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Wasthat a knock on the door?

Kenton could not remember sleeping so soundly before. His sense of sound, usually more than adequate, should have alerted him to Mary’s presence well before she rapped on his bedroom door. But when he opened it in nothing more than a pair of hastily donned boxers, Mary didn’t even flinch. He’d come to rely on and appreciate her professionalism.

Except when it led him away from the very comfortable bed where the woman he loved lay tangled up in the sheets.

“Pardon, Mr. Morley, but there’s a woman at the door who insists on seeing Miss Alessandra.”

Not Laria, he would have been able to sense her.

“Is her name Toni?”

“Yes, sir. It is.”

“I will be right there.”

He considered waking Alessandra but then decided against it. Before dressing, he watched for a moment as her chest rose and fell, savoring the fact that she lay in his bed. Then he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt and made his way downstairs.

Toni sat in the drawing room, her hands folded neatly on her lap. Demure for a woman who more often resembled a tiger than a house cat. Alessandra and her friend were alike in many ways. They’d found a solid match in each other.

“Good morning,” he said, striding into the room. “What can I get you to drink?”

“At seven in the morning?”

“I meant tea,” he said, remembering she and Alessandra had the same predilection for it.

“Oh, sure. Thanks.”

He left the room to pass their request for drinks along to Mary, then made his way back to the drawing room. Toni was jostling her knee when he returned, seeming to have a difficult time sitting still on his couch.

“So what can I do for you?” he asked, well aware she was not here to see him. He’d have some fun with this . . .

“Ah, well . . . I came to check on Alessandra, actually.”

“What do you suppose happened to her?” he asked in the most mischievous voice he could muster.

Toni’s eyes widened. “You tell me.”

Chuckling, he sat down across from her.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” he teased, amazed the words had actually come from his mouth. It was something he would have said before the change. That is, if such an expression had been available to him at the time.

Alessandra had affected him in more ways than he’d thought possible.

“I’m not asking about that.” Toni sighed audibly, watching the door for either her tea or to ensure she had an escape route. “Is she—”

She swallowed.

“Alive?”

It was cruel to tease her, especially after she’d been such a help to him, but Kenton simply couldn’t resist. He felt invigorated this morning, better even than when he’d received his spurs and become a knight. For many years that had been his fondest memory, the simple but important event a turning point for him. It had been the first time his father saw him as a man and not a boy. The first time he’d spoken about Kenton becoming the next earl. Though he was the heir by birth, the two had never discussed it before that day.

Mary shuffled into the room, delivering a cup of tea to Toni and a coffee to him. He needed to give the woman a raise.

Remembering Alessandra was quite fond of her friend, Kenton finally relented in his teasing.

“I can assure you Alessandra is safe, sleeping soundly upstairs as we speak.”