It Takes Two (Italian Summer Book 1) by Lily Zante Read Free Book Online Page B

been proud of and Nico felt that he had to honor his father’s memory by opening on time.
    He shook his head, as she knew he would. “It will be fine. These things always happen. Nothing ever runs smoothly, Ava. That’s why being a business person requires balls of steel. Just as you’re finding now. It’s never smooth sailing. But we figure out ways to get over the hurdles. I’ll take care of it.”
    He might think he could take care of it but looking at him, she could see that it was taking a toll on his health. Dark shadows below his eyes gave him a gaunt look. She ran her fingers through his hair and then brought her fingers down along the side of his face until they finally came to rest along his lips.
    He kissed them.
    “I’m excited about the baby; I’m excited about the hotel too. I just wish that my father was here,” he told her, and his expression turned solemn.
    “I know.” She propped herself up on her forearms. “I miss your father too. We all do. He would have loved this.”
    Nico shrugged and changed the subject as she knew he would. She often caught him sitting in Edmondo's office for hours. Gina had said the same and she didn't like to question him about it because she figured it was his way of thinking about his father.
    “If Kim and Rona are having problems getting on and the US side is expanding, then maybe it’s not a good idea to start up the European side just yet. Focus on one thing: products, sourcing, and getting the orders out. Don’t take on too much too fast. Do one thing properly, not many small things badly.”
    She considered his suggestion. If she put a stop to getting the Italian site up, then she could concentrate solely on the US, but it didn’t completely solve the nightmare of Rona and Kim.
    “What if you asked Kim to work more days and got Rona to help you in something else? Kept her completely out of that loop?”
    “I was already thinking along those lines.” Ava could find plenty for her to do. She could even train her up to deal with the website maintenance, and get her to help with other time consuming tasks such as retouching product images.
    He turned serious again and sat up, with his legs dangling off the bed.
    “If you delegate enough work to Rona to do from home, you’d free yourself up to concentrate on other issues and separate the two of them.” He had a point because Kim by herself managed to send out about twenty-five percent more orders than Rona was able to, in the same time frame. Plus, Kim was also dealing with customer queries.
    “I was thinking more along the lines of getting her over,” said Ava.
    Nico looked puzzled for a moment. “Here?” He asked, then shrugged. “If it would help you, why not?”
    “She could help in many ways.”
    “Good,” he said. “We’ll worry about the warehouse later. Once the baby is born, I’ll help you where I can.”
    “How can you help?” she asked, getting excited by the way his fingers traced along her bare arms. “You have enough on your plate.”
    “Not when it comes to you. I will make time.”
    She knew what it was she could do. If she asked Rona to come over a month or so before the wedding, then Elsa wouldn’t be bogged down with so many childminding duties either. It would give her mom time to recover, and resolve the problem with Kim and Rona working together.
    “Thanks,” said Ava.
    “For what?” he asked, slowly letting his gaze roam around her blossoming body. He was doing that undressing with his eyeballs thing he did so well.
    “For listening. For advice.”
    He smiled.
    “Would the pensione be available?”
    His gaze had dropped down to her cleavage. “You’ve grown,” he said, licking his lips and reaching out to stroke her breasts.
    “Nico!” she said, trying to get his attention. “Will the pensione be available?”
    “Yes,” he said, looking at her hungrily. He’d say yes to anything right now.
    “Then I’ll suggest to Rona that she—” but he’d already