Harlequin Romance April 2021 Box Set by Rebecca Winters

Author:Rebecca Winters [Winters, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWO

THE SECOND THEY were in the palace library, Liam’s face lit up. ‘What a fabulous room. This is perfect. This is where I want to take a photograph of you for Izzy. But you’ll need to lose the diamonds.’

‘Lose the diamonds?’

He sighed. ‘All right. I’ll take one with the diamonds, for your grandfather. But do you have a maid or something who can bring you pearls instead?’

‘Pearls?’ And now Vittoria knew she sounded stupid. As if she were parroting his words.

He took his phone from his pocket and drew up a photograph. ‘Like this,’ he said.

The subject of the portrait was instantly recognisable. ‘Princess Grace of Monaco.’

‘It’s by Yousuf Karsh. One of the two photographers whose work I admire the most,’ he said. ‘The simplicity means people focus on the subject, not the trapping. And what I want is you without the diamonds, with a book in your hand, sitting on that window seat. Then I want you to read me your favourite poem.’

No more ‘ma’am’, she thought. He’d forgotten the protocol completely, to the point where he was bossing her about and telling her what to do. But this was Liam MacCarthy all fired up, seeing a vision he wanted to capture behind his lens. Was this what drove him? She found his purpose and focus irresistible.

‘Take the portrait for Nonno, first,’ she said, ‘while someone fetches the jewellery you want me to wear.’ She went to have a quiet word with the footman who waited at the doorway, then followed Liam’s directions and posed for a portrait that he deemed suitable for her grandfather.

There was a discreet cough and the footman placed the jewels Liam had asked for on a low table.

‘Thank you,’ she said. In her view, the staff weren’t the invisible servants they might have been a hundred years before. She’d been brought up knowing that their staff did their job so she could do hers, and without them life would be a lot less smooth. They deserved her respect as well as their salary.

‘That’s perfect. Grazie,’ Liam added.

She liked the fact that he’d thanked her staff, and she liked it even more that he’d bothered to do it in their own language. This was a man who didn’t take things for granted, then. She knew from the dossier that his flat in Chelsea was worth a lot of money, but she now also knew he’d worked for it.

‘Do you need help with your jewellery, ma’am?’ he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. ‘This is the twenty-first century, not two hundred years ago. Princesses are perfectly capable of dressing themselves.’

Amusement glittered in those gorgeous eyes. ‘To be fair, two hundred years ago, with all those tiny buttons down the back of a dress, princesses would’ve needed someone to help them.’

‘And how would you know about...? Oh.’ It dawned on her. ‘You did a photo shoot.’

He inclined his head. ‘Plus, Saoirse did a module on the history of fashion, and part of the assessment included being involved in an exhibition of Regency clothing at the V&A.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.