In the Italian's Sights Read Online Free Page B

expressionlessly.
    Taken aback, Cherry hesitated. ‘My age? Twenty-five or thereabouts?’
    ‘Sophia will be seventeen on her next birthday in four months’ time,’ he said grimly. ‘And although she has the body of a mature woman I can assure you she has the mind of a sixteen-year-old—a reckless and obstinate sixteen-year-old. Our parents died when she was still very young and I have been her guardian since then, but over the last few years it has been a battle.’
    Teenage girls. She could have told him it wouldn’t be an easy ride—not with rampant hormones and especially not with someone who looked like Sophia. The boys must have been after her in droves since she was out of nappies.
    He confirmed this with his next words. ‘There is a boy,’ he ground out woodenly. ‘She has been meeting him secretly when she was supposed to be with schoolfriends.’
    ‘But that’s natural at her age.’
    His mouth compressed. ‘Sophia is a Carella. She knows there will be no boys until she is eighteen, andthen only when she is chaperoned. To do such a thing is unforgivable.’
    Cherry stared at him. ‘That’s ridiculous.’
    ‘In England, maybe. Not in Italy. Not among girls of good families. She has attended a select school where the girls are supervised at all times. When she is eighteen any suitors will come to me first. This is for her protection.’
    He couldn’t be serious. What a dinosaur!
    ‘My housekeeper now has to accompany her when she leaves the house as I cannot trust her. It is an inconvenience.’
    No power on earth could have stopped Cherry’s next words. ‘And what about her? Sophia?’ she asked indignantly. ‘She must be feeling so embarrassed if she has to see her friends with your housekeeper tagging along. That’s cruel.’
    Stormy grey eyes turned thunder-dark. She watched him rein in his temper and gain control, and it was impressive. ‘You are a guest in my home, signorina .’ He was suddenly very much the aristocrat. ‘I must not burden you with my concerns. Suffice to say Sophia is a child and must be protected from herself. Now, if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to. Please make yourself comfortable and ring for anything you desire. The pool and grounds are at your disposal, of course, and dinner is served at seven o’clock.’
    He had swept out of the room before Cherry could think of a reply. Although once the door had closed behind him a hundred acidic put-downs were there.
    What a horrible, arrogant, chauvinistic pig of a man—and his poor sister, she thought angrily, her cheeks burning. Sophia was virtually kept in a cage here. Albeit a gilded one. He was still living as though it was two orthree centuries ago, when women had no rights nor voice of their own.
    Cherry sat and brooded for another ten minutes, absent-mindedly eating three more of the delicious cakes and pastries, which were the best she’d tasted since arriving in Italy. The scents of a thousand flowers drifted into the room from the open windows. The patio area was bright with huge terracotta pots of lemon-scented verbena, pink begonia, brilliant red geraniums, salvias, pelargoniums and other flowers she didn’t recognise but which all added to the dazzling display of summer colour. Suddenly she wanted to be outside, despite the afternoon sun. A dip in that magnificent pool would be sheer heaven.
    Decision made, she left the drawing room and found her way to her bedroom, where she changed into the modest black one-piece swimming costume she’d brought with her. She had also packed two brightly coloured bikinis, both of which were on the skimpy side, and she balked at wearing those here. It was silly, but somehow the thought of appearing half-naked anywhere within a ten-mile radius of Vittorio was out of the question. To that end she pulled on a brightly coloured sarong which went with one of the bikinis for good measure, feeling better once her legs were covered.
    She sat down on the bed once