Chapter 9
Leo hadn’t meant to sleep this late.
But the rain pounded against the glass of the balcony doors, the bed let his muscles relax, and the moon was high in the sky.
Anna wasn’t beside him so his adrenaline stirred. He sat and turned the light on in the bedroom, but then he saw that the light in the dining area was on and Anna was pacing in her white robe while talking on the phone.
Had something happened?
He ran his hand through his short hair, not nearly as soft as Anna’s, and heard her say the word “grandmother.”
Anna must be talking to her only family member and hopefully convincing Maria to move to the dower house so she had her family close and easy to visit. His parents mostly ignored him, but he couldn’t imagine life without them. He stretched and saw his own phone flashing, as he’d turned the ringer off.
He answered Pierre who quickly said, “Sire.”
Leo glanced out the window toward the full moon in the sky. “Pierre, you’re calling late.”
Pierre stopped typing in the background. “I was still working. Is that a problem?”
Perhaps he should set office hours. Anna had always been available and honestly when he’d spoken to her at this time of the night, he’d never once imagined her doing anything.
However, Anna said Pierre had a life and it didn’t seem fair to his new staff—yes, he would absolutely make regular working hours.
“Not at all.” The Francesca situation needed to end, no matter how late into the night it took. “What’s going on?”
“It seems Francesca and Pascal have hit it off as she’s currently staying at his place for the evening,” Pierre informed him.
He leaned back against the headboard in relief. There would be no drama on their return and once he had the medical reports, he’d explain everything to Anna.
Secrets were never good, but with luck, after this, he wouldn’t have any more problems. “Excellent to hear that.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as the medical reports arrive from the hospital. Until then, I’d like to work on the environmental reports that Anna Camila had marked as important.”
His ears burned with memories of her words about trees at the mention of her name.
He sat up from bed and pulled on his pants. “What did Anna mark as important?”
The sound of clicking on Pierre’s end of the phone stopped. “That we reforest the east ridge of the mountain to help stabilize the area’s natural resources.”
The day he’d asked her to marry him replayed with her mentioning some report. Had it been about trees? He thought he’d signed it but maybe there was more to it that he didn’t know—he hadn’t read it. He scratched the back of his head and said, “Send me whatever you need for approval on that. I thought I signed off on all that. We’ll call the area Anna Camila’s nursery habitat.”
“Excellent, Your Highness,” Pierre said, and they each hung up.
Leo turned around and saw Anna staring at him with round brown eyes and a curious expression.
Light brown hair, damp and waving, indicated that she’d taken a shower while he’d slept—and he hadn’t heard a thing.
Now he was up and he’d show her more of a good time—he reached for her hand to pull her back to bed. She said, “You’re always on the phone it seems. You approved the forest plan then?”
Wait. Had he mentioned anything about Francesca? His heart almost stopped as he asked, “How did you guess?”
She put her phone on the table beside the bed. “I heard my name.”
For now he was safe. He let out his breath and said, “It’s still raining, my sweet.”
She laughed. “I like when you call me that.”
“How are you feeling now that you’re not a virgin?”
