Contracted to the Italian Prince by Sandra Marton

Author:Sandra Marton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

THEY WENT BACK to the Forum.

“Seeing it from the car didn’t do it justice,” Nicolo said.

No, Caroline thought, as she let him lead her down to the ancient ground, no, it hadn’t. And she hadn’t done Nicolo Sabatini justice, either. She had expected him to know what to whisper to a woman in the heat of passion, not to be able to tell her stories about Alaric, the Goth chieftain who’d conquered Rome in A.D. 410. But that was what he’d been doing for the past several minutes.

“And he burned this basilica—the Basilica Aemilia—almost to the ground. It was a pity, for the Basilica was very old even then.”

Caroline looked at the ruins that remained. “What sort of building had it been? A fortress of some kind? A temple?”

“It was a shelter for those who came here to buy and sell their wares.” He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked on. “It’s named for the man who built it. Marcus Aemilius.”

“I see. It was an inn.”

Nicolo shook his head. “No, it was a public building, meant to protect merchants and their customers from the elements.” He grinned. “Everybody complains about taxes today, but in ancient times wealthy Romans were expected not just to pay their taxes but to finance public works, as well.”

Caroline laughed. “Some people might think that’s an idea that needs reintroducing. And what’s that?” she said, nodding toward another tumble of stone.

“A temple of Venus. The goddess of love.” Nicolo smiled. “And at the far end of the street was the Temple of Vesta. Opposite attractions, one might say. The Vestals were sworn to a life of chastity. If they broke their vows…”

He made a sawing gesture across his neck, and Caroline shuddered. “Ugh! How could they get women to sign on for such a life?”

“For one thing, it was an honor.” He paused, and she could see laughter dancing in his eyes. “And the girls were given to the priests by their families when they were ten or eleven years old.”

“But that’s terrible!”

“It’s the only way anyone could ensure they’d be virgins!”

They both laughed, and then Caroline swept out her hand. “There’s so much to know—how can you remember it all?”

Nicolo took her hand and swung it gently as they walked. “I grew up on these stories. My grandfather was an archaeologist, and—”

“The Princess’s husband?”

He nodded. “He was always involved in one dig or another. Sometimes he let me tag along. I loved to hear him talk about the old days.”

“The very old days,” Caroline said with a smile. “I’m surprised you didn’t follow him into archaeology.”

“I thought about it, believe me.” His fingers laced through hers. “But by the time I was eighteen, I realized that, as much as I loved studying the past, my greatest joy came from—well, I suppose you’d describe it as planning things and watching them grow.”

“Ah,” Caroline said lightly. “So that’s how someone gets to be head of a corporation! He shows a talent for gardening.

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