I gave a shaky laugh. “I don’t care if you leave it, lop it short, or shave it off.” She lay so close on the pillow that her lashes almost brushed my cheek, and she was so beautiful she filled me with despair. “What are we doing, Giulia? I can never marry you—the world would never accept it.”

“No.” Her voice was grave. “And I may need a husband. One who can protect my inheritance, and safeguard Laura’s future.”

“Dio.” I gave a bitter little laugh. “I can protect your body against harm, and Laura’s too—against all the odds, I’m a man to fear when it comes to open attacks. I can lay my life down protecting you and Laura in the flesh, but I can’t do one bloody thing about protecting your inheritance, can I?”

“Then I’ll find a husband who can.” She sat up, cupping my face on the pillow in both her hands, and her eyes were fierce. “No bitterness, Leonello, not now! I can find a husband who will give me his name’s protection, who will keep the wolves away from Laura’s dowry. But I’ll make sure he’s also a man who won’t trouble me, won’t be jealous of me, won’t make me bear his children. I can find a husband like that.”

“Where?” I gazed up at her, feeling my mouth twist. “Every man in Rome looks at you and wants you in his bed—”

“Not the man I have in mind. And I do have one in mind, Leonello. He will have me in public, and you will have me in private.”

“Your stunted secret,” I said, and my belly roiled. “Only in the shadows—”

“Maybe the world won’t be able to know it, Leonello, but I am yours. I promise you that.” She spoke quietly. “Will you accept me on those terms?”

She put up her hand and I matched my own to it, lacing my stubby fingers with hers. My Aurora, I thought, my bringer of light—and that bitterness that had been ready to gather was already leaving me. Orsino Orsini had been jealous, and so had Rodrigo Borgia. They had lost her.

Not me.

Maybe the world won’t be able to know it, Leonello, but I am yours.

I let the last of that dark taste in my mouth trickle away on a seeping breath. “I do not care if the world ever knows, Giulia.” I slid my other hand down the smooth silk of her throat, down the slope of her naked shoulder where her sleeve had slipped down. “As long as you are mine.”

I took my beautiful lady in my arms, and I felt as tall as a mountain.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Remember tomorrow, for it is the beginning of always.

—DANTE

Leonello

You look ferocious.” Cesare Borgia surveyed me briefly. “What ails you?”