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“I have to say the same, Gabby, and I did not think that was possible.”
She wasn’t even irritated this time when he called her Gabby. No one else called her that. It was a name that only came from Alex. And she decided that there was something she quite liked about that. Whether it was because it kept this entire event separate from her real life, or because it made all of this feel special.
She was desperate to feel like it was special to him.
“I’m glad you found it diverting.”
He laughed. “Oh, I found it more than that.”
He took his mask off then, reached up and loosened his black tie. There was something about that look. That rakish, disheveled look that made her heart beat faster. That made her limbs feel weak. That made her stomach tighten.
Of course, it was the same when he was perfectly pressed, the same when he had a mask over his face. It was the same no matter what.
“We will leave tomorrow,” he said.
“What reason will we give?”
“I will tell him that urgent business has come up in the States. I think I have done enough to secure a deal with the prime minister, and I managed to get what I came for. All in all, quite a successful trip.”
Gabriella couldn’t help but laugh. “Almost too successful. I keep expecting guards and hounds to descend upon us.”
“Nothing like that, I think. I’m not sure this painting is truly valuable to anyone other than our grandparents.”
Gabriella blinked, pulled up yet again by the link between Lucia and Giovanni. “Yes. It’s very strange, that.”
“Not especially.”
“A bit.”
“Only if you like romanticizing things. And I do not.”
She rolled her eyes. “How very surprising.”
He paused in front of her, a strange expression passing over his face. The left side of his lips curved slightly upward as he studied her. He moved forward and her breath caught in her chest.
He reached out, tracing the edge of her mask before lifting it slowly. He pulled it away, the soft brush of his skin against hers enough to make her feel like she was on fire. “So very beautiful,” he said, his words hushed.
She waited for him to lean in. Waited for him to kiss her again. But he didn’t. He simply stood, looking at her, not touching her, not making a move to close the distance between them.
She wished she were brave. Brave enough to touch him. To lean into him. To recapture what had happened in that empty room.
“Goodnight, Gabriella,” he said finally, his words summarily dismissing her, stealing her chance at bravery.
She cleared her throat. “Goodnight, Alex.”
She turned and walked into her bedroom. She felt very much like she had missed something. Like she had left a very important piece of herself behind.
She blinked hard against the stinging sensation in her eyes, did her best to breathe around the rock that had settled on her chest.
They would leave tomorrow. They had completed their objective. Tomorrow, she would be back on Aceena. Back with her grandmother. And everything would return to the way it was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EVERYTHING HAD GONE smoothly during their escape from Isolo D’Oro, and it continued to go smoothly upon their reentry into Aceena. Alex would have been surprised, but things tended to go smoothly for him, so he saw no reason this should be different. Except for the fact that everything about it felt different in a million small ways he could not quite quantify.
Well, there was one thing that he could name. Gabriella. He ignored that thought as they walked into the hall at the D’Oro estate.
He had the painting under his arm, the rest of their bags being handled by the staff. Gabriella was walking along beside him, wearing a pair of plain pants and a button-up blouse, her very large glasses returned to their usual position. And somehow, even with all of that, he saw her no differently than he had last night. She was fascinating, beautiful, irresistible. But here he was resisting. Overrated,
