Henrique shook his head. “Don’t cut his thumb. It’s what differentiates him from a chimpanzee. Take his little finger instead.”
“I might spare you if you agree to leave for Paris tomorrow.”
Diomedes looked at Henrique, his eyes wide with alarm.
Henrique shrugged. “A finger or Paris? Tough choice.”
Faial exhaled. “Fine, I’ll go. Can I kiss Anne goodbye first?”
Pedro’s fist knocked him out cold.
Later, they sat to play Hazzard. Pedro strummed the dice through his fingers. Diomedes, presently snoring on the couch behind them, would leave on the morrow. He had succeeded on both accounts — the young aristocrat would stop sniffing after Anne’s skirts, and Pedro could eliminate the doubt about Fernando’s death.
Henrique tossed the ivory cubes, eying Diomedes with fondness, and then he turned to Maxwell. “We should have done something similar back then to clear the air between us.”
Maxwell rolled his eyes. “Please. You love our grudge.”
Henrique grinned. “You are right. I do. But don’t tell Isabel. She has this irrational jealousy of me. I can’t blame her. Have I told you about how she almost started a war on my behalf?”
Maxwell chuckled. “Only some ten times.”
The camaraderie between Maxwell and Henrique was foreign to Pedro. Still, he had never missed it before. Against his will, Pedro’s gaze strayed to Faial. In sleep, the marquis seemed much closer to Anne’s age. He would no doubt make her laugh more frequently and give her as many children as she desired. Pedro drank the port, its warmth doing little to dispel the knot in his stomach. The air in his study felt denser, the cigar’s smoke more suffocating. Faial had no invisible scars, no shadows to haunt him.
No matter.
Fate had given the angel to him. Anne had flown intohislife, and he would keep her for eternity.
Anne tossed and turned on the mattress. The clock struck two in the morning. The bed seemed enormous without Pedro in it, and she brushed her naked arms. Where was he? They had separate bedrooms, but he had never spent a single night away from her since they married. In fact, she was not sure she could even sleep without his arms around her. No matter how tired he was, he never fell asleep before cradling her on his chest and caressing her back until she slept first.
She was wide awake, and the night shadows shifted in tune with the fire glowing at the hearth. Was he jealous of the marquis? Of her? Impossible. Still, the worry would not fade. It was not fair. She had only wanted to sing with her husband.
The door opened with a soft click. Anne shut her eyes, listening. Was he mad at her? He couldn't be, could he? If anyone had the right to be angry, it was her.
The rustling of clothes reached her ears. Her heart sped up, her breathing turning shallow as she waited. The mattress dipped.
She felt him shifting closer to her.
Anne didn’t move, pressing her face against the pillow and forcing her breathing to be even.
“I know you are not sleeping, Anne.”
“Well, I was almost asleep. One more minute, and I would’ve.”
“And who would kiss you goodnight and watch you sleep?” He tugged the sheet, exposing her back. The downy hairs on her skin lifted. Treacherous thing, that body of hers.
She moved away from him, rolling to her stomach. “Perhaps someone willing to play the guitar with me.”
“Perhaps… But then, he would have to have retained all his limbs.”
Anne turned briskly, facing him on the bed. “Pedro, what—”
“I did nothing,” he said, and his lips quirked up at the corner in a semblance of a smile.
With the fire’s glow kissing the harsh planes of his face, he looked otherworldly, a Greek hero in bronze, her very own Alexander the Great. Anne sighed. He wasn’t jealous, not of her, at least. Still, the muscles of his shoulders were tense, his body exuding that same dark energy as before, only now, it was banked.
“The family, they are too loud. Do you miss Lisbon’s society?”
He tucked the hair behind her ear and then trailed his fingers over her shoulder until his palm rested on the curve of her hip. “I would exchange an eternity of their society for a night in your company.”
