“Oh.” Still, she just couldn’t take any more charity from this man. She had been raised to carry her own weight. “Then let me pay you.”
Ric again shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”
He was not making this easy for her. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but there has to be something I can do for you in return.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. My parents raised me to be independent and not to rely on the generosity of others.” And then the thought about his uncle’s villa came back to her. She still wasn’t sure how Ric would feel about it, but it was worth mentioning. “I could work on cleaning up your uncle’s place, you know, so it’s ready for you to sell.”
Ric arched a brow as he studied her. “And you feel you’re up to the challenge?”
She nodded. “I did a good job with my hotel. I can show you pictures.”
“Actually, I’ve seen the pictures online. Your hotel is beautiful. But my uncle’s house would need a whole lot of updates to come close to looking that good. Surely you can’t do it by yourself.”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply I would. I’ll work on the design, with your approval of course, and then I’ll hire contractors or we can do it together, if you desire.”
Ric’s lips pressed together as though he were mulling it over. “And how long do you think it will take?”
“If the contractors are available, I wouldn’t think too terribly long.” And then a thought came to her. “You aren’t planning on tearing down walls or anything drastic, are you?”
“The walls stay. The kitchen and bathrooms need to be gutted.”
“I agree.”
“But will you be around that long?” His gaze searched hers.
“Probably not. When we find my father, I’ll want to spend time with him.” When Ric frowned, she added, “But if we get started right away, the design should be in place. You’ll be able to oversee the finishing touches. And then you wo
n’t have to worry about it sitting around being neglected.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I like the idea. I’ll make sure you have whatever funds you need. You know you really don’t have to do this.”
“But I want to do it.” She truly did. It would be a much welcome distraction from the search for her father. “I went to design school, but with my parents passing, I never really got to put my education to use, aside from internships and working on the hotel.”
“If you’re an interior designer, why are you running a hotel?” He looked genuinely confused.
She shrugged. “It just worked out that way.” But that answer didn’t seem to appease him. And so she decided to tell him about her parents’ very unusual will. “When my parents died, they left the estate to the sibling who could generate the biggest profit with the villa and vineyard.”
“But what about the other two siblings?”
“They’ll inherit an equal fortune.”
“Do you want the estate?”
She shrugged. “I did at first, but now, I don’t know.”
“Why would you change your mind?”
“Because now I know I’m not a Bartolini. Not by blood. It seems the estate should go to a true Bartolini.” It made her sad to admit it. She felt different now. She couldn’t explain it to anyone, but until she found her father, she’d never truly know who she was.
Sympathy showed in Ric’s eyes. “But you were raised a Bartolini. If your parents didn’t feel you were a Bartolini, don’t you think they’d have told you?”
Gia shrugged. “It doesn’t change the fact that I need to find my biological father. Once I find him, I’ll be able to figure out what comes next.”
“And if you don’t find him?”
His pointed questions poked and prodded her, making her consider things she’d put off until now. “I can’t think about it because...because it would mean I’ll never know the answers to my past. I just know that if I can find my father that...that...”