Page 30 of Royally Matched

“Gianni. Whatever on earth is the matter?” Mummy asks.

“I’m sorry to tell you there’s been an accident and Ronan Clementine has been taken to hospital, ma’am,” he says without preamble.

There’s a collective intake of breath.

“What happened? Is he okay?” I ask, thinking of my personal secretary who has been so helpful to me these past weeks as we’ve searched for my ideal future partner.

“We suspect a broken leg, ma’am.”

“Oh, no! The poor man. I must see him.” I rise to my feet, my white linen napkin falling to the floor.

“With all due respect, ma’am, perhaps you could delay your visit until after the doctors have assessed him?” Gianni replies diplomatically.

I sink back into my seat. “Good point, Gianni.”

“He has messaged me his schedule for the next couple of weeks,” Gianni says.

“That’s fast,” Max declares. “Did he send it to you from the ambulance or something?”

“The timeframe suggests he did, sir,” Gianni replies.

“That sounds like Ronan. He’s very organized and takes his job awfully seriously,” I tell everyone.

“He does, ma’am. Organized and dedicated. As for his workload, I would be happy to pick up the slack myself, as time allows,” Gianni offers.

“No. Don’t be silly. It’s my schedule. I can take things over for a while until he’s back on his feet,” I say.

“You mean his foot,” Max adds with a smirk, and I shoot him a look.Younger brothers.

“Sofia is right. You do enough already, Gianni,”Mummy says. “My clever daughter is more than capable of helping out.”

“As you wish, ma’am,” he says with another bow of his head. “Unfortunately, Ronan’s first meeting is due to begin in only five minutes’ time in the library, regarding you spending time with Lord Strozzi, ma’am,” he says to me.

“That sounds like something I can manage perfectly well.” I take a final sip of my tea. It’s gone cold. “I’d better get a move on. Have a safe trip back to Cambridge, Max,” I say to my brother as I drop a kiss onto the top of his head. “And I’ll see both you, Mummy and Amelia, later on.”

“Ditch him and go for the hot brother, Sofe!” Amelia calls out as we leave the room.

I don’t respond.

As Gianni and I make our way down the corridor toward the library, he outlines a few of the meetings Ronan had planned that need to take place, starting with a meeting with Enzo’s staff to agree to the details of our “getting to know one another” phase over the coming weeks. I wonder briefly at why Enzo isn’t organizing this directly with me but push the thought away. He’s a busy man. It makes sense to have someone else manage the details.

“That all sounds straightforward enough. Who am I meeting first?” I ask.

We come to a stop outside the library door. “Lord Strozzi’s personal secretary, a Mr. Marco Revera.”

Chapter 9

Sofia

I swallow, my heartrate instantly kicking up a notch. Marco Revera is here? The man I have inappropriate feelings for, the man who rescued me from that ill-advised marriage proposal at the ball, the man whose eyes are seared into my memory bank, the man who voiced his opinion on Enzo and me, is here in the palace library, waiting for me? Well, notmeexactly. He’s here to meet with Ronan. But still. The point is, he’s here, and I’m about to see him, and I’m totally ill-prepared for this.

Before I can come up with an excuse not to enter that room other than admitting to the feelings I’m never going to admit to, Gianni pulls open the door. Instantly, my eyes land on the very man I should not ever see again—at least until this inconvenient crush of mine has worn itself out.

As he turns from the window to face me, I can’t help but drink him in, like an ice-cold glass of water on a hot, hot day. He’s wearing what looks to be gardening clothes, a pair of cargo pants, a zip up sweatshirt, open at the neck, exposing his tanned skin and a hint of chest hair, and nothing less than a pair of grubby wellington boots on his feet.

He hasn’t exactly dressed up for today’s appointment. But, I admit, despite his decidedly casual attire, he looks breathtakingly handsome in a rough and ready kind of way, and as his eyes land on mine, I feel that now familiar rush of attraction, my heartrate rising, and a blush blooming in my cheeks.

“Good morning, Mr. Revera,” I say, seizing control of the situation.