The devil to pay, p.29
The Devil to Pay, page 29
“You left in such a hurry I never had time to give you your wedding present,” he murmured into her hair.
“I thought Castelleon was my wedding present?”
A stable boy was leading two horses across the cobbles. Cara recognized Saraceno, but her breath caught when she saw the second mount.
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a pure-bred white Barbary mare in Europe?” he growled.
“You bought her for me?” She hid a smile by biting her lip. “I hate to break it to you, del Sarto, but that’s rather romantic.”
He made a sound of acute disgust. “It’s not romantic. It’s practical. Hopefully you’ll stop stealing Saraceno if you have your own horse.”
“It didn’t have to be white, though,” she persisted.
He sighed. “No, it didn’t. But you wanted a white one. So there it is. The damn thing cost me a king’s ransom. Literally.”
“You should count yourself lucky I didn’t ask for a giraffe, like the one in the Medici menagerie.”
“That’s not why I count myself lucky.”
Cara sighed happily.
“What are you thinking?” he asked after a moment.
“Only that my maid, Bianca, was right after all.”
He turned her within the confines of his arms. “About what?”
“Cook’s lemon cake.”
He wrinkled his brow in confusion.
“She always insisted the only thing better than cook’s lemon cake was making love,” Cara explained with a smile. “I think she might be right.”
His expression turned wicked. “You only think? You’re not certain?” He shook his head and brushed his lips across hers. “I wouldn’t be much of a husband if you were left in any doubt. Allow me to convince you, my lady. . . for the next fifty or so years.”
Cara closed her eyes in delight as her very own knight in tarnished armor set about making his point in the most pleasurable way.
Acknowledgments
To my three lovely monsters, and M, with much love. Thanks to the wonderful ladies of the C.I.A (you know who you are!) whose friendship, advice, and support have been invaluable. Thanks to Kathryn Lynn Davies, for her editing skills, and Aleta Rafton, for such swoon-worthy cover art. To Tara Cromer, for her technical prowess and love of all things lemony, and to Caroline, for being an awesome sister, late-night-plotter, and all-round graphic genius. You ladies rule.
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading The Devil To Pay. I hope you enjoyed your time with Alessandro and Cara as much as I enjoyed writing about them. It was fun to get lost in Renaissance Italy for a while. Please consider leaving a review for this book at any of the online retailers or review sites. Reviews are so important to authors, and I appreciate every single one!
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Want to read more? Other books by K. C. Bateman:
Regency / Napoleonic Historical Romances:
To Steal A Heart (Secrets & Spies Book I)
A Raven's Heart* (Secrets & Spies Book II)
A Counterfeit Heart (Secrets & Spies Book III)
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* #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller
About the Author
Kate Bateman (writing as K. C. Bateman) wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband who rashly claimed she'd 'never finish the thing.' She gleefully proved him wrong. Her Regency and Renaissance-set tales feature her trademark feisty, intelligent heroines, wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to alternately strangle and kiss.
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When not traveling to exotic locations 'for research', Kate leads a double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. She splits her time between Illinois and her native England and writes despite three inexhaustible children and a number-loving husband who still owes her that dollar.
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K. C. BATEMAN, The Devil to Pay
