Page 40 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

‘We haven’t eaten,’ he said.

She blinked and shook her head, admitting, ‘I’d forgotten.’

Getting dressed that evening, knowing there was only one person she was trying to impress, feeling that little illicit thrill of excitement in the pit of her belly that she wouldn’t acknowledge but enjoyed, seemed a lifetime ago.

‘I’m not really hungry now.’

He didn’t force it, and she reasoned he probably wanted to be alone. He had a lot to process.

‘I—Well—Goodnight,’ she said suddenly unable to meet his eyes.

It hadn’t been easy, but she had been able to fight her powerful attraction to his dark, brooding looks. Glimpsing his vulnerability had cut through all her defences.

‘I’m glad he had you for those last weeks.’

Theo looked as surprised to hear himself delivering the comment as Grace felt receiving it.

‘He was not in pain,’ she said, hoping that made him feel better.

‘Good. But I meant that you... I think your company must have made his last days... I’m glad he was not alone.’

His eyes were drawn to her mouth, and he felt a quiver of lust as his glance lingered on the lush, quivering outline.

‘I enjoyed his company—justhis company,’ she said, flushing. An antagonistic glitter appeared in her electric blue eyes as she lifted her chin. ‘No matter what the tabloids say. I suppose you’ve read the article?’

‘I don’t read tabloids,’ he said, not adding that he didn’t have to.

There were people in his employ who did it for him—people, in this instance, who planted the stories to begin with.

‘Shame not everyone follows your example,’ she said.

‘Their numbers are falling all the time, and nobody believes what they read,’ he said, finding himself unable to meet her eyes.

She smiled, appreciating his attempt to make her feel better.

‘I wish that were true—’ she began, then promptly lost her thread as their glances collided and held.

It was as if some invisible force had her in its grip.

Grace had never felt anything like it.

The air quivered as the elusive attraction between them flared and grew hot.

If only life was as simple and uncomplicated as lust, Theo mused, feeling its tug. For once he didn’t push back against it. He let it envelop him, heat his blood, awaken his senses and fill his head.

Looking at her mouth, he didn’t have to think...he didn’t have to sift through the maze of emotions that today’s discovery had shaken free.

In the space of time it had taken for him to read those handwritten pages everything Theo had believed had slipped away. He felt as though he was walking through quicksand. For years when he’d thought of his father it had been with a flat, cold anger—anger that was still there. He felt cheated...mortified... And the first scratches of guilt were like nails on a blackboard.

His jaw clenched as he tried to block the emotional gut-punch.

Staring at her mouth was, he discovered, a way of silencing the angry buzz of thoughts swirling in his head.

Grace was no longer trying to break eye contact with Theo. He was still staring at her. With an expression in his dark eyes that made her heart rate quicken and her knees shake a little.

‘It must be a lot to take in,’ she said, feeling impelled to say something, even if it did sound trite.

She had to cut through this new tension that buzzed in the air between them.

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