pte

, rich brandy. The kind that sat in your gut like a hot co

fire, the calm, steady mask she'd

was something else beneath that smooth, not-a-hair-ou

he knew that somehow his touch was disturbing her, could feel it in the way her arm had gotten a

d feel it get faster and faster. The pulse at the base of her pale throat was f

ashes veiling her gaze. "Please let me go, Mr.

ything that might potentially affect my employee

beat of her heart against his fingers. "I assure you that paying for Josh's medical care will not a

ng denied virtually everything, even the most basic of things such as food.

one of the few blessings of that existence had been the fact that he hadn't known what he was missing. Only the taste of apples. Warmth. The sound of his mother's voice saying his n

d out. Oh, yes, then he'd discovered all

out her was fascinating to him and he wanted to study her. Because her ski

e wanted, and his days o

, urging her right up close so they were inches apart. Her mouth had opened, and he found his attention caught by

athy, the crispness of her accent blurrin

ly wouldn't be averse, even though she wasn't his type. Her skin was very pretty, and her hair was a glory. Her eyes, too, that intoxi

with that same flare of challenge, her scent gone all m

avy and hard, like

s anymore, not when he wanted a good job

Miss VeraTaylor. Having her for a night or two might even be worth

is time and yet with that same breathless q

Pero

. "Look, I

ooded her skin. It should have clashed horribly with her hair, but it didn't. It made

st pret

g through him instead. Yeah, this was what he needed. The warmth and softne

y would feel against his. And sure enough, as he'd expected, it felt pretty fucking good. She was

cking suddenness of it making him loosen his grip

e'd paid that boxer to come to the gym and teach him how to box. The guy had managed to land lots of hits the fi

n fucking employee for Christ's sa

ctric shock of it hel

brilliant gold with rage. "How dare you." Her voice was shaking

ed him in the face and laid him out cold on the floor for daring to raise

that. And she was standing there, blazing like a fire, her ang

er. Right here, right now, and screw the fact that sh

a step t

her hands lowering to curl into fists by her side, making it clear she wa

m want to

anothe

ant me, Mr. de la cruz . You just want a woman. So why don't I get you

e'd grab her ankle and tip her off balance. She'd fall and he'd catch her in his arms, and then he'd take

ne who wouldn't," Veracontinued, annoyingly. "And I'm sure you

not stopping, prowling closer to her. "I

face again. "Mr. de la Cruz , if you touch me like that again, I'll call the police. An

n't recognize pulled tight inside

his house. Put yo

did that, you wouldn't get the mon

at maddening red-gold brow of hers arch

ead pulled

acity. It was very, very rare for someone to take him on and win, still less

put in a jail cell, that was for sure. It would make it very hard for him to do business or follow up on the sea

force the issue, ignoring that small kernel of ice that sat in his gut at

ery inch of that room, had walked up and down it a million times a day, the walls, the borders of his world. When he'd been very small, the walls had made him feel saf

lowly but surely squeezed in a vice, all the air escaping, and

felt like this f

oor of the gym, heading automatically for the place wher

Vera's voice was

en," he growled without turnin

the door and slamme

eartbeat thundered in her ears, and she could hear the harsh sound of her breathing. Too fast, too

t because sh

nt garden, looking blindly at it. Then she noticed that the fingers of the hand that had hit him were curled inward, as if she wanted to h

Swall

ifference. When he'd grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, when he'd refused to stop even when she'd told hi

ething she didn't want

, and she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him. He'd been hot, too. So very, very hot. Like a r

, she might have been able to shrug it off. But

s staring intently into hers. As if she was a fasc

trying to work out a Tube map and she'd helped him out-he'd shown his interest in her immediately, sure. But he'd already decided who she was even before he'd asked her for coffee: the pretty English rose with her sexy accent and typical English reserve, needing the right man to crack it. At the time,

t whenever her mother needed it. The daughter who could be criticized whenever her father needed a target. They never looked deeper.

o, she couldn't be thinking these things, and she definitely couldn't be feeling them, becaus

or him for two years now and she was going

f he d

nk like that. He wou

ing down her skirt, touching her hair to make sure her bun was still firmly in place. The f

d come in contact with his cheek. Something had ignited in his black eyes then and it hadn't been fury. It had been something far more dangero

nking about instead was what had actually made him stop, because even the threat of being kicked in the balls had

of green outside the windows. He'd stopped in his tracks the moment sh

ant the police themselves here?

d of legal trouble, not a man like him. It was the threat of be

nough that she hadn't thought about the fact tha

ut how no one had ever seen him outside. In fact, one of those job contacts o

, staring at the d

uldn't imagine him allowing himself to be contained anywhere let alone in o

it, he seemed to live in only four rooms: his office, his gym, the mysterious room behind the door in his office that he disa

she encountered someone who was in trouble or someone who was broken. An intense symp

o. A man who seemed quite able to look after himself and who didn't seem to care about anyone else's feelin

erself those dollars so she wouldn't have to move Josh somewhere else, somewhere cheaper. Somewhere that might compromise his care. Thin

r shoulders back, and

to get the bloody man the woman he wanted. An

all for the past three days and yet now, in the hours since he'd walked out of the gym, he hadn't been able to

her suite. She was on the white linen couch, a laptop on her knees,

l it an invasion of privacy, but Pero didn't give a shit what people might call it. His house was his property, and he could do what he liked with it. His staff, too, he tended to view as his property, and not only did he want to make sure they were doing

be doing her job. So really, checking up on her was unnecessary. Yet he didn't stop himself fr

sions. He made them based on gut inst

de in the gym-to touch Vera-had been wrong somehow. Even thoug

hed was wrong, but Vera's eyes had been full of gold fire and the pulse at her wrist had been fast and frantic. She'd radiated anger rather than fear, of that he was sure. In fact, he was sure that for a moment she'd b

t study him back would give him some insights into why she might have

tween her delicate brows, the rest of her features drawn tight in line

e expensive, he knew that much. Or was she putting all her effort into

ack desk in front of him and interlace

ng retreated to his control room to lick his wounds because this uptight Englishwoman had denied him. Had sto

with her feet resting on the cushions and her legs extended in front of her and bent at the knee. The closest h

rly instantaneous, a

f course. It was a goddamn problem that his body had decided tha

e touched her, and he was absolutely certain that she would. And they had arrived, breaking

op bothering him. It was not a guarantee, though. The media would be involved, and there was

sk, his nails digging in as if he was hanging off a cliff and only moments away f

oing down to the precin

V

e, he got her to

his head, staring

rious concentration. What would it be like if she was furiously concentrating on him? If that del

ants. No, he'd be fucked if he settled for a couple of random women from hi

as think about how

d his attention on his stepfather's file. He had one more lead to follow up on-one he'd been letting lay low fo

an who'd once, long ago, been beautiful. Until time and hardship had blurred her features, scoring them wit

spot in his s

kept him safe fo

lead. H