They barely spoke over the next week or so, merely coexisting in the same house. Romano requested that they still have breakfast and dinner together and that they sleep in the same bed, but he never touched her, maintaining the distance that she had insisted on.

Some part of Eliza was relieved while another bemoaned the loss of the one bond they had shared. she kept telling herself that it was just sex and it had never meant anything.

Besides, Eliza had other, more immediate, concerns. Like the ...