Mommy, Nurse...Duchess? by Kate Hardy

Author:Kate Hardy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

ON SATURDAY MORNING, Leo drove over to Rosie’s house. They fixed the children’s car seats in the back of his car, then stowed their luggage in the boot and picked up Nina.

‘We’re going to Italy to eat ice cream,’ Lexi informed Nina, bouncing in her seat.

‘And we’re going to see knights in armour, with swords,’ Freddie said. ‘We’re staying in a real castle!’

Nina laughed. ‘I can see just how much you two are looking forward to it. I’m looking after you tonight while Mummy and Leo go to the charity ball.’

‘Mummy looks like a princess in her dress,’ Lexi said. ‘It’s so pretty.’

‘You can tell me all about princesses and knights on the way,’ Nina said, ‘and we can colour in some pictures.’

‘Yay!’ the children chorused.

Michael had always upgraded their seats when they travelled, Rosie remembered; luxurious as it had felt at the time, it wasn’t the same league as travelling with the Duke of Calvanera. Just as Leo had promised, there was no waiting around at the airport. And the plane, although small, was beautifully appointed, with deep, comfortable seats and lots of leg room.

‘I still can’t quite get my head around the fact that your friend owns a plane,’ she said to Leo.

The children were enthralled by their first flight, especially when the pilot told them over the intercom that they could take their seat belts off. Leo took the children to the window and lifted them up so they could both see the land below.

‘All the houses are tiny!’ Lexi said in awe.

‘And the clouds are all big and fluffy,’ Freddie said.

They were overawed by seeing the mountains, too. And then finally Leo strapped them back into their seats for the descent so they could land at Florence.

Again, there wasn’t a lot of waiting around. There was a limousine waiting for them at the airport, with car seats already fitted for the children. Rosie noticed that the driver was wearing a peaked cap and livery; she wondered if he was one of Leo’s staff, or whether he’d just hired a car and driver for the journey.

As they headed into the hills outside Florence, Leo told the twins all about what they were seeing, and answered all their excited questions. Rosie was glad that she didn’t have to make conversation, because adrenaline was pumping round her system. Supposing Leo’s mother didn’t like her? Would it be a problem that Rosie already had children? What if she did or said something wrong at the ball tonight and caused some kind of diplomatic embarrassment?

The nearer they got to the palazzo, the more her nerves grew.

And she was near to hyperventilating when the car stopped in front of a wrought-iron security gate set into a large stone wall.

‘Here we are,’ Leo said cheerfully. He climbed out of the car and tapped a code into the keypad set into the wall, and the iron gates swung open.

There was a long drive flanked with tall cypress trees, and then the vista opened up to show the castle itself.

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