Читать онлайн книгу «Taming Her Italian Boss» автора Fiona Harper
Taming Her Italian Boss
Fiona Harper
So, Miss Lange with an e, will you take the job?Ruby Lange might be unconventional, but her struggle to find the ideal career isn't from lack of trying! Now the latest option is "traveling nanny"so she takes a deep breath, packs her vintage suitcase and heads for Italy.Ruby's new boss, architect Max Martin, may be utterly gorgeous, but he's far too buttoned up for her liking! Yet traveling around Venice together, Ruby discovers that the man who took a risk on her is masking a huge hearthe just needs a reason to trust it again.
The top button of his shirt was undone and his tie was nowhere to be seen.
It was odd. All day so far hed seemed like a force of naturealbeit in a pristine suitand now that just even the tiniest part of that armour had been discarded she was suddenly confronted by the fact that he was a man. And a rather attractive one at that.
His dark hair was short, but not severe, and now she knew he had Italian blood in him she could see it in the set of his eyes and his long, straight nose. The mouth, however, was totally Britishtightly drawn in, jaw tense as he grimaced at some unwelcome news and hung up on the caller without saying goodbye. He brought the phone down from his ear and stared at it so hard that Ruby thought it might burst into flames.
That was when he looked up and spotted her, sitting where shed been for the last ten minutes, and it took him by total surprise. She allowed her lips to curve into the barest of smiles and held his gaze. For some reason she liked the fact her presence sometimes ruffled him.
Taming Her Italian Boss
Fiona Harper
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
As a child, FIONA HARPER was constantly teased for either having her nose in a book or living in a dream world. Things havent changed much since then, but at least in writing shes found a use for her runaway imagination. After studying dance at university, Fiona worked as a dancer, teacher and choreographer, before trading in that career for video-editing and production. When she became a mother she cut back on her working hours to spend time with her children, and when her littlest one started pre-school she found a few spare moments to rediscover an old but not forgotten lovewriting.
Fiona lives in London, but her other favourite places to be are the Highlands of Scotland and the Kent countryside on a summers afternoon. She loves cooking good food and anything cinnamon-flavoured. Of course she still cant keep away from a good book or a good movieespecially romancesbut only if shes stocked up with tissues, because she knows she will need them by the end, be it happy or sad. Her favourite things in the world are her wonderful husband, who has learned to decipher her incoherent ramblings, and her two daughters.
For my readers,
from those who have been with me
since the beginning to those who are
picking one of my books for the first time.
Im grateful to every one of you.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE (#u34718846-f6fa-55b0-9a79-49cd6b1fa441)
CHAPTER TWO (#u38ea75cc-90de-548d-8c1b-a3464fb17a2c)
CHAPTER THREE (#u9b8fc13e-5494-5021-a578-a7e7998c51a3)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u97d29fc4-2ea8-578d-92de-884878194ffc)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
YOU WANT ME to give you a job?
The woman staring across the desk at Ruby didnt look convinced. The London traffic rumbled outside the first-floor office as the woman looked her up and down. Her gaze swept down over Rubys patchwork corduroy jacket, miniskirt with brightly coloured leggings peeking out from underneath, and ended at the canvas shoes that were almost the right shade of purple to match the streaks in her short hair.
Ruby nodded. Yes.
Humph, the woman said.
Ruby couldnt help noticing her flawlessly cut black suit and equally flawlessly cut hair. Shed bet that the famous Thalia Benson of the Benson Agency hadnt come about her latest style after shed got fed up with the long stringy bits dangling in her breakfast cereal and convinced her flatmate to take scissors to it.
And Layla Babbington recommended you try here?
Ruby nodded again. Layla had been one of her best friends at boarding school. When shed heard that Ruby was looking for a joband one that preferably took her out of the country ASAPshed suggested the top-class nannying agency. Dont let old Benson fool you for a moment, shed told Ruby. Thalias a pussycat underneath, and she likes someone with a bit of gumption. The two of you will get along famously.
Now that she was sitting on the far side of Thalia Bensons desk, under scrutiny as if she were a rogue germ on a high-chair tray, Ruby wasnt so sure.
Such a pity she had to go and marry that baronet she was working for, Benson muttered. Lost one of my best girls and a plum contract.
She looked up quickly at Ruby, as if shed realised shed said that out loud. Ruby looked back at her, expression open and calm. She didnt care what the nanny provider to the rich and famous thought about her clients. She just wanted a job that got her out of London. Fast.
So... Ms Benson said in one long drawn-out syllable while she shuffled a few papers on her desk. What qualifications do you have?
For nannying? Ruby asked, resisting the urge to fidget.
Benson didnt answer, but her eyebrows lifted in a what-do-you-think? kind of gesture.
Ruby took a deep breath. Well...Ive always been very good with kids, and Im practical and creative and hard-working
The other woman cut her off by holding up a hand. She was looking wearier by the second. I mean professional qualifications. Diploma in Childcare and Education, BTEC...Montessori training?
Ruby let the rest of that big breath out. Shed been preparing to keep talking for as long as possible, and shed only used up a third of her lung capacity before Benson had interrupted her. Not a good start. She took another, smaller breath, giving herself a chance to compose a different reply.
Not exactly.
No one had said it was going to be a great reply.
Thalia Benson gave her a frosty look. Either one has qualifications or one hasnt. It tends to be a black-or-white kind of thing.
Ruby swallowed. I know I havent got any traditional childcare qualifications, but I was hoping I could enlist with your new travelling nanny service. Short-term placements. What I lack in letters after my name I make up for in organisation, flexibility and common sense.
Bensons ears pricked up at the mention of common sense. She obviously liked those words. Ruby decided to press home her main advantage. And Ive travelled all over the world since I was a small child. There arent many places I havent been to. I also speak four languagesFrench, Spanish, Italian and a bit of Malagasy.
Ms Benson tipped her head slightly. Youve spent time in Madagascar? The look of disbelief on her face suggested she thought Ruby had gone a bit too far in padding out her CV.
My parents and I lived there for three years when I was a child.
Bensons eyes narrowed. Inona voavoa? she suddenly said, surprising Ruby.
The reply came back automatically. How was she? Tsara be.
Bensons eyes widened, and for the first time since Ruby had walked through the office door and sat down she looked interested. She picked up the blank form sitting in front of her and started writing. Ruby Long, wasnt it?
Lange, Ruby replied. With an e.
Benson looked up. Like Patrick Lange?
Ruby nodded. Exactly like that. She didnt normally like mentioning her connection to the globetrotting TV presenter whose nature documentaries were the jewel in the crown of British television, but she could see more than a glimmer of interest in Thalia Bensons eyes, and she really, really wanted to be out of the country when good old Dad got back from The Cook Islands in two days time. Hes my father, she added.
The other woman stopped messing around with the form, put it squarely down on the desk and folded her hands on top of it. Well, Ms Lange, I dont usually hire nannies without qualifications, not even for short-term positions, but maybe theres something you could do round the office over the summer. Our intern has just disappeared off to go backpacking.
Ruby blinked. Once again, someone had heard the name Lange and the real person opposite them had become invisible. Once again, mentioning her father had opened a door only for it to be slammed shut again. When would she ever learn?
Thats very generous, Ms Benson, but I wasnt really looking for a clerical position.
Thalia nodded, but Ruby knew she hadnt taken her seriously at all. From the smile on the other womans face, she could tell Thalia was wondering how much cachet it would bring her business if she could wheel Ruby out at the annual garden party to impress her clientele, maybe even get national treasure Patrick Lange to show up.
That wasnt Rubys style at all. Shed been offered plenty of jobs where she could cash in on her fathers status by doing something vastly overpaid for not a lot of effort, and shed turned every one of them down. All she wanted was for someone to see her potential for once, to need her for herself, not just what her family connections could bring. Surely that wasnt too much to ask. Unfortunately, Ruby suspected Ms Thalia Benson wasnt that rare individual. She rose from her side of the desk, opened the office door and indicated Ruby should return to the waiting area. Why dont you take a seat outside, and Ill see what I can do?
Ruby smiled back and nodded, rising from her chair. Shed give Thalia Benson fifteen minutes, and if she hadnt come up with something solid by then, she was out of here. Life was too short to hang around when something wasnt working. Onwards and upwards, that was her motto.
Everything in the waiting area was shades of stone and heather and aubergine. The furniture screamed understatedand overpricedelegance. The only clue that the Benson Agency had anything to do with children was a pot of crayons and some drawing paper on the low coffee table between two sectional sofas. When Thalias office door closed, Ruby shrugged then sat down. Shed always loved drawing. She picked up a bright red crayon and started doodling on a blank sheet. Maybe shed go for fire enginered streaks in her hair next time they needed touching up....
She spent the next five minutes doing a pretty passable cartoon of Thalia Benson while she waited. In the picture, Thalia dripped sophistication and charm, but she was dressed up like the Child Catcher from the famous movie, locking a scared boy in a cage.
As the minutes ticked by Ruby became more and more sure this was a waste of her time. The only thing she needed to decide before she left was whether to fold the drawing up and discreetly stick it in her pocket, or if she should prop it on the console table against the far wall so it was the first thing prospective clients saw when they walked in the door.
She was holding the paper in her hands, dithering about whether to crease it in half or smooth it out flat, when the door crashed open and a tall and rather determined-looking man strode in. Ruby only noticed the small, dark-haired girl he had in tow when he was halfway to Thalia Bensons office. The child was wailing loudly, her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth wide open, and the only reason she didnt bump into any of the furniture was because she was being propelled along at speed in her fathers wake, protected by his bulk.
The receptionist bobbed around him, trying to tell him he needed to make an appointment, but he didnt alter his trajectory in the slightest. Ruby put her cartoon down on the table and watched with interest.
I need to see the person in charge and I need to see them now, he told the receptionist, entirely unmoved by her expression of complete horror or her rapid arm gestures.
Ruby bit back a smile. She might just stick around to see how this played out.
If youll just give me a second, Mr...er...Ill see whether Ms Benson is available.
The man finally gave the receptionist about 5 per cent of his attention. He glanced at her, and as he did so the little girl stopped crying for a second and looked in Rubys direction. She started up again almost immediately, but it was half-hearted this time, more for show than from distress.
Mr Martin, he announced, looking down at the receptionist. He stepped forward again. Ruby wasnt sure how it happenedwhether he let go of the girls hand or whether she did that tricksy, slippery-palm thing that all toddlers seemed to knowbut suddenly father and child were disconnected.
The receptionist beat Mr Tall and Determined to Thalias door, knocking on it a mere split second before he reached for the handle, and she just about saved face as she blurted out his name. He marched into the room and slammed the door behind him.
Once he was inside, the little girl sniffed and fell silent. She and Ruby regarded each other for a moment, then Ruby smiled and offered her a bright yellow crayon.
* * *
Max looked at the woman behind the desk. She was staring at him and her mouth was hanging open. Just a little. I need one of your travelling nannies as soon as possible.
The womanBenson, was it?closed her jaw silently and with one quick, almost unnoticeable appraising glance she took in his handmade suit and Italian shoes and decided to play nice. Most people did.
Of course, Mr Martin. She smiled at him. I just need to get a few details from you and then Ill go through my staff list. We should be able to start interviewing soon. She looked down at a big diary on her desk and started flipping through it. How about Thursday? she asked, looking back up at him.
Max stared back at her. He thought hed been pretty clear. What part of as soon as possible did she not understand? I need someone today.
Today? she croaked. Her gaze flew to the clock on the wall.
Max knew what it saidthree-thirty.
The day had started off fairly normally, but then his sister had shown up at his office just before ten and, as things often did when the women in his family were concerned, it had got steadily more chaotic since then.
Preferably within the next half hour, he added. I have to be at the airport by five.
B-but how old is the child? How long do you need someone for? What kind of expertise do you require?
He ignored her questions and pulled a folded computer printout from his suit pocket. There was no point wasting time on details if she wasnt going to be able to help him. I came to you because your website says you provide a speedy and efficient servicetravelling nannies for every occasion. I need to know whether thats true.
She drew herself up ramrod straight in her chair and looked him in the eye. Listen, Mr Martin, I dont know what sort of establishment you think I run here, but
He held up a hand, cutting her off. He knew he was steamrollering over all the pleasantries, but that couldnt be helped. The best nanny agency in London, Id heard. Which is why I came to you in an emergency. Have you got someone? If not, I wont waste any more of your time.
She pursed her lips, but her expression softened. He hadnt been flattering hernot really his stylebut a few timely truths hadnt hurt his case. I can help. She sighed and Max relaxed just a little. Shed much rather have told him it was impossible, he guessed, but the kind of fee she was measuring him up for with her beady little eyes was hard to say no to. At the very least, let me know the sex and age of the charge, she added.
Max shrugged. Girl, he said. Older than one and younger than school age. Other than that Im not quite sure. Why dont you take a look and see what you think?
The womans eyes almost popped out of her head. Shes here?
Max nodded. Where the hell else did the woman think shed be?
And you left her outside? Alone?
He frowned. He hadnt thought about that for one second. Which was exactly why he needed to hire someone who would. Anyway, he hadnt left Sofia completely alone. There had been the flappy woman...
Ms Benson sprang from the desk, threw the door open and rushed into the waiting area beyond her office. There, colouring in with the tip of her tongue caught at one side of her mouth, was Sofia. Max suddenly noticed something: the noise had stopped. That horrible wailing, like an air-raid siren. It had driven him to distraction all day.
Here...try purple for the flower, a young woman, kneeling next to Sofia, was saying. Sofia, instead of acting like a child possessed with the spirit of a banshee, just calmly accepted the crayon from the woman and carried on scribbling. After a few moments, both woman and child stopped what they were doing and lifted their heads to look at the two adults towering over them. The identical expression of mild curiosity they both wore was rather disconcerting.
Max turned to the agency owner. I want her, he said, nodding at the kneeling woman who, he was just starting to notice, had odd-coloured bits in her hair.
Benson gave out a nervous laugh. Im afraid she doesnt work here.
Max raised his eyebrows.
Not yet, she added quickly. But Im sure youd be better off with one of our other nannies who
He turned away and looked at the strange pixie-like woman and the little girl again. For the first time in what seemed like weeks, although it had probably only been hours, Sofia was quiet and calm and acting like the normal child he vaguely remembered. No. I want her.
Something deep down in his gut told him this woman had what he needed. To be honest, he really didnt care what it was. It was twenty-five to four and he had to get going. What do you say? he asked the her directly.
The woman finished colouring in a pink rose on the sheet of paper she and Sofia were sharing before she answered. She flicked a glance at the agency owner. Shes right. I dont even work here.
I dont care about that, he told her. You have all the skills I want. Its you I need.
She blinked and looked at him hard, as if she was trying to work out whether he was serious or not. Normally people didnt have to think about that.
What if the job isnt what I need? she asked. I dont think I should accept without hearing the terms.
Max checked his watch again. Fine, fine, he said wearily. Have it your way. Well interview in the car. But hurry up! Weve got a plane to catch. And then he marched from the offices of the Benson Agency leaving its proprietor standing open-mouthed behind him.
CHAPTER TWO
IT TOOK RUBY all of two seconds to drop the crayon she was holding, scoop up the child next to her and run after him into the bright sunshine of a May afternoon. God did indeed move in mysterious ways!
And so did Mr...whatever his name was.
Those long legs had carried him down the stairs to street level very fast. When she burst from the agencys understated door onto one of the back roads behind Oxford Street, she had to look in both directions before she spotted him heading towards a sleek black car parked on a double yellow.
She was about to run after him when she had a whats-wrong-with-this-picture? moment. Hang on. Why was she holding his child while he waltzed off with barely a backward glance? It was as if, in his rush to conquer the next obstacle, hed totally forgotten his daughter even existed. She looked down at the little girl, who was quite happy hitched onto her hip, watching a big red double-decker bus rumbling past the end of the road. She might not realise just how insensitive her father was being at the moment, just how much it hurt when one understood how extraneous they were to a parents life, but one day shed be old enough to notice. Ruby clamped her lips together and marched towards the car. No child deserved that.
She walked up to him, peeled the child off her hip and handed her over. Here, she said breezily. I think you forgot this.
The look of utter bewilderment on his face would have been funny if she hadnt been so angry. He took the girl from Ruby and held her out at arms length so her legs dangled above the chewing-gum-splattered pavement. Now it was free of toddler, Ruby put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows.
He was saved from answering by the most horrendous howling. It took her a few moments to realise it was the child making the sound. The ear-splitting noise bounced off the tall buildings and echoed round the narrow street.
Take it back! he said. Youre the only one who can make it stop!
Ruby took her hands off her hips and folded her arms. It has a name, I should think.
He offered the screaming bundle of arms and legs over, but Ruby stepped back. He patted the little girls back, trying to soothe her, but it just made her cry all the harder. The look of sheer panic on his face was actually quite endearing, she decided, especially as it went some way to softening that ruler of the universe thing he had going on. He was just as out of his depth as she was, wasnt he?
His eyes pleaded with her. Sofia. Her name is Sofia.
Ruby gave him a sweet smile and unfolded her arms to accept the little girl. She still didnt know whether following this through was a good idea, but the only other option was working for her dad. Hed flipped when hed found out shed given in her notice at the vintage fashion shop in Covent Garden.
Considering that her father didnt pay an awful lot of interest the rest of the time, Ruby had been shocked hed noticed, let alone cared. He was usually always too busy off saving the planet to worry about what his only child got up to, but this had lit his fuse for some reason.
According to him, Ruby needed a job. Ruby needed to grow up. Ruby needed to stop flitting around and settle to something.
Hed laid down a very clear ultimatum before hed left for the South Pacificget a proper job by the time he returned, or hed create a position for her in his production company. Once there, shed never escape. Shed never get promoted. Shed be doomed to being Whats her name? You know, Patrick Langes daughter...for ever.
Sofia grabbed for Ruby as her father handed her back over, clinging to her like the baby lemurs Ruby had got used to seeing in the Madagascan bush. A rush of protective warmth flooded up from her feet and landed in her chest.
She looked up at the man towering above her. And, before I get in that car, we might as well continue with the information gathering. Id offer to shake your hand but, as you can see she nodded to Sofia, whod burrowed her head in the crook of her neck its in use at the moment. Im Ruby Lange. With an e.
He looked at her blankly, recognising neither her name nor the need for a response. And you are? she prompted.
He blinked and seemed to recover himself. Max Martin.
Ruby shifted Sofia to a more comfortable position on her hip. Pleased to meet you, Mr Martin. She looked inside the dark interior of the limo. Now, are we going to start this interview or what?
* * *
Max sat frowning in the back of the limo. He wasnt quite sure what had just happened. One minute hed been fully in charge of the situation, and the next hed been ushered into his own car by a woman who looked as if shed had a fight with a jumble saleand lost.
She turned to face him, her eyes large and enquiring as she looked at him over the top of Sofias car seat, which was strapped between them. Fire away, she said, then waited.
He looked back at her.
I thought this was supposed to be an interview.
She was right. He had agreed to that, but the truth of the matter was that, unless she declared herself to be a drug-addicted mass murderer, the job was hers. He didnt have time to find anyone else.
He studied his new employee carefully. The women he interacted with on a daily basis definitely didnt dress like this. It was all colour and jarring patterns. Somehow it made her look very young. And, right there, he had his first question.
How old are you?
She blinked but held his gaze. Twenty-four.
Old enough, then. If hed had to guess, hed have put her at a couple of years younger. Didnt matter, though. If she could do the job, she could do the job, and the fact that the small bundle of arms and legs strapped into the car seat was finally silent was all the evidence he needed.
He checked his watch. He really didnt have time to chit-chat, so if she wanted to answer questions, hed dispense with the pleasantries and get on with the pertinent ones. How far away do you live?
For the first time since hed set eyes on her, she looked surprised.
Can we get there in under half an hour?
She frowned. Pimlico. So, yes... But why?
Can you pack a bag in under ten minutes?
She raised her eyebrows.
In my experience, most women cant, he said. I dont actually understand why, though. It seemed a simple enough task, after all. I believe it may have something to do with shoes.
My parents dragged me round the globetwicein my formative years, she replied crisply. I can pack a bag in under five if I have to.
Max smiled. And not just the distant but polite variety he rolled out at business meetings. This was the real deal. The nanny stopped looking quite so confrontational and her eyes widened. Max leaned forward and instructed the driver to head for Pimlico.
He felt a tapping on his shoulder, a neatly trimmed fingernail made its presence known through the fabric of his suit sleeve. He sat back in his seat and found her looking at him. I havent agreed to take the job yet.
She wasnt one to beat about the bush, was she? But, then again, neither was he.
Will you?
She folded her arms. I need to ask you a few questions first.
For some reason Max found himself smiling again. It felt odd, he realised. Not stiff or forced, just unfamiliar. As if hed forgotten how and had suddenly remembered. But he hadnt had a lot to smile about this year, had he?
Fire away, he said.
Was that a flicker of a smile he saw behind those eyes? If it was, it was swiftly contradicted by a stubborn lift of her chin. Well, Mr Martin, you seem to have skipped over some of the details.
Such as?
Such as: how long will you be requiring my services?
Oh, those kinds of details. A week, hopefully. Possibly two.
She made a funny little you-win-some-you-lose-some kind of expression.
A nasty cold feeling shot through him. She wasnt going to back out already, was she? Too long?
She shook her head. Id have been happy for it to be longer, but itll do.
They looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she delivered her next question. So why do you need a nanny for your daughter in such a hurry? I think Id like to know why the previous one left.
Max sat bolt upright in his seat. My daughter? Sofias not my daughter!
The nannyor almost nanny, he reminded himselfgave him a wry look. See? This is what Im talking about...details.
Max ignored the comment. He was great with details. But nowadays he paid other people to concentrate on the trivial nit-picky things so he could do the important stuff. It workedmost of the timebecause he had assistants and deputies to spring into action whenever he required them to, but when it came to his personal life he had no such army of willing helpers. Probably because he didnt have much of a personal life. It irritated him that this mismatched young woman had highlighted a failing he hadnt realised he had. Still, he could manage details, sketchy or otherwise, if he tried.
Sofia is my niece.
Oh...
Max usually found the vagaries of the female mind something of a mystery. He was always managing to put his foot in it with the women in his lifewhen he had time for anybut he found this one unusually easy to read. The expression that accompanied her breathy sigh of realisation clearly said, Well, that explains a lot.
Lets just say that I had not planned to be child-minding today.
She pressed her lips together, as if to stop herself from laughing. You mean you were left holding the baby.... Literally.
He nodded. My sister is an...actress.
At least, shed been trying to be the last five years.
Oh! Has she been in anything Ive heard of?
Max let out a sigh. Probably not. But she got a call from her agent this morning about an audition for a smallish part in a biggish film. Something with... what was the name? ...Jared Fisher in it.
The nannys eyes widened. Wow! Hes really h She shut her mouth abruptly and nibbled her top lip with her teeth. What I meant to say was, what a fabulous opportunity for her.
Apparently so. She got the job, but they wanted her in L.A. right away. The actress who was supposed to be playing the part came down with appendicitis and it was now or never.
Secretly he wondered if it would have been better if his little sister had sloped despondently into his office later that afternoon, collected her daughter and had gone home. Shed always had a bit of a bohemian lifestyle, and theyd lost touch while shed travelled the world, working her way from one restaurant to another as she waited for her big break. But then Sofia had come along and shed settled down in London. He really didnt know if this was a good idea.
Maybe things might have been different if theyd grown up in the same house after their parents had split, but, while hed benefited from the steadying influence of their English father, Gia had stayed with their mother, a woman who had turned fickle and inconsistent into an art form.
They had grown apart as teenagers, living in different countries, with totally different goals, values and personalities, but he was trying to make up for it now they were more a part of each others lives.
Gia always accused him of butting his nose in where it wasnt wanted and trying to run her life for her, but she always said it with a smile and she was annoyingly difficult to argue with. Perhaps that was why, when shed turned up at his office that morning with Sofia and had begged him to help her, her eyes full of hope and longing, he hadnt been able to say no.
And what about you? he asked. Why do you need a job in such a hurry?
She rolled her eyes. It was either this, or my father was threatening to make me work for him.
You dont want to work for the family firm?
She pulled a face. Id rather jump off the top of The Shard! Wouldnt you?
Max stiffened. I now head up the business my father built from nothing.
An unexpected stab of pain hit him in his ribcage, and then came the roll of dark emotion that always followed. Life had been much simpler when hed been able to bury it all so deep it had been as if it hadnt existed. Theres something to be said for family loyalty, he added gruffly. For loyalty full stop, actually.
She looked a little uncomfortable, but waltzed her way out of the awkward moment with a quip. Well, Im quite prepared to be loyal to your family. Just as long as you dont ask me to get entangled with mine. Parents are fine and all that, but Id rather keep them at a safe distance.
Max couldnt help but think of his mother, and he decided not to quiz Ruby any further on her motives. It wasnt going to alter whether he hired her or not for a couple of weeks. If this had been for a more permanent fixture in his life, it might have been a different matter.
So, why do you need a travelling nanny? Her face lit up. Are we going to Hollywood?
She sounded just like Gia. Max resisted the urge to close his eyes and wish this were all a bad dream, that hed wake up in bed, his nice, ordered life back.
Im taking Sofia to stay with her grandmother, he said. It was the only possible solution. All he had to do now was convince his mother of that. I cant possibly babysit a toddler for the next fortnight, even if I knew how to. I have three weeks to turn around an important work situation and I cant take any time off.
The shock of realising hed have to cope with Sofia on his own while Gia was away had been bad enough, but then his biggest client had phoned, slinging a spanner in the works. Now he couldnt afford even an hour off work, let alone a fortnight. He needed time to think. Space. Peace and quiet. And Sofia brought none of those things with her in her tiny, howling package.
Hopefully hed get Sofia installed at his mothers, then hed be able to fly back and be at his desk first thing Monday, only half a day lost. It had been Gias idea, and, while he didnt relish having to take time out to deliver Sofia, at least his sisters moment of destiny had come on a Friday morning. Hed stay overnight to make sure they all settled in and leave the nanny with his mother. Hed thought of everything.
The girl gave him a sideways look. So work is important to you? More than family? She didnt look impressed.
Max gave her one of his patented you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about looks. Of course family was important! That was why he had to seal this deal. He was determined to carry on and finish what he and his father had started together, to ensure that his dads dream was fulfilled.
Im a thirty-something bachelor with a riverside apartment that has split-level floors with no railings, stairs with no banisters and no outside space except a balcony with a hundred-foot drop to the Thames. Do you think it would be the responsible thing to allow a child to live there?
He could see her wrestling with herself, but finally she shook her head.
Taking her to her grandmothers is the most sensible and practical thing to dofor everybody.
He looked up. Theyd crossed the river now and could only be minutes from her home. If she said no hed just drop her off and theyd never see each other again. And hed have to wrestle a screaming Sofia all the way to her grandmothers on his own.
So, Miss Lange with an e, will you take the job?
She inhaled and held the breath for a few seconds before glancing up at her building, then she let the air out again. I have one last question.
Which is?
The corners of her mouth curled up, as if she couldnt quite believe he hadnt mentioned this himself. You really are a big-picture kind of guy, arent you?
Yes, he was. How did you know?
Theres another detail youve forgotten, a rather important one. If Im going to be your travelling nanny, I kind of need to know where well be travelling to.
Ah, yes. Another good point. He cleared his throat. Italy, he said. Were going to Venice.
Rubys hand shot out, her long slender fingers stretched towards him. Done. He half expected her to spit in her palm, but she just looked steadily at him.
He encased her smaller hand in his own, feeling the warmth of her palm, the softness of her skin. Something tiny but powerful tingled all the way up his arm. He shook her hand. Its a deal, he said, his voice rumbling in his own ears. Youre hired.
But as he pulled his hand away he started to wonder if he knew exactly what hed got himself into.
CHAPTER THREE
RUBY SHOULD HAVE realised when the limo driver gingerly put her hastily packed canvas rucksack into the boot that this journey was going to be different. She was used to travelling, used to crowded terminals in international airports teeming with the whole spectrum of human life. She was used to queuing just to buy a bottle of water and browsing the endless shops filled with travel gadgets in order to fill the time. She was used to playing hunt the chair in the departure hall, and dozing on it with her jacket for a pillow when she found one.
She was not used to hushed and elegant lounges in small city airports, free food, drink and entertainment. Even though her father could easily afford to fly business class everywhere, he refused to, preferring what he called real travel. If he wasnt squished into Economy or standing at a three-mile queue at Immigration it wasnt a real trip. Of course, the public loved him for it. Privately, Ruby had always wondered why dust and the ubiquitous Jeep with dodgy suspension were more authentic than air-conditioned coaches these days, but she wasnt daft enough to argue with him. He was disappointed in her enough already.
She sighed. It had been better when Mum had been alive. Even though shed done exactly the same job, travelled along with him and presented the programmes alongside him, shed always been good at hugs and sending postcards and presents to boarding school to let Ruby know that just because she was out of sight, it didnt mean she was out of mind. Her father was no good at that stuff. And after shed died hed channelled his grief into his work, meaning he lost himself in it more than he ever had done before.
Ruby found herself a spot on the edge of a designer sofa in the lounge and reached for the bowl of macadamia nuts on the table in front of her, only scooping two or three out with her fingers and popping them quickly into her mouth, then she returned to doodling on a paper napkin with a pen shed pulled out of her bag.
It was supposed to have been easier once the journey got under way. Shed thought that at least the travelling part of being a travelling nanny would be inside her comfort zone. Wrong again, Ruby. And she didnt even have anything work-related to do to keep her mind off her awkwardness, because Sofia, obviously exhausted by the sheer graft of tantruming half the day, was stretched out on the plush sofa with her thumb in her mouth, fast asleep and completely unaware of her surroundings.
Her new boss didnt make it any easier. Hed hardly made eye contact with her since theyd left her flat, let alone talked to her. He was a right barrel of laughs.
She filled the short time they had by quickly sketching him as he remained, granite-like and motionless, hunched over his laptop; the only parts of him moving were his eyes and his fingers. She used only a few lines to get the back of his head and his jaw right, leaving the strokes bare and uncompromising, then settled down to reproducing the wrinkles on the arms of his jacket, the soft shock of dark thick hair that was trimmed to perfection at his nape.
Thankfully, once the flight was called and they had to head to the gate and board the plane, Ruby started to feel a little more normal. Jollying a freshly woken toddler along kept her occupied. It wasnt that difficult. Sofia was a sweet child, even if the quiet curiosity hid a will of steel, like her uncles. Poor child must have been scared and upset when shed seen her mother disappear out of Maxs office without her. It was no wonder shed screamed the place down.
As the plane began its descent to Marco Polo airport Ruby began to feel the familiar quiver of excitement she always got at arriving somewhere new. Shed always wanted to visit Venice, had even begged her father to go when shed been younger, but he hadnt been interested. It was a man-made construction, built on stilts in the middle of a lagoon, and the city itself had few open green spaces, let alone rare wildlifeunless you had an unusual passion for pigeons. Ruby didnt care about that. She liked cities. And this oneLa Serenissima, as it used to be knownwas supposed to be the jewel of them all.
It was a disappointment, then, to discover that they werent going to be arriving in Venice by boat, as many visitors did. Instead Max had ordered a car to take them along the main road towards the city of Mestre, which then turned onto the seemingly endless bridge that stretched from the land to the city across the lagoon.
Sofia began to whine. Although shed had that brief nap at the airport, the poor little girl looked ready to drop. Ruby did her best to calm her down, and it helped, but what the child really needed was someone she knew. She might have taken to her new nanny, but Ruby was still a stranger. As was her uncle, Ruby guessed. The sooner she was reunited with her grandmother, the better.
The car pulled to a halt and Ruby looked up. Her face fell. Usually, she liked catching the first glimpse of a new place, seeing it as a far-off dot on the horizon, and getting more and more excited as it got closer and closer. This evening, shed been so busy distracting Sofia back from the verge of another tantrum, shed missed all of that. Theyd arrived at a large square full of buses. They were in Venice at last, and yet this didnt look magical at all. The Piazzala Roma looked very much like any other busy transport hub in any busy city.
People were everywhere. They spilled off the large orange buses that seemed to arrive and leave every few minutes, dragging luggage behind them as they set off on foot, maps in hands; or they queued wearily and waited for the buses to empty so they could clamber inside and head back to the mainland.
The driver started unloading the bags. Ruby took her rucksack from the boot before this one had a chance to be snooty about it, then reached inside and unclipped Sofia from her car seat. The little girl grizzled softly as she clung round Rubys neck. They walked a short distance to a waiting motor launch on the side of a nearby canal. But Ruby was too busy trying to work out if the sticky substance Sofia had just wiped onto her neck was tears or snot to really pay attention. The boat driver nodded a greeting to Max, and then started up the engine.
For the next few minutes they took a dizzying route through the narrow canalsthe equivalent of back streets, she supposedand she could hardly see more than whitewashed or brick walls, oddly placed ornate windows high up in them, or the odd washing line strung with underwear, waving like unconventional bunting above their heads. But then they emerged onto the Grand Canal and Ruby was glad she was sitting down, with Sofias weight anchoring her to her seat in the back of the boat, because she surely would have thumped down onto her backside if shed been standing up.
Shed never seen so many beautiful buildings in one place. All were ornately decorated with arches and windows and balconies. Some were crested with intricate crenellations that reminded her of royal icing fit for a wedding cake. Others were the most beautiful colours, the old stone worn and warmed by both the salt of the lagoon water that lapped at their bases and the soft sun dangling effortlessly in a misty sky.
She was still sitting there with her mouth open when the boat puttered to a stop outside a grand-looking palazzo. Instantly, two uniformed men dashed out of an ornate wooden door and onto the small, private landing stage, complete with the red-and-white-striped poles, and collected their bags and helped them from the boat. One tried to relieve Ruby of Sofia, but the little girl wouldnt have it. She clung so hard to Rubys neck that Ruby almost choked. She had to make do with letting one of the men steady her as she clambered, a little off balance, onto the small stone jetty.
Ruby looked up. The building was very elegant. Traditional Venetian style, its tall windows topped with almost church-like stonework. Surely nobody real could live anywhere quite so beautiful?
Max must have decided she was dawdling, because he huffed something and turned.
She shook her head slightly. Your mother lives here?
He thought she was being slow again. She could tell by the way he was looking at her, a weary sense of disbelief on his features. Of course my mother doesnt live here. Its a hotel.
Maybe it was because she was tired and Sofia felt like a lead weight, or maybe it was because this had probably been the strangest day of her life so far, but she bristled. You said we were taking Sofia to see your mother. You didnt say anything about a hotel.
Didnt I?
No, you didnt, she said darkly, and then muttered under her breath, Details, Mr Martin.
He waited until they had walked through the lobby and were whooshing upwards in a shiny mirrored lift before he spoke again. This is the Lagoon Palace Hotel. Sofia is tired. He nodded in her direction, where the child was still clamped onto Rubys shoulder like an oversized limpet. It was the first time hed even given a hint hed remembered his niece existed since shed taken over. And, consequently, the fact hed even noticed Sofia was exhausted took Ruby by surprise. Itll be a lot less fuss if we settle in here this evening and go and see my mother in the morning.
Ruby opened her mouth to ask why, then shut it again. A flicker of a look had passed across his features, tensing his jaw and setting his shoulders. She was only too well acquainted with that look. Some people rushed into their parents arms after a separation, but other people? Well, sometimes they needed a chance to mentally prepare themselves.
She just hadnt expected Max Martin, who seemed to have life buttoned up and marching to his tune, to be one of her fellow throng.
* * *
The inside of the Lagoon Palace was a surprise. Ruby had expected it to be full of ornate furniture, antiques and brocade, but the style was a mix of classic and contemporary. The original features of the building were intact, such as the tall marble fireplaces, the plasterwork and painted ceilings, but the decor was modern, with furnishings in bold, bright colours and rich textures.
The suite Max had booked had a main living area overlooking the Grand Canal and a bedroom on either side. A low, modern sofa in cherry-red velvet faced the windows and two matching armchairs sat at right angles. The end tables were a funky organic shape and the walls were the same colour as the furnishings. Other than that it was all dark wood and pale creamy marble.
Ruby stood in the middle of the living area, mouth open, taking it all in. I was expecting something a little more...traditional, she said to Max as she dropped her rucksack on the floor and let Sofia down from where shed been carrying her. Sofia instantly thrust her arms upwards, demanding to be picked up again.
Ruby sighed and did as commanded. She needed a moment to get her bearings and having a wailing child wouldnt help. So far shed felt totally at sea, and she had no idea whether she was looking after Sofia the right way. For all she knew, she could be mentally scarring the child for life.
Her uncle might not have noticed, but she needed to start acting, and thinking, like a real nanny. Tomorrow theyd be meeting Sofias grandmother, and, if she was anything like her son, shed be sharp as a tack, and she definitely wouldnt be oblivious to Rubys shortcomings. The last thing she wanted was to lose this job before it had even started.
I dont like clutter, Max said. He took a moment to look around the suite, as if he hadnt really taken it all in before. While its not exactly minimalist, its as unfussy as this city gets.
Sofia began to grizzle again, so Ruby carried her across to one of the bedroom doors and looked inside. There was a huge bed, with a sofa with burnt orange velvet cushions at the foot, and large windows draped in the same heavy fabric. Obviously the bosss room. She retreated and checked the door on the opposite side of the living area. It led to a spacious room with twin beds, decorated in brown and cream with colourful abstract prints on the walls. She assumed shed be sharing with Sofia, at least for tonight.
She was relieved to see each room had its own en suite. It was odd, this nannying lark. Being part of a family, but not really being part of a family. There were obviously boundaries, which helped both family and employee, but Ruby had no idea where to draw those lines. Still, she expected that sharing a bathroom, trying to brush your teeth in the sink at the same time as your pyjama-clad boss, was probably a step too far.
Not that she wanted to see Max Martin in his pyjamas, of course.
For some reason that thought made her cheeks heat, and she distracted herself by lugging Sofia back into the living room, where her new boss was busy muttering to himself as he tried to hook up his laptop at a dark, stylish wooden desk tucked into the corner between his bedroom door and the windows.
Im going to put Sofia to bed now, she told him. She ate on the plane, and shes clearly dog-tired.
Max just grunted from where he had his head under the desk, then backed out and stood up. He looked at Sofia, but didnt move towards them.
Come on, sweetie, Ruby cooed. Say night-night to Uncle Max.
Sofia just clung on tighter. Eventually he walked towards them and placed an awkward kiss on the top of the little girls head. Ruby tried not to notice the smell of his aftershave or the way the air seemed to ripple around her when he came near, and then she quickly scurried away and got Sofia ready for bed.
She put Sofia to bed in one of the twin beds in their room. In the bag her mother had packed for her, Ruby found a number of changes of clothes, the usual toiletries, a few books and a rather over-loved stuffed rabbit.
Want Mamma, the little girl sniffed as Ruby helped her into her pyjamas.
Rubys heart lurched. She knew exactly how that felt, even though her separation from her mother was permanent and at least Sofia would see hers again very soon. But at this age, it must feel like an eternity.
She picked Sofia up and sat her on her lap, held her close, and pulled out a book to read, partly as part of the bedtime ritual, but partly to distract the child from missing her mother. She also gave her the rabbit. Sofia grabbed on to the toy gratefully and instantly stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes, giving out one last shuddering breath before going limp in Rubys arms.
Not even enough energy for a bedtime story. Poor little thing.
Ruby put the book on the bedside table and slid Sofia under the covers before turning out the light.
Ruby knew what it felt like to be carted from place to place, often not knowing where you were or who youd been left with. She was tempted to reach across and smooth a dark curl away from Sofias forehead, but she kept her hand in her lap.
Usually, she threw herself into each new job with gusto, immersing herself completely in it, but she had a feeling it would be a bad idea for a travelling nanny. This was a two-week job at most. She couldnt get too attached. Mustnt. So she just sat on the edge of the bed watching Sofias tiny chest rise and fall for what seemed like ages.
When she was sure her charge was soundly asleep, and she wouldnt disturb her by moving, she crept out and closed the bedroom door softly behind her. The living room of the suite was steeped in silence and the large gurgle her stomach produced as she tiptoed towards the sofa seemed to echo up to the high ceilings. It was dark now, and the heavy red curtains were drawn, blocking out any view of the canal. Ruby longed to go and fling them open, but she supposed it wasnt her choice. If her boss wanted to shut himself away from the outside world, from all that beauty and magnificence, then that was his decision.
She could hear her employer through his open bedroom door, in a one-sided conversation, talking in clipped, hushed tones. She glanced over at the desk, where hed already made himself quite at home. The surface was covered in sheets of paper and printouts, and a laptop was silently displaying a company name that floated round the screen.
Martin & Martin.
Ruby changed direction and wandered over to take a better look. Amongst the printed-out emails and neat handwritten notes there were also half-rolled architectural plansfor something very big and very grand, by the looks of it.
So Max Martin was an architect. She could see how that suited him. He was possibly the most rigid man shed ever met. Anything he built would probably last for centuries.
She couldnt help peering over the plans to get a better look at the writing on the bottom corner of the sheet.
The National Institute of Fine Art.
Wow. That was one of her favourite places to hang out in London on a rainy afternoon. And shed seen a display last time shed visited about plans for a new wing and a way to cover the existing courtyard to provide a central hub for the gallerys three other wings.
Maxs voice grew louder and Ruby scuttled away from the desk. Shed just reached the centre of the room when he emerged from his bedroom, mobile phone pressed to his ear. She did a good job of trying not to listen, pretending to flick through a magazine shed grabbed from the coffee table instead, but, even though she was trying to keep her nose to herself, it was obvious that Max was the front-runner for the institutes new wing, but the clients had reservations.
She finished flipping through the glossy fashion mag and put it back down on the table. To be honest, she wasnt sure what to do now. Did being Sofias nanny mean she just had to hole herself up in the bedroom with her, never to be seen or heard without child in tow? Or was she allowed to mingle with other members of the family? Seeing as this was her first experience of being a nanny she had absolutely no clue, and seeing as this was Maxs first experience of hiring oneeven if he had been the kind of person to dole out information without the use of thumbscrewshe probably didnt know, either.
He turned and strode towards her, frowning, listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
Ruby looked up at him, expecting maybe a nod, or even a blink of recognition as he passed by, but she got none. It was as if hed totally forgotten she existed. So she became more comfortable studying him. He looked tired, she thought as she watched him pace first in one direction and then another, always marking out straight lines with precise angles. The top button of his shirt was undone and his tie was nowhere to be seen.
It was odd. All day so far, hed just seemed like a force of naturealbeit in a pristine suitand now that just the tiniest part of that armour had been discarded she was suddenly confronted by the fact he was a man. And a rather attractive one at that.
His dark hair was short but not severe, and now she knew he had Italian blood in him, she could see it in the set of his eyes and his long, straight nose. The mouth, however, was totally British, tightly drawn in, jaw tense as he grimaced at some unwelcome news and hung up on the caller without saying goodbye. He brought the phone down from his ear and stared at it so hard that Ruby thought it might burst into flames.
That was when he looked up and spotted her sitting where shed been for the last ten minutes, and it took him by total surprise. She allowed her lips to curve into the barest of smiles and held his gaze. For some reason she liked the fact her presence sometimes ruffled him.
He shoved his phone back in his pocket. Is there anything you need?
His tone wasnt harsh, just practical.
I was wondering what to do about food. Her stomach growled again, just to underline the fact. She refused to blush.
He had only just stopped frowning at his phone call, and now his features crumpled back into the same expression, as if hed forgotten hunger was an option for him, and he was taking time to remember what the sensation was like. Eventually, he indicated a menu on the sideboard. Have what you want sent up.
Ruby nodded. Shed been hoping hed say that. Do you want anything while Im ordering?
No... His gaze drifted towards the array of papers on the desk and he was drawn magnetically to it. He picked up a sheet and started reading a page of dense text.
Ruby wasnt quite sure if hed finished saying everything hed been going to say, but she guessed hed forgotten hed actually started talking, so she went and fetched the menu. When she ordered her club sandwich she did it discreetly, so as not to disturb him, and just before she put the phone down she quietly ordered another. He hadnt touched the food on the plane, and she hadnt seen him eat anything all afternoon. He had to get hungry some time, didnt he?
If he did, he showed no sign of it. His eyes stayed on his papers while his fingers rapped out email after email on his laptop. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, slightly fascinated. He was so focused, so intense. He seemed to have an innate sense of confidence in his own ability to do what needed to be done.
To be honest, she was a little jealous.
Shed tried a number of jobs since dropping out of university but none of them had stuck. She wanted what Max had. A purpose. No, a calling. A sense of who she was in this world and what she was supposed to be doing while she was here.
A knock on the door a few minutes later heralded the arrival of her dinner. She opened the door and tipped the room-service guy, then wheeled the little trolley closer to the sofa.
What she needed to do right now was stuff her face with her sandwich, before her stomach climbed up her throat and came to get it. That was the problem, maybe. She could always see the step that was right in front of her, the immediate detailslike taking the job this afternoonbut when it came to the big picture of her life it was always fuzzy and a bit out of focus.
She poured a glass of red wine from a bottle shed ordered to go along with the food and took it, and the other sandwich, over to her boss. He didnt look up, so she cleared a little space at the corner of papers and put the plate down. The wine, however, was more tricky. The last thing she wanted to do was put it where hed knock it over. Eventually, she just coughed lightly, and he looked up.
Here, she said, handing him the glass. You looked like you could do with this.
For a moment he looked as if he was going to argue, but then he looked longingly at the glass of Pinot Noir and took it from her. As he did, just the very tips of their fingers brushed together.
Thank you, he said.
Ruby held her breath, then backed away silently. Her face felt hot and she had the sudden urge to babble. She always did that when she was flustered or nervous, and suddenly she was both.
Max, however, didnt notice. It was obvious he was as cool and calm and focused as hed always been. He put the glass down near the back of the desk and carried on typing the email hed been working on. Her cheeks flushed, Ruby retreated to the far end of the large sofa and ate her sandwich in silence.
When shed finished her dinner, she stood up and replaced the empty plate on the trolley, then she hovered for a moment. He hadnt touched either the food or the wine. She wanted to say something, but she didnt know what; then she interrupted herself with a yawn. It was almost ten and it had been a long day. Maybe she should just go and get ready for bed.
Still, as she made her way towards her bedroom door she lingered, fingers on the handle, her eyes drawn to the silent figure hunched over his laptop in the corner. It was a long while before she pressed down on the metal fixture and pushed the door open.
As she got undressed in the semi-dark, careful not to wake the sleeping child, she thought about Max and all his quiet dedication and commitment. Maybe he was rubbing off on her, because suddenly she wanted to rise to the challenge in front of her.
She knew it seemed as if shed come by this job almost by accident, but maybe that was just fate sending her a big, flashing neon sign? This way, Ruby... Maybe being a nanny was what she was meant to do. Hadnt Max said she was exactly what he needed? And Sofia already seemed very attached to her.
She held her breath as she slid in between the cool cotton sheets and pulled the covers up over her chest. Maybe this was her calling. Who knew? But for the next weekpossibly twoshed have her chance to find out.
* * *
Max looked up from his plans and papers and noticed a club sandwich sitting on the edge of the desk. How long had that been there? His stomach growled and he reached for it and devoured it in record time.
Ruby must have put it there. He frowned. Something about that felt wrong.
And not just because taking care of him wasnt part of her job description. He just wasnt used to being taken care of full stop, mainly because hed carefully structured his life so he was totally self-sufficient. He didnt need anyone to look after him. He didnt need anyone, at all. And that was just as well. While his father had been his rock, he hadnt been the touchy-feely sort, and work had always kept him away from home for long hours. And his mother...
Well, he hadnt had a mothers influence in his life since hed been a teenager, and even before the divorce things had been...explosive...at home.
A rush of memories rolled over him. He tried to hold them at bay, but there were too many, coming too fast, like a giant wave breaching a sea wall in a storm. That wall had held fast for so many years. He didnt know why it was crumbling now, only that it was. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, paced across the living room of the suite in an effort to escape it.
This was why he hated this city. It was too old, full of too much history. Somehow the pastanyones pastweighed too heavily here.
He shook his head and reached for the half-drunk bottle of wine on the room-service trolley and went to refill his glass. The Pinot had been perfect, rich and soothing. Just what hed needed.
He didnt want to revisit any of those memories. Not even the good ones. Yes, his mother had been wonderful when shed been happywarm, loving, such funbut the tail end of his parents marriage had been anything but happy. Those good times were now superimposed with her loud and expressive fits of rage, the kind only an Italian woman knew how to give, and his fathers silent and stoic sternness, as he refused to be baited, to be drawn into the game. Sometimes the one-sided fights had gone on for days.
He took another slug of wine and tried to unclench his shoulder muscles.
His relationship with his mother had never been good, not since the day shed left the family home in a taxi and a cloud of her own perfume. He hadnt spoken to her in at least a year, and hadnt seen her for more than three.
He looked down at his glass and noticed hed polished it off without realising. There was still another left in the bottle....
No. He put his glass down on the desk and switched off his laptop. No more for tonight. Because if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that hed need a clear head to deal with his mother come morning.
CHAPTER FOUR
MAX WALKED OUT of his bedroom then stopped, completely arrested by the sight in front of him. What the heck?
And it wasnt the spray of cereal hoops all over the coffee table or the splash of milk threatening to drip off the edge. Nor was it the sight of his niece, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and eating a pastry, no sign of a tantrum in sight. No, it was the fact that the nanny hed hired yesterday bore no resemblance to the one who was busily trying to erase the evidence of what had obviously been a rather messy breakfast session.
She froze when she heard him walk in, then turned around. Her gaze drifted to the mess in the middle of the room. Sofia doesnt like cereal, apparently, she explained calmly. And she felt the need to demonstrate that with considerable gusto.
He blinked and looked again.
The voice was right. And the attitude. But this looked like a different girl.... Nowoman. This one was definitely a woman.
Gone was the slightly hippy-looking patchwork scarecrow from the day before, to be replaced by someone in a bright red fifties dress covered in big cartoon strawberries. With the full skirt and the little black shoes and the short hair swept from her face, she looked like a psychedelic version of Audrey Hepburn.
Hair! That was it!
He looked again. The purple streaks were still there, just not as apparent in this neater style. Good. For a moment there, hed thought hed been having a particularly vivid dream.
Good morning, he finally managed to mutter.
She raised her eyebrows.
Max covered up the fact that the sight of all those strawberries had made him momentarily forget her name by launching in with something shed likedetails. After breakfast were going to visit Sofias grandmother. He paused and looked at the slightly milk-drenched, pastry-flake-covered child in front of him. Would you be able to get her looking presentable by ten?
The nanny nodded. I think so.
Good. Max felt his stomach unclench. My mother is not someone who tolerates an untidy appearance. And then he turned to go and fire up his laptop, but he could have sworn he heard her mutter, What a shocker... under her breath.
* * *
The water taxi slowed outside a large palazzo with its own landing stage leading up to a heavy front door. Theyd travelled for maybe fifteen minutes, leaving the Grand Canal behind and heading into the Castello district of the city.
The building was almost as large at the hotel theyd just left, but where its plaster had been pristine and smooth, this palace was looking a little more tired round the edges. Green slime coated the walls at the waterline, indicating the height of the high tide. Some of the pink plasterwork had peeled off at the bottom of the structure leaving an undulating wave of bare bricks showing.
There were grilles over the ground-floor windows, and the plaster was peeling away there, too, but up above there were the most wonderful stone balcony and window boxes overflowing with ivy and white flowers. The overall effect was like that of a grand old lady whod had a fabulous time at the ball but had now sat down, a little tired and flustered, to compose herself.
Rubys eyes were wide as she clung onto Sofia to stop her scrambling ashore before the boat was properly secured.
Max must have read her mind. This is Ca Damiani and, yes, my mother lives here. But she doesnt occupy the whole thing, just the piano nobile.
Ruby nodded, even though she had no idea what that meant.
A lot of these grand old buildings have been split up into apartments, he explained as he hopped from the boat and offered to take Sofia from her. In buildings like these the floor above ground level was the prime spot, where the grandest rooms of the house were situatedthe stage for all the familys dramas. He sighed. And theres nothing my mother likes more than a grand drama.
His voice was neutral, expressionless even, but she could see the tension in his jaw, the way the air around him seemed heavy and tense. This was not a joyful homecoming, not one bit.
Ruby clambered out of the boat and reached for Sofias hand, and then the three of them together walked off the dock and up to a double door with a large and tarnished brass knocker. Ruby swallowed as Max lifted it. When it fell the noise rang out like a gunshot, and she jumped. She did her best not to fidget as they waited.
After a short wait the door swung open. Ruby would have expected it to creak, from the age of it, but it was as silent as a rush of air. The woman who was standing there was also something of a surprise. Ruby had expected her to be tall and dark, like Max, but she was petite and her blond hair was artfully swept into a twist at the back of her head. She wore a suit with a dusky pink jacket and skirt and, just like every other Italian woman Ruby had ever met, carried with her an innate sense of confidence in her own style. Not a hair on her head was out of place.
Ruby looked down at her strawberry-patterned skirt. Shed chosen her best vintage dress for today in an attempt to emulate that effortless style, but now she feared she just looked like a sideshow freak instead of la bella figura. She held back, hiding herself a little behind Maxs much larger frame.
His mother looked at him for a long moment.
No, Ruby thought, she didnt just look. She drank him in.
Well, you have finally come, Massimo, she said in Italian, her voice hoarse.
Ive told you I prefer Max, he replied in English. And it was an emergency. Gia needed me. What else could I do? I wasnt going to run out on her, on my family, because things got a little difficult.
The words hung between them like an accusation. Ruby saw the older woman pale, but then she drew herself taller.
Oh, I know that it is not on my account that you are here, she said crisply. As for the other matter, I named you, Massimo, so I shall call you what I like. She glanced down and her face broke into a wide and warm smile. Darling child! Come here to your nonna!
Sofia hesitated for a second, then allowed herself to be picked up and held. Ruby guessed that Maxs sister must be a more frequent visitor here than he was. After a couple of moments Sofia was smiling and using her chubby fingers to explore the gold chain and pendant around her grandmothers neck. She seemed totally at ease.
When shed finished fussing over her granddaughter, Maxs mother lifted her head and looked at him. Youd better come inside.
She retreated into a large hallway with a diamond-tiled floor and rough brick walls. There were hints of the plaster that had once covered them, and most of the moulded ceilings were intact. However, instead of seeming tumbledown, it just made the palazzos ground floor seem grand and ancient. There were a few console tables and antiques, and a rather imposing staircase with swirling wrought iron banisters curved upwards to the first floor.
His mother started making her way up the staircase, but when she turned the corner and realised there was an extra body still following them, and it wasnt just someone whod helped them unload from the boat, she stopped and walked back down to where Ruby was on the floor, ballet-slippered foot hovering above the bottom step, and let Sofia slide from her embrace.
And who do we have here? she asked, looking Ruby up and down with interest. Rubys heart thudded inside her ribcage. Not the sort of girl who usually trailed around after her son, probably. Well, almost definitely.
This is Sofias nanny, Max said, this time joining his mother in her native language. I hired her especially for the trip.
Ruby Lange, Ruby said and offered her hand, hoping it wasnt sticky, and then continued in her best Italian, Its lovely to meet you.
Maxs mother just turned and stared at her son, tears filling her eyes, and then she set off up the staircase again, this time at speed, her heels clicking against the stone. You have insulted me, Massimo! Of all the things you could have done!
Max hurried up the stairs after his mother. Ive done nothing of the sort. Youre making no sense at all.
Hed reverted to English. Which was a pity, because when he spoke Italian he sounded like a different man. Oh, the depth and tone of the voice were the same, but it had sounded richer, warmer. As if it belonged to a man capable of the same passion and drama as the woman he was chasing up the stairs.
Ruby turned to Sofia, who was looking up the staircase after her uncle and grandmother. Once again, shed been forgotten. Ruby wanted to pull her up into her arms and hug her hard. She knew what it was like to always be left behind, to always be the complication that stopped the adults in your life from doing what they wanted. What do you say, kiddo? Shall we follow the grown-ups?
Sofia nodded and they made their way up the stairs. It was slow progress. Sofia had to place both feet on a step before moving to the next one. Her little legs just werent capable of anything else. When they got halfway, Ruby gave up and held out her arms. The little girl quickly clambered up her and let her nanny do the hard work.
Well, that was what she was here for. Or she would be if Signora Martin didnt think she was so much of an insult that she threw Ruby out on her ear. Max hadnt been wrong when hed mentioned drama, had he?
When she got to the top of the stairs the decor changed. There was wood panelling on the walls and the ceilings were painted in pastel colours with intricate plasterwork patterns. Every few feet there were wall sconces, dripping with crystals. If this explosion of baroque architecture and cluttered antique furniture was what Max had meant when hed called Venetian style fussy, she could see his point.
The discussion was still raging, in a room just off the landing. The space must have been huge, because their voices echoed the same way they would in a church or a museum. His mothers was emotive and loud, Maxs steady and even. Ruby was glad her soft shoes didnt make much noise and she crept in the direction of the raised voices, Sofia resting on her hip.
Youre never going to forgive me, are you? his mother finally said softly.
Ruby crept a little closer. The room had double doors, which were still standing where theyd been flung open, and she peeked at the interior through the gap next to the hinges.
Maxs mother closed her eyes and sadness washed over her features. Thats why you brought the nanny, wasnt it? You think Im not fit to look after my granddaughter on my own. Was I really such a terrible mother?
This was getting too personal, Ruby realised. It was time to back away, leave them to it. Shed just have to find somewhere to hide out with Sofia until the whole thing blew over. Surely there must be a kitchen in this place somewhere?
She retreated a couple of steps, but shed forgotten that she was much less nimble with Sofia increasing her bulk and she knocked into a side table and made the photo frames and lamp on it jangle.
There was silence in the room beyond. Ruby held her breath. A moment later Max appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to come inside. Ruby would rather have drunk a gallon of lagoon water, but she really didnt have much choice. She hoisted Sofia up into a more comfortable position, tipped her chin up and walked into the room.
It was a grand Venetian salon, with a vast honey-coloured marble fireplace and trompe loeil pillars and mouldings painted on the walls in matching tones, with mythic scenes on the walls in between. A row of arched windows leading onto a stone balcony dominated the opposite side of the room, and three large green sofas were arranged in a C-shape, facing them. But the sight that Ruby was most interested in was the stiff figure in the pink suit standing in the middle of the room.
Ruby isnt here to usurp you, Mamma. I hired her partly to help me bring Sofia over here with minimum fuss, but also because I thought she could help you. Why should you have to cancel your social engagements, alter your plans, for the next couple of weeks because of Gias work problems?
The other womans features softened a little, and she looked a little ashamed. She turned to face Ruby and held out her hand. Ruby let Sofia down and the little girl ran to the window to look at a speedboat that had just shot down the medium-sized canal beyond.
Serafina Martin. She smiled warmly and shook Rubys hand firmly but very briefly. But everybody calls me Fina. I apologise most sincerely for not welcoming you to Ca Damiani when you first arrived, but I do so now.
Ruby replied in her best Italian. Thank you, Signora Martin, for your welcome and for opening your home to me, if you do decide you could do with my help. Im afraid this is my first job as a nanny so Ive been thrown in at the deep end. She glanced at Max, who was watching her carefully. Youll probably have to help me more than Ill help you.
A small flicker of approval, and maybe relief, passed across the other womans features. Fina tilted her head. Your Italian is very good.
Ruby kept her smile demure. Thank you.
Finas gaze swept over her dress and then up to her head. But your hair is not. Purple?
She shrugged. I like it.
For the longest moment Fina didnt move, didnt say anything. She didnt even blink, but then she smiled. It started in her eyes and moved to just lift the corners of her mouth. Bene. What do I know? I am old and out of touch, probably, and I like a woman who follows her own path. And then she turned and swept out of the room. Come, Massimo! We have to decide what you are going to do about this child.
* * *
Max stared at his mother. What do you mean you want me to stay here, too?
That hadnt been the plan at all. The reason hed brought Sofia here was because now was definitely not the moment to take an impromptu holiday. He couldnt let everything he and his father had worked for slide.
His mother did that infuriating little wave of her hand, suggesting he was making a mountain out of a molehill. You made a very good point, she said airily. I do have plans this week, including earning a living. I cant take time off at this short notice.
Maxs jaw dropped. You have a job?
She turned her head to look at him. Why is that so hard to believe? Yes, I have a job. I work for a real estate company in the mornings, helping them dress and present their luxury properties.
He shook his head, hardly able to believe it.
You are straying from the point, Massimo. It is not important where I work, but how we are going to do the best for Sofia.
He frowned. I know that, Mamma. Thats why I came to you in the first place. It just isnt possible to keep her in London with me. Theres a work issue thats at a very crucial point and I cant give her the time and attention she deserves.
You know I adore having Sofia with me, but do you think I keep this place running because money falls from the sky? I also have urgent work to do.
He shot a glance across at his travelling nanny. She was kneeling on the carpet, helping Sofia build a house out of colourful blocks. Max didnt know where theyd come from. His mother must have had them stashed away somewhere. But thats why I brought Ruby. Hed thought of everything, made it simple and easy. Why was his mother turning this into a problem when there was none?
The poor child is upset and away from her mother. When Im not here, she needs to be with someone she knows.
She looked the picture of innocence, perched on the edge of a green damask sofa. The high windows let in the soft light of the May morning, basking her in an almost saintly glow.
But she doesnt know me, either.
His mother frowned. I thought Gia had said that you were in regular contact now.
We text, mainly, he mumbled. And she comes into the city to have lunch every couple of months, but she doesnt usually bring Sofia with her.
.
.
, (https://www.litres.ru/fiona-harper-2/taming-her-italian-boss/) .
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Fiona Harper
So, Miss Lange with an e, will you take the job?Ruby Lange might be unconventional, but her struggle to find the ideal career isn't from lack of trying! Now the latest option is "traveling nanny"so she takes a deep breath, packs her vintage suitcase and heads for Italy.Ruby's new boss, architect Max Martin, may be utterly gorgeous, but he's far too buttoned up for her liking! Yet traveling around Venice together, Ruby discovers that the man who took a risk on her is masking a huge hearthe just needs a reason to trust it again.
The top button of his shirt was undone and his tie was nowhere to be seen.
It was odd. All day so far hed seemed like a force of naturealbeit in a pristine suitand now that just even the tiniest part of that armour had been discarded she was suddenly confronted by the fact that he was a man. And a rather attractive one at that.
His dark hair was short, but not severe, and now she knew he had Italian blood in him she could see it in the set of his eyes and his long, straight nose. The mouth, however, was totally Britishtightly drawn in, jaw tense as he grimaced at some unwelcome news and hung up on the caller without saying goodbye. He brought the phone down from his ear and stared at it so hard that Ruby thought it might burst into flames.
That was when he looked up and spotted her, sitting where shed been for the last ten minutes, and it took him by total surprise. She allowed her lips to curve into the barest of smiles and held his gaze. For some reason she liked the fact her presence sometimes ruffled him.
Taming Her Italian Boss
Fiona Harper
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
As a child, FIONA HARPER was constantly teased for either having her nose in a book or living in a dream world. Things havent changed much since then, but at least in writing shes found a use for her runaway imagination. After studying dance at university, Fiona worked as a dancer, teacher and choreographer, before trading in that career for video-editing and production. When she became a mother she cut back on her working hours to spend time with her children, and when her littlest one started pre-school she found a few spare moments to rediscover an old but not forgotten lovewriting.
Fiona lives in London, but her other favourite places to be are the Highlands of Scotland and the Kent countryside on a summers afternoon. She loves cooking good food and anything cinnamon-flavoured. Of course she still cant keep away from a good book or a good movieespecially romancesbut only if shes stocked up with tissues, because she knows she will need them by the end, be it happy or sad. Her favourite things in the world are her wonderful husband, who has learned to decipher her incoherent ramblings, and her two daughters.
For my readers,
from those who have been with me
since the beginning to those who are
picking one of my books for the first time.
Im grateful to every one of you.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE (#u34718846-f6fa-55b0-9a79-49cd6b1fa441)
CHAPTER TWO (#u38ea75cc-90de-548d-8c1b-a3464fb17a2c)
CHAPTER THREE (#u9b8fc13e-5494-5021-a578-a7e7998c51a3)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u97d29fc4-2ea8-578d-92de-884878194ffc)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
YOU WANT ME to give you a job?
The woman staring across the desk at Ruby didnt look convinced. The London traffic rumbled outside the first-floor office as the woman looked her up and down. Her gaze swept down over Rubys patchwork corduroy jacket, miniskirt with brightly coloured leggings peeking out from underneath, and ended at the canvas shoes that were almost the right shade of purple to match the streaks in her short hair.
Ruby nodded. Yes.
Humph, the woman said.
Ruby couldnt help noticing her flawlessly cut black suit and equally flawlessly cut hair. Shed bet that the famous Thalia Benson of the Benson Agency hadnt come about her latest style after shed got fed up with the long stringy bits dangling in her breakfast cereal and convinced her flatmate to take scissors to it.
And Layla Babbington recommended you try here?
Ruby nodded again. Layla had been one of her best friends at boarding school. When shed heard that Ruby was looking for a joband one that preferably took her out of the country ASAPshed suggested the top-class nannying agency. Dont let old Benson fool you for a moment, shed told Ruby. Thalias a pussycat underneath, and she likes someone with a bit of gumption. The two of you will get along famously.
Now that she was sitting on the far side of Thalia Bensons desk, under scrutiny as if she were a rogue germ on a high-chair tray, Ruby wasnt so sure.
Such a pity she had to go and marry that baronet she was working for, Benson muttered. Lost one of my best girls and a plum contract.
She looked up quickly at Ruby, as if shed realised shed said that out loud. Ruby looked back at her, expression open and calm. She didnt care what the nanny provider to the rich and famous thought about her clients. She just wanted a job that got her out of London. Fast.
So... Ms Benson said in one long drawn-out syllable while she shuffled a few papers on her desk. What qualifications do you have?
For nannying? Ruby asked, resisting the urge to fidget.
Benson didnt answer, but her eyebrows lifted in a what-do-you-think? kind of gesture.
Ruby took a deep breath. Well...Ive always been very good with kids, and Im practical and creative and hard-working
The other woman cut her off by holding up a hand. She was looking wearier by the second. I mean professional qualifications. Diploma in Childcare and Education, BTEC...Montessori training?
Ruby let the rest of that big breath out. Shed been preparing to keep talking for as long as possible, and shed only used up a third of her lung capacity before Benson had interrupted her. Not a good start. She took another, smaller breath, giving herself a chance to compose a different reply.
Not exactly.
No one had said it was going to be a great reply.
Thalia Benson gave her a frosty look. Either one has qualifications or one hasnt. It tends to be a black-or-white kind of thing.
Ruby swallowed. I know I havent got any traditional childcare qualifications, but I was hoping I could enlist with your new travelling nanny service. Short-term placements. What I lack in letters after my name I make up for in organisation, flexibility and common sense.
Bensons ears pricked up at the mention of common sense. She obviously liked those words. Ruby decided to press home her main advantage. And Ive travelled all over the world since I was a small child. There arent many places I havent been to. I also speak four languagesFrench, Spanish, Italian and a bit of Malagasy.
Ms Benson tipped her head slightly. Youve spent time in Madagascar? The look of disbelief on her face suggested she thought Ruby had gone a bit too far in padding out her CV.
My parents and I lived there for three years when I was a child.
Bensons eyes narrowed. Inona voavoa? she suddenly said, surprising Ruby.
The reply came back automatically. How was she? Tsara be.
Bensons eyes widened, and for the first time since Ruby had walked through the office door and sat down she looked interested. She picked up the blank form sitting in front of her and started writing. Ruby Long, wasnt it?
Lange, Ruby replied. With an e.
Benson looked up. Like Patrick Lange?
Ruby nodded. Exactly like that. She didnt normally like mentioning her connection to the globetrotting TV presenter whose nature documentaries were the jewel in the crown of British television, but she could see more than a glimmer of interest in Thalia Bensons eyes, and she really, really wanted to be out of the country when good old Dad got back from The Cook Islands in two days time. Hes my father, she added.
The other woman stopped messing around with the form, put it squarely down on the desk and folded her hands on top of it. Well, Ms Lange, I dont usually hire nannies without qualifications, not even for short-term positions, but maybe theres something you could do round the office over the summer. Our intern has just disappeared off to go backpacking.
Ruby blinked. Once again, someone had heard the name Lange and the real person opposite them had become invisible. Once again, mentioning her father had opened a door only for it to be slammed shut again. When would she ever learn?
Thats very generous, Ms Benson, but I wasnt really looking for a clerical position.
Thalia nodded, but Ruby knew she hadnt taken her seriously at all. From the smile on the other womans face, she could tell Thalia was wondering how much cachet it would bring her business if she could wheel Ruby out at the annual garden party to impress her clientele, maybe even get national treasure Patrick Lange to show up.
That wasnt Rubys style at all. Shed been offered plenty of jobs where she could cash in on her fathers status by doing something vastly overpaid for not a lot of effort, and shed turned every one of them down. All she wanted was for someone to see her potential for once, to need her for herself, not just what her family connections could bring. Surely that wasnt too much to ask. Unfortunately, Ruby suspected Ms Thalia Benson wasnt that rare individual. She rose from her side of the desk, opened the office door and indicated Ruby should return to the waiting area. Why dont you take a seat outside, and Ill see what I can do?
Ruby smiled back and nodded, rising from her chair. Shed give Thalia Benson fifteen minutes, and if she hadnt come up with something solid by then, she was out of here. Life was too short to hang around when something wasnt working. Onwards and upwards, that was her motto.
Everything in the waiting area was shades of stone and heather and aubergine. The furniture screamed understatedand overpricedelegance. The only clue that the Benson Agency had anything to do with children was a pot of crayons and some drawing paper on the low coffee table between two sectional sofas. When Thalias office door closed, Ruby shrugged then sat down. Shed always loved drawing. She picked up a bright red crayon and started doodling on a blank sheet. Maybe shed go for fire enginered streaks in her hair next time they needed touching up....
She spent the next five minutes doing a pretty passable cartoon of Thalia Benson while she waited. In the picture, Thalia dripped sophistication and charm, but she was dressed up like the Child Catcher from the famous movie, locking a scared boy in a cage.
As the minutes ticked by Ruby became more and more sure this was a waste of her time. The only thing she needed to decide before she left was whether to fold the drawing up and discreetly stick it in her pocket, or if she should prop it on the console table against the far wall so it was the first thing prospective clients saw when they walked in the door.
She was holding the paper in her hands, dithering about whether to crease it in half or smooth it out flat, when the door crashed open and a tall and rather determined-looking man strode in. Ruby only noticed the small, dark-haired girl he had in tow when he was halfway to Thalia Bensons office. The child was wailing loudly, her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth wide open, and the only reason she didnt bump into any of the furniture was because she was being propelled along at speed in her fathers wake, protected by his bulk.
The receptionist bobbed around him, trying to tell him he needed to make an appointment, but he didnt alter his trajectory in the slightest. Ruby put her cartoon down on the table and watched with interest.
I need to see the person in charge and I need to see them now, he told the receptionist, entirely unmoved by her expression of complete horror or her rapid arm gestures.
Ruby bit back a smile. She might just stick around to see how this played out.
If youll just give me a second, Mr...er...Ill see whether Ms Benson is available.
The man finally gave the receptionist about 5 per cent of his attention. He glanced at her, and as he did so the little girl stopped crying for a second and looked in Rubys direction. She started up again almost immediately, but it was half-hearted this time, more for show than from distress.
Mr Martin, he announced, looking down at the receptionist. He stepped forward again. Ruby wasnt sure how it happenedwhether he let go of the girls hand or whether she did that tricksy, slippery-palm thing that all toddlers seemed to knowbut suddenly father and child were disconnected.
The receptionist beat Mr Tall and Determined to Thalias door, knocking on it a mere split second before he reached for the handle, and she just about saved face as she blurted out his name. He marched into the room and slammed the door behind him.
Once he was inside, the little girl sniffed and fell silent. She and Ruby regarded each other for a moment, then Ruby smiled and offered her a bright yellow crayon.
* * *
Max looked at the woman behind the desk. She was staring at him and her mouth was hanging open. Just a little. I need one of your travelling nannies as soon as possible.
The womanBenson, was it?closed her jaw silently and with one quick, almost unnoticeable appraising glance she took in his handmade suit and Italian shoes and decided to play nice. Most people did.
Of course, Mr Martin. She smiled at him. I just need to get a few details from you and then Ill go through my staff list. We should be able to start interviewing soon. She looked down at a big diary on her desk and started flipping through it. How about Thursday? she asked, looking back up at him.
Max stared back at her. He thought hed been pretty clear. What part of as soon as possible did she not understand? I need someone today.
Today? she croaked. Her gaze flew to the clock on the wall.
Max knew what it saidthree-thirty.
The day had started off fairly normally, but then his sister had shown up at his office just before ten and, as things often did when the women in his family were concerned, it had got steadily more chaotic since then.
Preferably within the next half hour, he added. I have to be at the airport by five.
B-but how old is the child? How long do you need someone for? What kind of expertise do you require?
He ignored her questions and pulled a folded computer printout from his suit pocket. There was no point wasting time on details if she wasnt going to be able to help him. I came to you because your website says you provide a speedy and efficient servicetravelling nannies for every occasion. I need to know whether thats true.
She drew herself up ramrod straight in her chair and looked him in the eye. Listen, Mr Martin, I dont know what sort of establishment you think I run here, but
He held up a hand, cutting her off. He knew he was steamrollering over all the pleasantries, but that couldnt be helped. The best nanny agency in London, Id heard. Which is why I came to you in an emergency. Have you got someone? If not, I wont waste any more of your time.
She pursed her lips, but her expression softened. He hadnt been flattering hernot really his stylebut a few timely truths hadnt hurt his case. I can help. She sighed and Max relaxed just a little. Shed much rather have told him it was impossible, he guessed, but the kind of fee she was measuring him up for with her beady little eyes was hard to say no to. At the very least, let me know the sex and age of the charge, she added.
Max shrugged. Girl, he said. Older than one and younger than school age. Other than that Im not quite sure. Why dont you take a look and see what you think?
The womans eyes almost popped out of her head. Shes here?
Max nodded. Where the hell else did the woman think shed be?
And you left her outside? Alone?
He frowned. He hadnt thought about that for one second. Which was exactly why he needed to hire someone who would. Anyway, he hadnt left Sofia completely alone. There had been the flappy woman...
Ms Benson sprang from the desk, threw the door open and rushed into the waiting area beyond her office. There, colouring in with the tip of her tongue caught at one side of her mouth, was Sofia. Max suddenly noticed something: the noise had stopped. That horrible wailing, like an air-raid siren. It had driven him to distraction all day.
Here...try purple for the flower, a young woman, kneeling next to Sofia, was saying. Sofia, instead of acting like a child possessed with the spirit of a banshee, just calmly accepted the crayon from the woman and carried on scribbling. After a few moments, both woman and child stopped what they were doing and lifted their heads to look at the two adults towering over them. The identical expression of mild curiosity they both wore was rather disconcerting.
Max turned to the agency owner. I want her, he said, nodding at the kneeling woman who, he was just starting to notice, had odd-coloured bits in her hair.
Benson gave out a nervous laugh. Im afraid she doesnt work here.
Max raised his eyebrows.
Not yet, she added quickly. But Im sure youd be better off with one of our other nannies who
He turned away and looked at the strange pixie-like woman and the little girl again. For the first time in what seemed like weeks, although it had probably only been hours, Sofia was quiet and calm and acting like the normal child he vaguely remembered. No. I want her.
Something deep down in his gut told him this woman had what he needed. To be honest, he really didnt care what it was. It was twenty-five to four and he had to get going. What do you say? he asked the her directly.
The woman finished colouring in a pink rose on the sheet of paper she and Sofia were sharing before she answered. She flicked a glance at the agency owner. Shes right. I dont even work here.
I dont care about that, he told her. You have all the skills I want. Its you I need.
She blinked and looked at him hard, as if she was trying to work out whether he was serious or not. Normally people didnt have to think about that.
What if the job isnt what I need? she asked. I dont think I should accept without hearing the terms.
Max checked his watch again. Fine, fine, he said wearily. Have it your way. Well interview in the car. But hurry up! Weve got a plane to catch. And then he marched from the offices of the Benson Agency leaving its proprietor standing open-mouthed behind him.
CHAPTER TWO
IT TOOK RUBY all of two seconds to drop the crayon she was holding, scoop up the child next to her and run after him into the bright sunshine of a May afternoon. God did indeed move in mysterious ways!
And so did Mr...whatever his name was.
Those long legs had carried him down the stairs to street level very fast. When she burst from the agencys understated door onto one of the back roads behind Oxford Street, she had to look in both directions before she spotted him heading towards a sleek black car parked on a double yellow.
She was about to run after him when she had a whats-wrong-with-this-picture? moment. Hang on. Why was she holding his child while he waltzed off with barely a backward glance? It was as if, in his rush to conquer the next obstacle, hed totally forgotten his daughter even existed. She looked down at the little girl, who was quite happy hitched onto her hip, watching a big red double-decker bus rumbling past the end of the road. She might not realise just how insensitive her father was being at the moment, just how much it hurt when one understood how extraneous they were to a parents life, but one day shed be old enough to notice. Ruby clamped her lips together and marched towards the car. No child deserved that.
She walked up to him, peeled the child off her hip and handed her over. Here, she said breezily. I think you forgot this.
The look of utter bewilderment on his face would have been funny if she hadnt been so angry. He took the girl from Ruby and held her out at arms length so her legs dangled above the chewing-gum-splattered pavement. Now it was free of toddler, Ruby put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows.
He was saved from answering by the most horrendous howling. It took her a few moments to realise it was the child making the sound. The ear-splitting noise bounced off the tall buildings and echoed round the narrow street.
Take it back! he said. Youre the only one who can make it stop!
Ruby took her hands off her hips and folded her arms. It has a name, I should think.
He offered the screaming bundle of arms and legs over, but Ruby stepped back. He patted the little girls back, trying to soothe her, but it just made her cry all the harder. The look of sheer panic on his face was actually quite endearing, she decided, especially as it went some way to softening that ruler of the universe thing he had going on. He was just as out of his depth as she was, wasnt he?
His eyes pleaded with her. Sofia. Her name is Sofia.
Ruby gave him a sweet smile and unfolded her arms to accept the little girl. She still didnt know whether following this through was a good idea, but the only other option was working for her dad. Hed flipped when hed found out shed given in her notice at the vintage fashion shop in Covent Garden.
Considering that her father didnt pay an awful lot of interest the rest of the time, Ruby had been shocked hed noticed, let alone cared. He was usually always too busy off saving the planet to worry about what his only child got up to, but this had lit his fuse for some reason.
According to him, Ruby needed a job. Ruby needed to grow up. Ruby needed to stop flitting around and settle to something.
Hed laid down a very clear ultimatum before hed left for the South Pacificget a proper job by the time he returned, or hed create a position for her in his production company. Once there, shed never escape. Shed never get promoted. Shed be doomed to being Whats her name? You know, Patrick Langes daughter...for ever.
Sofia grabbed for Ruby as her father handed her back over, clinging to her like the baby lemurs Ruby had got used to seeing in the Madagascan bush. A rush of protective warmth flooded up from her feet and landed in her chest.
She looked up at the man towering above her. And, before I get in that car, we might as well continue with the information gathering. Id offer to shake your hand but, as you can see she nodded to Sofia, whod burrowed her head in the crook of her neck its in use at the moment. Im Ruby Lange. With an e.
He looked at her blankly, recognising neither her name nor the need for a response. And you are? she prompted.
He blinked and seemed to recover himself. Max Martin.
Ruby shifted Sofia to a more comfortable position on her hip. Pleased to meet you, Mr Martin. She looked inside the dark interior of the limo. Now, are we going to start this interview or what?
* * *
Max sat frowning in the back of the limo. He wasnt quite sure what had just happened. One minute hed been fully in charge of the situation, and the next hed been ushered into his own car by a woman who looked as if shed had a fight with a jumble saleand lost.
She turned to face him, her eyes large and enquiring as she looked at him over the top of Sofias car seat, which was strapped between them. Fire away, she said, then waited.
He looked back at her.
I thought this was supposed to be an interview.
She was right. He had agreed to that, but the truth of the matter was that, unless she declared herself to be a drug-addicted mass murderer, the job was hers. He didnt have time to find anyone else.
He studied his new employee carefully. The women he interacted with on a daily basis definitely didnt dress like this. It was all colour and jarring patterns. Somehow it made her look very young. And, right there, he had his first question.
How old are you?
She blinked but held his gaze. Twenty-four.
Old enough, then. If hed had to guess, hed have put her at a couple of years younger. Didnt matter, though. If she could do the job, she could do the job, and the fact that the small bundle of arms and legs strapped into the car seat was finally silent was all the evidence he needed.
He checked his watch. He really didnt have time to chit-chat, so if she wanted to answer questions, hed dispense with the pleasantries and get on with the pertinent ones. How far away do you live?
For the first time since hed set eyes on her, she looked surprised.
Can we get there in under half an hour?
She frowned. Pimlico. So, yes... But why?
Can you pack a bag in under ten minutes?
She raised her eyebrows.
In my experience, most women cant, he said. I dont actually understand why, though. It seemed a simple enough task, after all. I believe it may have something to do with shoes.
My parents dragged me round the globetwicein my formative years, she replied crisply. I can pack a bag in under five if I have to.
Max smiled. And not just the distant but polite variety he rolled out at business meetings. This was the real deal. The nanny stopped looking quite so confrontational and her eyes widened. Max leaned forward and instructed the driver to head for Pimlico.
He felt a tapping on his shoulder, a neatly trimmed fingernail made its presence known through the fabric of his suit sleeve. He sat back in his seat and found her looking at him. I havent agreed to take the job yet.
She wasnt one to beat about the bush, was she? But, then again, neither was he.
Will you?
She folded her arms. I need to ask you a few questions first.
For some reason Max found himself smiling again. It felt odd, he realised. Not stiff or forced, just unfamiliar. As if hed forgotten how and had suddenly remembered. But he hadnt had a lot to smile about this year, had he?
Fire away, he said.
Was that a flicker of a smile he saw behind those eyes? If it was, it was swiftly contradicted by a stubborn lift of her chin. Well, Mr Martin, you seem to have skipped over some of the details.
Such as?
Such as: how long will you be requiring my services?
Oh, those kinds of details. A week, hopefully. Possibly two.
She made a funny little you-win-some-you-lose-some kind of expression.
A nasty cold feeling shot through him. She wasnt going to back out already, was she? Too long?
She shook her head. Id have been happy for it to be longer, but itll do.
They looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she delivered her next question. So why do you need a nanny for your daughter in such a hurry? I think Id like to know why the previous one left.
Max sat bolt upright in his seat. My daughter? Sofias not my daughter!
The nannyor almost nanny, he reminded himselfgave him a wry look. See? This is what Im talking about...details.
Max ignored the comment. He was great with details. But nowadays he paid other people to concentrate on the trivial nit-picky things so he could do the important stuff. It workedmost of the timebecause he had assistants and deputies to spring into action whenever he required them to, but when it came to his personal life he had no such army of willing helpers. Probably because he didnt have much of a personal life. It irritated him that this mismatched young woman had highlighted a failing he hadnt realised he had. Still, he could manage details, sketchy or otherwise, if he tried.
Sofia is my niece.
Oh...
Max usually found the vagaries of the female mind something of a mystery. He was always managing to put his foot in it with the women in his lifewhen he had time for anybut he found this one unusually easy to read. The expression that accompanied her breathy sigh of realisation clearly said, Well, that explains a lot.
Lets just say that I had not planned to be child-minding today.
She pressed her lips together, as if to stop herself from laughing. You mean you were left holding the baby.... Literally.
He nodded. My sister is an...actress.
At least, shed been trying to be the last five years.
Oh! Has she been in anything Ive heard of?
Max let out a sigh. Probably not. But she got a call from her agent this morning about an audition for a smallish part in a biggish film. Something with... what was the name? ...Jared Fisher in it.
The nannys eyes widened. Wow! Hes really h She shut her mouth abruptly and nibbled her top lip with her teeth. What I meant to say was, what a fabulous opportunity for her.
Apparently so. She got the job, but they wanted her in L.A. right away. The actress who was supposed to be playing the part came down with appendicitis and it was now or never.
Secretly he wondered if it would have been better if his little sister had sloped despondently into his office later that afternoon, collected her daughter and had gone home. Shed always had a bit of a bohemian lifestyle, and theyd lost touch while shed travelled the world, working her way from one restaurant to another as she waited for her big break. But then Sofia had come along and shed settled down in London. He really didnt know if this was a good idea.
Maybe things might have been different if theyd grown up in the same house after their parents had split, but, while hed benefited from the steadying influence of their English father, Gia had stayed with their mother, a woman who had turned fickle and inconsistent into an art form.
They had grown apart as teenagers, living in different countries, with totally different goals, values and personalities, but he was trying to make up for it now they were more a part of each others lives.
Gia always accused him of butting his nose in where it wasnt wanted and trying to run her life for her, but she always said it with a smile and she was annoyingly difficult to argue with. Perhaps that was why, when shed turned up at his office that morning with Sofia and had begged him to help her, her eyes full of hope and longing, he hadnt been able to say no.
And what about you? he asked. Why do you need a job in such a hurry?
She rolled her eyes. It was either this, or my father was threatening to make me work for him.
You dont want to work for the family firm?
She pulled a face. Id rather jump off the top of The Shard! Wouldnt you?
Max stiffened. I now head up the business my father built from nothing.
An unexpected stab of pain hit him in his ribcage, and then came the roll of dark emotion that always followed. Life had been much simpler when hed been able to bury it all so deep it had been as if it hadnt existed. Theres something to be said for family loyalty, he added gruffly. For loyalty full stop, actually.
She looked a little uncomfortable, but waltzed her way out of the awkward moment with a quip. Well, Im quite prepared to be loyal to your family. Just as long as you dont ask me to get entangled with mine. Parents are fine and all that, but Id rather keep them at a safe distance.
Max couldnt help but think of his mother, and he decided not to quiz Ruby any further on her motives. It wasnt going to alter whether he hired her or not for a couple of weeks. If this had been for a more permanent fixture in his life, it might have been a different matter.
So, why do you need a travelling nanny? Her face lit up. Are we going to Hollywood?
She sounded just like Gia. Max resisted the urge to close his eyes and wish this were all a bad dream, that hed wake up in bed, his nice, ordered life back.
Im taking Sofia to stay with her grandmother, he said. It was the only possible solution. All he had to do now was convince his mother of that. I cant possibly babysit a toddler for the next fortnight, even if I knew how to. I have three weeks to turn around an important work situation and I cant take any time off.
The shock of realising hed have to cope with Sofia on his own while Gia was away had been bad enough, but then his biggest client had phoned, slinging a spanner in the works. Now he couldnt afford even an hour off work, let alone a fortnight. He needed time to think. Space. Peace and quiet. And Sofia brought none of those things with her in her tiny, howling package.
Hopefully hed get Sofia installed at his mothers, then hed be able to fly back and be at his desk first thing Monday, only half a day lost. It had been Gias idea, and, while he didnt relish having to take time out to deliver Sofia, at least his sisters moment of destiny had come on a Friday morning. Hed stay overnight to make sure they all settled in and leave the nanny with his mother. Hed thought of everything.
The girl gave him a sideways look. So work is important to you? More than family? She didnt look impressed.
Max gave her one of his patented you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about looks. Of course family was important! That was why he had to seal this deal. He was determined to carry on and finish what he and his father had started together, to ensure that his dads dream was fulfilled.
Im a thirty-something bachelor with a riverside apartment that has split-level floors with no railings, stairs with no banisters and no outside space except a balcony with a hundred-foot drop to the Thames. Do you think it would be the responsible thing to allow a child to live there?
He could see her wrestling with herself, but finally she shook her head.
Taking her to her grandmothers is the most sensible and practical thing to dofor everybody.
He looked up. Theyd crossed the river now and could only be minutes from her home. If she said no hed just drop her off and theyd never see each other again. And hed have to wrestle a screaming Sofia all the way to her grandmothers on his own.
So, Miss Lange with an e, will you take the job?
She inhaled and held the breath for a few seconds before glancing up at her building, then she let the air out again. I have one last question.
Which is?
The corners of her mouth curled up, as if she couldnt quite believe he hadnt mentioned this himself. You really are a big-picture kind of guy, arent you?
Yes, he was. How did you know?
Theres another detail youve forgotten, a rather important one. If Im going to be your travelling nanny, I kind of need to know where well be travelling to.
Ah, yes. Another good point. He cleared his throat. Italy, he said. Were going to Venice.
Rubys hand shot out, her long slender fingers stretched towards him. Done. He half expected her to spit in her palm, but she just looked steadily at him.
He encased her smaller hand in his own, feeling the warmth of her palm, the softness of her skin. Something tiny but powerful tingled all the way up his arm. He shook her hand. Its a deal, he said, his voice rumbling in his own ears. Youre hired.
But as he pulled his hand away he started to wonder if he knew exactly what hed got himself into.
CHAPTER THREE
RUBY SHOULD HAVE realised when the limo driver gingerly put her hastily packed canvas rucksack into the boot that this journey was going to be different. She was used to travelling, used to crowded terminals in international airports teeming with the whole spectrum of human life. She was used to queuing just to buy a bottle of water and browsing the endless shops filled with travel gadgets in order to fill the time. She was used to playing hunt the chair in the departure hall, and dozing on it with her jacket for a pillow when she found one.
She was not used to hushed and elegant lounges in small city airports, free food, drink and entertainment. Even though her father could easily afford to fly business class everywhere, he refused to, preferring what he called real travel. If he wasnt squished into Economy or standing at a three-mile queue at Immigration it wasnt a real trip. Of course, the public loved him for it. Privately, Ruby had always wondered why dust and the ubiquitous Jeep with dodgy suspension were more authentic than air-conditioned coaches these days, but she wasnt daft enough to argue with him. He was disappointed in her enough already.
She sighed. It had been better when Mum had been alive. Even though shed done exactly the same job, travelled along with him and presented the programmes alongside him, shed always been good at hugs and sending postcards and presents to boarding school to let Ruby know that just because she was out of sight, it didnt mean she was out of mind. Her father was no good at that stuff. And after shed died hed channelled his grief into his work, meaning he lost himself in it more than he ever had done before.
Ruby found herself a spot on the edge of a designer sofa in the lounge and reached for the bowl of macadamia nuts on the table in front of her, only scooping two or three out with her fingers and popping them quickly into her mouth, then she returned to doodling on a paper napkin with a pen shed pulled out of her bag.
It was supposed to have been easier once the journey got under way. Shed thought that at least the travelling part of being a travelling nanny would be inside her comfort zone. Wrong again, Ruby. And she didnt even have anything work-related to do to keep her mind off her awkwardness, because Sofia, obviously exhausted by the sheer graft of tantruming half the day, was stretched out on the plush sofa with her thumb in her mouth, fast asleep and completely unaware of her surroundings.
Her new boss didnt make it any easier. Hed hardly made eye contact with her since theyd left her flat, let alone talked to her. He was a right barrel of laughs.
She filled the short time they had by quickly sketching him as he remained, granite-like and motionless, hunched over his laptop; the only parts of him moving were his eyes and his fingers. She used only a few lines to get the back of his head and his jaw right, leaving the strokes bare and uncompromising, then settled down to reproducing the wrinkles on the arms of his jacket, the soft shock of dark thick hair that was trimmed to perfection at his nape.
Thankfully, once the flight was called and they had to head to the gate and board the plane, Ruby started to feel a little more normal. Jollying a freshly woken toddler along kept her occupied. It wasnt that difficult. Sofia was a sweet child, even if the quiet curiosity hid a will of steel, like her uncles. Poor child must have been scared and upset when shed seen her mother disappear out of Maxs office without her. It was no wonder shed screamed the place down.
As the plane began its descent to Marco Polo airport Ruby began to feel the familiar quiver of excitement she always got at arriving somewhere new. Shed always wanted to visit Venice, had even begged her father to go when shed been younger, but he hadnt been interested. It was a man-made construction, built on stilts in the middle of a lagoon, and the city itself had few open green spaces, let alone rare wildlifeunless you had an unusual passion for pigeons. Ruby didnt care about that. She liked cities. And this oneLa Serenissima, as it used to be knownwas supposed to be the jewel of them all.
It was a disappointment, then, to discover that they werent going to be arriving in Venice by boat, as many visitors did. Instead Max had ordered a car to take them along the main road towards the city of Mestre, which then turned onto the seemingly endless bridge that stretched from the land to the city across the lagoon.
Sofia began to whine. Although shed had that brief nap at the airport, the poor little girl looked ready to drop. Ruby did her best to calm her down, and it helped, but what the child really needed was someone she knew. She might have taken to her new nanny, but Ruby was still a stranger. As was her uncle, Ruby guessed. The sooner she was reunited with her grandmother, the better.
The car pulled to a halt and Ruby looked up. Her face fell. Usually, she liked catching the first glimpse of a new place, seeing it as a far-off dot on the horizon, and getting more and more excited as it got closer and closer. This evening, shed been so busy distracting Sofia back from the verge of another tantrum, shed missed all of that. Theyd arrived at a large square full of buses. They were in Venice at last, and yet this didnt look magical at all. The Piazzala Roma looked very much like any other busy transport hub in any busy city.
People were everywhere. They spilled off the large orange buses that seemed to arrive and leave every few minutes, dragging luggage behind them as they set off on foot, maps in hands; or they queued wearily and waited for the buses to empty so they could clamber inside and head back to the mainland.
The driver started unloading the bags. Ruby took her rucksack from the boot before this one had a chance to be snooty about it, then reached inside and unclipped Sofia from her car seat. The little girl grizzled softly as she clung round Rubys neck. They walked a short distance to a waiting motor launch on the side of a nearby canal. But Ruby was too busy trying to work out if the sticky substance Sofia had just wiped onto her neck was tears or snot to really pay attention. The boat driver nodded a greeting to Max, and then started up the engine.
For the next few minutes they took a dizzying route through the narrow canalsthe equivalent of back streets, she supposedand she could hardly see more than whitewashed or brick walls, oddly placed ornate windows high up in them, or the odd washing line strung with underwear, waving like unconventional bunting above their heads. But then they emerged onto the Grand Canal and Ruby was glad she was sitting down, with Sofias weight anchoring her to her seat in the back of the boat, because she surely would have thumped down onto her backside if shed been standing up.
Shed never seen so many beautiful buildings in one place. All were ornately decorated with arches and windows and balconies. Some were crested with intricate crenellations that reminded her of royal icing fit for a wedding cake. Others were the most beautiful colours, the old stone worn and warmed by both the salt of the lagoon water that lapped at their bases and the soft sun dangling effortlessly in a misty sky.
She was still sitting there with her mouth open when the boat puttered to a stop outside a grand-looking palazzo. Instantly, two uniformed men dashed out of an ornate wooden door and onto the small, private landing stage, complete with the red-and-white-striped poles, and collected their bags and helped them from the boat. One tried to relieve Ruby of Sofia, but the little girl wouldnt have it. She clung so hard to Rubys neck that Ruby almost choked. She had to make do with letting one of the men steady her as she clambered, a little off balance, onto the small stone jetty.
Ruby looked up. The building was very elegant. Traditional Venetian style, its tall windows topped with almost church-like stonework. Surely nobody real could live anywhere quite so beautiful?
Max must have decided she was dawdling, because he huffed something and turned.
She shook her head slightly. Your mother lives here?
He thought she was being slow again. She could tell by the way he was looking at her, a weary sense of disbelief on his features. Of course my mother doesnt live here. Its a hotel.
Maybe it was because she was tired and Sofia felt like a lead weight, or maybe it was because this had probably been the strangest day of her life so far, but she bristled. You said we were taking Sofia to see your mother. You didnt say anything about a hotel.
Didnt I?
No, you didnt, she said darkly, and then muttered under her breath, Details, Mr Martin.
He waited until they had walked through the lobby and were whooshing upwards in a shiny mirrored lift before he spoke again. This is the Lagoon Palace Hotel. Sofia is tired. He nodded in her direction, where the child was still clamped onto Rubys shoulder like an oversized limpet. It was the first time hed even given a hint hed remembered his niece existed since shed taken over. And, consequently, the fact hed even noticed Sofia was exhausted took Ruby by surprise. Itll be a lot less fuss if we settle in here this evening and go and see my mother in the morning.
Ruby opened her mouth to ask why, then shut it again. A flicker of a look had passed across his features, tensing his jaw and setting his shoulders. She was only too well acquainted with that look. Some people rushed into their parents arms after a separation, but other people? Well, sometimes they needed a chance to mentally prepare themselves.
She just hadnt expected Max Martin, who seemed to have life buttoned up and marching to his tune, to be one of her fellow throng.
* * *
The inside of the Lagoon Palace was a surprise. Ruby had expected it to be full of ornate furniture, antiques and brocade, but the style was a mix of classic and contemporary. The original features of the building were intact, such as the tall marble fireplaces, the plasterwork and painted ceilings, but the decor was modern, with furnishings in bold, bright colours and rich textures.
The suite Max had booked had a main living area overlooking the Grand Canal and a bedroom on either side. A low, modern sofa in cherry-red velvet faced the windows and two matching armchairs sat at right angles. The end tables were a funky organic shape and the walls were the same colour as the furnishings. Other than that it was all dark wood and pale creamy marble.
Ruby stood in the middle of the living area, mouth open, taking it all in. I was expecting something a little more...traditional, she said to Max as she dropped her rucksack on the floor and let Sofia down from where shed been carrying her. Sofia instantly thrust her arms upwards, demanding to be picked up again.
Ruby sighed and did as commanded. She needed a moment to get her bearings and having a wailing child wouldnt help. So far shed felt totally at sea, and she had no idea whether she was looking after Sofia the right way. For all she knew, she could be mentally scarring the child for life.
Her uncle might not have noticed, but she needed to start acting, and thinking, like a real nanny. Tomorrow theyd be meeting Sofias grandmother, and, if she was anything like her son, shed be sharp as a tack, and she definitely wouldnt be oblivious to Rubys shortcomings. The last thing she wanted was to lose this job before it had even started.
I dont like clutter, Max said. He took a moment to look around the suite, as if he hadnt really taken it all in before. While its not exactly minimalist, its as unfussy as this city gets.
Sofia began to grizzle again, so Ruby carried her across to one of the bedroom doors and looked inside. There was a huge bed, with a sofa with burnt orange velvet cushions at the foot, and large windows draped in the same heavy fabric. Obviously the bosss room. She retreated and checked the door on the opposite side of the living area. It led to a spacious room with twin beds, decorated in brown and cream with colourful abstract prints on the walls. She assumed shed be sharing with Sofia, at least for tonight.
She was relieved to see each room had its own en suite. It was odd, this nannying lark. Being part of a family, but not really being part of a family. There were obviously boundaries, which helped both family and employee, but Ruby had no idea where to draw those lines. Still, she expected that sharing a bathroom, trying to brush your teeth in the sink at the same time as your pyjama-clad boss, was probably a step too far.
Not that she wanted to see Max Martin in his pyjamas, of course.
For some reason that thought made her cheeks heat, and she distracted herself by lugging Sofia back into the living room, where her new boss was busy muttering to himself as he tried to hook up his laptop at a dark, stylish wooden desk tucked into the corner between his bedroom door and the windows.
Im going to put Sofia to bed now, she told him. She ate on the plane, and shes clearly dog-tired.
Max just grunted from where he had his head under the desk, then backed out and stood up. He looked at Sofia, but didnt move towards them.
Come on, sweetie, Ruby cooed. Say night-night to Uncle Max.
Sofia just clung on tighter. Eventually he walked towards them and placed an awkward kiss on the top of the little girls head. Ruby tried not to notice the smell of his aftershave or the way the air seemed to ripple around her when he came near, and then she quickly scurried away and got Sofia ready for bed.
She put Sofia to bed in one of the twin beds in their room. In the bag her mother had packed for her, Ruby found a number of changes of clothes, the usual toiletries, a few books and a rather over-loved stuffed rabbit.
Want Mamma, the little girl sniffed as Ruby helped her into her pyjamas.
Rubys heart lurched. She knew exactly how that felt, even though her separation from her mother was permanent and at least Sofia would see hers again very soon. But at this age, it must feel like an eternity.
She picked Sofia up and sat her on her lap, held her close, and pulled out a book to read, partly as part of the bedtime ritual, but partly to distract the child from missing her mother. She also gave her the rabbit. Sofia grabbed on to the toy gratefully and instantly stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes, giving out one last shuddering breath before going limp in Rubys arms.
Not even enough energy for a bedtime story. Poor little thing.
Ruby put the book on the bedside table and slid Sofia under the covers before turning out the light.
Ruby knew what it felt like to be carted from place to place, often not knowing where you were or who youd been left with. She was tempted to reach across and smooth a dark curl away from Sofias forehead, but she kept her hand in her lap.
Usually, she threw herself into each new job with gusto, immersing herself completely in it, but she had a feeling it would be a bad idea for a travelling nanny. This was a two-week job at most. She couldnt get too attached. Mustnt. So she just sat on the edge of the bed watching Sofias tiny chest rise and fall for what seemed like ages.
When she was sure her charge was soundly asleep, and she wouldnt disturb her by moving, she crept out and closed the bedroom door softly behind her. The living room of the suite was steeped in silence and the large gurgle her stomach produced as she tiptoed towards the sofa seemed to echo up to the high ceilings. It was dark now, and the heavy red curtains were drawn, blocking out any view of the canal. Ruby longed to go and fling them open, but she supposed it wasnt her choice. If her boss wanted to shut himself away from the outside world, from all that beauty and magnificence, then that was his decision.
She could hear her employer through his open bedroom door, in a one-sided conversation, talking in clipped, hushed tones. She glanced over at the desk, where hed already made himself quite at home. The surface was covered in sheets of paper and printouts, and a laptop was silently displaying a company name that floated round the screen.
Martin & Martin.
Ruby changed direction and wandered over to take a better look. Amongst the printed-out emails and neat handwritten notes there were also half-rolled architectural plansfor something very big and very grand, by the looks of it.
So Max Martin was an architect. She could see how that suited him. He was possibly the most rigid man shed ever met. Anything he built would probably last for centuries.
She couldnt help peering over the plans to get a better look at the writing on the bottom corner of the sheet.
The National Institute of Fine Art.
Wow. That was one of her favourite places to hang out in London on a rainy afternoon. And shed seen a display last time shed visited about plans for a new wing and a way to cover the existing courtyard to provide a central hub for the gallerys three other wings.
Maxs voice grew louder and Ruby scuttled away from the desk. Shed just reached the centre of the room when he emerged from his bedroom, mobile phone pressed to his ear. She did a good job of trying not to listen, pretending to flick through a magazine shed grabbed from the coffee table instead, but, even though she was trying to keep her nose to herself, it was obvious that Max was the front-runner for the institutes new wing, but the clients had reservations.
She finished flipping through the glossy fashion mag and put it back down on the table. To be honest, she wasnt sure what to do now. Did being Sofias nanny mean she just had to hole herself up in the bedroom with her, never to be seen or heard without child in tow? Or was she allowed to mingle with other members of the family? Seeing as this was her first experience of being a nanny she had absolutely no clue, and seeing as this was Maxs first experience of hiring oneeven if he had been the kind of person to dole out information without the use of thumbscrewshe probably didnt know, either.
He turned and strode towards her, frowning, listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
Ruby looked up at him, expecting maybe a nod, or even a blink of recognition as he passed by, but she got none. It was as if hed totally forgotten she existed. So she became more comfortable studying him. He looked tired, she thought as she watched him pace first in one direction and then another, always marking out straight lines with precise angles. The top button of his shirt was undone and his tie was nowhere to be seen.
It was odd. All day so far, hed just seemed like a force of naturealbeit in a pristine suitand now that just the tiniest part of that armour had been discarded she was suddenly confronted by the fact he was a man. And a rather attractive one at that.
His dark hair was short but not severe, and now she knew he had Italian blood in him, she could see it in the set of his eyes and his long, straight nose. The mouth, however, was totally British, tightly drawn in, jaw tense as he grimaced at some unwelcome news and hung up on the caller without saying goodbye. He brought the phone down from his ear and stared at it so hard that Ruby thought it might burst into flames.
That was when he looked up and spotted her sitting where shed been for the last ten minutes, and it took him by total surprise. She allowed her lips to curve into the barest of smiles and held his gaze. For some reason she liked the fact her presence sometimes ruffled him.
He shoved his phone back in his pocket. Is there anything you need?
His tone wasnt harsh, just practical.
I was wondering what to do about food. Her stomach growled again, just to underline the fact. She refused to blush.
He had only just stopped frowning at his phone call, and now his features crumpled back into the same expression, as if hed forgotten hunger was an option for him, and he was taking time to remember what the sensation was like. Eventually, he indicated a menu on the sideboard. Have what you want sent up.
Ruby nodded. Shed been hoping hed say that. Do you want anything while Im ordering?
No... His gaze drifted towards the array of papers on the desk and he was drawn magnetically to it. He picked up a sheet and started reading a page of dense text.
Ruby wasnt quite sure if hed finished saying everything hed been going to say, but she guessed hed forgotten hed actually started talking, so she went and fetched the menu. When she ordered her club sandwich she did it discreetly, so as not to disturb him, and just before she put the phone down she quietly ordered another. He hadnt touched the food on the plane, and she hadnt seen him eat anything all afternoon. He had to get hungry some time, didnt he?
If he did, he showed no sign of it. His eyes stayed on his papers while his fingers rapped out email after email on his laptop. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, slightly fascinated. He was so focused, so intense. He seemed to have an innate sense of confidence in his own ability to do what needed to be done.
To be honest, she was a little jealous.
Shed tried a number of jobs since dropping out of university but none of them had stuck. She wanted what Max had. A purpose. No, a calling. A sense of who she was in this world and what she was supposed to be doing while she was here.
A knock on the door a few minutes later heralded the arrival of her dinner. She opened the door and tipped the room-service guy, then wheeled the little trolley closer to the sofa.
What she needed to do right now was stuff her face with her sandwich, before her stomach climbed up her throat and came to get it. That was the problem, maybe. She could always see the step that was right in front of her, the immediate detailslike taking the job this afternoonbut when it came to the big picture of her life it was always fuzzy and a bit out of focus.
She poured a glass of red wine from a bottle shed ordered to go along with the food and took it, and the other sandwich, over to her boss. He didnt look up, so she cleared a little space at the corner of papers and put the plate down. The wine, however, was more tricky. The last thing she wanted to do was put it where hed knock it over. Eventually, she just coughed lightly, and he looked up.
Here, she said, handing him the glass. You looked like you could do with this.
For a moment he looked as if he was going to argue, but then he looked longingly at the glass of Pinot Noir and took it from her. As he did, just the very tips of their fingers brushed together.
Thank you, he said.
Ruby held her breath, then backed away silently. Her face felt hot and she had the sudden urge to babble. She always did that when she was flustered or nervous, and suddenly she was both.
Max, however, didnt notice. It was obvious he was as cool and calm and focused as hed always been. He put the glass down near the back of the desk and carried on typing the email hed been working on. Her cheeks flushed, Ruby retreated to the far end of the large sofa and ate her sandwich in silence.
When shed finished her dinner, she stood up and replaced the empty plate on the trolley, then she hovered for a moment. He hadnt touched either the food or the wine. She wanted to say something, but she didnt know what; then she interrupted herself with a yawn. It was almost ten and it had been a long day. Maybe she should just go and get ready for bed.
Still, as she made her way towards her bedroom door she lingered, fingers on the handle, her eyes drawn to the silent figure hunched over his laptop in the corner. It was a long while before she pressed down on the metal fixture and pushed the door open.
As she got undressed in the semi-dark, careful not to wake the sleeping child, she thought about Max and all his quiet dedication and commitment. Maybe he was rubbing off on her, because suddenly she wanted to rise to the challenge in front of her.
She knew it seemed as if shed come by this job almost by accident, but maybe that was just fate sending her a big, flashing neon sign? This way, Ruby... Maybe being a nanny was what she was meant to do. Hadnt Max said she was exactly what he needed? And Sofia already seemed very attached to her.
She held her breath as she slid in between the cool cotton sheets and pulled the covers up over her chest. Maybe this was her calling. Who knew? But for the next weekpossibly twoshed have her chance to find out.
* * *
Max looked up from his plans and papers and noticed a club sandwich sitting on the edge of the desk. How long had that been there? His stomach growled and he reached for it and devoured it in record time.
Ruby must have put it there. He frowned. Something about that felt wrong.
And not just because taking care of him wasnt part of her job description. He just wasnt used to being taken care of full stop, mainly because hed carefully structured his life so he was totally self-sufficient. He didnt need anyone to look after him. He didnt need anyone, at all. And that was just as well. While his father had been his rock, he hadnt been the touchy-feely sort, and work had always kept him away from home for long hours. And his mother...
Well, he hadnt had a mothers influence in his life since hed been a teenager, and even before the divorce things had been...explosive...at home.
A rush of memories rolled over him. He tried to hold them at bay, but there were too many, coming too fast, like a giant wave breaching a sea wall in a storm. That wall had held fast for so many years. He didnt know why it was crumbling now, only that it was. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, paced across the living room of the suite in an effort to escape it.
This was why he hated this city. It was too old, full of too much history. Somehow the pastanyones pastweighed too heavily here.
He shook his head and reached for the half-drunk bottle of wine on the room-service trolley and went to refill his glass. The Pinot had been perfect, rich and soothing. Just what hed needed.
He didnt want to revisit any of those memories. Not even the good ones. Yes, his mother had been wonderful when shed been happywarm, loving, such funbut the tail end of his parents marriage had been anything but happy. Those good times were now superimposed with her loud and expressive fits of rage, the kind only an Italian woman knew how to give, and his fathers silent and stoic sternness, as he refused to be baited, to be drawn into the game. Sometimes the one-sided fights had gone on for days.
He took another slug of wine and tried to unclench his shoulder muscles.
His relationship with his mother had never been good, not since the day shed left the family home in a taxi and a cloud of her own perfume. He hadnt spoken to her in at least a year, and hadnt seen her for more than three.
He looked down at his glass and noticed hed polished it off without realising. There was still another left in the bottle....
No. He put his glass down on the desk and switched off his laptop. No more for tonight. Because if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that hed need a clear head to deal with his mother come morning.
CHAPTER FOUR
MAX WALKED OUT of his bedroom then stopped, completely arrested by the sight in front of him. What the heck?
And it wasnt the spray of cereal hoops all over the coffee table or the splash of milk threatening to drip off the edge. Nor was it the sight of his niece, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and eating a pastry, no sign of a tantrum in sight. No, it was the fact that the nanny hed hired yesterday bore no resemblance to the one who was busily trying to erase the evidence of what had obviously been a rather messy breakfast session.
She froze when she heard him walk in, then turned around. Her gaze drifted to the mess in the middle of the room. Sofia doesnt like cereal, apparently, she explained calmly. And she felt the need to demonstrate that with considerable gusto.
He blinked and looked again.
The voice was right. And the attitude. But this looked like a different girl.... Nowoman. This one was definitely a woman.
Gone was the slightly hippy-looking patchwork scarecrow from the day before, to be replaced by someone in a bright red fifties dress covered in big cartoon strawberries. With the full skirt and the little black shoes and the short hair swept from her face, she looked like a psychedelic version of Audrey Hepburn.
Hair! That was it!
He looked again. The purple streaks were still there, just not as apparent in this neater style. Good. For a moment there, hed thought hed been having a particularly vivid dream.
Good morning, he finally managed to mutter.
She raised her eyebrows.
Max covered up the fact that the sight of all those strawberries had made him momentarily forget her name by launching in with something shed likedetails. After breakfast were going to visit Sofias grandmother. He paused and looked at the slightly milk-drenched, pastry-flake-covered child in front of him. Would you be able to get her looking presentable by ten?
The nanny nodded. I think so.
Good. Max felt his stomach unclench. My mother is not someone who tolerates an untidy appearance. And then he turned to go and fire up his laptop, but he could have sworn he heard her mutter, What a shocker... under her breath.
* * *
The water taxi slowed outside a large palazzo with its own landing stage leading up to a heavy front door. Theyd travelled for maybe fifteen minutes, leaving the Grand Canal behind and heading into the Castello district of the city.
The building was almost as large at the hotel theyd just left, but where its plaster had been pristine and smooth, this palace was looking a little more tired round the edges. Green slime coated the walls at the waterline, indicating the height of the high tide. Some of the pink plasterwork had peeled off at the bottom of the structure leaving an undulating wave of bare bricks showing.
There were grilles over the ground-floor windows, and the plaster was peeling away there, too, but up above there were the most wonderful stone balcony and window boxes overflowing with ivy and white flowers. The overall effect was like that of a grand old lady whod had a fabulous time at the ball but had now sat down, a little tired and flustered, to compose herself.
Rubys eyes were wide as she clung onto Sofia to stop her scrambling ashore before the boat was properly secured.
Max must have read her mind. This is Ca Damiani and, yes, my mother lives here. But she doesnt occupy the whole thing, just the piano nobile.
Ruby nodded, even though she had no idea what that meant.
A lot of these grand old buildings have been split up into apartments, he explained as he hopped from the boat and offered to take Sofia from her. In buildings like these the floor above ground level was the prime spot, where the grandest rooms of the house were situatedthe stage for all the familys dramas. He sighed. And theres nothing my mother likes more than a grand drama.
His voice was neutral, expressionless even, but she could see the tension in his jaw, the way the air around him seemed heavy and tense. This was not a joyful homecoming, not one bit.
Ruby clambered out of the boat and reached for Sofias hand, and then the three of them together walked off the dock and up to a double door with a large and tarnished brass knocker. Ruby swallowed as Max lifted it. When it fell the noise rang out like a gunshot, and she jumped. She did her best not to fidget as they waited.
After a short wait the door swung open. Ruby would have expected it to creak, from the age of it, but it was as silent as a rush of air. The woman who was standing there was also something of a surprise. Ruby had expected her to be tall and dark, like Max, but she was petite and her blond hair was artfully swept into a twist at the back of her head. She wore a suit with a dusky pink jacket and skirt and, just like every other Italian woman Ruby had ever met, carried with her an innate sense of confidence in her own style. Not a hair on her head was out of place.
Ruby looked down at her strawberry-patterned skirt. Shed chosen her best vintage dress for today in an attempt to emulate that effortless style, but now she feared she just looked like a sideshow freak instead of la bella figura. She held back, hiding herself a little behind Maxs much larger frame.
His mother looked at him for a long moment.
No, Ruby thought, she didnt just look. She drank him in.
Well, you have finally come, Massimo, she said in Italian, her voice hoarse.
Ive told you I prefer Max, he replied in English. And it was an emergency. Gia needed me. What else could I do? I wasnt going to run out on her, on my family, because things got a little difficult.
The words hung between them like an accusation. Ruby saw the older woman pale, but then she drew herself taller.
Oh, I know that it is not on my account that you are here, she said crisply. As for the other matter, I named you, Massimo, so I shall call you what I like. She glanced down and her face broke into a wide and warm smile. Darling child! Come here to your nonna!
Sofia hesitated for a second, then allowed herself to be picked up and held. Ruby guessed that Maxs sister must be a more frequent visitor here than he was. After a couple of moments Sofia was smiling and using her chubby fingers to explore the gold chain and pendant around her grandmothers neck. She seemed totally at ease.
When shed finished fussing over her granddaughter, Maxs mother lifted her head and looked at him. Youd better come inside.
She retreated into a large hallway with a diamond-tiled floor and rough brick walls. There were hints of the plaster that had once covered them, and most of the moulded ceilings were intact. However, instead of seeming tumbledown, it just made the palazzos ground floor seem grand and ancient. There were a few console tables and antiques, and a rather imposing staircase with swirling wrought iron banisters curved upwards to the first floor.
His mother started making her way up the staircase, but when she turned the corner and realised there was an extra body still following them, and it wasnt just someone whod helped them unload from the boat, she stopped and walked back down to where Ruby was on the floor, ballet-slippered foot hovering above the bottom step, and let Sofia slide from her embrace.
And who do we have here? she asked, looking Ruby up and down with interest. Rubys heart thudded inside her ribcage. Not the sort of girl who usually trailed around after her son, probably. Well, almost definitely.
This is Sofias nanny, Max said, this time joining his mother in her native language. I hired her especially for the trip.
Ruby Lange, Ruby said and offered her hand, hoping it wasnt sticky, and then continued in her best Italian, Its lovely to meet you.
Maxs mother just turned and stared at her son, tears filling her eyes, and then she set off up the staircase again, this time at speed, her heels clicking against the stone. You have insulted me, Massimo! Of all the things you could have done!
Max hurried up the stairs after his mother. Ive done nothing of the sort. Youre making no sense at all.
Hed reverted to English. Which was a pity, because when he spoke Italian he sounded like a different man. Oh, the depth and tone of the voice were the same, but it had sounded richer, warmer. As if it belonged to a man capable of the same passion and drama as the woman he was chasing up the stairs.
Ruby turned to Sofia, who was looking up the staircase after her uncle and grandmother. Once again, shed been forgotten. Ruby wanted to pull her up into her arms and hug her hard. She knew what it was like to always be left behind, to always be the complication that stopped the adults in your life from doing what they wanted. What do you say, kiddo? Shall we follow the grown-ups?
Sofia nodded and they made their way up the stairs. It was slow progress. Sofia had to place both feet on a step before moving to the next one. Her little legs just werent capable of anything else. When they got halfway, Ruby gave up and held out her arms. The little girl quickly clambered up her and let her nanny do the hard work.
Well, that was what she was here for. Or she would be if Signora Martin didnt think she was so much of an insult that she threw Ruby out on her ear. Max hadnt been wrong when hed mentioned drama, had he?
When she got to the top of the stairs the decor changed. There was wood panelling on the walls and the ceilings were painted in pastel colours with intricate plasterwork patterns. Every few feet there were wall sconces, dripping with crystals. If this explosion of baroque architecture and cluttered antique furniture was what Max had meant when hed called Venetian style fussy, she could see his point.
The discussion was still raging, in a room just off the landing. The space must have been huge, because their voices echoed the same way they would in a church or a museum. His mothers was emotive and loud, Maxs steady and even. Ruby was glad her soft shoes didnt make much noise and she crept in the direction of the raised voices, Sofia resting on her hip.
Youre never going to forgive me, are you? his mother finally said softly.
Ruby crept a little closer. The room had double doors, which were still standing where theyd been flung open, and she peeked at the interior through the gap next to the hinges.
Maxs mother closed her eyes and sadness washed over her features. Thats why you brought the nanny, wasnt it? You think Im not fit to look after my granddaughter on my own. Was I really such a terrible mother?
This was getting too personal, Ruby realised. It was time to back away, leave them to it. Shed just have to find somewhere to hide out with Sofia until the whole thing blew over. Surely there must be a kitchen in this place somewhere?
She retreated a couple of steps, but shed forgotten that she was much less nimble with Sofia increasing her bulk and she knocked into a side table and made the photo frames and lamp on it jangle.
There was silence in the room beyond. Ruby held her breath. A moment later Max appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to come inside. Ruby would rather have drunk a gallon of lagoon water, but she really didnt have much choice. She hoisted Sofia up into a more comfortable position, tipped her chin up and walked into the room.
It was a grand Venetian salon, with a vast honey-coloured marble fireplace and trompe loeil pillars and mouldings painted on the walls in matching tones, with mythic scenes on the walls in between. A row of arched windows leading onto a stone balcony dominated the opposite side of the room, and three large green sofas were arranged in a C-shape, facing them. But the sight that Ruby was most interested in was the stiff figure in the pink suit standing in the middle of the room.
Ruby isnt here to usurp you, Mamma. I hired her partly to help me bring Sofia over here with minimum fuss, but also because I thought she could help you. Why should you have to cancel your social engagements, alter your plans, for the next couple of weeks because of Gias work problems?
The other womans features softened a little, and she looked a little ashamed. She turned to face Ruby and held out her hand. Ruby let Sofia down and the little girl ran to the window to look at a speedboat that had just shot down the medium-sized canal beyond.
Serafina Martin. She smiled warmly and shook Rubys hand firmly but very briefly. But everybody calls me Fina. I apologise most sincerely for not welcoming you to Ca Damiani when you first arrived, but I do so now.
Ruby replied in her best Italian. Thank you, Signora Martin, for your welcome and for opening your home to me, if you do decide you could do with my help. Im afraid this is my first job as a nanny so Ive been thrown in at the deep end. She glanced at Max, who was watching her carefully. Youll probably have to help me more than Ill help you.
A small flicker of approval, and maybe relief, passed across the other womans features. Fina tilted her head. Your Italian is very good.
Ruby kept her smile demure. Thank you.
Finas gaze swept over her dress and then up to her head. But your hair is not. Purple?
She shrugged. I like it.
For the longest moment Fina didnt move, didnt say anything. She didnt even blink, but then she smiled. It started in her eyes and moved to just lift the corners of her mouth. Bene. What do I know? I am old and out of touch, probably, and I like a woman who follows her own path. And then she turned and swept out of the room. Come, Massimo! We have to decide what you are going to do about this child.
* * *
Max stared at his mother. What do you mean you want me to stay here, too?
That hadnt been the plan at all. The reason hed brought Sofia here was because now was definitely not the moment to take an impromptu holiday. He couldnt let everything he and his father had worked for slide.
His mother did that infuriating little wave of her hand, suggesting he was making a mountain out of a molehill. You made a very good point, she said airily. I do have plans this week, including earning a living. I cant take time off at this short notice.
Maxs jaw dropped. You have a job?
She turned her head to look at him. Why is that so hard to believe? Yes, I have a job. I work for a real estate company in the mornings, helping them dress and present their luxury properties.
He shook his head, hardly able to believe it.
You are straying from the point, Massimo. It is not important where I work, but how we are going to do the best for Sofia.
He frowned. I know that, Mamma. Thats why I came to you in the first place. It just isnt possible to keep her in London with me. Theres a work issue thats at a very crucial point and I cant give her the time and attention she deserves.
You know I adore having Sofia with me, but do you think I keep this place running because money falls from the sky? I also have urgent work to do.
He shot a glance across at his travelling nanny. She was kneeling on the carpet, helping Sofia build a house out of colourful blocks. Max didnt know where theyd come from. His mother must have had them stashed away somewhere. But thats why I brought Ruby. Hed thought of everything, made it simple and easy. Why was his mother turning this into a problem when there was none?
The poor child is upset and away from her mother. When Im not here, she needs to be with someone she knows.
She looked the picture of innocence, perched on the edge of a green damask sofa. The high windows let in the soft light of the May morning, basking her in an almost saintly glow.
But she doesnt know me, either.
His mother frowned. I thought Gia had said that you were in regular contact now.
We text, mainly, he mumbled. And she comes into the city to have lunch every couple of months, but she doesnt usually bring Sofia with her.
.
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