An Inconvenient Love (Crimson Romance) by Alexia Adams Read Free Book Online

to the small of her back of its own volition.
    “Who are they?” Sophia looked around as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
    “Maria is the cook and Vittore is the gardener. They live on-site. The girl who cleans comes in from the village each day.”
    “You have staff?”
    “Of course, you do not think I brought you here to clean and cook, do you?”
    “It’s a good thing, because I can only cook beans on toast and jacket potatoes.”
    “That does not even qualify as cooking.” He winked.
    • • •
    Sophia wiped damp palms on her trousers.
Staff?
What did she know about directing staff? And what would they think of her, the bought bride who knew nothing of their language or culture?
    They climbed the five stone stairs to the massive double front doors. Luca had to take his hand from her back to open the door with a massive ornate key.
    “Shall I carry you across the threshold?”
    She smiled at his effort to pretend this was a proper marriage. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
    He looked almost disappointed. “Welcome to your new home.” He flung his arm wide and waited for her to enter first.
    The entrance was wide and tiled in white marble. A round, wooden table stood in the center of the room with a large vase of fresh flowers. A curved staircase on the left side of the hallway led to an upstairs gallery. The walls were painted a pale cream and dotted with sepia-toned pictures of vineyards and olive groves. Understated elegance came to mind, but no hint of warmth or comfort.
    “I will give you the quick tour and you can wander around at your leisure later.” Luca opened a door on the right, revealing a sitting room that looked stiff and uncomfortable. There was no hint of his personality. He continued through glass doors from the sitting room to a large dining room, furnished with a heavy oak table and high-back chairs. The furniture would fit in a medieval castle—an Italian villa, not so much. From the dining room they returned to the entrance hall through an arched doorway.
    “That door leads to the kitchen,” Luca said, as though that part of the house was some foreign territory to which visas were seldom issued.
    They crossed to a paneled door that led to another sitting room. This one was a lot cozier and the first room in the house where Sophia could imagine spending any amount of time. She pictured herself in winter time on the large, overstuffed cream sofa, snuggled under a blanket, reading a book with a fire crackling in the tall fireplace across the room. Or better yet, snuggled in Luca’s arms watching the firelight play across his handsome face. To distract herself from the fantasy, she moved over to the mantel to look at the photos displayed there.
    “My mother,” Luca said, coming to stand close behind her, “taken on her recent wedding day. I have not told her about our marriage yet. There will be plenty of time for her to meet you later.”
    She moved the frame so it was straight on the mantel and glanced up at Luca. Had he not told his mother because their marriage was simply a business arrangement to him, a transaction like purchasing a piece of property? Whatever the reason, she was relieved she didn’t have to deal with a mother-in-law at the moment.
    “Let me introduce you to Maria.” He took her hand in his and walked through to the kitchen.
    A couple were sat at the table, having a hot beverage and a slice of cake, but jumped up as Luca entered. A flurry of Italian followed, and Sophia took the opportunity to look around. The kitchen was gorgeous. Brass-bottomed pots hung from a rack above the marble-topped island. Bottles of oil with various peppers and spices inside were lined up on the counter like soldiers waiting for a call to duty. And the smell—her stomach rumbled with one sniff. The scent of a hundred homemade meals, cooked with love and attention, lingered in the air. She’d been too nervous to eat at lunchtime, and her body took the