Page 52 of Awakened in Her Enemy's Palazzo

‘I will be on my best behaviour.’

She had thrown him a look of pouting challenge and affected disappointment. ‘Nottoowell-behaved, I hope.’

‘Seriously, though,’ he’d said, his wicked grin fading as he’d put aside his empty coffee cup. ‘There will be ground rules. I won’t let them bully you.’

‘They don’t! I have never said that they bully me. I am not avictim.’ The idea that she had come across that way had horrified her.

He’d shrugged. ‘I happen to be excellent at reading between the lines. So, all right, they disrespect and ride roughshod over you. It amounts to the same unacceptable behaviour.’

Her smile had a smugness to it now, as she recalled this earlier unexpected declaration of war on her behalf. But the smile faded as her memory moved on to recall what had happened next. Its power made her feel warm—almost as if he were still inside her.

His throaty response to her saying, ‘Anyone could come in!’ had been a growled, ‘Let them!’

Shocking. But not as shocking as the fact that she had allowed him to make love to her right there in the morning room, all the while knowing that if she’d wanted to, she could have stopped him at any moment.

Some days Grace hardly recognised herself...

The chime of the clock on the wall made her frown. Theo had reminded her to be ready for the helicopter transfer at seven before he’d vanished. It was a quarter to and where was he?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THEOWASINthe office—not his father’s study which, even without the painful connections, was not large enough for his needs. Instead, he had kitted out a booklined room for the purpose of—

Of what?Becoming a home worker?

He pushed away the question. It was one of a few others he had been dodging for the past few weeks.

He held in his hand the envelope that contained a hard copy of the file that still lay unopened on his computer. For the past week Theo had thought about coming clean and revealing the truth to Grace. The truth that he was indirectly—actually, not so indirectly—responsible for the story leaked to the tabloids. The story responsible for her family treating her as though she was an embarrassment. The story that had been the subject only yesterday of some misogynist podcast investigation that went under the guise of ‘public interest’.

He took a deep breath, and tried not to recognise the fear that swelled in him like a balloon when he imagined her reaction.

It could end everything.

The truth was overrated, he decided—and then thought fiercely,I do not want this to be over yet.

It would be one day, quite obviously—nothing lasted for ever.

His father’s love for his wife had lasted for ever, the voice in his head reminded him. She had been his one and only love.

With a growl of frustration, he pushed the thought away. He had tonight’s party to worry about, and the fact they were about to be seen together—something he had so far avoided. Grace seemed oblivious to the spin the press might put on them being perceived as a couple.

A flicker of shock moved like a wave across Theo’s face as he realised that that was the wayhethought about them.

He felt a fresh kick of guilt as he thought of Grace being fresh meat for the tabloids.

The headlines almost wrote themselves:She jumped out of the father’s bed into the son’s!

The idea sent his protective instincts into full war mode. Still, tonight he would be able to control the story to some degree. The press attending were a select few, and their access strictly limited. If they shoved microphones in the guests’ faces they knew that they would never get the gig again. And at least she would be facing them under his protection.

It was only when she saw the expressive flare in his dark hooded eyes that Grace knew she had not achieved the effortlessly elegant and chic finish she had been aiming for.

That look said she had instead landed on sensual, sleek and sizzling hot.

Her earrings swung as she tossed her head, enjoying the dizzying sense of power the knowledge gave her. ‘You like?’

He growled and sighed. ‘You are a provocative little witch—you know that, don’t you?’

‘You look very beautiful too,’ she offered generously.

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