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‘I have so many well-positioned CCTV cameras that not even the Invisible Man could get past them. So there’s no need for you to trouble yourself. It’s late. Let me escort you back to your bedroom...’
‘Hang on just a minute, my boy!’
Sophie cringed in horror as she heard Leonard bang on the door with his walking stick.
Old and in questionable health he might be, but he still had a formidable amount of stamina when it came to making his presence felt.
He pushed the door wide open before Alessio could do anything to stop him and before Sophie could take evasive action.
Although what would that evasive action have been?
Lunging for a cupboard? Ducking underneath the bed? Making a run for the bathroom and locking the door behind her?
Ridiculous.
She drew the covers right up to her chin, pulled her knees up and watched as Leonard slowly shuffled his way into the bedroom and switched on the overhead light.
‘I knew it!’ he roared, spinning around to glare at Alessio, who was hovering in the doorway, the very picture of embarrassment.
The fact that he was half naked said it all.
She had never seen him as ill at ease as he was now, indecisive as he leant against the doorframe, raking his fingers through his hair before folding his arms and staring at Leonard, deprived of speech for once.
‘How the hell long has this been going on?’ Leonard bellowed into the silence.
‘Dad...’
‘Don’t youDadme!’
He tapped his way over to the bed and sat heavily on it while Sophie tried to remember how to breathe.
‘I expected better of you,’ he told her mournfully, turning his back to Alessio, who was still hovering in the doorway. ‘Alessio...’ He waved one hand dismissively towards his son without looking around. ‘I know that boy and his philandering ways.’ He narrowed his eyes on Sophie and looked at her with a shrewd stare. ‘Seduced you, did he? Took advantage? I could see you had eyes for him.’
‘Leonard...’ She felt faint.
‘I’m seeing it all clearly now, my dear,’ he continued shakily. ‘Used his charms on you...turned your head. Seduced you.’ At this he cast a baleful glance over his shoulder.
Sophie met Alessio’s dark gaze and knew in that instant that he would say nothing in receipt of this slander. He would consider her, consider the relationship she had with his father, which had always been based on fondness, affection and trust, and he would respect it enough to back away from making a stand for himself. He would take the hit.
‘It’s not like that...’ Sophie muttered, beetroot-red.
‘Speak up, my dear. I’m old and hard of hearing.’
Sophie knew that Leonard’s hearing was as sharp as her own, but he had been confronted with a horror story and he wasn’t going to let either her or Alessio off the hook.
In an instant she realised just how deep her affection for this difficult but lovable old man was. The thought of his disappointment cut her to the quick, but there was no way she was going to let his son take the rap for this.
She wished that she was at least having this conversation fully dressed, instead of huddled in mortified nakedness under the duvet.
‘It wasn’t your son’s fault...’ She cleared her throat.
‘Come again?’
‘I said...it just...happened, Leonard. Neither of us planned it and Alessio didn’t...didn’t seduce me...’
Sophie knew how helpless she sounded.
How could falling into bed with a guy who was off-limitsjust happen? Especially when you considered that they’d never had much to do with one another in all the time she’d worked for Leonard.
