Page 22 of The Billionaire and the Maid

I look up at him and he nods to the horses. Velvet reaches using her long neck to try and get more sugar cubes from the pouch on the wall.

“Velvet!” Chase growls as he takes her reins.

She gives him a frustrated whinny and he laughs. “You are so ornery,” he chides.

I laugh and it comes out as a snort. I throw my hand over my mouth as Chase looks at me. He’s not laughing, it’s like he’s seen a ghost.

“What?” I ask through my fingers.

He shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“Ornery? Are you an eighty-two-year-old man?” I ask with a smirk.

He glares at me. “No, but I know…one.” He slows his words as footsteps approach us.

“You kids going for a ride?” the voice of an old man asks from behind us, his accent thick.

I turn to find an elderly man. There is zero doubt in my mind that he is Chase’s grandfather, the famous Lorenzo Marino. He’s the spitting image of Chase, or at least what I imagine an eighty-something-year-old Chase would look like. Do I bow? What do I do? I suddenly feel like I have two hands too many.

“Nonno, what are you doing out here?” Chase asks. For the first time since we’ve met, there’s affection in his voice. His normal pompous and grumpy demeanor is gone. This is the opposite of my awkward meeting with his parents. Lorenzo seems laid back and friendly.

“I’m checking on Beatrix Clopper,” Lorenzo replies with a smile. “She wasn’t feeling well last night, so the vet gave her some meds.”

“Oh?” Chase replies as he cranes his neck to look down a few stalls where a horse with a white star on its nose leans out to look at us. “Bea, you aren’t getting sick on us, are you?” he asks, stepping up to the horse who nuzzles him.

Lorenzo pats the horse’s side. “You’re looking better, my old friend,” he says to the horse and then looks over at me. He flashes me a warm smile and I can immediately tell that sixty years ago, this was a man who must have had women falling at his feet.

“Who’s this?” Lorenzo asks, stepping away from the horse and toward me.

“This is Ella Foster…my girlfriend,” Chase stammers as he motions toward me.

I hold out my hand, but Lorenzo bats it away and leans in to kiss one cheek and then the other in a very European greeting.

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Foster,” he says, his accent coming out a bit thicker.

“Likewise,” I say with a grin.

“We’re going for a ride, Nonno. We’ll be back,” Chase says quickly and then offers me a foot to help me mount Velvet. I accept it and climb up on the horse. Chase follows suit with Rook.

“Have fun. It’s warmed up out there. A nice day for a ride,” Lorenzo offers as he stares at me. Something feels familiar about him, but I can’t quite place it. I give him a big smile as Velvet and I trot after Rook and Chase.

Chase leads us past the fenced fields and into the woods. There’s a trail back here and it follows alongside a stream. We’re quiet for a long time, neither one of us speaking until we reach a clearing and I can see the stables back below us.

“Do you come out here often?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Not anymore.” He nods toward me. “You ride well.”

Shrugging, I pat Velvet’s neck. “I used to ride all the time. I…” I hesitate. Do I tell him about my past? Does that make me look weak? But Chase leans forward, waiting for me to continue and something about his movement eggs me on. “My father and mother owned property out here.” I motion toward the back side of the hill that we’re on. “It’s probably close by. I don’t remember much. I never come out here anymore. Anyhow, my mom died from cancer when I was little. And my dad remarried when I was seven to Nancy…you know her, yes?”

“She plays tennis with my mother,” he reiterates what I already know.

“Well, she moved in with her two daughters, Myra and Mila. They were five. At first, I was so excited to have a mom and sisters. But then, when I was eleven, I was out riding Gunther, my horse, and Dad was calling for me to come in for the night. I waved at him, and he waved back and then I thought he tripped and fell, but…he had a massive heart attack.” I pause remembering that day. The sirens…my dad. I wipe a stray tear. I never cry anymore, but I keep weeping like a fool in front of Chase. “Anyhow, Nancy sold the farm. She hated it out here and she bought this big beach house on the far side of town. She sent the girls to boarding schools and then college. She told me she didn’t want to move me from my school since I already knew everyone. And then when I turned eighteen, she said I needed to move out. She had somehow gotten Dad to rewrite his will so that she got everything. I got a few things belonging to my mom and so I moved out and Greta hired me and gave me a place to stay.”

“What happened to Gunther?” he asks.

“Nancy had him sold. I honestly don’t know. I tried to find him at first but then gave up looking after a few years. He’d be almost twenty now. He probably doesn’t even remember me,” I say sadly as I play with Velvet’s soft mane.

“Why do you even still talk to Nancy?” he questions as his hand brushes against my leg.

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