Alex paced the confines of his New York office as he waited for Roslyn to arrive. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with Maya . Theron had stayed with her, and Alex simmered with impatience. Her condition hadn’t changed. Even when she’d awakened, she’d been distant, unfocused,there but not there. It was as if she’d gone to a place where he couldn’t hurt her anymore.He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand. When he heardZuri enter, he stiffened. It was all he could do not to rage at her, not to breakbher skinny neck. It took everything he had to smile and act as though nothing was wrong, as though he didn’t loathe the very ground she walked on.“You wanted to see me?” Zuri said breathlessly.“I did,” Alex murmured. He let his gaze run suggestively over her body even as his flesh crawled.Her eyes brightened, and her stance immediately became suggestive.“I’ve only just become aware of the lengths to which you went to try and get my attention,” he said with a

Maya stood in the bedroom, staring out the window with unseeing eyes.Nothing Alex did at this point should hurt her, but he still had that powerover her, much to her dismay.“Maya.”She swung around to see Alex standing in the doorway. He looked tired, his features drawn and his eyes worried. There was something else in hisexpression. Sadness and...fear?He started forward, a little hesitantly. “We need to talk.” She tensed then braced herself for what she knew would come. His repudiation of her. She turned her face away but nodded. Yes, they needed to talk and get it done with.His fingers curled around her chin, and he gently turned her to face him. “Don’t look like that, agape mou. I do not like to see you so sad.”“Please,” she begged. “Just say what it is you want to say. Don’t draw it out.”He lowered his hand to capture her wrist. His thumb brushed across her pulse,which jumped and sped up at his touch. “Come, sit down.”She let him lead her over to the bed. He eased down beside her

Alex wasted no time in finalizing plans for their wedding and preparing for them to travel to the island. He single-handedly rearranged his business schedule, made sure everything Maya could possibly need was purchased, though they’d already shopped for her wedding gown. She stood in awe of all hecould accomplish in such a short time.The authorities questioned her now that she’d regained her memory, and she spent several exhausting hours providing them with the few details she couldremember. The kidnappers hadn’t harmed her and had actually shown her consideration when her pregnancy became obvious. They had watched her,knowing she was close to Alex , and had struck when the opportunity arose. They’d asked for a small ransom, certain they would get it with no fuss.When no ransom had been forthcoming, they abandoned the kidnapping andarranged for Maya to be found.It was the realization that Alex had ignored the ransom that had pushedMaya beyond her limits. It was that moment in

***Six years laterI’m sorry to have disturbed you.”“It’s fine.” Emma attempted, struggling to sit up, slightly disorientated andextremely embarrassed that Alex had found her in the middle of the day, hot and filthy in nothing more than the skimpiest of shorts and a crop top, lying on a blanket with her eyes closed. Absolutely the last person she was expecting to see at this hour, he was dressed in his inevitable dark suit, but there was a slightlymore relaxed stance to him. He held a brown paper bag in one hand and he didn’t look in his usual rush—his usually perfectly knotted tie was loosened, the top button of his shirt undone. But his dark eyes were shielded with sunglasses making his closed expression even more unreadable if that were possible.“You’ve done a lot.”“It’s getting there.” Emma nodded. “And if I keep going at full speed, I could still be done by early next week.”He didn’t say a word, he didn’t have to. Just a tiny questioning lift of his eyebrow from behind his

Only now did his lips release hers. Any sooner and she would have begged him to stop, would have halted things.But now she was putty in his skilled hands, pliable, warm, willing to move, to let him do with her what he wanted, and, oh, how he did—kissing the pulseleaping in her throat as she wriggled out of her top. The second her breasts were free, his tongue paid them the attention they deserved, tender attention, kissingthe swollen, needy tips in turn, his finger retracing his steps, working downwards now. Her stomach tightened in renewed tension as he slid down the zip of her shorts, but for the first time since contact he spoke, the liquid deep tones of his voice not breaking the spell but somehow deepening it.“Don’t hold onto those thoughts, bella, just let them come and go.” Repeating the words she had said to him, but with entirely different meaning this time. Andshe tried, really tried to just relax as his hand cupped her bottom and lifted her enough to slip off the shorts