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disturbed. I have very discreet security all around my property,” he confided.
    “Oh, well, that’s good. So are you just rich or you some kind of secret spy or military intelligence?” Yup I just blurted that out. Gawd, I was so lame.
    Laughing, he just about knocked me off my designer covered ass with his response.
    “Actually, I’m minor royalty. And very rich. So you decide which one I should say first.”
    I sputtered around the wine glass I was drinking out of, “Minor royalty, seriously?”
    “Well, I’m the second son of a Duke. The royalty in Italy is long and muddied. So technically my older brother is closer to royalty than me. I’m just the one that works the family business, which is much harder than worrying about an accident of birth. Our holdings are worldwide, and we’ve worked for three generations to keep our family well off. It’s my job to make sure that future generations have something to work for too.”
    “Ok, so a rich possible Duke, gotcha,” I said sarcastically.
    “Well considering my father and brother would have to pass away for me to reach that, I hope to never become Duke,” he said wryly.
    Wow, I was an ass.
    “Oh God, of course, I didn’t even think of that. I’m sorry that was terribly rude of me.” I really needed to read my Ms. Manners book again apparently.
    “It’s okay, cara mia , I find you charming. Eat, I have questions for you.”
    “Okay, shoot,” I said popping an olive into my mouth.
    Marco asked me about my family, which I only gave him through my immediate family. If I started in on my aunties and uncles we would be there all night.
    He asked about my job, my school. I was still working on my Bachelor’s degree. It seemed like I had been working on it forever. But I usually could only manage one class at a time.
    Marco asked about my hopes, dreams, what I wanted for the future. And surprisingly I was honest. Not that I usually lied, but I felt like I could tell him anything and he wouldn’t judge me for it.
    I told him I wanted my degree so I could move into management. That someday I’d like to be a manager at the hotel. Possibly even travel to the company’s other hotels around the world. See things, experience new people, places and soak up the culture.
    He listened, nodded and asked questions while we ate. I don’t know if it was his company or the wine, but I was relaxed. I was even feeling pretty happy.

Chapter 8
     
    Sitting eating some kind of sweet sorbet, Marco had turned thoughtful. I watched him, he wasn’t really noticing me. I could see the wheels turning in his head so I took advantage and soaked up his beauty.
    His eyes finally flicked to mine, “I think we can make that happen,” he said folding his arms. He looked smug.
    “Can make what happen?”
    “Your dreams, we can make sure you have time to finish your degree. Then after that if you are still interested in managing at a hotel, my family owns a number of them. A few even have casinos, of course they are all in Europe. Monaco to be exact.”
    “I’m sorry but what are you talking about?” I sputtered.
    Standing he walked over to me, took my hand and pulled me to my feet. Circling his arms around my waist, he leaned down and kissed me.
    I was out of breath when he pulled back and spoke, “I have you. You’re here, in my home. I want you to stay here. I want you to quit your job and go to school full time. When you graduate we can decide where we want to move. I can work from anywhere in the world as long as I have a computer and my assistant is willing to travel. That’s what I’m talking about. And I wouldn’t be horribly upset if you decided to do most of your studying by the pool in any one of the suits I bought you,” he said running his hand over my bottom and giving it a pat.
    Cheeky Italian, and clearly used to getting his way.
    “We don’t even know each other Marco, what if this doesn’t work out? What if we aren’t compatible? I can’t just give up