"Oh, we've met since then," she said, extending her hand to Riccardo. "I fell into his barge this morning, and I can promise you, his cabbages are the best."

"I'm saving money on staff by doing some of the donkey work myself," Riccardo said.

He was talking to Guido but his eyes were on Justine, and his hand held on to hers longer than necessary.

"I would have told you the truth this morning," he said, "but you ran away without giving me the chance."

"Plus you enjoyed having a joke at my expense."

"Well – yes," he admitted.

"To think I was worried about getting you in trouble with your boss!"

"I did tell you that I could handle anything he threw at me," he reminded her.

"Hmm, so you did!"

He grinned.

"You don't trust me?"

"Where would you get an idea like that?" she asked ironically.

"From your voice, your eyes, your face. It's an interesting question for the two of us to explore. Unfortunately, it must wait until my work is finished."

It was reasonable for him to put work first, but his lordly assumption that she would wait like a doll on a shelf riled her.

"That's sounds fascinating," she said, "but it's been a long day. I'm sure everyone will forgive me if I go to bed."

Riccardo's eyes gleamed, acknowledging a round to her.

"You are wrong," he murmured. "I will not forgive you. But I can bide my time."

Chapter Six

Justine slipped away alone the next morning. This was a working trip, and as well as photographing the wedding, she wanted to explore Venice.

She called Dulcie to say she wouldn't be home for lunch.

"I'm in St. Mark's Square. I'll get something to eat here."

"You should go to Florian's," Dulcie told her. "It's a genuine eighteenth-century café, and Casanova used to go there because it was the only one in Venice where women were allowed."