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In the afternoon, the rest of thes to fetch Rory took ht, they all enjoyed a lovely dinner in honor of the bride and groo Bravo-Calabrettis

After the meal, Genny’s father and Rafe disappeared into Rafe’s study Eloise pleaded exhaustion and went to bed Genny, her sister and her mother went out to sit at an iron table under the stars in the terrace garden It was good to have a little tiether, just the three of them

At a quarter past eleven, her father and Rafe calanced up and Rafe met her eyes

Her heart gave a lurch, and a prickly, hot shiver raced down the backs of her knees Would he leave her to sleep alone again?

She really had no idea what he would do And she used to think she knew him better than anyone Those days were over Now she hardly knew him at all

Her ht

Rafe and Genny were left alone He held out his hand to her

So He was co upstairs with her, then? Her skin felt overly sensitized suddenly And her breath came short

She rose and went to him

“What happened with Brooke thiswhen you went outside?” he asked

They’d taken turns in the bathrooh there were two sinks and plenty of room in there Now they lay, propped on piles of pillows, side by side in the bed He wore his boxers and she’d put on a short su than the one she’d worn the night before It tied with pink bows high on her shoulders

The lalow across the bedcovers—and over the powerful planes and angles of her husband’s broad chest He had the body of a laborer—everything hard and big and honed And every ti The crescent scar looked ht

He atching her now, eyes black as pitch beneath the strong shelf of his brow His inky hair curled on his wide forehead His skin was brown all over, rich and dark against the white pillowcase “About Brooke?” he asked again, one black brow lifting

She shook herself fro and answered hi with each other And I told her about the baby—or rather, she guessed”

He stared at her intently, as though seeking a point of entry Orher expression for lies “Did she le her?”

“Only a little bit”

He made a low sound—of frustration, or annoyance “I can’t believe Geoffrey’s not a holy terror, the way she carries on”

She bumped him with her elbow, a tap of reassurance “Well, he’s not a terror and shows no signs of beco one”

“Gen He ran away this ”