Chapter 147
Firenze, Florence
Morosini Villa
“Well, this one is yours,” Lucien said, opening the door to the first bedroom on the second story.
Dae-Ho and Tae-il were already in the far guestroom, a sock hanging from the door to signal they did not want to be disturbed.
Pan Jin looked down the hallway. “Dae-Ho will play hard to get,” she said. “As much of a flirt as he is, he’s terrified to give his heart and self to another. We have that in common, strangely enough. Refreshing that it isn’t completely unique, but creepy that he plays the role of Romeo in public as effortlessly as he does.”
Lucien nodded his agreement. “At least he hasn’t flirted with you for weeks on end.”
“I’m not his type,” she amusingly reminded him with a smirk, and he chuckled.
Apparently President Pan Jin had been spending too much time with Dae-Ho and Rain because she was starting to sound like them and she makes many of the same faces that Rain does.
Pan Jin turned her attention to the guestroom but didn’t go inside. “It is surprisingly modest. Why does William Lee have so many estates?” she asked.
Lucien shrugged. “They are a way for him to always have a place to go, to always have a roof to put over someone’s head if needed, I suppose. He is very protective of those he considers family, and will stop at nothing to help better them, because in the process he knows they will better the world in return.”
She nodded; that wasn’t the answer she thought she’d get, but it made sense now that she had met the real William Lee. She looked around the room more; it was insultingly simplistic and didn’t suggest a billionaire owned the place.
The double bed was nicely made up with quilts and cotton bedding with a stack of pillows. The burrow and vanity were wood and looked nearly as old as the villa, cut logs were neatly stacked next to the fireplace, and the curtains were pulled back over the leaded pane windows that gave an unrestricted view of the sprawling hills the villa was situated on.
It was simplistic and homey.
“I have been here before when I was enjoying Italy by myself. And I was here with random company I met in my adventures for a bit of fun,” Lucien said with a chuckle.
Pan Jin gave him a look that caused him to smile wide; Rain gives him that look when she was disapproving of him flirting with her just to get a rise out of his brother. “Not in this bed I hope.”
“No. The master suites, both of them,” he mused.
“Ew,” she said, smacking him and he chuckled.
“They were cleaned up. William doesn’t believe in employing help that huge estates require to maintain. Small and homey, that’s how he likes them. There’s a farmer that lives down the road, him and his sons tend to the landscaping and they work the land and keep whatever they earn from it; they are the highest paid gardeners in Italy, I suspect. Guests clean up after themselves, cook for themselves, and take care of themselves, even when on vacation.”
Pan Jin chuckled for some reason. “I like him. He’s different and modest. When I took this job, I was so scared I’d be out of my element and would make a fool of myself because of it.”
Lucien looked at her. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I don’t come from means, you know that. When you don’t have money, those with it make sure you never forget you don’t have it. It was one of the things that made me a Myo Mi-Sun fan. She didn’t come from money, had no parents, and yet she was on television and no one looked at her as if she was beneath them. It gave little kids like me someone to look up to.”
Pan Jin walked into the bedroom then turned to the door to face him.
“I just rode on a private jet to Italy,” she said, “with one of the most famous actresses in Korea, scolded one of the founding members of the biggest K-Pop group in the world, told my boss what to do, and am in William Lee’s, the world’s youngest billionaire, Italian villa. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be doing any of that!”
Lucien chuckled; she was adorable and reminded him a lot of Rain. “Still trying to wrap your head around it?” he surmised.
She nodded. “My mother will kill me when I get home, or she’ll disown me or smack me around, maybe even kick me out of the house, but it’s worth it. Getting to have this experience, a once in a lifetime adventure, makes it worth the fight that will ensue when I get home.”
His smile fell. “Your mother doesn’t approve of you having a good paying job that lets you work around your schooling schedule?” he asked.
Pan Jin shook her head. “My mother is different and difficult. She’s… I don’t know. She doesn’t know what my job is. I told her I was a personal online media assistant for an ad agency. She hates Myo Mi-Sun, always has. I had to sneak around to watch the television shows or movies she was in. When I joined the fan club when I was a kid, she beat me with a broom handle because I did it without her permission.”
That, was unexpected.
“What about your father?” Lucien asked, curious and worried that they really should have done an extensive background check on the new President of the Fan Club instead of the quick one he put together while Will walked him through it.
Pan Jin made a face. “I don’t know. Mom said he’s dead. She wouldn’t even tell me his name growing up. I’ve had three stepdads. One was a nice guy that left because he couldn’t handle his wife’s outbursts and anger. Another had a horrible daughter, my stepsister, that went out of her way to make my life a living hell. The most recent, he’s been gone on the road for weeks. He’s a truck driver, he comes home for a few days a month is all. I don’t even think he remembers my name, which is funny.”
Lucien snorted. “It isn’t funny in the least,” he corrected.
“That isn’t why I think it’s funny,” Pan Jin said with a smile. “I remember everything, that’s why it’s funny to me.”
His eyes widened. “That’s how you were able to identify Thug 1, Thug 3 and Thug 4 as effortlessly as you did?”
She nodded. “The test I failed, I failed it because I fell asleep nine questions in. Those answers were correct, but the other forty-one were blank.”
Lucien pulled his mobile phone out and clicked on the flashlight then shined it in her face.
Pan Jin winched, putting her hand up to block the light. “What are you doing?”
His eyes were wide as he pocketed his mobile phone. “I was just curious about something.”
“What, blinding me?” she complained, swatting at him. “You are so annoying sometimes.”
“And your eyes are-”
“Yeah, and?” she asked, not wanting to discuss it.
It was bad enough she was subjected to bullying at school by the other girls because of bad home life, lack of money, and eyes. She didn’t need it from those she worked for either.
Lucien smirked. “You’re mad at me.”
“You are being weird all of a sudden… It’s not even dinner time.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes, aren’t you?” she retorted.
Lucien nodded. “I could eat. There’s no food here though. Want to go into the village and grab something to eat with me? I’ll refrain from flirting with you since you’re still in school.”
Pan Jin tossed her bag on the bed. “Let’s go!” she beamed with a teeth baring smile.
Lucien texted his siblings to let them know where they were headed. He then texted William and asked him, when he had time and wasn’t playing with Lucien’s sister of course, to do another background check on Pan Jin, only this time focus on her mother and father instead.
They had problem, one that they never saw coming and would affect the lives of those they consorted with and were in charge of keeping alive.
“Et l'offre ne cesse de se renouveler,” Lucien commented under his breath in French, heading back down the stairs, following the young woman that was leading the way.
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