door in the wall. ‘It’s quicker than going through the main house,’ he explained, as Leonora looked uncertainly at the spiral of stone steps leading upwards in the half-light coming in through the narrow slits in the bare stone walls.
On impulse she removed her shoes, answering the look Alessandro gave her with a firm, ‘I’d rather have dirty feet than a broken ankle.’
In fact the stone steps were immaculately clean and dust-free, although climbing them ahead of Alessandro, as they were only wide enough for one person, was causing her heart to pound erratically. Not because she was so very aware of him behind her, of course. No, it was because there were so many of them, winding upwards in the narrow tower, and the climb was dizzying her and leaving her short of breath.
At last the top was reached—an empty round space with whitewashed walls and a wooden floor, dark with age. One door was set into the curved wall, and Alessandro opened it for her.
Leonora wasn’t sure what she had expected. The plain bareness of the tower and its stone steps were such a contrast to the almost overpowering extravagance of the main entrance and the hallway of the castello . The hallway that lay beyond this door, though, was surprisingly modern, reminding her of the skilled renovation of Alessandro’s apartment. A niche in one of the walls held a piece of abstract sculpture, and the chandelier looked similarly modern. The floorboards pale and smooth, simple linen curtains were at the window, and the window seat was covered in a matt black fabric with a fine grey and white stripe, creating a classically understated look.
A pair of carved double doors opened into a large room in much the same style as the hallway, but Leonora wasn’t paying any attention to its décor. Instead she was staring with horror at the enormous bed dominating the room.
‘This isn’t the only bedroom, is it?’ she asked Alessandro.
‘If you mean is this the only bedroom in the castello ,then it is not. If you mean is it the only bedroom here in this suite—then, yes, it is,’ he answered her promptly.
Leonora badly wanted to sit down. ‘But we can’t share a bedroom,’ she protested.
The look he gave her was icy with disdain and sharp with impatience. ‘We don’t have any other option.’
‘But there’s only one bed.’
‘Which is at least six feet wide. And I assure you that even if it were not, I do not have any intention of turning our public relationship as supposed lovers into a private reality. I thought I had already made that much clear to you? Unless, of course, what you fear is that you yourself may be so overcome with lust for me that you—’
‘No!’ Leonora stopped him hurriedly. ‘Of course not.’
‘Then there is nothing for you to fear,’ he told her with a dismissive shrug. ‘I agree that there will be a certain amount of inconvenience, but we are both adults, and I am sure that we are perfectly capable between us of working out a means of not intruding on one another’s need for privacy.’
Not trusting herself to say anything, Leonora walked over to the windows and looked out, startled to discover that all she could see was the sea.
‘This tower is built into the original walls,’ Alessandro told her. ‘It is one of only three that our ancestor left standing when he started his rebuilding programme. It is linked to the main house by a corridor through the doors opposite the windows, whilst the doors on either side of the bed lead respectively to a dressing room and the bathroom. I dare say that our cases will already have been brought up and unpacked.’
‘I can’t share a room with you,’ Leonora insisted as the full recognition of exactly what that was going to mean burst in on her.
It wasn’t just a matter of them having to share a bed. They would be sharing a bathroom. She would have to dress and undress in the same room as him. She would have to be there when he dressed and undressed. The
On impulse she removed her shoes, answering the look Alessandro gave her with a firm, ‘I’d rather have dirty feet than a broken ankle.’
In fact the stone steps were immaculately clean and dust-free, although climbing them ahead of Alessandro, as they were only wide enough for one person, was causing her heart to pound erratically. Not because she was so very aware of him behind her, of course. No, it was because there were so many of them, winding upwards in the narrow tower, and the climb was dizzying her and leaving her short of breath.
At last the top was reached—an empty round space with whitewashed walls and a wooden floor, dark with age. One door was set into the curved wall, and Alessandro opened it for her.
Leonora wasn’t sure what she had expected. The plain bareness of the tower and its stone steps were such a contrast to the almost overpowering extravagance of the main entrance and the hallway of the castello . The hallway that lay beyond this door, though, was surprisingly modern, reminding her of the skilled renovation of Alessandro’s apartment. A niche in one of the walls held a piece of abstract sculpture, and the chandelier looked similarly modern. The floorboards pale and smooth, simple linen curtains were at the window, and the window seat was covered in a matt black fabric with a fine grey and white stripe, creating a classically understated look.
A pair of carved double doors opened into a large room in much the same style as the hallway, but Leonora wasn’t paying any attention to its décor. Instead she was staring with horror at the enormous bed dominating the room.
‘This isn’t the only bedroom, is it?’ she asked Alessandro.
‘If you mean is this the only bedroom in the castello ,then it is not. If you mean is it the only bedroom here in this suite—then, yes, it is,’ he answered her promptly.
Leonora badly wanted to sit down. ‘But we can’t share a bedroom,’ she protested.
The look he gave her was icy with disdain and sharp with impatience. ‘We don’t have any other option.’
‘But there’s only one bed.’
‘Which is at least six feet wide. And I assure you that even if it were not, I do not have any intention of turning our public relationship as supposed lovers into a private reality. I thought I had already made that much clear to you? Unless, of course, what you fear is that you yourself may be so overcome with lust for me that you—’
‘No!’ Leonora stopped him hurriedly. ‘Of course not.’
‘Then there is nothing for you to fear,’ he told her with a dismissive shrug. ‘I agree that there will be a certain amount of inconvenience, but we are both adults, and I am sure that we are perfectly capable between us of working out a means of not intruding on one another’s need for privacy.’
Not trusting herself to say anything, Leonora walked over to the windows and looked out, startled to discover that all she could see was the sea.
‘This tower is built into the original walls,’ Alessandro told her. ‘It is one of only three that our ancestor left standing when he started his rebuilding programme. It is linked to the main house by a corridor through the doors opposite the windows, whilst the doors on either side of the bed lead respectively to a dressing room and the bathroom. I dare say that our cases will already have been brought up and unpacked.’
‘I can’t share a room with you,’ Leonora insisted as the full recognition of exactly what that was going to mean burst in on her.
It wasn’t just a matter of them having to share a bed. They would be sharing a bathroom. She would have to dress and undress in the same room as him. She would have to be there when he dressed and undressed. The
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