Chapter 588

• Pietro's lips twitched up into the barest of smiles as he turned his gaze from the woman at his side to the panorama before him. It really was a beautiful spot, but the word that had just been dragged from his lips had nothing to do with the landscape and everything to do with Cassia Romanov.
• He had known instantly that he would climb down that stupid tree to be with her. The moment he realised that she was intent on waiting for him, it had simply been a matter of when he would finally give in to her compelling allure, as opposed to if. She had been on his mind since her last visit, when their hands had touched for that split second and every nerve ending in his body had come alive.
• He had tried to work out what it was about her that penetrated the emotional barriers he'd constructed so carefully over the years. He'd known many beautiful women in his life and yet none of them had even remotely caught his interest the way Alexei's daughter had. She was cloaked in an aura of serenity; an understated intelligence draped in graceful elegance that made his soul feel as if he had been cleansed with a soothing balm. Although he typically chose to avoid others, being with Cassia didn't stir that need for solitude. She was, quite simply, refreshing; he found himself craving her company, if only to alleviate some of his more negative emotions.