Page 9 of In Bed with Her Billionaire Bodyguard

‘You can come in, you know?’

Luca looked up at the older man, sticking his head out of the back door.

‘That’s okay, but thank you.’

‘You’ll freeze your testicles off in this weather. Get in here or my wife will have mine over coals.’

Luca bit back a laugh at the rough talk from the old man who reminded him somehow of Pietro. He recognised the man as the butler from Hope’s file. Mr Conwary had been with the family for his entire working life. There were only two reasons a man did that. Loyalty or greed. There was nothing about a man who proudly admitted that his wife would roast his testicles over hot coals that suggested greed.

He looked back at the car, worried that he wouldn’t be there for Hope when she’d finished with her grandfather.

‘She’d be more unhappy that you’d waited outside in the cold than having to look for you with us,’ the man said, jerking his head back towards the house.

Relenting, Luca nodded his thanks and followed the old man through the back parts of the house and into a large, very recognisably English, country kitchen. A woman matching the butler’s age turned to welcome him. Mrs Conwary. He’d have known it even without the background info. Cheeks pink from cooking something that smelled delicious, she smiled big and hugged hard. Luca was somewhat startled by the easy affection from these two and was hastily trying to fit it into what he knew about Hope and Nate’s upbringing.

‘Have a seat. Tea? Stew’s not ready, but it’ll do if you’re hungry.’

Luca translated her words from English to Italian and got the gist. ‘No, thank you, ma’am.’

She cooed in delight. ‘Did you hear that? Me, ma’am? Charmer.’

Luca couldn’t help but smile at the couple. This appeared as much their home as their employer’s but their easy way around him was something he’d never experienced, not even with Pietro and Alma.

‘You’ve started with Hope?’ Mrs Conwary asked.

‘Yes,’ Luca said, readying himself for who knew what.

‘How is she doing?’

‘I can’t believe that little toerag waited until Nate was...was...’ her husband growled, cutting a glance at Luca ‘...away. What is Hope expected to do?’

Luca wasn’t sure what a toerag was, but it didn’t sound good. Mrs Conwary was staring at Luca intently, still clearly hoping for an answer.

‘She is okay,’ he hedged, not about to share his true thoughts on the subject of Hope, no matter how friendly the couple appeared to be.

Mrs Conwary hummed disapprovingly. ‘She’s not as tough as she looks.’

‘I don’t know about that, Mary,’ the old man mused. ‘She’ll have to be if she’s to throw her name in the hat.’

Luca kept his expression blank, but he was surprised that the family staff seemed to be as well-informed on the political wranglings at Harcourts as they were.

‘I’d like to give that Simon a piece of my mind.’

Mary grabbed her husband’s wagging finger and gently pushed it away from Luca’s face. One part of him was amused, the other—the one focused on Hope Harcourt—was very much not.

‘She used to be such a happy girl. Had a laugh that was like sunshine,’ Mary said wistfully, staring at a series of old photo frames placed along a sideboard. ‘Sorry, it’s the time of year. Brings back the bad.’

The bad?Luca’s confusion must have shown on his face.

‘Memories. Bad memories. Hope’s parents died in a car accident. Terrible thing. Patch of black ice took the car on the way back from a fancy party in London.’

Mr Conwary rubbed circles on his wife’s back to soothe her and an odd twist in his conscience caught Luca by surprise. He had known about her parents’ death, noted it but not taken in the date. It was around this time of year, he vaguely remembered.

‘Mr and Mrs Conwary,’ came Hope’s voice from behind them all.

She was standing in the doorway, head resting against the frame, with a smile on her face that suggested she mightnothave heard what they had just been discussing.

Mrs Conwary looked aghast for a moment, but covered well and rushed to envelop Hope’s thinner frame in her larger one. Mr Conwary shot Luca a glance that said he wasn’t fooled either.

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