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A quick shower left her ready to face the family. She bathed and changed Arron but found it difficult to maneuver with him on her hip. Instead, she let him crawl along the hall until they neared the stairs. Then she made him stop.
“We’ll have to take this slow, button.” She sat down and gathered him into her arms. His little cheeks demanded a few kisses first, and he giggled, hugging her neck. “Here we go.”
“What are you doing?”
A little thrill raced through her, and she looked up into Romy’s curious gaze.
“We’re trying to get downstairs. I smell something good, and my stomach is growling. I brought along a few groceries, so maybe I can make a trade with whoever’s cooking that cinnamon-flavored dish.”
He whipped the baby from her arms, sat him on his hip, and tugged her to her feet. His arm encircled her waist, and she fell roughly against his side. “I’ll carry you both down.”
She moved out of his hold. “No, you won’t. I can do it myself.”
As if he came to himself, realizing what he was doing, he didn’t argue. She grabbed hold of the banister, and Romy spun away. “Then I’ll meet you below. Do you need me to carry the crutch?”
“I got it.” Embarrassment ate her alive, and she stood there watching him as he descended the stairs. A man shouldn’t smell that good in the morning or otherwise, and a woman who shouldn’t be thinking of him in wrong ways shouldn’t be as close as she just was.
All right, get it together, Sonya. It’s not that serious. Nice feel of those muscles. Now move on.
With that settled in her head, she worked her way downstairs. The butler from the day before appeared out of nowhere. “Signorina Sonya.”
She smiled. “Buongiorno, Goro. Come va? Bene, spero.”
His face lit up at her Italian greeting, and he spouted off a half dozen sentences, some of which she didn’t catch. She responded as well as she could to the words she understood. Despite that, Goro seemed pleased. Well, she’d made a friend in him at least. Now for the family.
Goro directed her to the dining room, and when Sonya entered, she discovered why Romy looked at her like she was nuts at her mention of trading with whoever was baking sweets. The entire table was set for a feast, and both a cook and a maid moved about serving the family. These people were too darn rich.
Sonya, preferring to get off on the right foot, offered her best smile. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Ah, Sonya,” Cason gushed. “Beautiful as usual. Rest served you well, but then eri perfetto ieri sera , bella.”
Everyone had stopped speaking when she entered the room, but an even greater hush came over the group at Cason’s words. “You were already perfect last night” gave the impression he and she had been up to something together.
Romy’s countenance matched his oldest brother’s with anger simmering in his eyes. Shakarri, Ezio’s wife, who Sonya had met the day before, looked confused. Something told Sonya she had no clue what Cason said. Ezio’s daughter seemed like she didn’t care about anything except the food on her plate, and she hummed as she ate. Then there was the matriarch of the family. Sonya couldn’t tell by the serenity in her expression whether she heard. Maybe she was hard of hearing.
“Cram it, Cason,” Ezio barked. “Sonya, your place is there.”
“Ezio, don’t start,” his wife said. “Please let’s have a peaceful breakfast before your flight. Sonya, glad to see you’re up. I wasn’t sure if I should look in on you or let you sleep in. I know it takes a lot out of you moving and all.”
“Thanks.” Sonya took a seat in the middle of the table opposite Ezio’s daughter. Romy had set Arron up in his high chair between her and him. At least, she assumed it was Romy. On instinct, she checked under his tray. Sure enough he wasn’t strapped in. She caught Romy’s eye. “You have to strap him in, or he’ll climb out.”
He reddened. “I see.”
“Romy,” his brother called. “I could use you on this trip. Stanley is impatient and likely to cause trouble during negotiations. Your skill for handling him got us through the rough patch the last time.”
Sonya was busy preparing Arron’s plate, and she felt Romy’s eyes on her every movement. She wasn’t sure if he heard his brother.
“Not this time,” he murmured. He touched a finger to the back of one of Arron’s hands. “Show me how to feed him. Does he eat whatever we do?”
Down the table, Ezio grumbled. “Don’t get caught up. You’ll regret it in the end.”
Sonya turned to him. “What’s that supposed to mean? That I’m scheming and Arron’s not his son? You think everybody’s after your money?”
He pinned a gaze so full of dislike on her, she felt sick, but she refused to look away. “Are you so convinced your sister told you the truth?”
Bile rose in her throat, and when she didn’t respond he took advantage of her doubt to press the issue home.
“You admit you didn’t know the woman well. So who is to say she didn’t concoct all of that ‘proof’ you say you have so she could extort money from this family? On some level she loved her son, so she made sure that should anything happen to her, you would follow through with the plan, and he would have a secure future.”
