plenty of tourists around, exclaiming over the views and taking selfies with the canals and bridges as backdrops, it had a more relaxed air than the streets around the Rialto Bridge and Saint Mark’s square, a sense of home and belonging, especially once they reached the quieter back streets and small tree-lined squares. Amongst the grocery and souvenir shops, the cafés and restaurants, she spotted some gorgeous boutiques, specialising in stationery, in paints, in textiles as well as enticing pastry and confectionery shops that made her mouth water and she itched to explore further. ‘Can I go shopping before lunch and then explore this afternoon? I’d really like to look at those textiles if I could.’
