I stood quietly until Joe gave the attendant his ticket. As we walked to the line to wait for his car, he asked, “But what did he want from you? Did he tell you anything about Amber? About Reeve?”“Funny, you should ask.” A breeze blew by, and I shivered, but it was quite possible I might have shivered anyway. “He wants me to convince Reeve to talk to him. I guess Reeve hasn’t been receptive to such a conversation in the past.”“I wonder if that’s what his e-mail to Sallis was about.” Joe furrowed his brow. “Will you convince him?”“To talk to Vilanakis?” It hadn’t occurred to me that I had any other choice. “Yeah. I have to try. For Amber’s sake.”Even as I said the words, I chided myself internally. Always for Amber’s sake. When would I start doing things for my sake?“It doesn’t seem like this is about Amber at all, though. If she’s just a pawn, then what is this really about?”It was hard for me to think of Amber as anything less than a queen, but I put thoughts of her aside and c

“Yes!” It was the first time since we’d left The Four Seasons that I felt he might really consider what I was asking. “Talk to him. That’s all. Will you talk to him?”He met my gaze head on. “No.”“Please, Reeve?” Blinking back emotion, I laid myself bare. “For Amber?”His expression softened. “Not even for you, Emily.”His words hung in the air, with all the sweet and sting of a backhanded compliment.And it dawned on me that it didn’t matter if he loved both of us, because he didn’t love either of us enough.At least he seemed remorseful as he turned off the engine and unbuckled his belt. “Stay here,” he said softly before slipping out of the car.Numbly, I watched him unlock the office door and disappear inside. The blinds were closed so I couldn’t see what he was doing inside, but I could tell he hadn’t bothered to turn on the light. Darkness followed him – it was there, in the room where he’d gone. Here, where he’d left me. My eyes closed, and I let the gloom settle in like a pai

I’d wanted to be away from him by the time he got inside, but now I didn’t care. The air was tense and charged and all I could think about was Amber, sure that something terrible had happened to her and I had to know now, before the worrying ate me up. “Will someone please fucking tell me what’s going on?”“It’s Chris Blakely,” Joe said without any further hesitation. “He’s dead.”CHAPTER 16I didn’t sleep well.The few times I started to doze, I dreamt. Vague nightmares where images of Chris faded into images of Reeve then Michelis then Joe until all of them morphed into one man who was one minute trying to make me come, and the next, trying to kill me.It was still dark outside when I gave up on sleep. I tossed the covers aside and got out of bed to pack my suitcase instead.Joe had heard the news about Chris on the radio as he drove back to the ranch from The Four Seasons. Although the police weren’t releasing any information yet, he’d called a friend on the Los Angeles force and l

Her grin was coy, saying she was both proud and a touch embarrassed to be called out on her reputation as a diva. “You know how to play the game,” she said. “Sometimes when you’re trying to win the guy, you have to forget who you are for a minute and be who he wants you to be.”I sat with her statement, unsure how to let it settle. Somehow I’d forgotten that about her – forgotten that, even though she was a natural princess, she could play submissive when she needed to.And what a time for her to remind me.She was honest, at least. I was grateful for that, and, if I had any inkling to begrudge her for taking that position, I knew I had to swallow it. Because flexibility had been one of the most basic rules of our man-hunting. I’d focused on that very idea when I’d prepared myself to go after Reeve – be who he wants you to be. And I had been.But then I’d fallen for him, and when I had, it had been genuine and the ways I’d won him had been honest. It bothered me that she had to preten

I lifted my head, slowly, afraid that if I moved too quickly, I’d interrupt the spell. It was the first time he’d admitted his connection to Michelis. The first time he’d volunteered information without me prodding.His eyes grazed mine, but he quickly shifted his focus out the window. “My mother, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, was born Elena Vilanakis. Her grandfather was… a don, of sorts. Powerful. His children and their children were practically royalty. Crime was their birthright. It’s a patriarchal system, but women do have their places and their duties. My mother was the oldest of her siblings so her role was significant. Whoever she married would be adopted into the family business. It was expected that she would wed someone with economic or political strength. Someone like Daniel Sallis, who had built a fortune and name in luxury resorts. Their union was blessed and encouraged by her parents.”“But your mother wanted to leave.” It came out before I could stop it, and h