The Whitehall Conspiracy by Tracy Grant

Author:Tracy Grant [Grant, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641971997
Publisher: NYLA

CHAPTER 21

"There you are."

At the familiar voice, Nerezza turned from her perch on the stone wall to see Ben step through the French window onto the terrace with that smile that had turned her heart over ever since she had first met him in Venice. She'd once have laughed at the idea that a heart could turn over. Until she'd experienced the sensation.

Alistair Rannoch had vanished into the shadows. Nerezza had already glanced over, and the torchlight showed enough to convince her he wasn't in hearing range. At least, probably not.

She got up from the wall and walked up the steps to Ben. "I just wanted a bit of air," she said, meeting his smile.

"Balls can be stifling. In more ways than one." Ben crossed the terrace to her side, kissed her, drew back to study her face, then tightened his arms round her. "Are you all right, darling?"

"Of course." Nerezza smiled into Ben's familiar blue eyes. Amazing how well she knew them. Once, lying to Ben was something she'd taken for granted. She had sworn their relationship couldn't work without it. Now he knew and accepted so much, and the lie bit her in the throat. At one point she'd have said she didn't know what guilt was. Now she knew it was a knife point stabbing against her collarbone.

But he'd noticed something was amiss and, as Mélanie said, it was always good to use as much of the truth as possible. "I saw Alistair Rannoch."

Ben's eyes widened. "At the ball? What's he thinking of?"

"I don't know. But it's more risk to him than to me."

Ben's gaze skimmed over her face. "He didn't try to do anything?"

"He tried to play on our past. More fool he. I told him what was between us, such as it was, was business on my side. Even if I would admit to sentiment, I have no sentiments towards him for him to play on."

"It has to have been—uncomfortable."

Nerezza put her hands on his chest. "I can live with what I've done, Ben. If I let the past unsettle me, our lives would be impossible." She reached up to kiss him, perhaps as much to reassure herself as him. "And believe me, the past is in the past."

His arms slid round her. "I don't care about the past as long as we can plan for the future."

"I've never been one to live in the past. The future is much more agreeable." Nerezza took Ben's hand and tugged him towards the house and the ballroom upstairs. "Let's dance."

Ben grinned and pulled open the French window for her. Nerezza went through, steeling herself to the fact that she was now lying to the man she loved more than ever.

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