‘Why would you think that?’ She sipped her wine and then followed his lead and began helping herself to some of the dishes in their fancy black and gold containers.
He piled into his food, drank a mouthful of wine and then proceeded to look at her over the rim of his glass. ‘Because you’ve been nowhere since you got here, even when I’ve been back reasonably early in the evening—early enough for you to go out.’
Sophie stared at him. She drank some more of her wine and this time slightly more than a delicate sip. He knew his silence left no room to wriggle away from some sort of response.
‘I...I’m planning on having the weekend at home to get through some more...er...clearance...’
‘Maybe you could get a company to do that for you?’
‘I can’t. No.’ She looked down and resumed eating, this time not looking at him. ‘Well, I suppose Icould,’ she eventually conceded. ‘I’ve cleared out all the bits I want to hang on to...’
‘Then why don’t you? Is it the cost?’
‘No.’ She smiled stiffly. ‘Thanks to this job, I can afford it, but it seems a little wasteful to spend money for something to get done when I’m more than capable of doing it myself.’
‘Thrifty.’
‘I haven’t had much choice. I don’t suppose you’d understand.’ She looked around her at the exquisite kitchen. ‘MaybeIdidn’t really understand what it felt like to really have to count pennies but now I do and it’s been a valuable lesson to not take anything for granted.’ She half laughed and then grimaced. ‘Not that you’re in the slightest concerned by all of this but to get back to your question, I love being with your daughter. She’s smart and very engaging. You aunt must miss being with her. How is she doing? How is your father?’
Never one to encourage girlish confidences and outpourings of heartfelt emotion, to which there was no rational response, Niccolo strangely found himself hesitating, not quite wanting to shut down the conversation just yet. He was enjoying the array of emotions that flitted across her face and the way she half toyed with her hair even when she ate, expertly wielding the wooden chopsticks provided with the meal, and the translucent violet of her eyes when she looked at him.
‘What makes you think I have no idea what it feels like to be broke?’ he asked, pushing his empty plate to one side and relaxing back in his chair, which he angled away from the table so that he could extend his legs, loosely crossing them at the ankles.
His eyes drifted to her mouth and it was an effort to drag them away because there was a lot to appreciate there—full lips, perfectly formed...whose imagination wouldn’t shift gear?
‘Do you?’
Niccolo frowned because not only had his imagination wandered into no-man’s-land, but so too had the conversation.
‘You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. In fact...’ She stood up, reaching out to sweep the plates together, along with the boxes in which far too much had been left.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked irritably.
‘I thought I’d tidy this stuff away and head up.’
‘We haven’t finished talking.’
Sophie paused. He’d asked her whether she enjoyed her job, money aside. She’d answered him. He’d felt free to pry, and she’d got the message loud and clear, but the boot was clearly not going to be put on the other foot. He asked questions, he didn’t answer them.
He’d elicited information from her she hadn’t shared with anyone but her curiosity abouthimwasn’t going to be satisfied, so what else was there to talk about?
She lowered her eyes and kept stubbornly quiet, and when she finally looked at him there was open amusement on his face, which made her bristle.
‘You can speak your mind, Sophie,’ he encouraged flatly. ‘This is what this conversation is all about. It’s important you don’t feel as though you have to stay within these four walls even when I’m here and you’re technically free to go out. You must have friends you want to meet up with?’
The question hung in the air, so that she gritted her teeth and made an effort to count to ten.
‘I’m fine for the moment.’
There was sudden understanding in his eyes and that felt equally offensive. He was seeing straight into the very heart of her and she didn’t like it.
‘I don’t ask you questions about your private life,’ she said tersely and then reddened at what felt like an act of insubordination, but the words had left her mouth and she didn’t want to claw them back with an apology. ‘I respect the fact that you don’t want to impart personal information about yourself.’
‘I know what it feels like to have no money,’ Niccolo said quietly. ‘You grew up with money and now it’s gone. I grew up with none and now I have it. Both of us have had our learning curves.’
‘Were your parents happy?’ She tilted her head to one side and met his eyes steadily. ‘I’m guessing they are now as they’re still together. I’m guessing you grew up in a tightly knit family unit because Evalina is immensely close to you and to her sister and presumably to her brother-in-law.’
‘Happiness isn’t the be all and end all when the chips are down. There’s a lot of happiness to be found in the security that comes with having deep reserves of money, enough so that you become untouchable.’
