The Italian's Perfect Lover Read Online Free Page B

The Italian's Perfect Lover
Pages:
Go to
do for you?”
    She looked up into his eyes, all fight gone.
“Are you interested in Roman antiquities?”
    He shook his head. “They exist; they are the
past and I’m not interested in the past. I’m a property
developer.”
    “A developer?” It was scarcely credible that
this man was the son of the count, someone who had treasured the
past. She smiled and rose. “Well, thanks for your time. I won’t
waste any more of it.” She nodded over to the modernist development
models by the window. “It’s obvious demolition and construction is
more your thing.”
    “Wait.” He touched her arm with his hand, too
gently to stop her. He didn’t need force anyway, not with the
effect his body had on hers. She turned and faced him, searching
his face, trying to find some explanation for the bone-deep
attraction she felt for him.
    He didn’t speak immediately. The low evening
sun flickered across his jaw, his muscle clenching as though
indicating an inner tension.
    “I want to help. Tell me, first, how you knew
my father.”
    She let out a breath that she didn’t even
know she was holding. The tension had been reconciled somehow. The
mood had changed.
    “I’m an archaeologist working on the
Aphrodite Mosaic and Roman courtyard at the Rovella estate. I’ve
made progress but run out of the funds that my university and the
generosity of the count gave me. I need funding to complete the
dig.”
    “You’re the archaeologist?”
    “Yes. I’ve been working on the estate for the
past year.”
    “Emily Carlyle. Of course. I didn’t
know.”
    “You haven’t been there. The place has been
shut up except for the estate cottages that the count allowed us to
use.”
    “And you like it there?”
    “The work is incredible—there’s nothing like
it—the mosaics are a real find.”
    “But do you like it there—the estate?”
    “Of course, who wouldn’t? It’s beautiful, so
peaceful, so quiet, a place where you can think, where the past
really comes alive.”
    “Quite.” His voice was suddenly chilly,
distant. He rose slowly and walked across the room, looking down at
the model of buildings. “I haven’t been there for many years. But…”
He turned to look at her suddenly; a brief, heart-melting smile
flashed across his face. “But, as it happens my father has left
part of his legacy for the purposes of restoring the villa estate.
It’s yours.”
    She looked up shocked, at a loss for words
for once.
    “If you still want it.”
    “Of course I want it. It’s my life.”
    “One part of your life, maybe. It’s yours but
there are certain conditions.”
    She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And they
are?”
    “It is part of my father’s bequest that the
archaeologist in charge of the dig stays on site.”
    “I’ll stay with the others at the cottages on
the edge of the estate. They’re fine for our needs.”
    “No, if you want the money, you’ll stay at
the villa. I’ll make sure it’s comfortable for you.”
    “Where I stay is none of your concern. I’ll
be hired for my professional services alone.”
    “That’s fine, Emily—may I call you Emily?” He
smiled at her glower. “Well, Emily,” he eased himself back in the
chair, “if you don’t wish to stay in the villa, we will simply find
another archaeologist to take over the dig. I’m sure there are any
number of unemployed archaeologists eager to get their teeth into
something like this. Shame, that you’d let one small thing stand
between you and the opportunity to cement your reputation.”
    “You’re blackmailing me.”
    “Me? I’m not doing anything. No, my father
created the conditions of his will. It’s he that wanted the
archaeologist to stay in the villa. Perhaps for sentimental
purposes, perhaps for practical—who knows? But if anyone’s doing
anything, it’s him. But then, he’s not around to do anything about
it. We’re stuck with it. Do you honestly think I want some stranger
in my family home?”
    “You’re never
Go to

Readers choose

Marne Davis Kellogg

Theodore Sturgeon

Terri Blackstock

Charles Todd

Danielle Steel

Peter Abrahams

R.J. Harker