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“I thought you no longer cared what the papers said.”
“I said I could deal with a small mention. What I don’t want to do is give them more ammunition.”
“So, what are you going to do? Give up on your plan?”
“I’m not ‘giving up’ on anything. The palazzo is going to make a wonderful hotel. Just not as soon as I hoped, is all. In another year or so, maybe, when I’ve had time to build a better financial profile.”
Hearing Louisa put her dream on hold broke his heart. It wasn’t right, her suffering another setback because of that cretin she’d married. Especially when he had the wealth and connections to make things happen.
Maybe... He looked down at his phone. Maybe she wouldn’t have to wait too long. Wouldn’t hurt to make a few phone calls and see if he could open a few doors, would it?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MORE THAN A few heads turned when Louisa and Nico entered the winery together. Dozens of pairs of eyes all staring knowingly in her direction.
Suppressing the old, familiar apprehension, Louisa nodded hello to everyone. “Looks like our secret is out,” she said. The din of the machinery forced her to holler directly into Nico’s ear.
He turned and looked at her with such concern, her heart wobbled. “Will you be all right?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine.” Even if she wouldn’t, there was no way she could tell him that when he was looking at her so tenderly. “If I was worried about discretion, I wouldn’t have kissed you in front of the whole village, would I?”
Nico looked about to reply when one of the workers called his name.
“Duty calls,” he said. He flicked the hair from her eyes with his index finger. While not a kiss, the gesture was still intimate enough that, if there had been any employees who didn’t suspect their affair, there weren’t anymore.
Trying her best to look nonchalant, Louisa headed toward the back office. She was nodding hello to the women at the destemmer when she noticed the two men behind them exchanging euros.
“They’ve been placing bets ever since the picture of you and Signor Amatucci appeared in the paper,” Mario said, appearing at her shoulder.
Bets. Her stomach churned a little at the news. “On what?”
“On you and Signor Amatucci. Half the staff believed the two of you were just friends; the other half was convinced the two of you had been together for months.”
“Months? You must have heard wrong.” Up until the royal wedding, she and Nico had only crossed paths when necessary, and half the time they’d butted heads.
The young man shrugged. “I only know what people told me.”
“Which side were you on?” she asked.
“I don’t like to place money on anyone who is writing me a reference.”
“A smart man,” she replied.
“For what it’s worth,” Mario continued, following her into the office “the majority were hoping the rumors turned out to be true.”
“They were?” Come to think of it, while people stared, nobody seemed particularly acrimonious. There were no cold shoulders like in Boston. In fact, Louisa realized, some of them had amusement in their eyes.
“Public consensus seems to be that it was high time Signor Amatucci had a serious relationship.”
“It is, is it?”
“At least among the older female employees.”
“I see.” She wondered if Nico knew he had a mothering contingent. Probably.
Feeling slightly better, she sat down at her desk. Today’s order list wasn’t as long as previous days’ as most people had purchased their bottles in person at the festival. She counted fewer than two dozen names.
“Those should be the last of the orders,” Mario said. “We’ll be out of Amatucci Reserve after today.”
“Guess that means my job will be finishing soon, as well. No wine, no need to fulfill orders.” With the headlines dying down and the wine gone, it was definitely time to go home.
“That’s too bad,” Mario replied. “You’ll be missed.”
“I know. What will people have to bet on?”
“I’m serious. I’ll admit, when you first arrived some of us were concerned. We didn’t know what to expect. But then we got to know you, and we realized what Signor Amatucci said at the staff meeting was true...”
“I’m sorry.” Louisa put down the paper she’d picked up. “What staff meeting?”
“Right after you started. Signor held a staff meeting and told us the headlines were all exaggerations and that we should make a point of getting to know you.”
So that’s why Mario and the others had warmed up to her. Because Nico had told them to. “How very kind of him,” she replied. Inside, she wanted to wring Nico’s neck.
