Page 32 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

‘Enjoy your swim,’ she said flashing him a brilliantly insincere smile.

‘So have you resisted the scene of the crime?’

‘I have been to the beach several times and stayed in the shallows.’

‘You need to face your fears.’

‘I really don’t need advice from you. If I want my head examined, my brother is a psychiatrist.’

‘Interesting family...’

He’d know just how interesting, he assumed, when he got around to reading Rollo’s file, which he had been promised held some ‘juicy stuff’. The man’s ebullient confidence seemed undimmed by his tongue-lashing from Theo.

Though Theo had not immediately made the connection, he now realised that he’d once met Grace’s sister. She had seemed to him at the time brittle and driven—which were no bad things—but also a little insecure...the sort of insecure that made her show off.

In retrospect, he could feel more sympathy for her—at the time he’d just been irritated when she’d spoken over people and missed every social cue.

It had to be hard for any woman, having a sister like Grace, who was not only beautiful, but natural, with a quirky charm and smartness that couldn’t be learnt.

‘Fascinating,’Grace said waspishly, clearly not focusing on her inner charm.

‘Look, the offer stands,’ he told her. ‘Come and explore the grotto and it won’t be the scary place it has become in your head. It’s low tide and perfectly safe. We can wade in and walk out—job done.’

‘Is this a trick? Why are you being so nice?’

‘Not nice...’

His mind slid back to yesterday’s chess game. He had lost, and when he’d said ruefully he wasn’t sure why, Leonard had asked him if he actually wanted to know.

Amused, Theo had said yes. ‘I am not afraid of a hard truth,’ he had joked.

‘You have a tendency to take a fixed position before examining the evidence,’ Leonard had said. ‘That inflexibility, it makes you vulnerable, Theo. You miss opportunities.’

He knew the old man could not see into his head, but it sometimes seemed awfully like it.

He was not about to change his mind, but he was also not about to prejudge Grace. He would get to know her.

‘It won’t be deep?’ she asked.

He shrugged off his light-hearted attitude. ‘I have been afraid of things in my life. Believe me, it is better to face your devils and laugh at them.’

Half an hour later Grace found herself standing on the beach, trembling as though the temperature was sub-zero and not a balmy twenty-three. She had no idea why, but knew it must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

She welcomed the distraction when Theo stripped off his top, revealing the slabbed perfection of his flat belly and the definition of his bronzed chest.

‘The first step is always the hardest,’ he said.

‘I’m not scared.’

‘I know.’

She was gripping his hand and she didn’t really know how or why. The ankle-deep ripples were innocuous and warm against her bare skin. Then the water reached above her ankles and her stomach muscles clenched.

‘Nice swimsuit.’

It was plain black, high on the leg and scooped at the back and front, quite low, but secure. She was not afraid of anything falling out because she didn’t have that much there. If she had, his comment would have made her very nervous. As it was, it just provided a useful distraction.

‘You’re doing great.’

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