To hell with her common sense. Amaya thought. To risk or not to risk her heart again. It doesn't matter now. All she ever wanted was to forget her problem with her father.“Chase…”Her wanton plea made his hard-on throb as he lifted her top, ducked his head, and captured an erect nipple between his teeth, plucking at the lace covering it. Her low moans fired him to flick the clasp and allow the tempting lushness to fall into his hands.But the garden had other ideas, as the raucous cackle of a nearby kookaburra pierced the silence and reminded him of where they were.Reluctantly tugging her top down, he brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “Maybe we can talk more later?”She nodded her head. To hell with her pride.“I think so.”“Good, but you used to love those damn birds. Too bad this one has shocking timing.”She laughed, a clear, joyous sound that had him chuckling right along with her. “Remember the time we made out the first time we met?”“Can we change the subject?”He took a

The next day, Amaya reread the same paragraph for the fifth time before leaping up from the keyboard. It was her promotion. And now she doesn't know what to do or how to feel.Her son and her work had succeeded in distracting her from losing Chase before, but it wasn’t doing a thing for her now. She’d scanned her emails, managed to form coherent replies for the important ones, read the documentation Allen had forwarded from Human Resources, and toyed with an idea to grab the lucrative contract.All perfectly stimulating stuff she would normally thrive on, but today she couldn’t concentrate for more than a few seconds at a time, her mind constantly drifting to Chase. To their son, and to their marriage, to their relationship.Where was he?What was he thinking?Why had he run out on her when they needed to discuss this like two normal people?She understood that he needed time. But the fact that he’d barely spoken since she’d dropped her bombshell didn’t bode well.Bombshell? She’d det

hase could’ve wasted time and energy cursing Amaya’s father, but instead, he put his plan into action.When he’d initially heard what Amaya had said—that he’d wanted the old man dead—his hatred obliterating the temporary guilt of his visit might have caused another stroke.The old man was vile, determined to ruin his own daughter’s happiness. What sort of father did that to his only child, trying to wreck their relationship?He knew from his private investigator that the old man was a menace and Chase had never been his favourite, especially when he’d started making it big in the district, but what about Amaya? Didn’t the old guy love her at all?Probably not!Something niggled at his conscience, wedged like a spur, digging and needling—something about Amaya not knowing his father. And he sighed. Just like his own father, her father didn't deserve her kindness.He’d put it down to her father not giving a damn about her, not bothering to inform Amaya about something so trivial in his h

Gone!She was gone.Chase knew it the second he woke, not needing to open his eyes to know Amaya had left.She was always a part of him. He hadn’t been kidding when he told her about this room and his hopes she’d come back.She was the only woman for him, and now she was his wife, and they loved each other. Well, nothing would stop them.Then why was he lying here alone, and she was winging her way to the other side of the world again?He’d let her get away once. Shit! Could he let her go again? “Fuck!”Never again.But he couldn’t control Amaya, couldn’t hold her back any more than let her go. He understood her drive, her ambition, and the same need for success pounding through his veins.So why the crazy feeling she’d left for good?They hadn’t resolved anything last night. He’d planned to and had wanted to talk, but his good intentions had crashed and burned around the time he’d been unable to keep his hands off her. From there, all bets had been off as they’d pleasured each other

“He hit me. Hurt me!” she said, biting her lips. It wasn't a pleasant memory, and remembering those moments made her shiver from the pain and from fear.“Fuck! That bastard! I’ll kill him!’Amaya didn’t know what she’d expected when she finally told someone the grimy truth after all these years, but seeing Chase furious, bristling with rage, and ready to defend her, she suddenly knew she’d made a mistake by bottling all this up.If he hadn’t told her the truth when she’d left, she'd have done him the same discourtesy, and if they were to have a future, she needed to tell him everything.“When I left home, it wasn’t out of some misguided selfish dream notion. I had to leave. His escalating violence left me no option.”He swore viciously and voraciously, clenching his hands as if he’d like to thump something, preferably her father. How could her father do such a thing? Well, of course he could relate to her fear; after all, he had the same past with his own father.“He changed the moment