Luca’s gaze shot to Joe’s. “What? Who?”
Joe straightened his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight. “Before I tell you, I’d ask that you hear her out. Obviously, what she did was grievously wrong, but there were extenuating circumstances, one could say…”
Luca stood, his hold on his anger tenuous at best. Whoever the leak was had cost him Constance. Forgiveness wasn’t foremost in his mind, and neither was patience. “Joe.”
That one word held all his frustration and anger and grief and Joe knew it. He nodded his head and went to the door.
Mrs. Lasko walked in, her hands clutched so tightly together they were turning white.
Luca was so stunned he dropped back into his chair. “What’s going on here?”
Mrs. Lasko looked up at Joe. He gave her a small nod and then turned to Luca. “Mrs. Lasko is your leak.”
“I gathered that.” He looked at the woman he’d trusted with his life, and love. “Why?” he said, his voice not much more than a whisper and all the more terrifying for it if the sudden blanching of Mrs. Lasko’s face was any indication.
“My granddaughter,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “I thought you had hurt my granddaughter. I was so angry that you would do such a thing. So I thought, I can’t do much, but…”
Luca held up his hand. “I’ve never met your granddaughter, Mrs. Lasko, and I’d certainly never hurt her.”
She glanced up at Joe and he patted her shoulder and took over. “Mrs. Lasko’s granddaughter is Maria, the maid that comes in to clean twice a week.”
A twinge of shame squirmed through Luca at the realization that he hadn’t even known the name of the woman he’d seen coming in with Mrs. Lasko to clean, let alone that she was the granddaughter of his trusted housekeeper.
“Maria fell in love with, as she told her grandmother, her employer.”
Luca’s eyebrows rose in surprise but Joe hurried on before he could speak. “She also told Mrs. Lasko that her employer had returned her love, but then had left her brokenhearted. She naturally assumed it had been you.”
Luca snorted. “Naturally.”
“But…it was, in fact…” Joe cleared his throat and…was that a blush on his cheeks? Luca sat forward, starting to enjoy the little show taking place before him.
“It was me, sir.”
“Joe? You devil.”
Mrs. Lasko looked between the two of them probably much as Luca had. Torn between laughing, crying, and wanting to hit someone in the head with a nice heavy object.
“So, let me get this straight,” Luca said, sitting forward to clasp his hands on his desk. “Joe here was dating your granddaughter, broke up with her, and broke her heart, and when she told you it had been her employer, you assumed it was me. So to get revenge, you were the one leaking all the personal stuff to the press.”
Mrs. Lasko nodded her head. “I’m so very sorry, Mr. Luca, but I love my granddaughter. And I thought…”
He held up his hand again. “I understand. It’s all right, Mrs. Lasko. You may go.”
A tear trailed down the old woman’s face and she nodded her head. “I’ll gather my things.”
“You misunderstand me,” Luca said. “You may go back to your duties. I’d like to talk with Joe for a minute.”
She looked up at him, stunned. He was rather surprised himself, but the old woman had been with him for years. He couldn’t imagine his home without her, and he couldn’t particularly blame her for the misunderstanding or how she’d handled it.
“Yes, sir,” she squeaked out with a smile.
“If one more thing gets leaked to the press…”
“No, no, no, sir. No more. I know it wasn’t you now.” She turned a not-so-friendly glance on Joe and then hurried out the door.
Luca sat back and shook his head. “Well, well. What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?”
Joe actually looked embarrassed. Luca couldn’t remember a time when Joe had ever been less than totally put together and in control of the situation. He hated to admit how much he was enjoying their positions being reversed for once.
“I apologize that my personal issues have affected your life.”
Luca nodded. “That they have. Can I ask why you broke up with the young lady?”
Joe grimaced. “I’m sorry to say it was because I didn’t want to leave you.”
Luca’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “What have I got to do with all this?”
Joe pointed at the chair across from the desk and Luca nodded his permission. “She started hinting at wanting to get married.”