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‘Have you managed to get your accountants to look at the books?’
‘They’ve begun,’ Alessio said. ‘My father’s finances were decimated after his divorce, which I assume you know about, but since then it’s just been the usual series of misjudged investments, an adherence to old technology and too many dinosaurs in top positions who haven’t make the sort of brave decisions they should have along the way. A company run like a gentlemen’s club will always end up going down the drain because in this day and age there’s no room for companies like that. Have you met any of my father’s business colleagues?’
‘A few,’ Sophie admitted.
‘And what did you think of them?’
‘They seemed charming, if a little old-fashioned.’
‘Correct. And old-fashioned charm has its place, but not in the cut-throat world of making money.’
‘Leonard isn’t some young twenty-something whippersnapper,’ Sophie said sharply. ‘He’s an elderly man with health problems.’
‘Then he should have come to me the minute he discovered the mess his company was in.’
‘He’s in awe of you.’
Alessio stared at her with open incredulity, and then he laughed shortly. ‘I think your choice of words might be a little off target. My father has never been in awe of me or anything I have done.’
Alessio vaulted to his feet, taking his plate to the sink with him, but not doing anything with it. Certainly not washing it. Or putting it in the dishwasher.
Sophie assumed that a guy who had a personal chef on speed dial wasn’t even going to know what a dishwasher was.
In the recent absence of the housekeeper, Sophie had to do all the kitchen chores herself, which she didn’t begrudge, but why on earth should she do chores for Alessio, when he was perfectly capable of doing them for himself? She wasn’t paid to cook or clean, but she did it because she loved Leonard and because she now knew that he couldn’t afford to get anyone in to do that kind of work for him. But for Alessio...?
She carried the rest of the dishes to the counter, opened the dishwasher and nodded to it. ‘You can stack,’ she said, ‘while I tidy the kitchen. Or else we’ll come down here in the morning and it’ll look as though a bomb exploded.’
‘Stack the dishwasher...?’
‘It’s easy,’ Sophie said, grudgingly amused in spite of herself and finding it hard not to soften. ‘Most people don’t need a degree in engineering to do it.’
‘I’m being ticked off,’ Alessio murmured. ‘Is this because you disapprove of me not being able to cook?’
‘I’m not ticking you off, and I don’t care whether you can cook or not.’
The force of that dark gaze upon her was making her skin prickle, but she remained rooted to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away, distractedly wondering how it was possible for a man to be as sinfully beautiful as this one was. There should be a law against looks like his.
‘No?’
His voice was a feathery caress, and had the effect of bringing her back down to earth at speed.
‘No,’ she denied coolly. ‘I’m asking you to help because there’s no one to do the daily chores around here and it’ll help me out.’
‘What happened to the housekeeper?’
‘In case you hadn’t noticed,’ Sophie told him, her voice still cool as she began wiping counters and putting things back into cupboards, all the while bringing more dishes to the sink, ‘she hasn’t been around for the past eight months.’
‘I hadn’t noticed,’ Alessio said slowly, as he leant against the counter and flung the tea-towel she had handed him earlier over one shoulder. He folded his arms and stared at her with a distracted frown. ‘You’ve been picking up the slack?’
‘Who else was going to do it?’
‘That hasn’t been reflected in a pay rise. I would know.’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Sophie sighed. She thought of her own childhood. ‘Believe me, doing all of this—“picking up the slack”, as you call it—is something I’m accustomed to.’
Since Alessio seemed to have forgotten all about the dishwasher as he strolled towards the fridge and fetched a bottle of mineral water, Sophie loaded it herself and then made them both some coffee.
‘You were going to tell me how things are going to proceed here,’ she encouraged, once they were back at the kitchen table. ‘It would be a good idea, so that I can plan my days accordingly.’
