Chapter 210

• ‘I want security,’ she said in the end, taking the middle ground. ‘It is how women are made. It’s in our genetic code. We choose partners on the basis of how good a provider they can be. There is nothing sinister or avaricious about it. It’s just the way things are.’
• His mouth slanted in a smile as he slowly unwound her hair from his fingers. ‘So you are making a science out of seduction, no?’
• Ally pursed her lips at him, trying not to shiver in reaction as each hair on her head responded to his touch. ‘I’m not trying to seduce you, Vittorio,’ she said. ‘I am trying to be sensible about this…this unusual situation we are in.’