Page 47 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

He veiled his eyes so that the lingering effects of a stab of jealousy so intense it had felt like a blade sliding between his ribs might not show in his face.

A stab of jealousy that had spurred him into unhelpful speech.

That, and the image of some faceless future lover enjoying the passionhehad unlocked made him feel physically sick.

The militant light faded from Grace’s eyes as she realised the lie in his words.

If I could look after myselfI wouldn’t have allowed myself to have feelings for my enemy...to sleep with him and to want to do it again.

She had never been in this situation before, but she was pretty sure that at some point there was going to be pain and regret involved.

The really scary part was that she didn’t care.

The bittersweet knowledge added another layer to her emotions as they made love again, and this time it was less frantic. It was still passionate, but tender, and Theo was considerate of her body, which ached in places she hadn’t known could ache.

This time he fulfilled his unrealistic intention of kissing every inch of her body and then some, and coached her in how to touch him, to drive him to edge and then back again, building her confidence and increasing her fascination with his hard, lean body.

He seemed reluctant to leave the heat of her body after they had both climaxed, and Grace had no issue with the way his heavy body felt against hers. Sliding in and out of an exhausted sleep, she had no idea how long they stayed that way.

When Grace woke up fully, she was alone and it was daytime.

Talk about the cold light of day, she thought, feeling the mattress that bore the imprint and scent of him, but no Theo.

It was cold.

He was long gone.

CHAPTER TEN

SHEHADWASHED, dressed, and donned a steely resolve not to be clingy along with double denim—which was probably a mistake. If last night had been a one-off, she told herself, embracing a ‘laughing in the face of disaster’ mentality was totally fine.

It was twelve thirty-one when Theo entered her room. She knew because she had been glancing at the time roughly every minute.

‘Hello,’ she said her smile extra-bright.

‘I was just talking to Marta.’

‘Oh?’ Grace murmured vaguely, adopting an expression she hoped made it clear that she didn’t think she was owed any explanation of his whereabouts, and she definitelywasn’tkeeping tabs on him.

She continued to line up her nail varnishes on the dressing table.

‘I told her about the diary and asked her to fill in any blanks she was able to.’

‘Oh!’

Grace abandoned her neat, geometrically precise line, and walked quickly over to him. ‘How did it go?’

‘She was upset, and things got pretty emotional. She was put in an impossible position by my father, and she imagined I would be angry—’

‘But you weren’t?’ she cut in quickly.

‘Hell, of course not! It seems that there were only six people who knew about the suicide note—it seems the affair was only ever believed to be a rumour. They were very discreet, apparently, and everyone knew that my mother had a history of mental health issues. This was a long time ago, and such things were spoken of in hushed whispers. Three of those staff who were in the know are dead, one has retired and gone to live with his son in Rome, my father’s old butler has had a stroke and is in a care home, and that leaves Marta.’

‘Is that good?’

‘Not for the dead people or the old butler.’

She threw him a look. ‘So that’s it, then?’

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