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CHAPTER ELEVEN
FORONCE,ANTONIETTAwas up longafterthe Silibri sun.
Dizzy from lack of sleep, they had crashed at dawn.
Last night Rafe had hit the proverbial snooze button on his mental alarm.
This morning Antonietta had hit the real one.
Outside the warm bed the room was cold, so it had been easy—too easy—to give in to the arm that pulled her into his warmth and drift back to sleep.
‘Shall I open the drapes for you, Signor Dupont?’
The sound of Francesca’s voice jolted Antonietta awake, although her eyes did not open. Rafe’s hand tightened on her bare arm and she lay as if set in stone, with her heart fluttering like a trapped bird in her chest.
‘No,’ Rafe said. ‘That will be all.’ And then he added, ‘Thank you.’
Antonietta heard the bedroom door close and it felt like for ever until the main door opened and shut. Only then did she sit up and let out a low moan. ‘Francesca knew I was here.’
‘Of course she didn’t. You could have been anyone,’ Rafe said. ‘The lights are not on...’
‘No,’ Antonietta said. ‘Francesca is the manager. She doesn’t bring guests their coffee—not even royal ones. SheknewI was here...’
‘How?’
‘She’s been checking on me.’
Antonietta climbed out of bed, pulled a throw from the top of it and wrapped it around her. ‘That day when she suddenly came to check your suite with me...’
‘You’re reading too much into things,’ Rafe said with stoic calm even as she dashed into the lounge.
‘No, Rafe, I’m not.’
Francesca knew—of that Antonietta was certain.
‘Did you fold my uniform after you removed it from me?’ Antonietta asked as he joined her in the lounge. ‘Did you carefully place it over the chair?’
His hand came down on her shoulder and he turned her to face him. Of course he had not.
He wrapped her in a strong embrace. Her head was on his chest and she listened to the steadythud, thud, thudof his heart and wished hers could match it.
‘I will speak with Nico,’ Rafe said.
‘No,’ Antonietta said. ‘I don’t need you to do me any favours. I will handle it myself.’ She pulled her head from his chest.
‘You don’t have to.’
‘Of course I do.’ She removed herself from the haven of his arms. ‘How can your intervening possibly help? You weren’t the one caught—that was me...’
‘Antonietta...’ Rafe attempted reason. ‘It was both of us.’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘You can sleep with whomever you choose, Rafe.’ She gave him a tight smile. ‘And from everything I’ve heard you frequently do.’
‘Don’t do this, Antonietta,’ Rafe warned. ‘Don’t turn this into something cheap.’
But in her head Antonietta already had.
She had struggled to justify sleeping with Rafe even to herself, while all the time knowing that it could go nowhere. In the cold light of day she saw it was impossible to defend it now—especially to others.
