He’d been a cruel, selfish man. Apart from the hurt he’d caused her and her mother, he’d brought her sister, Angela, with him so the girls had grown up half a world apart. They’d connected again when their mother died recently and Angela, separated from her husband, had come to Australia to live. Now Angela was reunited with her husband in Italy, so this opportunity for Sonia to work here also meant being close to her only remaining family.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Signorina Rossi.’ He paused. ‘Or may I call you Sonia?’
The glint in his eyes looked like humour and despite her tiredness she couldn’t help but respond.
‘Please do. Anything more formal seems ridiculous in the circumstances.’ She waved a hand towards the large white towel that didn’t look nearly large enough draped around his tall frame.
He inclined his head and smiled and Sonia felt the breath leave her lungs in a whoosh of air. That smile... It was all she could do not to press her palm against her breast where her heart took up a lopsided rhythm like a strange jazz beat.
‘And you will call me Renzo. Only my grandmother calls me Lorenzo and only when I’m in trouble.’
Sonia guessed that was often. He had a devil-may-care glint in his eye that signalled he’d probably been into everything as a kid, and finding trouble of a different kind as an adult. She’d bet he cut a swathe through the female population of Rome.
‘Besides, formality is out of place when we share an apartment.’
Sonia blinked, her amusement fading. ‘We’re not sharing an apartment. There’s been an error.’
He nodded. ‘The error being that Marco didn’t warn me you’d be here for...how long was it?’
‘Eight weeks.’ Before she moved on to find a place of her own.
‘But that’s no problem.’ Again that smile. Sonia felt it like the caress of warm fingers down her spine, drawing her skin tight. ‘I’m happy to share.’
She was shaking her head before he stopped speaking.
‘No? You have somewhere else you can stay?’
That stopped her in her tracks. Her whole body ached with tiredness after the long journey and she felt that woozy sensation as if the walls closed in around her. But she had more sense than simply to accept the situation.
‘You haven’t explained what you’re doing here.’ If the place had been promised to her then surely—
‘Marco and I inherited the apartment from our great uncle. We’re joint owners.’
There went that idea. She could hardly evict him from his own property. Even if she had a hope of moving six-plus feet of masculine muscle.
‘Marco lives here because I have my own place. But sadly building work in a neighbouring apartment is making it impossible to sleep. I’ve moved in here till they finish.’
Surely building work happened during the day? But then it was already late morning and it seemed he was just out of bed. Did he work night shifts? Though, given the luxury of this apartment, his otherhome, she suspected Renzo Veracini didn’t need to work at unsociable hours to make a living.
Maybe he spent the night partying?
Sonia struggled to get her thoughts back on track.
‘I see. Well, in that case I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’ll find somewhere else.’
‘For two months? With no notice?’ He shook his head. ‘You don’t know much about the Roman property market. Unless you have a very healthy budget?’
‘I...’ Sonia swallowed. Her budget was minimal. She needed to save her money till she saw whether this job worked out. ‘Not really. Your cousin was letting me stay as a favour for a friend.’
She bit her lip. She could always accept Angela’s offer to live with her and Matteo. But Sonia had vowed to avoid that. If she lived with Angela, her sister would ferret out the sad, sordid details of the fiasco with Eric. Sonia wasn’t ready for that.
‘Hey, it’s all right.’ Renzo moved closer, not touching but suddenly she was aware of the scent of coffee and warm male. It was ridiculously comforting, as was the low timbre of that soothing voice.
Sonia lifted her chin and smiled determinedly into his dark gaze. ‘Of course it’s all right. I’ll go to a hotel and then find somewhere. I’ve got a whole day tomorrow before I start work.’
His expression told her she was being overly optimistic. She recalled Angela shuddering, talking about apartment hunting in central Rome as if it were a blood sport. Surely she’d exaggerated.
‘It’s your decision, Sonia. But you’re welcome here. There are two bedrooms and I promise I’m house trained.’