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“You gaveallthe servants the day off?”
“All but my assistant, who will be arriving later to drive you to the airport.”
“So you cooked all this yourself?”
He gave me a reproachful look. “I may be a privileged billionaire heir, but I know how to maketoast.”
Realizing I was famished from our night of physical fun, I bit back the other teases I had planned and dug in. There was whipped butter and warm jam to spread on the bread, and the coffee was rich and strong. Furio ate with me, sharing from the same plate and not giving any sign that he was uncomfortable in his nudity. I openly admired his lean, taut body, and let the comforter drop down from my breasts.
When in Rome, I thought with a grin.
“I still can’t believe you have servants in the first place,” I said. “I happen to know two billionaires back home, and the most either of them have is a cleaning service that comes once a week.”
“The interior of this estate is three thousand meters squared,” Furio pointed out. “If I did not have servants to cook and clean and maintain the property, then it would fall to ruin within a month.”
“Did you ever think that maybe it’s wasteful for one man to live in such a large home?” I asked.
He nodded thoughtfully. “I have given this much consideration, yes. The carbon footprint of this manor is quite substantial. I have been holding onto it out of obligation, considering my father has only passed away this year, but I do intend to change my situation in the coming future.”
I put a hand on his arm. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty. Just teasing you.”
“A tease with a grain of truth to it,” he replied. “One can be wealthy without being wasteful. At least, that is how I hope to be.”
After breakfast, I helped myself to Furio’s shower. He joined me soon after, squirting body wash all over my shoulders and scrubbing me with a spongy loofah. He paid especially good attention to ensuring my breasts were spotless, and grinned at me boyishly when I raised an eyebrow at him.
I wrapped a towel around myself to walk back to my quarters on the other side of the manor home, but halfway there Furio grabbed the towel and yanked it away. I squealed and shouted at him, but he sprinted down the wide hallway with the towel in his hand, laughing freely. I chased after him, giggling at his own nudity in the big, empty manor.
After getting dressed and ready, I packed my things and walked back to the entrance room. Through one of the tall windows I saw Furio’s assistant waiting by the car outside.
“You’re not taking me to the airport yourself?” I teased.
“I have a conference call with a business partner in Berlin,” he explained. There was no more levity to his voice now; he was back to being the billionaire I had originally met. “I must say goodbye to you here.”
He wrapped me in his arms, hugging me tightly. He didn’t let go for a long time, and I pressed my face against his shoulder and closed my eyes to savor it. An uncomfortable truth that I had been ignoring to this point was that I wasn’t sure when we would see each other again. Unlike Owen or Jude, I couldn’t just hop over to Furio’s house after work on a whim.
“I will find excuses to visit San Francisco,” he whispered into my hair, as if he could read my thoughts.
“I would like that.”
“Oh. One more thing,” he said, pulling away and handing me a slip of paper. “I nearly forgot this.”
I took it from him. It was a personal check from the Intesa Sanpaolo bank of Italy. It was made out to me for the amount of twenty thousand euros.
“What…” I almost choked on my own tongue. “What is this? Twenty thousandeuros?”
He frowned at me. “Most American banks will convert it to dollars for free. It should not be a problem. But if you prefer I make a digital bank transfer with SWIFT…”
“The currency wasn’t why I was freaking out. Why are you giving me all this money!”
He cocked his head at me, confused. “This is the price for your excellent services.”
“Myservices?”I shot back at him. “Furio, I’m not a whore!”
His eyes widened with fear. “Oh, no! No, no, no! Yourworkservices. AteTodo. This is the consulting fee that was discussed. It was negotiated with Owen March before you arrived. It is quite disruptive to borrow a senior engineer while the company is growing so quickly.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. With everything that had happened in the past day, I had forgotten all about therealreason I had come to Italy. “Still. This is a lot of money. And after the night we had… it kind of makes me feel like a prostitute.”
He caressed my cheek and smiled lovingly. “You are the furthest thing from that.”
