Seduced by Innocence Read Online Free

promised to call for her at precisely eight o’clock. As the time approached, she grew nervous. So much depended on this meeting. From a distance, she heard the deep, heavy sound of a bell beginning to toll the hour. One—two—three—
    Exactly on the eighth stroke there was a knock on her door. Opening it, she found Maurizio there, dressed in a white dinner jacket that set off his tanned skin. His dark eyes were brilliant and he grinned in amusement when he saw her. “Good evening, signorina, ” he said. “Do you have any bags to be carried?”
    “Don’t make fun of me,” she pleaded, also smiling, but blushing a little. “I feel awful about the mix-up.”
    “But why should you? The blame was mine. If you’re ready, we can go straight down to where our table is waiting.”
    As they went downstairs, he said, “I have a private dining room where I sometimes entertain, but I thought you’d prefer to eat in the main restaurant and take a good look at the Midas. Some of the customers are extremely interesting.”
    Maurizio was a gambler, a man born to play poker, with a face that could confront disaster and reveal nothing. He’d assumed that blank face at Rufio’s funeral, refusing to reveal his private agony to a curious world. The word had gone around Venice that he’d bid farewell to the young brother who’d been like a son to him without so much as a flicker of an eyelid or a tremor of the features. Those who had cause to fear him had become a little more afraid; the others merely wondered.
    That perfect facial control prevented him from showing any surprise at the restrained appearance of Elena Calvani’s daughter, but inwardly he was taken aback. The simple dress with its demure neckline stood out in the decadent opulence of the Midas, making her look like a nun in contrast.
    The headwaiter greeted them at the entrance to the restaurant, gave a little bow and led them to a table by the window overlooking the Grand Canal. Maurizio handed her to her seat, touching her only briefly, but it was enough to give her the same impression of controlled power she’d had before. If anything, the sensation was more intense, like stepping too close to a caged tiger, watching him prowl patiently as he awaited his moment, knowing that the bars that checked him were fragile. The thought flashed across her mind: This man is dangerous.
    Startled, she looked up at him and for a brief instant thought she saw something in his eyes that had nothing to do with the affability of the perfect host—something watchful, calculating....
    But it was gone so fast that she might have imagined it. Instead, there was a charming smile as he made sure she was settled comfortably, then he seated himself opposite her. “Is this your first visit to Venice?” he asked.
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Then we won’t talk for a few minutes while you watch the Grand Canal.”
    Entranced, Terri gazed out of the tall window at the great canal winding its way past. Darkness had fallen early, for winter was near, and along the banks gleamed a string of lights that were echoed and reechoed by the dancing ripples of the canal. Gondolas glided on their way, the gondoliers dipping and rising smoothly, the oars sinking into water that seemed to be made of black satin, studded with gold.
    “It’s always breathtaking,” Maurizio said in answer to her silent thought, “but never more so than the first time.”
    “Breathtaking,” she agreed. For a moment the sheer beauty of her surroundings had driven everything else from her mind.
    “What are you thinking?” Maurizio asked, watching her closely. He’d seen her frown slightly and lean forward.
    “I was wondering about those little cabins that some but not all of the gondolas have,” she replied.
    “It’s called a feltz, ” Maurizio told her. “And it’s a very insubstantial ‘cabin,’ just a roof with four struts clamped to the side of the gondola. The ‘walls’ are only curtains. You don’t see