Italian Bachelors: Ruthless Propositions: Taming Her Italian Boss / The Uncompromising Italian / Secrets of the Playboy's Bride

‘Where are you going?’ he asked, realising he was disappointed she was leaving.

He told himself it was because he needed her there as backup, that he didn’t want to be left alone with Sofia. What if she started crying again?

‘It’s lunch time,’ she said, smiling. ‘I think Sofia is getting hungry.’

Max checked his watch. So it was. He’d forgotten how much he’d loved these blocks as a boy, how many rainy days just like this one he’d spent in this room, building forts and skyscrapers and alien space stations.

He stood up and surveyed the creation they’d made together. Despite its flouncy, OTT design, he was quite proud of himself. And Ruby and Sofia, obviously. This really was a spectacular castle. He’d enjoyed himself, remembered just how much joy could be had from building and creating when the pressure wasn’t on. And he’d enjoyed the good-natured banter and arguments about which door should go where and just how ridiculously high Sleeping Beauty’s tower should be. Instead of feeling burdened and irritated, he felt...

It took him a while to name the sensation. Probably because it had been absent from his life for so long.

He felt relaxed.

‘That’s you relieved of duty for the morning, then,’ Ruby said and held out her hand for Sofia and asked her if she’d like lunch in Italian. Sofia nodded vigorously and began to tell Ruby exactly what she’d consent to eat. The list consisted of mainly chocolate and flavours of ice cream. Ruby just smiled and led her away and Max was left staring at Sofia’s castle.

The smile slowly slid from his face. The tiny rainbow-coloured castle might have turned out well, but he still had no idea how to add the same flair to his design for the institute. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged back to the library. For some reason, he didn’t think turrets and a moat would be a hit with his clients.

* * *

Rather than the pearly mist of the day before, which had draped the whole city in soft, off-white tones, the next morning was bright and loud and colourful. Instead of setting the blocks up in the living room, Max led Ruby and Sofia outside to the dock.

A minute later they were zipping through canals heading for somewhere Max said was a prime spot for what he had in mind. Ruby stared at the ‘equipment’ he’d brought with them that sat in the bottom of the boat. She guessed they must be doing fishing of some kind, because there were a couple of buckets, some nets and a line of dark wire, wrapped round a plastic reel, with a weight and a hook at one end.

She looked down at the toddler in her arms. Didn’t fishing require patience and silence? She wasn’t sure how much of a good idea this was.

She didn’t have the heart to mention that to Max, though. All traces of the frown that had been permanently etched into his forehead since she’d first met him had disappeared, and he looked calmer, more relaxed, as he drove the little boat through narrow and wide canals, manoeuvring it expertly with only a slight twist of the wheel here and there.

They moored alongside a wide path beside a smallish canal. They were deep in the heart of the city, far enough off the beaten track to have left most of the tourists behind. Max hopped out of the boat and held out his hands for the tackle. Ruby passed him Sofia first, and reminded him to hold her hand tightly. She then picked the buckets and nets up and placed them on the edge of the stone path before clambering out herself.

‘What now?’ she asked, slightly breathlessly.

Max stared at the opaque green water. ‘Now we put our line down and see if we can catch any crabs.’

‘Crabs?’ That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all.

He nodded. ‘Every Venetian child knows how to fish for crabs. At certain times of year, when young ones have shells that are still soft, they are considered a local delicacy.’

‘Are you sure Sofia’s going to—?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said frankly. ‘But why don’t we give it a try?’

There wasn’t much Ruby could say to that, so she stood by and lent a helping hand where she could, holding on to Sofia while Max carefully explained to her what they were going to be doing and started to put some bait on the hook. He didn’t let Sofia touch that bit of the line, but lowered it slowly into the dark water, allowing her to hold on to the plastic reel, but keeping his hands over hers.

They waited for a short while and then he slowly drew the line up again. Nothing. Ruby waited for Sofia to start fidgeting, but she seemed to be fascinated. She clumsily helped Max unreel the line again, frowning in concentration.

Ruby almost laughed looking at the pair of them. She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it before, but the family similarity smacked her right between the eyes. The same dark eyes, same cheekbones. They even pursed their lips in the same manner as they stared at the dark twine hanging in the water.

After a minute or so, Max helped Sofia wind the line up again, and this time a tiny green-and-brown mottled crab was hanging from the end. It was hanging on with grim determination, as if it had decided it was his dinner on that hook and he wasn’t giving it up for anybody.

Sofia squealed. Ruby shot forward, meaning to comfort her, but she realised when she saw the little girl’s eyes shining that the noise had been one of delight, not fear. In fact, Sofia was so pleased with her catch that she reached out to grab it as Max tried to gently shake it from the line into a bucket he’d filled with canal water.

Then came another squeal. This one high-pitched and urgent. It seemed Sofia had been a little too enthusiastic, and the crab had thought her a little too tempting, because it had clutched on to her with its free pincer. Ruby quickly darted in and shook it away, but Sofia’s eyes filled with tears and she looked at her hand in horror. ‘Naughty!’ she said vehemently. ‘Bad fish!’

Ruby scooped her up and gave her a hug, then bent to kiss the red patch on her finger. The skin wasn’t broken and she was probably more surprised and offended than in real pain. She pulled back and smiled at the little girl. ‘He just liked you so much he didn’t want to let go,’ she told her.

Sofia’s eyes grew wide. ‘Fish like me?’

Ruby nodded. ‘He’s a crab, not a fish, and, yes, I think he thought you looked very tasty.’

Sofia screwed up her face and chuckled heartily. ‘Silly fish,’ she said leaning over the bucket and peering at her catch. ‘No bite Sofia. Kiss.’ And she puckered up her lips and bent over farther. Ruby caught her quickly before she got any other ideas.

‘Why don’t we see if we can find him a friend?’ And she indicated where Max was waiting with the crabbing line.

Sofia grinned. ‘Want lots and lots friends.’

So that was what they did for the next forty-five minutes—found lots and lots of friends for the little green-and-brown crab. Ruby and Max worked as a team, keeping a firm hold on Sofia when she got over-excited and tried to lean too far over the water, and dealt with crabs and bait when needed. After the first handful of attempts they settled into an easy rhythm, giving them lulls in the action while the bait dangled in the water.

Ruby took an opportunity to look around at the buildings. She wished she had her sketchpad with her—and a free hand—so she could draw them. ‘There are so many wonderful shapes to be seen in this city,’ she said, sighing. ‘What’s that called?’ She showed Max the building on the far side of the canal, where the stonework around a window curved to a point at the top.

‘It’s an inflected arch,’ he said.

‘It makes me think of far-off lands and tales of Arabian nights.’

‘It’s interesting that you say that, because a lot of Venetian architecture has Eastern influences. Merchants travelled to the Byzantine Empire and traded with the Moors and they came back and combined those shapes with the European gothic architecture to create a unique style.’

She pointed to another building. ‘And what about those ones? They’re beautiful. At first it just looks like intricate shapes, but then you can see that the fussier patterns are actually made up of intersecting circles.’

He turned to look at her and didn’t say anything for a few moments. ‘You have a good eye for shapes.’

She shrugged and then bent down to help Sofia shake another crab off her line into the bucket. ‘Thank you. I like to draw sometimes. I suppose it’s just something I’ve picked up.’

Max took the line from his niece for a moment and worked out a few tangles before giving it back to her. ‘Is that what you’ve been doing when I’ve seen you scribbling away in that notebook of yours?’

She nodded. She hadn’t realised he’d noticed. ‘It’s just a hobby. Nothing impressive, really.’

‘You haven’t thought of making a career out of it?’ He gave her a dry smile. ‘Seeing as you’ve tried everything else?’

‘Ha, ha. Very funny. Go for the easy target, why not?’ Everyone else did.

‘Seriously, if you love it so much, why don’t you do something with it?’

She tipped her head to one side. ‘You mean, like you did?’

‘I suppose so.’

She looked down at the water below them, at the way the light bounced off the surface, moving constantly. ‘I don’t think I’d be able to do what you do. It’s very structured and disciplined. When I draw, I just go with the flow. I see something that interests me and I capture it. I’m not sure you can make a career out of that.’

‘You have plenty of discipline,’ he said. ‘Look at the way you are with Sofia. And sometimes you need that creative spark to liven all that structure up.’ He let out a long sigh and stared at the buildings across the water.