Reiko’s art-steeped heritage, cultivated since birth and sharpened by years of apprenticeship under her late grandfather’s keen tutelage, meant she could spot a true masterpiece from twenty feet—it was, after all, the reason she’d chosen her specialised profession.

Damion Fortier was the epitome of Michelangelo’s David, his face hauntingly beautiful and yet so uniquely mysterious it drew attention and held it, commanding eyes to worship it.

As for his eyes …

They always reminded her of furious storm clouds right before thunder boomed and lightning struck. Or right before—

‘Aren’t you going to say hello, Reiko?’

Reiko sucked in a long breath to calm her galloping heartbeat. And another in order to find the Zen she needed to deal with the situation.

Despite the colossal trepidation accelerating through her body, she forced herself to move towards him, hand outstretched. ‘Hello … Wait—shall I call you Monsieur Fortier, or do you prefer Baron?’

Without waiting, she took his hand in hers.

Face your demons—wasn’t that what her therapist had told her? If she hadn’t been so desperate to stay hidden, Reiko would have called her to demand her money back because so far her advice hadn’t worked. If anything, the demons had grown larger.

An explosion of heat shattered her thoughts as Damion’s firm fingers curled around hers. Stormy sensation fired up deeply suppressed memories, unnerving her much more than she’d expected. Desperately ignoring it, she covered their entwined hands with her other hand.

Surprise flared in his eyes at her action, as she’d known it would. Her recently learned trick always surprised when she made the bold move. Normally it disarmed long enough for her to read her opponent, to see behind the facade to the real person beneath the civilised gloss. Because, inevitably, there was always something else underneath.

‘I’d like to be sure of the correct way to address you, since Daniel Fortman is clearly no longer an option.’

Reiko was unprepared for the stab of pain that lanced through her. She’d thought she was over this—had thought five years was enough to get over Daniel … Damion’s betrayal.

But then how could she forget? She’d watched her grandfather wither away before her eyes, his devastation complete after Damion Fortier had been done with him.

She tried to free her fingers but he’d recovered quickly. ‘What the hell do you want?’ she said.

His eyes gave nothing away as he used his controlling grasp to push her back one step and nudge the door shut behind him.

‘You never gave me a chance to explain—’

‘When should I have let you explain? After your bodyguards nearly flattened my grandfather’s cabin because they thought you’d been kidnapped? Or after your head of security inadvertently revealed that far from the casual business acquaintance I believed you to be you were in fact Damion Fortier—French royalty, and the man who was ruthlessly ruining the grandfather while sleeping with the granddaughter?’ Pain stabbed deeper, reminding her just how blind and trusting she’d been.

‘Sleeping is a very loose term, since we hardly did any in those six weeks.’ His smile held a hint of flint. ‘And what happened with your grandfather was just business—’

‘Don’t you dare try to justify it as just business! You took away everything he’d ever worked for, everything that mattered to him. Just so you could fatten your already bloated bank balance.’

Damion shrugged. ‘He made a deal, Reiko. Then proceeded to make very bad decisions, which he tried to cover up. Because of his friendship with my grandfather, he was given more than enough time to fix the problem. He didn’t. I kept my identity a secret because I didn’t want things to get sentimental and messy.’

‘Of course. Sentiment is so inconvenient when it comes to making money, isn’t it? Do you know my grandfather died barely a month after you bankrupted him?’ To this day, she couldn’t get over the guilt of not seeing what was going on under her nose until it was too late. She’d been too besotted, too trusting. And she’d paid dearly.

Damion’s eyes darkened and his grip tightened around hers. ‘Reiko—’

‘Can you cut to the chase, please, Baron? I’m sure you didn’t pursue me for weeks just to reminisce about the past.’ A past she never thought of during her wakeful hours but which had recently blended itself into her nightmares.

His eyes narrowed. ‘You knew I was looking for you?’

Reiko forced a smile despite the fresh wave of anxiety that coursed through her. ‘Of course. It’s been fun watching your security experts’ antics. They even came close a few times—Honduras especially.’

‘You think this is a game?’

Her heart clenched. ‘I have no idea what this is. The sooner you enlighten me, the sooner you can get out of my life.’

He seemed lost for several seconds, his gaze lightening then darkening as it scoured her face. Finally his lips firmed, as if he wanted to stem what he was about to say.