166
" No need to split my eardrums. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Something familiar about the boy’s lilting tone made Cass stop screaming and flailing in his grip. She looked up just slightly, into his face. Even by the dim light of the moon, she recognized his dazzling blue eyes. “You,” she breathed.
“Mourning girl?” The boy laughed, and steadied her on her feet. “So nice to run into you again.”
She wrenched away from his grasp, pulling her cloak tight around her body. “What are you doing here?”
The boy shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was just standing here enjoying the view when you almost ran me over.”
“The view?” Her voice rang out shrilly. “In a graveyard? At this hour?” Her fear began to give way to irritation. He was clearly lying to her.
The boy gestured around him. In the dark, a group of flowering weeds looked like a giant hairy spider crouched against the side of a crypt. “These flowers actually grow best in cemeteries. Did you know that? Something about the mix of soil and shade. Death and life, intertwined. One feeding off the other. It’s kind of magical, don’t you think?” He seemed distracted for a moment, like he really was fascinated by their surroundings. Just as Cass was about to respond, he turned to her again. “Plus the company here is much more agreeable than at la taverna. And much less likely to talk my ear off.”
Cass felt dizzy. She took one more step back. “What’s on your face?” she demanded, pointing at his right cheekbone.
“What?” He licked a finger and wiped haphazardly at the area Cass had indicated. His hand came away smudged with red. “Oh. Paint, probably. It gets all over everything.” His lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile. “It’s a wonder you aren’t the one being mourned, as accident prone as you seem to be.”
“I hardly think you jumping on me earlier qualifies me as accident prone.” She was surprised by how quickly the response came to her.
“Oh, if I had jumped on you, you’d know it,” he said with a wink. He reached toward Cass to dislodge a twig from her hair. “I’m Falco, by the way.”
Cass narrowed her eyes. Now, since he was obviously laughing at her, she found his mischievous grin annoying. Still, it didn’t seem to be the deranged smile of a murderer. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
170
" What are you doing here, Signorina…?” He trailed off, waiting for her to provide her name.
“Caravello. Cassandra,” she said distractedly, her mind consumed by shadows, by faceless corpses and killers hiding in the dark.
“Cassandra,” he repeated, as though her name pleased him. “So. Did I interrupt something? A sordid little tryst, perhaps?”
“You must be joking.” Cass was in no mood for humor. Besides, the closest she’d ever been to a tryst was when he’d fallen on top of her in the street earlier that day. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
172
" Fat raindrops splattered across the front of Cass’s dress as the skies opened up in a sudden downpour. Cass ducked quickly inside a nearby arched doorway, pressing her body tightly to the stone to protect herself from the drizzle. Falco squeezed into the arch next to her, his longish hair damp and sticking to his face.
“You’re wet,” she said, instinctively pushing a strand of brown away from his left eye.
“Very observant,” he remarked. “I see those private tutors are really paying off.”
Cass poked him in the side with her elbow. Even half soaked, Falco seemed to be radiating heat. Cass wished another lock of hair would glue itself to his skin so she could touch him again. She felt close to him, yet miles away at the same time. It was as if what she wanted was on the horizon, but kept disappearing like a mirage. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
173
" Why didn’t you say that you were coming?” She was trying not to stare at him, but she couldn’t help it. The angle of his cheekbones reminded her of one of the Greek statues from Dubois’s salon. His skin was sculpture-worthy as well, creamy and alabaster pale, just the hint of a blond beard showing on his cheeks and chin. Almost nothing about him reminded her of the petulant boy who had demanded a kiss from her three years ago.
Luca gave Cass a funny look. He plucked a series of invisible cat hairs from his black velvet breeches. “I’m sure I mentioned it in at least two letters. Did you not receive them?”
Cass reddened again. Her tongue felt knotted in her mouth. “I must have lost track of time.” Santo cielo. He was going to think she’d become a babbling idiot.
Luca’s smile wavered for a moment. He stretched out his long legs and crossed them at the ankles. “No matter. I’m here now. Just in time to protect you.”
Cass gestured toward Slipper, who had gone back to sleep on her lap. “Well, as you can see, I’m in grave danger of being mauled, right here in my aunt’s library.” She regretted the wry tone immediately. It was the kind of thing she would have said to Falco. Luca would probably take offense at her joke.
But he laughed. “He does look rather fierce,” he said. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
174
" It looks like we’re stuck here for a while,” Cass said, trying not to let her eyes wander down to Falco’s chest. His damp chemise was clinging to his body. The drizzle became a deluge, rain pounding the stone street so hard, it drowned out Falco’s response.
Cass leaned in close. “What?”
“I said I know someplace nearby we can go. Until the rain stops.” Falco’s lips were so close to her ear that she felt a puff of warm air with each p he spoke.
Cass trembled slightly. She told herself it was from the weather, but she turned to face Falco even though it meant putting the right side of her dress out into the storm. His expression was neutral, but his eyes smiled at her.
“What sort of place?”
“Tommaso’s studio. It’s just a couple of streets over.”
Cass watched the rain come down in sheets. “Tommaso?”
“Vecellio. He’s my master.”
Cass sucked in a deep breath. Tommaso Vecellio was descended from the same bloodlines as Titian, one of the most famous Venetian artists of all time. Titian had died before Cass was born, but his influence lingered in churches and private homes all across Venice. “You apprentice with Vecellio? How come you never told me?”
Falco slicked his wet hair back from his face. “You never asked. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
175
" Did I interrupt something? A sordid little tryst, perhaps?”
“You must be joking.” Cass was in no mood for humor. Besides, the closest she’d ever been to a tryst was when he’d fallen on top of her in the street earlier that day.
“Always. Sadly, you don’t seem like the type of girl who would be up for a midnight…encounter.” Falco’s eyes drifted downward. “Too bad.”
Cass realized her cloak had fallen open, exposing the white nightgown she wore underneath. She pulled the velvet fabric tight around her body. Then the shrubbery rippled once more with unfamiliar movement. Cass’s heart froze.
“We should get out of here,” she said. “It’s not safe.”
“Not safe?” Falco raised an eyebrow. “Why? Because it’s dark and you might accidentally trip over your own two feet? I feel quite safe. In fact, I was just settling in to do some reading.”
Cass furrowed her brow. “Reading?”
Falco wagged her journal in front of her. “This is yours, I presume.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Let’s find out exactly what you’ve been doing, shall we?”
“Give it back!” Cass reached for the journal, but Falco easily dodged her. He opened the leather-bound book to a random page and cleared his throat. Clutching a hand to his chest, he pretended to read aloud in a high-pitched voice. “Oh, how I love the way his fingers explore my soft flesh. The way his eyes see into my very soul.”
This time, Cass managed to snatch the book out of his hands. “That is not what it says.”
“I guess that means you won’t be keeping me warm tonight?” Falco quirked an eyebrow. Before she could muster up a response, he laughed. “Then again, the accommodations probably wouldn’t meet your standards. You’ve probably never slept on anything but the finest satins, have you?”
Cass hoped the darkness camouflaged her scarlet cheeks. Who was this boy to talk to her the way he did? “Is that why you’re here? Looking for a date?” Cass gestured toward a row of pointed headstones. “I do believe you’re in luck. I see some ladies who won’t be able to refuse you.” The words flew out of her mouth before she could rethink them.
“Funny. And correct. Sort of. I was actually just looking for a place to get a little rest.” For a second, the smile dropped from his face, and an expression passed across it that Cass couldn’t identify.
“Sleep in a graveyard?” Cass frowned. “You can’t be serious. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
176
" Your wine, Signorina?”
That voice.
Cass spun around and struggled to her feet. Falco stood in the doorway of the study, dressed in a green and gold servant’s uniform. Cass took in the lopsided smile, the hair that curled slightly away from his face. Tears pricked up in her eyes, and Falco began to blur. But he didn’t disappear.
She had to restrain herself from running into his arms. Instead, she stood pressed against the window. “How--how did you get in?”
Falco crossed the room to her, pausing just long enough to set a glass of wine down on the desk. “Doors are quite useful, I’ve found,” he said, his eyes sparkling. Then his expression softened into one of concern. When he reached her, his hands skimmed her neck softly. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” Cass said. “Now.”
“When I heard someone had been attacked, I didn’t want to believe it was you.” He pushed her tangled hair back from her face. “Then I heard she had fought the attacker off and sent the poor bastard fleeing into the streets.” Falco cracked a smile. “I knew it was my starling. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
177
" I was actually just looking for a place to get a little rest.” For a second, the smile dropped from his face, and an expression passed across it that Cass couldn’t identify.
“Sleep in a graveyard?” Cass frowned. “You can’t be serious.” Again Cass felt certain he was lying to her. Could he have had something to do with the body stashed in the contessa’s family tomb? Cass didn’t think so. He was a bit too relaxed for having just killed a woman. Behind him, in the darkness, Cass again thought she saw movement. Her breath caught in her throat, but it was just one of the stray cats, darting out in front of a crypt.
If Falco noticed her look of alarm, he didn’t comment on it. “Why not? Normally it’s quiet,” he said, grinning at Cass. “No wild women running about. My roommate and I were drinking at Il Mar e la Spada and got into a fight as usual. Tonight I decided to avoid the inevitable thrashing.” He coughed. “His, not mine.”
Il Mar e la Spada. San Domenico’s finest--and only--taverna. Cass had never been inside the decrepit old place.
“Come on,” Falco said. “I’ll see you safely home to your fancy sheets. I’d say you need your beauty sleep, but it looks like you’ve been getting plenty.” He took Cass’s hand in one of his own, his warm touch like a bolt of lightning, causing her to jump. "
― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)
