Page 43 of The Billionaire and the Maid

“You’re embarrassing her, Marie,” Greta hisses.

“So, are you two dating?” Ella asks as she motions from Greta to Nonno.

“We’re…I mean…we just…” Nonno stumbles over his words which is entirely not like him.

“Ella, my dear, a woman never kisses and tells,” Greta answers like she’s some kind of nineteen fifties movie star. Perhaps Greta and Marie are more similar than I thought.

“So that’s a yes,” I read between the lines.

“That’s none of your business,” Nonno says as he protectively steps toward Greta. Shit, this whole fake relationship thing is getting more complicated by the second. Of all people, I definitely don’t want Nonno to know that I’m not actually dating Ella.

“Well, Nonno, we’ll let you catch up with your guests,” I say as I try to figure out a way for us to leave this party as soon as humanly possible.

Nonno gives me a shoulder squeeze. “Why don’t you go show Ella the west wing?”

I nod and Nonno gives Ella a pat on the cheek. “Get some cake before you go.”

“We will,” she replies, and I place a hand on her lower back and guide her to the cake table. We grab plates and then I lead her down the great hall.

“I assume you’ve seen the whole estate, yes?” I say as we walk away from the party.

“Seriously? You want to discuss the layout of your house right now? My freaking boss, who knows this”—she motions between us—“isn’t real, is dating your grandfather who thinks this”—she motions again between us—“is very, very real.” Her voice rises an octave on the last word.

“We just need to get through two more weeks,” I state as I take a bite of cake. And shit, it is really good cake.

“Fuck, Elisha’s really good at baking,” Ella says my thoughts out loud as she chews on a piece of cake.

“She really is,” I agree.

“OK, focus. Forget the damn cake. What are we going to do?” Ella whispers.

I lead us down two hallways to the back part of the house. The part that no one really goes to.

“Where are we going?” Ella asks.

“West wing,” I declare. “Haven’t you been in here?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. Just the main part of the house where they are cleaning everything for the gala. Your parents’ private quarters and yours.”

“Oh,” I say suddenly realizing just how freaking big this place is. Fourteen thousand square feet is a lot to clean.

“And my stepmom is talking to your mom about us? That’s not good, Chase. This whole thing could blow up in our faces,” Ella says as I open one side of a giant pair of double doors.

We step inside and Ella stops moving. I watch her take it all in. The grand library.

“Wow!” she says as she twirls.

“My great-grandfather loved books and left them to my grandfather. He brought them all with him when he left Italy,” I explain. “And then he bought more over the years.”

“I mean, I knew Adam Wellington had an impressive library, but this is amazing,” she says as she continues turning in circles. It’s not as grand as Adam’s but it’s two stories of bookshelves. A few desks sit along one wall and there are giant stained-glass windows on the far wall.

“May I?” she asks as she points toward one of two ladders that glide along the shelves. I hold out my hand for her plate and motion for her to go ahead.

She grins and steps onto the ladder and then pulls herself along four sets of shelves. She giggles and holds her hand out as she moves.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” she admits with a laugh.

“Isa should get them installed at the library,” I say.

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