“I’ve reached the end of my involvement with the Foreign Office,” Nick said. “I came here tonight to tell you that as well.”
Although he felt the heat of Mariana’s gaze on his cheek, he refused to meet it. Too many unspoken words simmered between them.
A pompous smile curved Montfort’s mouth. “In all honesty, it’s about time.”
“Too late for fatherly concern now,” Nick replied.
“Of course not. It’s been obvious for some time that your stomach for the game on the ground has grown weak. A transition into strategic operations could be arranged.”
Montfort rocked back and forth a few times before hoisting himself off the sofa. He made his ponderous way to the sidebar. “You may be right about retirement,” he conceded. “No hard feelings?” His gaze darted between Nick and Mariana.
“I shall try not to take exception to the fact that you sent cutthroats to my hotel towarn me off,” Nick replied.
“None of that, old boy,” Montfort said on a step forward, landing a jocular slap to Nick’s back. “Just a bit of a scare. No harm done.”
Montfort grabbed a decanter and refilled all three glasses. He pivoted toward Nick. “Good bit of spy craft keeping Percy Bretagne a secret all those years.” To Mariana, he said, “And you, my girl, I couldn’t be prouder of you. You put me in my place tonight better than any grizzled, old professional”—He winked over at Nick—“could have. Well done, my dear.” Montfort raised his glass. “To worthy adversaries and to England.”
Nick and Mariana chose not to join.
Montfort absently set his glass down. “Nick, you will be staying the night, I presume.”
“I . . .” Nick began. “I hadn’t given it a thought.”
“It’s decided,” Montfort called over his shoulder as he made his way toward his stately desk. “Your family are here, after all.” He settled into his chair and leaned forward, his elbows planted on smooth, polished oak. It was clear that he’d regained control of the room. “Now, if you will pardon me, I have a resignation letter to compose.”
Like that, Nick and Mariana were dismissed for the night like a pair of reprimanded children. His gaze slid toward her only to find her looking as incredulous as he felt. Montfort possessed an audacity that he could use to great effect when the moment required it. This was one such moment.
Tilted off-balance, Nick followed Mariana out of the room, her jasmine and neroli perfume trailing behind her, enveloping him in her scent. He inhaled.
The door clicked shut, and he found himself alone with her in the dimly lit corridor, its stillness and silence creating an unsettlingly intimate space. Separated by a few feet, they stood facing one another, awkward and tongue-tied.
“That ended—” she began on a sheepish wisp of a laugh that was gone barely before it was uttered.
“Unexpectedly?” he finished for her.
“Quite,” she replied, her gaze focused on her feet.
A shyness pervaded and paralyzed the atmosphere. Not the sort of social paralysis that belonged to strangers who had never met, therefore had naught to say. Rather the opposite sort of paralysis that could suddenly strike two people who knew each other too well. They had nothing left to say . . . And everything left to say.
Where did one start when faced with the obvious? And it was obvious she felt it, too. For so long, they’d hidden behind carefully constructed defenses. Now those defenses had evaporated into the ether. And here they stood earthbound and stripped down, naked and exposed to one another.
“I’ll be gone before first light,” he said, understanding at once that his words were a test. Of whom, he wasn’t certain.
Her gaze found him, and she blinked once . . . twice. She hadn’t expected those words. Neither had he.
“You will say a good-night to Lavinia?” she asked, her previously steady and assured voice now thin and wavery.
The subject of their children had been a reliable and safe defensive position over the years. Now, it was back. He experienced a dull ache for what was lost.
“Of course,” he said tightly. A bitter note wanted to sound.
Well, he wouldn’t allow it. If she didn’t respond with the imploringstayhe longed to hear, he had no one to blame but himself.
“Nick?” came her voice.
His heart caught in his chest. “Yes?”
“Safe travels.”
