The Italian's Runaway Princess. Andrea Bolter

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ magical to wake up and smell all of these flowers,” Luci said with a sweeping arm surveying the courtyard’s garden. “The lavender is so sweet.”

      The same view was available from Gio’s bedroom, as the two cottages were identical. He had risen early and let himself into the main house to find some breakfast.

      He glanced up to Luci again. It was actually nothing short of surreal that a beautiful woman stood on the balcony of his guesthouse in Florence, albeit that her status there was temporary. Surreal even that he was back home, as most of his adult life thus far had been spent living away. The idea of staying in one place might take some getting used to. “Come down and have some coffee.”

      Luci accepted the bid with, “Just give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

      An unfamiliar voice inside Gio wanted to beg her to come down as she was, so fetching did she look in her cotton gauze. But decorum won out.

      Always buried in work, he had not been alone with a woman in quite a while. In spite of the fact that this unexpected maiden with the blond hair and the big brown eyes had landed in his lap yesterday, this was a very important morning. Which was why he’d chosen to wake at dawn, go for a run, shower and dress, all the while leaving himself enough time to have a relaxed breakfast.

      Today was his first official day as CEO of Grasstech.

      He stepped into his cottage to gather a laptop and some briefings he had been looking over and brought them out to the courtyard so he was ready to leave after breakfast. The two cottages were small but sufficient with a sitting room on the first floor, and a bedroom and bathroom upstairs. They were decorated in yellow, black and gold with expensive, but simple, furnishings. Gio’s mother had told him that she’d recently redone the guest quarters and looked forward to his seeing them. Later, he’d ring her at the vineyard to offer his compliments.

      Such coziness was unfamiliar to him. President of research, development and project management, Gio Grassi was accustomed to traversing the world, and preferred the anonymity of hotels. Sleek, modern hotel rooms looked no different to him whether he was in Cape Town or Seoul or Dallas. Hotels perfectly suited the life he had been leading. Everything at his disposal and on his own time clock.

      When he was lost in concentration on a new project it could be hours, sometimes even days, that would pass while he was surrounded by computer parts and algorithms. He lived immersed in a technological world most people had no understanding of. Where he laid his head to rest was of little concern to him. Until now, when his entire lifestyle was about to change.

      Gio hopped up the five steps from the courtyard to the main house to fetch the rolls and fruit the housekeeper had left for him. When he brought them to the outdoor table, Luci was coming out her front door, suitcase and purse in tow. In the morning sun, her eyes caught glints of light.

      “Is something wrong?” she asked in reaction to his expression.

      “Please, sit.” He pulled out a chair for her to take her place at the table.

      After coffee was poured and rolls were bitten into, Luci asked, “You’re going to the Grasstech office today?”

      “Yes. I’ve got to go be the boss man now,” Gio said with a titter belying his mixed feelings on the transition. On one hand he was relieved to be taking full control of Grasstech and knew he would fine-tune operations and move the company even further forward. Yet the other side of him rather dreaded becoming the face of the empire. He’d made a mistake that had cost the company dearly and he had a lot of mopping up to do. In trusting his ex-girlfriend, Francesca, there were now leaked company secrets to contend with and a press ready to bring that information public.

      “Thank you so much for your hospitality. I’ll leave right after breakfast, so don’t let me add to your troubles.”

      “Have we settled where you are going?” he asked with a quick glance at his watch. As strangely intriguing as this domestic scene was, he had a million other things on his mind. He wouldn’t be finding out who this lovely Luci in front of him truly was. Not only didn’t he have time for a woman in his life, he couldn’t buy the story that she was a teacher. There was more going on with her than met the eye, and that was something he hadn’t any business getting involved in.

      “That’s kind of you to consider my lodging something we are concerned about, but I’ll figure it out on my own.”

      “Of course.” But he couldn’t leave it at that. Her mysterious identity notwithstanding, Gio’s mother had taught him to be chivalrous, and after hearing yesterday about Luci’s budget issues he wasn’t going to have her traipsing alone around Florence looking for a cheap hotel that might not be safe.

      “I’ll have someone at my office look into hotels for you.” The sooner he squared her safely away, the less he’d fret about it later.

      “I couldn’t impose like that.”

      “It’s no imposition.”

      “Thank you but...it wouldn’t be...”

      If he let her go, he’d be distracted all day worrying if she was okay. And he needed his concentration today. “Why don’t you go out and see some sights? We’ll meet later and I can complain to you about my workday.”

      A giggle escaped from her, which brought a lovable little blush to her cheeks.

      She had been an utterly flawless dinner date last night, charming his investors by laughing at their unfunny jokes and asking questions about their families to get them talking about themselves. Gio despised making small talk. Luci, who had appeared poised and almost regal in her blue silk dress, knew exactly how to field the evening, which took the pressure off him. He could return the favor. After that, she’d be out of his life and on with her holiday.

      “It’s settled, then. Why don’t you leave your luggage here?” Gio stood and gathered up his things, having been alerted on his phone that his driver was here. “Where can my driver drop you?”

      “I’ll just wander out on my own.”

      He escorted her to the street. “See you here at six.”

      Gio’s driver, Viggo, delivered him to the street-level glass doors of the Grasstech headquarters. The family kept a much larger campus of offices outside the city, but this central Florence location was where the company’s important decisions were still made. Gio passed through to the main reception area where a few employees were congregating.

      “Hello, Mr. Grassi,” one greeted.

      “Good morning, sir,” another followed.

      “Welcome, Mr. Grassi.”

      While he generally interacted with everyone he met on a first-name basis, he quite approved of the employees here addressing him formally at first. It was important to establish sole authority immediately.

      That had been part of the problem with his brother in the top seat. While he admired Dante as being more of a people person than he was—his brother had become a sort of brand ambassador for their company—Gio doubted he elicited much respect among the staff. Because, unfortunately, Dante spent more time being photographed with a different woman on his arm each evening at social functions than he did overseeing the company’s operations. Whereas Gio understood the ins and outs of Grasstech’s stronghold in the tech СКАЧАТЬ