Chapter 5 : Unforseen Tempers

*Sophie’s POV*

The reverberation of the front door hitting the wall caused us all to turn our heads. Alessandro Rossi stood in the doorway with an amused look on his face as he assessed the precarious situation the three of us had found ourselves in. His eyes moved from the scared expression on my face to the gun in the other man’s hand, and I swear he smiled.

He wore an expensive suit that accentuated the muscular build of his body. His face was lined with age, but still handsomely chiseled. "Jacopo, put the gun away. Sophia and Luca were invited here by me, and I won't have you running them off because you're having one of your temper tantrums."

Jacopo. That was the name of this handsome stranger that stole my breath at the flea market, and now stole my peace in Tuscany.

Jacopo furrowed his brow and scowled at Alessandro. His gaze shifted to Luca and me, and he bared his teeth in a menacing expression. I held my breath as Jacopo tightened his grip on the gun before uncurling his fingers one by one. He finally moved his attention to Mr. Rossi, letting out an exasperated sigh as he put the gun down.

The older man, his dark eyes stern, glanced at the younger one in disgust before turning to us. “Sophia, Luca, allow me to introduce my son Jacopo Rossi.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “It seems I must apologize for my own child; he has a habit of forgetting even basic civilities. Jacopo, say hello to our guests.”

Jacopo's dark eyes met mine, and he said, "Stay away from the villa. Don't touch it, don't even look at it."

Alessandro rolled his eyes, and told Jacopo, "Stop this. I hired the pair to renovate the villa, as well as some art pieces. They'll have full access to the entire property for as long as it takes, and I won't have them tiptoeing around you and your temper."

"They're going to ruin it," the younger man said angrily, "You're desecrating her space."

Alessandro gave him a stern look before turning to us and said, "This is my late wife's villa. I want to restore it to its former glory, as a tribute to her memory. Sophia and Luca will be doing just that. They'll be restoring it, not damaging it."

"Restoring it for what, Father? So you can sell it off?" he looked between the three of us, then said, "Over my dead body."

Alessandro gave his son an exasperated look. "We had a phone call the other day where I agreed not to discuss selling the villa. As far as I'm concerned, that's still the case."

He turned back to me and Luca and said in a softer tone," Please excuse my son's outbursts. He has good intentions, but sometimes his emotions get the better of him."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not standing here in the room," his sculpted face turned toward me, and I felt the rage radiating from his body. "I'll be monitoring your every step closely. If you so much as damage a single thing on the property, I'll ship your ass back to New York and make sure you're blacklisted from every corner of the restoration world."

He cracked his knuckles and stomped out of the room without another word, leaving behind a cloud of tension that hung in the air for what felt like minutes.

Mr. Rossi apologized again for his son's rudeness, and we accepted it without further comment. We had a job to do, and it was clear Jacopo was going to make sure we stayed true to the task at hand.

Mr. Rossi eyed us to see if we'd move forward after being held at gunpoint. Luca didn't say anything, so I walked forward and attempted to ease the leftover tension. "He seems...passionate."

Mr. Rossi threw his head back and let out a boisterous laugh, "That surely is one way to describe him. I'm glad to see his antics haven't dissuaded you from having a sense of humor, Sophia. You see, this villa was where Jacopo and his mother spent most of his childhood. She had always planned to fix it all up herself, but she was sick. It didn't get done, and now, Jacopo has reservations about strangers coming in to mess with things. He feels it will taint the memories he has of her."

"That makes sense," I said, looking back at Luca who nodded in agreement. "We'll handle it with care, I assure you."

"I know you will. Now, walk me through some of your recommendations," Mr. Rossi changed the subject and walked out the front door.

Luca shuffled papers in his hands and began pointing out the areas that needed improvement. "These cracks in the foundation have to be fixed before we can begin most of the superficial updates. Once the integrity of the structure is restored, we can really jump in."

I nodded and added, "The garden is already beautiful, so you'll need to find an experienced gardener to come in and clean it up and maintain it. The sculptures out here are authentic, and Luca and I will work on restoring and sealing them so they can last in the elements for years to come."

"Other than the structural restoration, what other plans do you have for the outside of the villa itself? I'd like to maintain the historic look while improving everything. I'd love to hear your first-look ideas," Mr. Rossi inquired.

"Well," I began, looking around the outside of the villa and taking mental notes, "The stonework is something we'd like to keep intact, but with a few tweaks here and there. We can use some mortar to fill in minor cracks and gaps that are visible between each stone. We could also add some decorative detailing through the use of etching or stencils. The color of the stones could also be brought out more with an acid wash or using a sealant."

Moving past the stonework, I continued, "The grounds need some attention as well. The grass is overgrown and patchy, so it'll need to be seeded and fertilized for sure. We can also bring in some plants for extra curb appeal like shrubs, hedges, flower beds, and trees. If you're open to suggestions, I'd recommend mixing different colors of flora as well as adding in a couple of fruit trees for added ambiance. As I mentioned before, a trusted gardener will make that all come to life."

Luca chimed in next to give his two cents on the situation while gesturing towards roofing, "If we want to make sure that this villa retains its original charm, we will also need to do repairs on the rooftop terra cotta tiles. Several missing tiles need replacing."

Mr. Rossi nodded along with us as he took everything in before responding with enthusiasm despite his reservations at first. "I'm impressed by how knowledgeable you both are. I knew that you were the one for the job, Sophia."

With that, he left us alone again. My nerves were shot from being held at gunpoint, and I let out a heavy sigh before turning to Luca. He wore the same weary expression on his face.

Before I could say anything, Luca started, "What. The. Fuck. What have you gotten me involved in, Sophia?"

I couldn't blame Luca for his outburst, "Luca, I'm sorry. I didn't anticipate any of this happening. I thought it was just going to be a simple renovation job."

"A simple renovation job? We're in the middle of the Italian countryside with the vengeful son of a rich man. This is definitely going to be anything but simple."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"I know, I know. But we can't turn back now. Mr. Rossi is going to pay us handsomely, and we have a job to do. We just need to be careful and keep our heads down." I tried to reassure him, but I could tell he wasn't convinced.

"I guess you're right," he replied.

We continued our tour of the villa, taking notes of every detail: the worn out shutters in the living room, the chipped, broken mosaic tiles in the kitchen, the chipped paint on the windowsills. We paid close attention to all these details so that we could come up with a more accurate cost estimation for Mr. Rossi. Luca took some extra pictures and measurements with his phone while I jotted down notes in my notebook.

"There's so much to be done, it's a little overwhelming," I said to Luca.

"You haven't even seen the collection of art pieces yet. Don't forget that that's also part of this job. You're going to be a very busy woman for the foreseeable future."

I laughed, "You're going to be busy, too. You're my right hand man, my guy. You're stuck here just as much as I am."

I stuck my tongue out at him, and he flipped me off.

"After this job is over, I'm going on a vacation. Somewhere warm and tropical, filled with strangers and booze," Luca said before he walked back into the villa.

He left me alone in the front yard, and I thought back on the man I learned was Jacopo Rossi. What were the odds that I would run into him at the market, only to be thrust into his world four days later? Was he feigning ignorance when he said we were stalking him? Had he learned that I had already spoken with his father, so he had followed me to learn more about me? I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he seemed genuinely shocked to see me here.

I felt a deep sadness for him and the memories I’m sure he was terrified his childhood home would be tainted with our renovations. Losing a parent was difficult, and it didn’t seem like Jacopo and Mr. Rossi had the best relationship. I needed to make sure we were cautious to keep the changes subtle. The last thing I wanted was to be on Jacopo’s shit list for the duration of our time in Italy. He seemed unstable, and I already knew he carried a gun.

Why in God’s name did he have to be so attractive though? A shiver ran through me as I thought about his muscular, tall frame. His brooding dark eyes and chiseled jawline would haunt my dreams for a very long time.