Kissing the Contessa

Carla, Contessa di Montecalvo, is lonely since her former duke broke it off to get married and not to her– she was his mistress. Her dwindling finances may force her to wed, but the marriage mart is a stormy sea and it's not for her, since her late husband, il Conte, gave her a bad experience of being wedded. A rich earl is keen to snap her up, but she doesn't love him and he doesn't love her, and she's worried about her only son, gone missing. The man who loves her is her impoverished butler and he treats her like a queen, but she's a countess and he's a mere servant. A liaison with him is unthinkable, she's a widowed aristocrat who will not contemplate the scandal of marrying beneath her. What is she to do? Will she save her finances and status, or toss them to the winds and save her heart?

Mirocleto 'Clay' Serafino is her noble butler, a man of honor with nothing to offer her but his name. He's been in love with the contessa ever since he first set eyes on her when he went to work in her parents' house in Rome. She left to marry a count, became widowed, and moved to London. He followed her there and he's been her butler for 8 years. He declares his love, but she refuses him. She will never marry beneath her and he has nothing to offer her but his name, devotion and his fierce protection. Only a servant, albeit one with noble intentions, can he ever win her love in return?