“May I assume, then, that your presence in my bed and pants is entirely voluntary, rather than specified in paragraph six, line two, of your marching orders?”

“You may assume that my presence in your bed and pants is not only voluntary, but enthusiastic, and unrelated to any orders issued to me by my superiors, if such exist. Would you like a demonstration of that enthusiasm?”

Stone smiled. “Yes, please.”

She rolled him onto his back, took him into her mouth, and did not stop until he screamed, “Uncle!”

“I trust that settles your mind,” she said.

“Entirely,” he replied.

Stone’s phone rang and he grabbed it from the bedside table. “Hello?”

“It’s Dino.”

“Good God! What time is it in your world?”

“Sometime after midnight,” he replied. “Viv has been summoned to London for a few days of business consultations. Would you be annoyed if I parachuted into your current location for that time?”

“I would be delighted to see you both,” Stone said.

“Then look for us on your airstrip late in the afternoon.”

“We will be ready to receive you.”

Dino hung up.

“Are we going to have company?” Rose asked.

“We are indeed: my best friends, Dino and Vivian Bacchetti. She has business in London, but he does not.”

“May I assume that they will have their own room?”

“You will not be required to share a bed with them.”

“I must tell you that, according to the gossip, Dame Felicity is, shall we say, impartial where the gender of her bed partners is concerned. I was a little afraid that more would be expected of me than I might be willing to give—not that she is unattractive.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors,” Stone said. “But I can tell you that the Bacchettis have no such inclinations, so the only hand you may expect to land on your knee will be mine.”

“I don’t want to seem a prig,” she said. “I have, on widely separated occasions, dabbled in that sort of thing, and with pleasure. But Felicity is not my type, whatever that is.”

“Got it.”

—

In the late afternoon, Stone got a satphone call from an airplane.

“Yes?”

“Ten minutes out,” Dino said, then hung up.

Stone and Rose got into the Cayenne and drove down to the airstrip in time to watch the big Gulfstream settle onto the runway, then taxi to the ramp. Stone pulled the car up to the aircraft and introduced Rose to the Bacchettis while the plane’s crew loaded their luggage into the SUV. Moments later they were back at the house, and the Gulfstream was climbing.

—

They settled into the library while Geoffrey, the butler, served drinks.

“Why are you limping?” Dino asked Stone.

“A slight accident,” Stone replied.

“One that totaled a quarter-of-a-million-pound motorcar,” Rose added.

Stone explained what had happened.