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“I know I’m not as experienced as Nick or Dec,” she said. “I’ll take orders from you, Ipromise.”
It was a statement, not a plea, and he knew he’dlost.
14
Julia stoodin front of the full-length mirror and studied her reflection. The dress was beautiful, a brilliant shade of purple silk structured into a column and suspended from one shoulder, but it wasn’tright.
She met the eyes of the dark-haired woman in the mirror and tried to find a way to say as much without offendingher.
“Not quite right, is it?” Joanne Fullerasked.
Julia shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m beingdifficult.”
Joanne made a sound of dismissal. “Don’t be ridiculous, darling. An evening gown should feel like a new lover. If you’re not enamored, it’s not right, and it must be right. Off you gothen.”
Julia unzipped the gown, relieved Joanne understood, although Julia wouldn’t have thought to put it soeloquently.
Then again, everything about Joanne Fuller was eloquent. An American living in Florence so long her English had developed a slight accent, Joanne had in every way become a fashionable Italian signora, from her luscious dark hair to her always precise red lipstick to the tailored clothing that hugged her hourglass figure in all the rightplaces.
According to Ronan, Joanne was kept on retainer for those occasions when Nick or Declan needed a woman’s touch in Italy. Julia had been jealous until Ronan confided he’d never before availed himself of Joanne’sservices.
She handed the purple gown to Joanne and stood in her underwear, waiting as Joanne surveyed the rack of clothing that had been wheeled into the apartment by two uniformed men at the start of theafternoon.
She’d been shy at first — she wasn’t used to standing around half-undressed with anyone but her sister — but she’d had no choice but to set modesty aside as Joanne presented her with gown after gown, prodding Julia’s flesh as she arranged Julia’s body in eachselection.
She was trying not to think too hard about the reason for the gown, the fact that in four days she and Ronan would have to lie their way into Manifest’s monthly party, Ronan as Milos Cerník and Julia under the guise of the heiress named AnuskaKrál.
They had no idea what kind of verification process would be required to enter the party, whether the chips Clay had coded with their identifying data would be enough or whether they’d have to submit to a visual verification or questions about their past. To be safe, Julia had cultivated a Czech accent, dyed her hair a lighter shade of blond, and she planned to wear blue contacts the night of the party to better match Anuska’s appearance. She’d also studied Anuska’s background, memorizing her parents’ names and the names of the schools she’d attended as achild.
Ronan had done the same with the details of Milos Cerník’s identity, although he had a leg up on Julia, both because he already knew something about Cerník and because their basic stats — height, weight, hair color — were close enough to be considered thesame.
“Ah, I think I have it.” Joanne held out a voluminous gown in crushed indigo velvet, embroidered flowers adorning the skirt and bodice in a riot of color. “It’s ready-to-wear, but quitefabulous.”
“I don’t know…” Julia usually preferred simple lines and monochromatic colors. This looked like an ad she’d once seen for Dolce and Gabbana featuring sensuous Italian women with heavily made-up faces sitting at an outdoorcafe.
Joanne met her eyes. “Will you trustme?”
Julia took the dress with a nod and turned toward themirror.
It slipped over her head like a breeze, settling as softly as a cloud on her body. Joanne stepped behind her to work the zipper and Julia saw that while the skirt was soft and full, the bodice, held up by the thinnest of straps, was actually quite fitted, the intricate flowers on the bodice making her torso look almost like abutterfly.
It wasexquisite.
Joanne pulled back Julia’s hair. “I think there’s just enough blue in the flowers to bring out the color in the contacts you’ll be wearing.” Julia registered surprise that Joanne knew about the contacts. She wondered how much the older woman knew about MIS’s business. “And this is very Italian, dear. You’ll stand out because you’re stunning, of course, but you’ll also look like you belong, and I think that will beimportant.”
The dress fit her like a dream, like the dream of a woman she might have been, a woman she might still be if that’s what shewanted.
Julia met Joanne’s eyes in the mirror. “I think you’reright.”
Joanne smiled. “Lovely. Now let’s see what we have in the way ofshoes.”
Julia’s eyes remained on the mirror as Joanne turned to a series of boxes lining the floor. She wondered if Ronan would like the dress, then chided herself for beingridiculous.
They hadn’t discussed the fact that she was going to the party with him, not privately, but she knew he was livid about it. She’d heard him fighting with Nick and Declan after she’d gone to bed, arguing that they should have come to him first before mentioning it in front ofher.
“You would have found a way to argue the point,” Nick hadsaid.
“Damn right,” Ronan hadgrowled.
