“What?” she asked, her voice full of suspicion. She had a right to be suspicious because what he wanted she wouldn’t want to give up.
“I’ll tell you that a bit later. When we have less of an audience,” he said, nodding at the children who had filed back into the room and stood watching the two of them.
Her eyes narrowed, but finally she nodded. “Fine. Later then. But for now?” she said, nodding towards the girls.
Luca sighed. “Fine. Go swimming.”
The girls jumped and screamed and then ran for the bedrooms, he assumed to put on their suits. All except Elena. She just looked at him.
“What?” he asked.
Constance frowned at him but Elena tilted her head. “Thanks for the pool.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ll stay out of the deep end.”
“That would be a good idea.”
“And I won’t touch the flowers.”
Luca resisted the urge to smile. He got the impression the little girl in front of him would take that the wrong way. Instead he responded as seriously as she had. “Thank you.”
Elena nodded. “You’re welcome.” Then she turned without another word and wandered off to find the other girls and Luca turned back to Constance, who stared at him like he’d suddenly announced he was becoming a priest.
“What?” he asked again. He was starting to sound like a parrot, echoing everything he said.
Constance shook her head, bemused. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Elena thank anyone for anything before. She’s a quiet child.” She tilted her head to peruse him, much as Elena had. “She must like you.”
He snorted. “Don’t sound so surprised. It has been known to happen on occasion.”
A faint blush staining her cheeks. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. I guess me and the kid understand each other, that’s all.”
Her brow furrowed like she was trying to figure it out, then her face cleared and she gave him a grateful smile.
“You know what? I’m not even going to question it. I’ll be thankful and move on.”
“Really? Are you feeling okay?” he said.
She gave him a mock glare and turned to follow the girls out to the patio.
Luca grabbed her hand again before she could leave.
“They’re fine where they’re at. Mrs. Lasko and Mrs. Ballas should be back there with them.” He looked at Joe for confirmation. He nodded and Luca continued. “We can go out in a minute, but we need to see how things are going first.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’m assuming you haven’t been online yet this morning? Or seen the papers?”
Her frown deepened. “No. I assumed there would be pictures of us, as that is the whole point of all this. Are there not?”
“Yes, but they’ve surpassed even my expectations.”
“Why don’t you sound happy about that?”
Luca glanced at Joe who nodded and left them alone. Luca led Constance into his office and sat her down at his desk. He already had several of the worst media sites pulled up so she could see the photos.
“I’m not unhappy necessarily, but I don’t think you’ll be happy about how intrusive they are being. I thought you should see.”
Constance didn’t say another word but scrolled through the sites. Pictures of them at dinner, walking through town, in the jewelry store, pictures of them kissing. She finally paused on the one he knew would upset her the most. Someone with a long-range lens had managed to get a shot of them in her bedroom. Luca, with his arm braced against the wall, leaning toward her. Constance, her upturned face looking like she was waiting for his kiss.
“They took pictures of us inside my home?” she asked, her voice faint. “I knew they’d take pictures everywhere else, but…can they do that? I mean legally? We were inside my private property.”
“Legal doesn’t mean much to them if it will get them a juicy picture.”
Constance took a deep breath and blew it out. Then she stood, pushing away the papers laid out for her before she’d gotten through the whole stack.
“I’m not going to lie and say I’m happy about all this, but I did sign up for it. I knew it would happen, to an extent anyway. If you can put up with it every day of your life, I can manage for a few weeks.”
Luca stared at her, shocked into silence for probably the first time in his life. He’d expected her to…well, he wasn’t sure. Cry, maybe. Get angry, certainly. But this calm acceptance? Never.
She hadn’t seen what they’d written about her past. His Constance had been through a lot in her life. Enough that he could understand the rigid control she tried to keep over everything.