“And it was, but without my father’s cooperation, without the information gathered by our own security, Deboque might still be free. My life, my family’s lives can’t be run on the fear of what one might do.”

But hers could. Eve gathered him close again. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me to see that nothing does. Chérie, where did you learn to fence?”

He was trying to distract her. And he was right. The night was theirs. It would be wrong to let Deboque spoil even that. “In Houston.”

“Fencing masters in Houston?”

She was amused, and looked it. “Even America has room for elegant sports. You don’t have to be embarrassed that I beat you.”

“You didn’t beat me.” He rolled her onto her back. “The match was never completed.”

“I scored the only hit. But if it tramples on your ego, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I can see we have to finish what we started.”

She smiled slowly. In the moonlight her eyes were dark and lustrous. “I’m counting on it.”

* * *

The alarm clock shrilled. Groggy, Eve groped for the button, then shoved it in with enough force to make the clock shudder. She could be late, she decided sleepily. This one morning they could get started without her. She rolled over to cuddle in Alexander’s arms.

He wasn’t there.

Still groggy, she pushed the hair out of her eyes as she sat up. The top sheet was draped over her, but it was cool, just as the sheet beneath was cool. The breeze still tapped at the hem of the curtains, still smelled of the sea, but now sunlight poured through. And the room was empty.

He’d picked up her robe and had put it at the foot of the bed. The bed they had shared. All traces of him were gone. Just as he was gone.

Without a word, Eve thought as she sat alone. She didn’t even know when he had gone. It hardly mattered when. She reached for her robe before she rose, then slipped it on, belting it as she walked to the window.

Boats were already on the water, casting out for the day’s catch. The cool white yacht was still anchored, but she could see no one on deck. The beach was deserted but for gulls and the little sand crabs she was too far away to see. The gardener was below her window, watering. The sound of his tuneless whistle reached her and quieted the birds. A trio of pale yellow butterflies rose up, fluttering away from the spray of water, then settling on already dampened bushes. Wet leaves glimmered in the sunlight, while the mixed scent of flowers trailed its way up to her window.

The day was in full bloom. The night was over.