AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have no idea how many whispers I’ve handled in my lifetime,” she replied, looking up at last.
Finally, there was a spark. A bit of the fire he’d come to expect. “Good. Then, it’s settled. You’re staying here, where you belong.”
Louisa had opened her mouth to reply but stopped abruptly. He heard the sound of rustling outside on the terrace. She’d heard it, too, because the fingers holding her glass grew white with tension.
For the third time in less than an hour Nico could feel his temper rise. At this rate he would need an entire case of fernet to keep him from murdering the entire Italian media corps.
“Wait here,” he mouthed, then held an index finger to his lips. Moving as softly as possible, he headed toward the terrace door, which they’d accidentally left propped open, and peered around the corner. There was another rustle, followed by a flutter before a lark flew past his face. Nico started at the sudden movement, his cheeks turning hot. “Just a bird,” he said unnecessarily.
“This time,” Louisa replied.
She was right. This time. Sooner or later the paparazzi would get their shot. “Maybe you should stay with Dani and Rafe,” he said.
“I thought you didn’t want me running away.”
“I don’t, but I also want you safe.” He didn’t say it, but it wasn’t only the paparazzi he was worried about. There were also those unhinged few who would want to see if Luscious Linda was as sexy as the gossip pages implied. Until the story died down, trespassers were a real threat.
“I don’t know...”
Surely they were past her insecurity at this point, weren’t they? “What’s the problem? As long as you are staying with them, you won’t have to worry about the paparazzi. Rafe will make sure no one bothers you.” Nico would make sure he did.
“Rafe and Dani have a business to run. I’m not going to ask them to waste their time babysitting me.”
“No one is babysitting anyone.”
“Aren’t they? If they have to spend their time protecting me from all the paparazzi in town then it’s babysitting,” Louisa replied. “I’m better off grabbing the bus.” She took a sip of her drink and grimaced. “What is this stuff?”
“Fernet-Branca.”
“I hate peppermint,” she replied, and set the glass on the coffee table.
“It is an acquired taste.” Her change of topic wasn’t going to work. She could complain about the drink all she wanted, he wasn’t going to let her leave Monte Calanetti.
Tossing back his own drink, he slapped the glass down before the liquor even started cooling his insides. “If you don’t want to stay with Rafe and Dani,” he said, “then you’ll just have to stay with me.”
“Excuse me?”
If the situation weren’t so serious, he’d laugh at the shock on her face. It was the perfect solution, though. “You will be able to avoid the paparazzi in the village, plus you’ll be close enough to keep an eye on the palazzo. Can you think of a better location?”
“Hell. When it freezes over.”
This time he did laugh. Here was the feisty Louisa he was used to.
“I’m serious,” she said. “If I don’t want Rafe and Dani playing babysitter, I sure as hell don’t want you doing it.
She was being stubborn again. It wouldn’t work any more than trying to change the subject had. “Fine. If it makes you feel better, you can work while you are staying with me.”
“Work?”
“Yes. I told you, since the wedding, we’ve been inundated with orders for Amatucci Red. I can barely keep up as it is, and with the harvest and the festival coming up, I’m going to need as much help as I can get. Unless you don’t think you can handle filing invoices and processing orders.”
“You—you’d trust me to do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“What about Luscious Louisa?”
God, how it hurt to see her looking so vulnerable. Tears rimming her eyes and her lower lip trembling. Silently, he damned Steven Clark for dragging her down with him.
He might have promised to keep his distance, but at this moment, he couldn’t stop himself from closing the space between them. He brushed his thumb across her quivering lip.
“Like I told you before, anyone who has spent time with you knows you’re not the icy seductress the press makes you out to be.”
“Thank you.” A tear slipped out the corner of her eye and he fanned it away with his hand. So vulnerable and so beautiful. It shocked him how badly he suddenly needed to keep her safe. But then, this afternoon had been full of shocking reactions he’d never experienced before.
