The Italian's Runaway Princess. Andrea Bolter
did feel badly that she had left her father a note saying only that she would return to Izerote to marry King Agustin, but that she was going to do this one thing before she did. She had previously begged him to let her, just once, leave the island without attendants, limousines and security details. It was a liberty she needed to know, if even for a short time. It was something she longed for, a wanderlust she wasn’t able to silence. King Mario, an overly protective man especially after her mother was killed in a car accident in Madrid, denied her. And not wanting to cause him anymore grief, she acquiesced—until she could no longer.
She thought back to the trip to Paris King Mario did plan for Luciana and a cousin her age. When they were there, clothing stores were closed to the public so that they could shop alone, never paying for anything. When the girls walked down the boulevards, bodyguards trailed only a few paces behind. An entire hotel floor was rented despite their needing only two rooms. They visited a museum after midnight, fully staffed for just the two of them. While Luciana did appreciate her father’s efforts, it was hardly what she’d had in mind.
With the wedding imminent, Princess Luciana’s heart, her soul, the very essence of her being, insisted that she break away from the protocol that had been drilled into her. And drove her to do something completely for herself, as reckless as it was. So, she escaped the palace walls and her role as the perfect daughter and princess, leaving no hint of where she was going. She bought no tickets for her transportation, brought along no phone where her location could be traced. As drastic a step as it was to take palace jewels to sell, she hadn’t been able to think of another way.
Three weeks that belonged only to her wasn’t so very much to ask for.
After her walk with Gio and their return to his villa, Luciana was tired. She’d face the issues of the jewels and finding a suitable place to stay tomorrow. For tonight, she was eternally grateful for his generosity.
They lingered at the halfway point between her guest cottage and his.
“I can’t thank you enough for this.”
“My pleasure, Luci. Thank you for accompanying me to the dinner.” He crossed an arm over his waist and bowed forward to her in an exaggerated posture of formality that might have been funny if she was a different person.
* * *
“Did you sleep well?” Gio called up to Luci as she stepped out onto the small Juliet balcony of the guest cottage, wrapping her hands around the wrought iron railing. Properly known as a balconet, it wasn’t large enough for a chair or table. It was meant for enjoying the view of the courtyard below and to peer out beyond the villa’s walls. When Shakespeare included the architectural feature in his romantic tragedy, the nickname stuck.
It took considerable effort for Gio to pretend not to notice how the transparent fabric of the flowing white nightgown Luci wore hid nothing of her lovely curves underneath. But the sudden twitch in his core told the truth.
He placed the pot of coffee he was holding onto the small glass table near the fountain. “Would you like to join me for breakfast?”
“How 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