'Is it?' Brand smiled blandly. 'All right. I'll agree to the surgery.'Isabella repressed a sarcastic rejoinder. It wasn't up to Brand to agree to anything. And she had a feeling he'd never really intended to oppose Connie's operation. He was just flexing his parenting muscles.This opinion was confirmed a moment later when Brand leaned forward and said peremptorily, 'Right. Second and most important point. Connie's my daughter. From now on I intend to be a part of her life.''Yes,' agreed Isabella, hearing the regret for lost years that simmered beneath the dictatorial words. She wasn't going to argue with him about that. Connie needed a father. Brand had that right. And Felix—Felix, as yet, had no rights.'Yes,' said Brand. 'And that means I expect to pay for her education, her upkeep and any extras she may need. I do not expect to pay one damn penny for you.'Isabella tried not to grind her teeth. 'I'm not for sale,' she said, pulling the cushion tightly against her chest.Somethin

Brand ground out a word she had never heard him use before and hoped she wouldn't hear again. He dropped her wrist so abruptly that her forearm landed on the table with a crash, shaking glasses and rattling the knives and forks. Disapproving heads swivelled in their direction. Plucked eyebrows rose in civilized censure.Isabella turned away to stare into the bright flames leaping in the fireplace. After a while, when she realized Brand wasn't speaking, she forced herself to look up. He was staring at her as if she had just announced that she was Dracula's mistress come for her nightly snack.'What's the matter?' she demanded. 'I haven't said anything you didn't know already. And please, stop looking at me as if you expect me to sink my fangs into your neck.'Brand lifted his wine glass and leaned slowly back in his chair. 'You did that long ago,' he murmured, with just the barest flicker of a smile. 'And very pretty little fangs they were too. Efficient as well. You drew blood.'Isabe

So was hers.She shrugged irritably and turned back into the room to begin unpacking.When she went downstairs with Connie half an hour later, it was with a mixture of relief and disappointment that she learned Brand was no longer in the house.*He had some business to attend to at the airport,' Veronica said. 'Mr Ryder is a very busy man.'Who can't afford to waste his valuable time on riffraff like Connie and me, thought Isabella, noting the smug lift to the other woman's voice. She didn't think she much liked Veronica.'Yes,' she said sweetly. 'My husband has always been active.'She was rewarded by Veronica's quick frown, and after that she and Connie were left to their own devices. They heard the housekeeper's heels tapping smartly on the floor as she made her way along one of the polished hardwood corridors.They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the extensive grounds, which, to Connie's delight, included a fishpond, natural woods and a swimming pool.By the time they re

Mairead nodded. 'So have I. So now, tell me—why did you find it necessary to leave my son? His precious principles certainly extend to taking responsibility for a baby.''Oh, I know. It wasn't Brand's fault. At least—I mean, he didn't know I'd had the baby.''Knew you'd left him, though. Must have noticed that. Why didn't he have the sense to fetch you back?''He didn't really want me back,' said Isabella, fidgeting with her yellow-checked placemat. 'And—I expect he told you I wrote him a letter from Edmonton to let him know I was all right—that I didn't need his help . . .''Hmm. But you did need him, didn't you?' The Irish eyes were extra bright.'Yes. Yes, I did. But you see, I had to learn to stand on my own feet.' She put her coffee cup down and leaned forward. 'Mrs Ryder, I'm sorry, so very sorry, that you and Brand missed Connie's early years. At the time I thought staying away was the best thing I could do. But now I'm not sure . . .' She lowered her eyes, afraid to look at th

'I'm sorry you won't change your mind,' she said, hiding her true feelings behind a gracious, lady-of-the-manor smile. 'But naturally I respect your decision. Goodnight, Veronica. I'll see you in the morning.'Veronica didn't answer, but as Isabella turned to leave from the corner of her eye she saw a change come over the other woman's face. One minute it had been composed and a little derisive. The next it was splotched with angry colour. Isabella hastened her pace and hurried out into the corridor.She wasn't fast enough. As she turned to close the door, a tube of lipstick hit her in the face. She gasped, put a hand to her cheek and started angrily back into the bedroom. But she had only taken a step when a voice behind her said, 'Hell,' and a pair of muscular arms closed around her waist. She kicked out frantically as her back was clamped against a man's solid body—a body that was all too familiar, even though, at this moment, she couldn't see it.'Brand!' Isabella exclaimed. 'What