Page 14 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

He dismissed the possibility. With a woman like her there would always be an angle.

‘How the hell do you know all this?’ he asked.

Grace took a deep, steadying breath, feeling shaky in the aftermath of her emotional outburst. A lifetime with her charming, infuriating family had taught her that being confrontational was not a solution, and she prided herself on the fact that these days she reacted to provocation with calm reason.

But then she had never encountered Theo and his sneering until now.

‘I’m interested,’ she responded, struggling belatedly to lower the emotional temperature of the conversation. ‘Because passion can be contagious, and your father was passionate about these projects.’

A slow, sad smile spread across her face.

‘He had so much knowledge and enthusiasm. He was so—Oh, God!’

She broke off as her chest heaved and a sob bubbled up. She pressed her hand to her mouth to hold it in.

‘He was such a lovely man and I miss him,’ she mumbled.

He could have destroyed the idealised image she had apparently built up of his father in one brutal sentence.

So why didn’t he?

Because he told himself it didn’t matter what this woman’s relationship with his father was—or rather had been. It didn’t matter if she was genuine or a brilliant actress. He needed to focus on the fact that she was here and she stood in his way. Anything else was a distraction.

‘Well, he’s not here. But I am. And a few tears and an appeal to my eco-credentials are not going to work on me. If you want my signature you have to give me sound financial reasons.’

At the brutal words her head came up. Eyes still shining with unshed tears, she flicked her hair back and glared at him.

‘I thought I had.’

Damn her.

She had.

‘You’re actually a horrible man!’

Not very original, but indisputably accurate.

How, she wondered, remembering the music she had heard him produce, could someone so cold and cruel play the piano with such emotional intensity?

‘You have no idea how wounded I am by that.’ He produced another of his uniquely unpleasant smiles from a mouth that was uniquely sensual. ‘I thought someone in your job needed professional distance. Do you get broken up every time a patient dies? Or only over the ones who have left you a fortune?’

She regarded him with simmering dislike bright in her blue eyes. ‘Actually, yes, I do struggle with retaining my detachment.’

And it did take a toll on her personally, that inability to switch off after a long day when she’d become emotionally invested in a patient.

‘But I’m a good nurse despite that.’

Though she knew there had been times when the objectivity that had eluded her would have made her a better nurse and also made her life a lot easier.

Her chest lifted in a silent sigh as she struggled for some of that elusive objectivity now.

‘Not that I expect you to be particularly interested. Just as I’m not interested in whether you are naturally unpleasant or you’re simply working at it. But I am assuming that you believe if you’re unpleasant enough...if you throw enough roadblocks in my way... I’ll just roll over?’

She raised her well-defined feathery brows, despite the fact that her internal temperature had shot into the red danger zone, and she forced her blue stare to hold his for several cool moments before the tug of his mouth got the better of her.

That sculpted, sensual outline was exerting an unhealthy and disturbing fascination for her.

‘I’m staying put,’ she told him. ‘You can be as vile and unpleasant as you like. I won’t allow you to destroy Palazzo della Stellato.’

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