The Prince's Housekeeper Bride Read Free Page A

a solution.”
    â€œI was studying…” Alisa begged, her hand grabbing for her precious book, but he held it too high. “Please, I need my book.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œI told you—I am studying.”
    â€œTourism.” He frowned at the title. “You have big dreams! Is that why you do not fit in?” As he handed the book back to her he registered her grimace. “I have seen the way the other staff talk to you, that you choose to go to your room rather than—” He gave a small shrug. “You think you are too good for them?”
    â€œNo, but that is how they think I feel.” Alisa admitted. “They say I should be happy with my lot, honored to work at the palace.”
    â€œYou think it is beneath you?”
    â€œOf course not.” She began brushing the floor with her foot. “I am grateful for the work, but yes…one day I hope for better. Please, Benito,” Alisa screwed her eyes closed, could scarcely believe the mess she had made of things. She couldn’t bear the thought of facing Alberto in the morning…and it was that thought alone that gave the nerve to continue. “Your offer for Alberto is incredibly generous—”
    â€œI will not be patronized by a maid.” Benito sneered. “Have the guts to finish what you started. Tell me what it is that I do not understand.”
    â€œA-Alberto needs the work,” she stammered, her eyes glassy with tears as she told him the truth. “If he has time off, he will not be paid and now, more than ever, he needs the money.”
    â€œSurely he should want to be with his wife.”
    â€œWant and need are two different things.” Somehow her words hit, only not the mark she’d intended. The vast airy room was suddenly stifling and warm… And even when she remembered her place, even when she added a respectful “Sir” to the end of her sentence, it did nothing to release the sudden tension.
    â€œSurely they mean the same.” His voice was low, the anger gone from it, but it was just as dangerous. The lateness of the hour, the fact it was just the two of them in the villa trickled into her consciousness as surely as it did into his. “Come on. You are the clever one who is studying. Tell me—what is the difference?”
    â€œI don’t know.” Alisa moistened her dry lips, her mind whirring as she attempted to answer him. “Want is…desire, craving…”
    â€œAnd need?”
    â€œNeed is…” She could feel her cheeks flaming under his scrutiny. She attempted to hold his unwavering gaze, but was sideswiped by untoward thoughts as she struggled to keep control,
    â€œGo on.”
    â€œNeed is about obligation, about doing what is necessary.”
    There was an interminable silence, her heart hammering so loudly surely he must hear it. Her fate—Alberto’s fate—was held solely in his manicured hands.
    â€œYou can cover his shortfall? If Alberto is not here, you can make up his duties without my having to inform the palace.”
    â€œOf course,” Alisa breathed, wondering if she dared to tell him now about Marietta, that she had to dash home each evening to kiss her and give Marietta her medications, but Alberto needed this so much that Alisa chose not to.
    â€œWhen I am out, when the other staff are gone—” her breath was hot in her lungs as she awaited his demands “—you can use the study, the computer.” The tiny gasp that escaped from her lips was unavoidable. The precious money, the time she would save typing up her work rather than laboriously handwriting her assignments or using the library computer, was way beyond anything she could have expected. And yet there was a strange thud of disappointment, too, in that tiny slice of time her mind had danced dangerously.
    â€œThank you.” How paltry that sounded. “Really, thank you.”
    â€œYou