DAMIAN I turned on the television. On the news channel, I already knew what I would find. Only one thing had been the most talked about topic of conversation for the last couple of days since Amelia and I returned home from our ill fated trip to Morocco. Every news outfit, every blog was talking about the city's new sensation. This sensation was a big time investor who had recently moved into the city and looked set to settle here. Her appearance in the city had caused quite a buzz both in the business and entertainment circles. Amelia knew about her, of course. In fact, she had just been watching a news feature on the investor, but had immediately turned off the television and taken herself off to her room the moment I came in. I could not suppress a sad sigh. She had been avoiding me a lot these days. I understood why she was doing it but it hadn't made it easy to get used to. I turned off the television, more focused on my own problems than in some rich woman who had taken

DAMIAN I was so shocked I nearly choked on the coffee I was sipping. I coughed, and the coffee spilled over, staining my pants slightly. With a half smile on her face, Monique calmly handed me a napkin. I dabbed at my lips, and then my clothes. I still couldn't believe my ears. The woman had actually asked me to be her lover! Yes, she had been flirting with me despite my constant attempts to remind her I was married. But this offer was... outrageous. I paused to study her face, looking for signs that she was joking or just having me on. "You seem very... surprised," she said, licking her lips slightly. "I am," I admitted. "When you said you had a proposal, I wasn’t expecting this. Did you just ask me-" "To be my lover. Yes, Damian I just did. I'm a woman who sees what she wants and goes for it. I've wanted you since the first second I laid my eyes on you and I don't feel there is any need to pretend about it. We are both adults after all." As I searched for ways to exp

DAMIAN I looked up from my computer in surprise as Anton settled himself into the chair opposite mine with an odd expression on his face. He proceeded to steeple his hands over his chin, jerked his head towards the computer and asked if I was about done. I pushed aside my computer and turned to him. "You didn't tell me you were coming.” "I didn't know I would be coming either, but I just had to so I could impress the seriousness of the situation on you. I didn't think just a phone call would do." "What situation?" I asked curiously, wondering what would have made him leave work very early on a weekday to come see me. It wasn’t like he usually didn’t do that but he had been busy recently. Anton suddenly leaned forward. "Tell me. Have you told that woman that the deal you struck with her is off?" "What woman?" "Who else? Monique, of course." "Ah. Monique? And since when did she become 'that woman'? Last I remember, you were going on and on about her, singing her

DAMIAN I woke up the following day with the hope that everything would have blown over, that someone somewhere had realized that all the accusations against me couldn't possibly be true. How wrong I was! If anything, the lies against me had even gotten worse. When I surfed the net that morning, I found that even more 'proof' about me being a child trafficker had surfaced. Monique was undoubtedly working around the clock to make sure I was ruined. She was doing a pretty damn good job of it. I paced my room, thinking of what to do, of what other steps to take to nip this situation in the bud. On my return from the window, I spotted my phone. Without thinking, I grabbed it and dialed Monique's number. She picked up on the very first ring, and I wondered if she had been sitting by her phone, waiting for me to call. "Monique," I growled. "This ends now." "What ends?" she drawled. "You have had your fun, and it ends now. Listen, I give you less than twenty-four hours to take

AMELIA THREE DAYS LATER I smoothed my hands over my dress. The dress, bought specially for the occasion of the gala was beautiful, fitted me to perfection. I knew that, but still I was nervous, very nervous. I tried to hide my nervousness from Damian but with each passing minute, it got worse. Perhaps it was because this was the first time I was attending an event of this kind without Damian or anywhere close to me. And then there was the fact that this was my first real outing since the scandal Monique had stirred up. I didn’t know what people would say about me or if I would eventually be allowed into the venue. What if they invited me to humiliate me? I had a thousand questions running through my mind and I had answers to none. "Nice," Damian's voice came from the doorway. I yelped in surprise, my hairbrush falling from my hand and onto the floor. I bent to pick it up but Damian beat me to it. I smiled weakly. "Sorry. It's just nerves, I guess. I'm a little jumpy t