CHAPTER 10

          It has been a long, exhausting, unnatural night. Hailee dozed on and off and came down to breakfast the next morning hollow-eyed and wan-faced, to find Alessandro sitting alone at the breakfast table, swiping through his phone.

          The moment he saw her, Alessandro put the phone away, making a narrow-eyed study of the obvious evidence of strain in her face. Hailee gave an inward grimace, entirely aware of exactly how terrible she looked. She was wearing no make-up, and the peaches cream bloom that her skin usually wore was missing.

          She had brushed her hair, but only so she could tie it at the back to keep the long, heavy mass out of the way. And she was wearing a simple, blue skirt teamed with a long, loose silk knit jumper in a delicate shade of cream.

          Under normal cir