That was certainly the more sensible choice. But Lottie hadn’t come to Italy in the first place to make safe choices. She came here to be bold. To put everything at stake—her reputation, her future, and, it seemed, her heart. None of that should change because of Alec’s presence. She would still have a life to live once he had gone. That she knew very well. If he wanted her gone, so be it. Let him stay in this crumbling palazzo. Let him run his little missions. She did not need to subject herself to his manipulations after tonight. Until then, she would enjoy herself.

Lottie held out her gloved hand. It no longer trembled. “Thank you, but I believe I’ll be going out.”

Alec studied her for a tense moment. His brows pulled together in a slight frown, but he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “You will let me know the minute you feel unwell.”

“Yes, but duty comes first, Professor Gresham. Always.”

Alec drew her arm into the crook of his elbow and stared straight ahead as he led her toward the door. “As if I could ever forget.”

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

I must confess, I was expecting this evening to be a bore. So I begged the signore to invite at least one terribly handsome man.” The enigmatic Madame Noir leaned in a little closer, enveloping Alec in a thick cloud of expensive amber perfume. “I’ll have to thank him later,” she murmured while holding his gaze.

Alec forced a smile. “I didn’t realize I was filling an order, Madame.”

“And I didn’t realize history professors could look like you. Thank goodness I was educated by nuns, or I never would have learned a thing!”

The Frenchwoman let out a full, throaty laugh and briefly touched his wrist. She must have been beautiful once, and the years had still been kind. She could be mistaken for much younger, in the right light. But she carried herself with an innate confidence that came only from age—and experience.

Under different circumstances Alec would have enjoyed her company. Tonight, however, it was torturous.

All he wanted was to be back in his flat with Lottie. They didn’t have to touch, or even speak. It was enough to sit in companionable silence and watch as she took in her first Venetian sunset.

And far more than a coward like him deserved.