‘Here.’ His voice sounded alarmingly brusque as he pressed a bottle of water into her hands.
‘Where—?’
‘There’s a mini-fridge in the dressing room.’ The corner of his mouth quirked in what Alyse couldn’t be sure was a smile. ‘They put champagne in there as well, but I thought we’d had enough of that.’
‘Ah. Yes.’ Because this wasn’t a champagne-worthy moment? She took a sip of the chilled water.
Leo drained half of his own before he lowered it from his lips, twisting the bottle around in his hands, his gaze averted from hers. Alyse just waited, sensing he intended to say something, but having no idea what it was.
Finally he lifted his gaze to meet hers, and even then she couldn’t gauge his mood, couldn’t fathom what he intended to say, or how he felt at all. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Alyse braced herself.
‘I don’t know,’ he began haltingly, ‘how much I have to give.’
Ayse just stared at him, his words slowly penetrating the dazed fog of her mind. I don’t know how much I have to give. She felt a smile spread across her face—a ridiculously huge smile, considering what he’d said was a far, far cry from a declaration of love.
And yet it was something. It was a lot, for a man like Leo, because he was saying—at least, she hoped he was saying—that he still had something to give. And, more importantly, that he wanted to give it.
‘That’s okay,’ she said softly and Leo glanced away.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said after a moment. ‘For treating our marriage—our relationship—like an imposition.’
‘That’s what it was for you,’ Alyse answered. She didn’t add what everything inside her was hoping, singing: until now.
‘I’ve never tried a real relationship before,’ he continued, his gaze still averted. ‘At least, not for a long while.’
‘Neither have I.’
He glanced at her then, a slow smile curving his mouth. ‘Then that makes two of us.’
She smiled back, her hopes soaring straight to the sky. ‘I suppose it does.’
Neither of them spoke for a few moments and Alyse couldn’t keep the lightness, the giddy relief, from swooping through her. She tried to tell herself that really this was very little, that she wasn’t even sure what Leo was saying or offering. Yet still, the hope. The joy. She couldn’t keep herself from feeling them, from wanting to feel them.
Eventually Leo took her half-empty water bottle as well as his own and put them away. Alyse slipped to the bathroom and returned to find him in bed, the firelight flickering over his bronzed body, his arms above his head. She hesitated on the threshold, still unsure how to act, and then Leo pulled aside the duvet and patted the bed.
‘Come here,’ he said softly and, smiling, she came.
She slid into the bed and felt her heart lurch with unexpected joy once again when he gently pulled her to him and cradled her body against his own, her head pillowed on his arm. She breathed in the scent of him, a woodsy aftershave and clean soap, and listened to the crackle of the logs in the fireplace and the steady beat of his heart against her cheek. She felt almost perfectly content.
Neither of them spoke, but the silence wasn’t tense, strained or even awkward at all. It was a silence of new understanding. And, instead of pressing and longing for more, Alyse let this be enough. Lying in Leo’s arms, it felt like everything.
WHEN SHE WOKE Leo was still stretched out beside her, a slight smile curving his mouth and softening his features. Alyse gazed at him unreservedly for a moment and then, feeling bold, brushed a kiss against that smiling mouth.
Leo’s eyes fluttered open and his hands came up to her shoulders, holding her there against him.
‘That’s a rather nice way to wake up,’ he said, and before she could respond he shifted her body so she was lying fully on top of him, the press of his arousal against her belly.
‘I think you might have an even nicer way in mind,’ she murmured as Leo slid his hand from her shoulder to her breast, his palm cupping its fullness.
‘I certainly do,’ he said, and neither of them spoke for a little while after that.
* * *
Later, when they’d showered and dressed and were eating breakfast in a private dining room, Alyse asked him what his plans were for the day. Despite their morning love-making, in the bright light of day she felt some of her old uncertainties steal back. Perhaps Leo was content to enjoy their intimacy at night while still keeping himself apart during the day, consumed with work and royal duty.
Sitting across from him, sneaking glances at his stern profile, she was conscious of how little he’d said last night. I don’t know how much I have to give. Really, in most relationships—if they even had a relationship—that would have been a warning, or at least a disclaimer. Not the promise she, in her naïvely and ridiculous hope, had believed it to be.
Leo considered her question. ‘I have a meeting this morning with some Cabinet members about a new energy bill. But I’m free this afternoon. I thought—perhaps—I could give you a tour of the palace? You haven’t actually seen much of it.’
Alyse felt a smile bloom across her face and some of those uncertainties scattered. Some, not all. Leo smiled back, a look of boyish uncertainty on his face.
‘That sounds wonderful,’ she said, and his smile widened, just as hers did.
They talked about other things then, a conversation that was wonderfully relaxed and yet also strangely new, exchanging views on films and books; relating anecdotes they’d never thought to share in the last six years. Simply getting to know one another.
After breakfast Leo excused himself to get ready for his meeting and Alyse went upstairs to unpack. She spent the morning in her room, catching up on correspondence and tidying her things before she went down to lunch.
Sophia had gone out for the day, thankfully, and Alessandro was otherwise occupied, so it was just her, Leo and Alexa at the lunch table.
‘So how is married life, you two?’ Alexa asked after the footman had served them all and retired. ‘Bliss?’
Leo smiled faintly and shook his head. ‘Don’t be cynical, Lex.’
‘You’re telling me not to be cynical?’
‘Wonders never cease,’ Leo answered dryly, and Alexa raised her eyebrows.
‘So marriage has changed you.’
Alyse held her breath as Leo took a sip of his water, his face thoughtful and yet also frustratingly blank. ‘A bit,’ he finally answered, not meeting anyone’s gaze. Although she knew she shouldn’t be, Alyse felt a rush of disappointment.
She took a steadying breath and focused on her own lunch. She knew she needed to be patient. Last night had changed things, but it was all still so new. She had to give it—him, them—time to strengthen and grow. Time for Leo truly to believe he could change.
Believe he could love.
After lunch Leo took her on a grand tour of the palace. They wandered through a dozen sun-dappled salons, empty and ornate, their footsteps echoing on the marble