“Did it ever occur to you, Nathan, that I’m not the person you think I am?”

Nathan’s lips curved mockingly. “No, but you couldn’t seriously expect me to. I’m one of the few people who know from experience that there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

Rachel laughed out of sheer disbelief. “You truly believe that you know me that well?” She shook her head helplessly. “You’re wrong, you know.”

His brows rose skeptically. “Are you asking me to believe that you’re a reformed character? Sorry, darling, but as felines go, you’re as sleek as they come”

“You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she asked through gritted teeth.

He looked at her, blue eyes glittering sardonically. “Very sure. Remember that if you’re ever tempted to take me on.”

Oh, she was tempted, all right, and when the time was right, she would act.

AMANDA BROWNING still lives in the Essex house where she was born. The third of four children—her sister being her twin—she enjoyed the rough and tumble of life with two brothers as much as she did reading books. Writing came naturally as an outlet for a fertile imagination. The love of books led her to a career in libraries, and being single allowed her to take the leap into writing for a living. Success is still something of a wonder, but allows her to indulge in hobbies as varied as embroidery and bird-watching.

A Daring Deception
Amanda Browning

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

RACHEL SHAW gritted her teeth together in silent annoyance and paced back along the corridor. It was hot today, and the silk of her white blouse and black skirt clung uncomfortably to her skin, emphasising her hourglass figure. Her long legs, encased in sheer nylon, carried her back to the other end in seconds. As she eyed the lift, and the mute testimony of its closed door, her strikingly beautiful face, with its large green eyes and generous mouth, lost its customary serenity and took on a sternness that only one man could produce. Nathan Wade. This was typical of him. Absolutely typical. The only time the damned man was punctual was for a date with some beautiful woman or other.

Immediately she winced, knowing that was unfair. Nathan was good at his job, managing the merchant bank her great-great-grandfather had set up in the last century, and he took it extremely seriously. It was simply that when it came to answering a summons from her grandfather he could be counted upon to turn up only when he was ready and not a moment before. It was her own ridiculous jealousy talking.

What a joke that was. She, who, after her parent’s disastrous marriage and messy divorce, had declared she would never fall in love, and had never dated any man for more than a few weeks, had fallen like a ton of bricks for a man with the same attitude, and was now green with jealousy. She hated the thought of him with those other women, but there was nothing she could do about it. Not even if she knew how. Because, for reasons she had yet to fathom, Nathan Wade had taken an instant dislike to her. Nothing in the past two years had changed that.

She refused to allow it to worry her, even though his attitude had at first angered, then hurt her. An emotion she most certainly did not like. She had her fair share of pride, and refused to let him catch even a glimpse of her true feelings. Which was easy when they rarely came into contact with each other. By day she ran a catering business with her cousin, ranging from private parties to small functions. They were both cordon bleu trained, and because no job was too small business was booming. By night, when she wasn’t working, she had an extremely full social life, being seen at all the in places, though never with the same escort for long. That aspect of her lifestyle hadn’t changed.

Recently, though, she had had to juggle two jobs. Her grandfather Linus Shaw’s private personal assistant had had a serious accident and was recovering slowly. By rights he should have brought in a temporary assistant, but, being Linus, he hated change. Therefore he had turned to Rachel, his favourite granddaughter, for help. She, as he had known full well, had been unable to refuse him, so for the past few months she had been helping him with his not inconsiderable correspondence, and aiding him in the writing of his memoirs. He had been, she was discovering, every bit as flamboyant as Nathan Wade, which was probably why they fought so often. Notwithstanding that, there was genuine respect and affection between the two men, and they would probably get along much better if Linus was less fond of issuing orders that Nathan generally ignored.

As a rule, Rachel could sympathise with the younger man, but there was something about this latest summons which was different from the others. Linus was worried, and that was why she was pacing the floor outside the spacious flat overlooking Kensington Gardens that Linus Shaw had called home since his retirement from the world of high finance.

She took yet another glance at her wristwatch, and even as she did so the lift doors slid silently open, revealing the single male occupant. Her head came up and her heart did its customary flip-flop at the sight of him, although it hadn’t taken her long to learn what a waste of time it was to be attracted to this particular man. He had the attention span of a goldfish when it came to women, and changed them as often as he changed his socks. That was the irony of it. Of all the men she could have fallen for, she had had to pick one with an aversion to commitment just as she had.

In those circumstances it shouldn’t have bothered her that he didn’t like her, but it did. She didn’t know what she had done to offend him. Ordinarily she would have taken the bull by the horns and demanded to know the reason for his disdain, only her newly sensitive heart had quailed. Did she really want to know? Would it change anything? The answer to both questions having been no, she had kept her feelings well and truly hidden behind a disdainful contempt of her own for what she termed his alley-cat proclivities.

However, that didn’t stop her being pleased to see him, though she would rather eat worms than let him know it. Which was why right now her forehead creased into a frown of disapproval.

‘You’re late,’ she informed the man who had pushed himself away from the wall and stepped out into the expensively carpeted hallway.

Nathan Wade’s right eyebrow lifted quizzically. ‘Miss me, sweetheart? I didn’t know you cared.’

Rachel snorted, wondering for the trillionth time why he alone had to have a voice which crept along her spine like the softest of soft caresses. Instinctively she stiffened her backbone an extra notch. ‘I don’t. For myself. If you never turned up again I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep.’ Great Rachel another lie to add to an already long list! To think of never seeing him again made her feel strangely queasy inside. ‘However, my grandfather seems to think highly of you. Why escapes me, but these things happen. I put up with you for his sake.’

‘As a dutiful granddaughter should. Especially as you are far and away Linus’s favourite, and therefore must loom large in his will. Something you wouldn’t want to put at risk,’ Nathan remarked sardonically, making her blood boil. Her love for her grandfather was very real, and had nothing at all to do with money.

‘Don’t be so disgusting!’ she protested sharply, and found herself under the unflinching scrutiny of a pair of fine blue eyes.

‘He still thinks butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth, doesn’t he? What does he think of the array of chinless wonders that wander in and out of your life?’ Nathan probed, and Rachel’s eyes narrowed wrathfully.

‘You’re a fine one to talk, Nathan Holier-than-Thou Wade! How many boxes of long-stemmed red roses did you send out to women this time?’ she asked, saccharine-sweet in lieu of answering his question.

Nathan had been touring the European branches of the world-renowned bank for the past several weeks. She doubted very much if he had remained celibate the whole time. In fact, if he had had the use of a company jet, she was pretty sure he would have taken along some light female entertainment to relieve the boredom!

Rather than taking offence, Nathan let his lips curl into a damned attractive smile. ‘One or two. I forget the exact number.’

She sent him a withering look, even as her heart twinged. ‘I bet you do.’

‘You know, that sounds an awful lot like sour grapes to me, sweetheart,’ he drawled, getting under her skin with the skill of a surgeon.

Despite her best efforts, the little green-eyed monster was alive and well inside her. Notwithstanding, Rachel afforded him an old-fashioned look. ‘Credit me with some intelligence. I’d have to be mad to want to get involved with a man like you. Fortunately for me, insanity doesn’t run in my family,’ she responded dryly.

‘There are a lot of women out there who don’t see it as insanity,’ Nathan argued, with a reminiscent gleam in his eye.

‘The operative words being “a lot of women”,’ Rachel returned smoothly. ‘Florists all over the world must rub their hands together with glee every time you pull into town.’

He laughed, a deep-throated sound which almost set her knees wobbling. Damn, but the man had everything. He was tall, dark and handsome, with a body to die for, and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled that was downright sinful. It was an unjust world that had such men in it. Rachel groaned silently.

‘I do my bit for the economy.’ Nathan grinned roguishly, showing her, had she needed proof, why it was women fell for him in droves.

‘More than your fair share, I would think,’ she retorted waspishly, unable to help herself, and had him laughing again. ‘I’m so glad I amuse you,’ she added tartly.

‘It’s either laugh at you or kiss you, sweetheart,’ he countered, bringing colour to her cheeks once more.

This was a new tack, and her nerves jangled. ‘Don’t imagine for even one second that I would let you kiss me!’ Rachel declared in outrage, only to see a faint smile curve his lips.

‘Darling, if I wanted to kiss you, then kissed you would be.’

Her throat closed over. Why all this talk of kissing? What game was he playing in that devious mind? Whatever it was, she wanted nothing of it. She drew herself up to her not inconsiderable height of five feet eleven in her two-inch heels, and folded her arms with a belligerent lift of her chin. ‘Not whilst I had a breath left in my body!’

Nathan’s eyes gleamed. ‘Now that sounds suspiciously like a challenge. Are you daring me to kiss you, Rachel?’ he charged softly, and the sound of her name on his lips, instead of the more usual ‘sweetheart’ or ‘darling’, did strange things to her breathing.

Did she want him to kiss her? Only all the time! She dreamt of it constantly, wondering how he would feel, how he would taste. But she wasn’t about to find out just to amuse him. She sent a warning flashing from the depth of her emerald eyes. ‘Lay so much as a finger on me, Nathan Wade, and I’ll break your arm.’

Blue eyes gleamed as he considered the threat. ‘Could you?’

Rachel allowed her lips to curve faintly. ‘Do you think I couldn’t?’ In this day and age a wise woman learned how to defend herself, and Rachel had taken several self-defence courses. She had yet to put anything she had learned to the test, but she knew a few moves which she was sure would surprise him.

Nathan appeared to think so too, for he shook his head ruefully. ‘Something tells me I would be a fool to call your bluff, and my mother didn’t raise her children to be fools.’

Realising the threat, whether real or imagined, had passed, Rachel relaxed her stance. ‘It’s a pity she didn’t do more about other areas of your character.’

‘She knows I’ll settle down when the right woman comes along,’ Nathan countered smoothly, understanding her perfectly, and she arched a dubious brow at him.

‘And just what will make one woman the right one?’ she asked curiously, interested in spite of herself.

He shrugged. ‘I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’ll know her when I see her.’

Which clearly left her out of the running, even if she hadn’t been already. ‘In the meantime you’ll just carry on in the same old way, loving them and leaving them?’ Rachel remarked dryly, to which he grinned unrepentantly.

‘Until somebody invents some other way, it looks like I’m stuck with it. Now, delightful though it always is to share these interludes with you, sweetheart, perhaps you’d care to tell me what your grandfather’s summons is about this time.’

Rachel’s cheeks pinkened uncomfortably as she was brought back to the point of Nathan Wade’s presence, and at how far they had wandered from it. It was another thing she so much disliked about loving him, this infernal habit he had of making her thoughts stray from the path they should be taking. She had intended keeping everything cool and to the point, but history had repeated itself…again.

Collecting her thoughts, recalling her own lingering sense of unease, she frowned faintly. ‘I’m afraid I can’t,’ she said unhappily.

‘Has the old codger sworn you to secrecy again?’ he charged with some amusement. ‘OK, I won’t compromise your principles by asking you to tell me, but you can at least give me some sort of hint,’ Nathan urged in a tone of voice that Rachel knew would, on most occasions, get him his own way. This time, however, he was going to be disappointed.

Had she not already been uneasy about the reasons for this summons she might have made some flippant response, but instead she looked at him seriously. ‘I can’t because I haven’t the faintest idea why Linus wants to see you. All I do know is that something is bothering him in a way I’ve never seen before, and he won’t let me help. I don’t mind admitting I’m worried, Nathan, really worried.’

‘Is he ill?’ he asked sharply, clearly concerned, which raised him in her estimation, but Rachel shook her head.

‘Grandfather had a medical check-up only two weeks ago, and he was fine.’ She quickly allayed any fears he had in that direction. ‘No, this is something entirely unexpected. Something apparently only you can help him with.’ She looked at him with a directness that had Nathan taking a deep breath and dragging a hand through his hair.

‘If it was any other man I’d suspect woman trouble, but not Linus. OK, you’d better take me to him. The sooner I find out what’s going on the happier I will be.’

Rachel led the way to the large room her grandfather used as a study. Linus Shaw glanced up from his seat at one half of an enormous old partner’s desk. He was a handsome man in his late seventies, still in fairly robust health and sporting a full head of pure white hair. He drew the ladies every bit as much as Nathan did, though his heart would always belong to the adored wife he had lost eight years ago.

Far from looking pleased to see his much liked successor, a grunt of disapproval left his pursed lips. ‘Took you long enough to get here!’ he growled.

Nathan ignored the less than friendly greeting, and strolled over to the desk. ‘Unlike you, I haven’t retired,’ he countered. ‘I came as soon as I could.’

‘You took as long as you thought you could get away with!’ Linus harrumphed knowingly, and Nathan grinned unrepentantly.

‘I was born with a dislike of being ordered about. I take after you in that respect, Linus,’ he replied teasingly, but the older man did not look one whit abashed.

‘The trouble with you, my lad, is that you’ve no respect for your elders.’

‘On the contrary, I have nothing but respect for you, sir. What was it you wanted to see me about this time?’ He made the question sound long-suffering, but Rachel knew better. He wasn’t taking this at all lightly.

Having remained just inside the door until that moment, she now took a step forward. ‘I’ll go and check on those points we were discussing yesterday, Grandfather, and leave you two to talk in private. Shall I bring you some coffee before I go?’

‘Don’t run off, Rachel. I want you to sit in on this.’

This request was so out of the ordinary that Rachel exchanged a startled look with Nathan. ‘But surely if this is a private matter, then…’ Silently she sought his guidance.

Nathan didn’t look best pleased, but his response was to give the merest hint of a shrug which suggested they humour the older man. At least for the moment. ‘You’d better make a pot and bring three cups, Rachel. We’ll wait for you.’

The kitchen was a high-tech dream, with every modern appliance, and was generally ruled over by a very efficient housekeeper. However, Mrs O’Malley was away for a few days, and, though Linus was quite capable of looking after himself, Rachel was quite happy to make the odd cup of tea or coffee in her absence. It took her very little time to brew the coffee, place the pot and three cups on a tray and carry it back to the study.

In the interim Nathan had pulled another chair up beside the desk, but he rose when she came in and took the tray from her, setting it down on the desk. Taking her own seat, she dispensed the coffee, and it was only when they were all seated again that Linus Shaw took a deep breath and revealed what was on his mind.

‘I need your help on a matter of the greatest delicacy, my boy.’

‘You know I’ll help in any way I can,’ Nathan responded, and received a rather wry smile for his pains.

‘You may want to take that back when you hear what I have to say, but I’m going to hold you to it, just the same.’

Nathan grinned. ‘You always do, sir,’ he returned, sitting back in his chair and making himself comfortable. ‘Fire away.’

However, having been given the encouragement he required, it was a long moment before Linus finally nodded to himself and began to speak again. ‘What I am about to reveal to you is a secret that has been kept for the better part of fifty years. It concerns an old and dear friend of mine.’

‘I take it this old and dear friend is a woman,’ Nathan remarked dryly.

‘A lady,’ Linus corrected firmly. ‘In every sense of the word. And before you ask, Rachel, she was never more than a friend, to both myself and your grandmother. Of course there was a man involved— I cannot tell you his name; suffice it to say he was a noble personage of a somewhat obscure European enclave. They would most certainly have married, had that been humanly possible. Sadly, it was not.’ The regret in his voice was very real, and, recognising the implications, Rachel asked the obvious question.

‘What stopped them? Were they both married already?’

‘He was; she was not,’ Linus amended. ‘Being who he was, divorce was out of the question. The marriage had been a necessary joining of two powerful families. It was not a love match. Though I do believe there was mutual respect, and genuine love for their children, there was no grand passion. My friend and—we’ll call him the Archduke—met by the merest of chances, and fell deeply and irrevocably in love. They were, however, sensible people. Neither given to reckless or ill-judged actions. They had a choice to end the matter there, before getting in too deep, or continuing the romance as discreetly as possible.’

Rachel was utterly fascinated by this unexpected tale of romantic intrigue. ‘What did they decide?’

‘They chose to end it, of course. Too many people could have been hurt. Neither was happy, but they stood by their decision. Their lives drifted on, as lives tend to do, until one day, a long time later, their paths crossed again. It seemed to both of them that fate had taken a hand. Unable to walk away a second time, they began an affair.’

‘How long did it last?’ Nathan queried.

‘For more than thirty years,’ revealed, surprising both his listeners. ‘Of course the couple were discreet. They had a difficult life, picking up moments here and there, treasuring them, because they did not know when the next would come. Only death could part them, and that was how it turned out to be. The Archduke died not so very long ago.’

Nathan gave a soft whistle. ‘And nobody knew?’

The old gentleman’s face took on a grim expression. ‘Just a few good friends—or so we all thought. But it seems not to be so.’

‘Somebody spilled the beans,’ Nathan remarked gravely.

‘In a manner of speaking,’ Linus confirmed. ‘There were letters.’

‘Love letters?’ Rachel checked, with a wince, and he nodded.

‘They were written over that thirty-year period, and always kept safely locked away from prying eyes. Unfortunately during a recent party at my friend’s house the letters were removed from their hiding place.’

‘What did the police say?’ Rachel asked, naturally, and Nathan quirked an eyebrow at her.

‘She wouldn’t have told the police. Police make reports. Reporters ask questions. The next thing you know, the whole story is on the front of the tabloids and on prime time TV.’

‘Exactly,’ Linus agreed. ‘After nearly forty years of discretion, the very last thing she wanted was for the whole of her private life to come out. Not to mention how distressing it would be for the man’s family. No, there could be no police, which was why she wrote to me.’

‘She wants you to get the letters back?’ Nathan asked in no little amazement.

‘But how?’ Rachel frowned.

‘The method is up to my discretion,’ the old man replied, and her lips parted on an ‘o’ of surprise.

‘Are you saying she knows who took them?’

‘The thief was a man called Luther Ames,’ Linus revealed, with such a wealth of distaste in his voice that it was obvious to Rachel he had some prior knowledge of the man.

She had never heard of him. ‘Who is Luther Ames?’

It was Nathan who answered. ‘A playboy. A man with no visible means of income yet who always has plenty of money to throw around. His main hobbies appear to be collecting expensive antiques and gambling.’

‘He also happens to be my friend’s nephew. He attended the birthday party at her home on the day of their disappearance. The letters were kept in a drawer of the bonheur du jour in her bedroom. Unfortunately she had been called away upon some errand earlier in the day and had forgotten to lock it. Forgetfulness is one of the curses of old age. During the evening she discovered Ames coming out of her room. Oh, he made some believable excuse for being there, but later she found the letters were gone.’

‘But the affair ended years ago. What point is there in taking these letters now?’ Rachel argued.

‘Because although the affair is over the man’s family are still very much alive,’ Nathan responded grimly, receiving a nod of confirmation from her grandfather. ‘The threat of the disgrace is as strong as it ever was. I take it Ames wants money for the letters’ return?’

Linus sighed heavily. ‘No. When my friend demanded he return the letters, he said he would—provided she did him a little favour.’

‘You mean he’s prepared to blackmail his own aunt? That’s despicable!’ Rachel exclaimed angrily. The man had to be a monster.

‘It certainly explains how he manages to always have money to spare, despite his lifestyle. He’s probably done this before,’ Nathan observed bluntly. ‘What are his terms?’

Linus grimaced. ‘He wants her to use her influence with a certain company to make sure a take-over goes ahead. A take-over which will increase his personal fortune by several million pounds. Naturally, she flatly refused. However, time is running out, and, the situation being what it is, she cannot dare him to publish and be damned. She has to get the letters back, for she knows that if she does not he will use them. For all his charm, he has a vengeful streak if he doesn’t get his own way. She knows it, and so do I. The only sure way of knowing the matter is closed is to take the letters back—fast.’

At that, Nathan went quite still. ‘And you need my advice as to how to go about it?’ he charged, in a strangely toneless voice which had Rachel glancing at him sharply.

Linus looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘No. I need you to steal the letters for me.’

For a moment Nathan simply stared at him in stunned silence. ‘You cannot be serious.’

Immediately Linus raised a calming hand. ‘Oh, not steal, exactly. Retrieve would be a better word.’

Nathan uttered a bark of laughter. ‘Steal or retrieve; there’s very little difference between the two. Whichever way you put it, it’s breaking the law.’

Linus’s gaze narrowed. ‘I never expected you to be so nice,’ he said sharply.

‘Nice? I think I’m entitled to be a little alarmed when you ask me to break into Ames’s house and do some thievery of my own,’ Nathan protested reasonably.

Linus tutted irritably. ‘Don’t be a fool, boy. I don’t expect you to break in at dead of night. I expect you to be invited in,’ he declared. ‘Once inside, you’ll have every opportunity of searching the house.’

‘You have it all figured out, don’t you?’ Nathan observed in mingled amusement and incredulity.

‘I don’t like to leave things to chance,’ Linus concurred.

‘Then perhaps you can tell me how I am to get invited into Ames’s house? Just walk up to the front door and ask if it’s OK if I stay for the weekend? Oh, and by the way, whilst I’m here do you mind if I search the place for some letters you stole?’ Nathan said facetiously, causing Linus to glower at him.

‘You don’t have to do anything. All you will need is Jasmine to run interference.’

Both Rachel and Nathan blinked. ‘Who?’ they chanted in unison.

‘You know,’ Linus snapped tetchily. ‘That blonde woman you’re going out with. What’s her name…? Jasmine, or something equally ridiculous.’

Rachel hastily stifled a giggle and received a quelling look for her pains. ‘Her name is Jade, and for your information we are no longer an item,’ Nathan replied tightly.

‘Then take someone else. Who are you dating at the moment?’ Linus ordered.

‘At the moment I’m not dating anyone,’ Nathan said through gritted teeth.

‘What do you mean, you’re not dating? You always have a woman around somewhere! Can’t keep your hands off them!’ Linus exclaimed irritably.

Much to Rachel’s amusement, faint colour stole up Nathan’s neck. ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t have one. I had no idea it would be required.’

Linus’s fingers tapped out a staccato sound of annoyance on the desktop. ‘Then you’d better go out and get one! Damned quickly too!’

A muscle ticked in Nathan’s jaw, and Rachel watched it in fascination. ‘Does she have to be blonde, or will any colour do?’

‘Of course she has to be blonde. Ames has a thing for blondes. He likes them decorating up his house, apparently. Curse your fickle heart, Nathan. You’re putting the whole plan in jeopardy. There are three real passions in Ames life: blondes, antiques and gambling, and you and your girlfriend were to supply two of them. A double entrée into his house. But you need to catch his eye. I understand Ames is going to be in his American home at Lake Tahoe this weekend, and I had everything planned for then. He’s bound to keep the letters close to him, and who knows when we’ll get another opportunity like this? You’d better go out and pick up the first blonde you meet.’

The outrageous suggestion appeared to echo round the room, and Rachel thought Nathan was in imminent danger of exploding, he was so furious. However, with a monumental effort of will, he forced himself to relax. ‘For your information, I do not pick up women off the streets.’

The two men stared each other out for what seemed like ages, then Linus grunted. ‘You don’t, eh?’

Nathan crossed his arms and shook his head emphatically. ‘No.’

Linus sank back in his seat with a heavy sigh. ‘Then Lord knows what’s to be done.’ he declared morosely, upon which Nathan closed his eyes for a second.

Rachel leaned over and placed her hand over her grandfather’s. ‘We’ll think of something, Grandfather,’ she murmured consolingly, and felt rather than saw Nathan’s head turn towards her.

‘I must be mad to suggest it, but this whole situation has a ring of insanity about it. If you can spare her, I’ll take Rachel.’

Rachel very nearly fell off her chair in shock. She gasped, fish-like, for a moment before a word passed her lips. ‘What?’ she squawked incredulously. He couldn’t have said what she thought he had.

Linus was as surprised as she, and his response was to look her over critically. ‘Of course I can spare her, but…Rachel hardly fits the bill,’ he concluded doubtfully, bringing colour to her cheeks and a flash of fire to her eyes.

‘What does that mean, exactly?’ she demanded in outrage, her feminine pride tweaked by the implied criticism.

The old man’s expression was regretful. ‘Forgive me, Rachel, but I only have to look at you to see the problem. You’re blonde, certainly, but far too intelligent. I’m glad to say not Ames’s type at all,’ he replied gently, and she did a rapid mental review of herself.

She could see what he meant. She wore suits because they were comfortable to work in. Her long blonde hair she kept tied back in a knot at the nape of her neck because she hated it falling over her face whilst she worked. Last, but not least, she wore glasses for all the close work she did on the computer. All in all, Rachel was not the blowsy blonde type that Luther Ames apparently went for in a big way. Which was just as well, really, because he didn’t sound like a man she would want to get to know.

‘I agree she doesn’t look the type now, but she could be made to be,’ Nathan put in quietly, sending a shock wave through her system. What on earth did he mean by that?

Linus frowned. ‘I admit the potential is there, and Rachel is a quick study, but she’s no actress, Nathan.’

Nathan was watching Rachel, a calculating look in his eye. ‘Oh, I don’t believe it would take long to make her convincing.’

‘You think not?’

‘Trust me. It can be done with very little time or effort.’ Nathan declared confidently, bringing her eyes to his face.

There was a certain something in his expression which made her frown and go still. She tried to read his thoughts, but it was as if a wall had gone up. Confused, and vaguely unsettled, she finally found her voice. ‘Just a second. Will you please stop talking about me as if I weren’t here? Time is irrelevant. I have no intention of going anywhere.’

‘But I’m counting on you, Rachel!’ Linus exclaimed in disappointment. ‘There’s no time to find somebody else.’

Whilst she hated the thought of letting her grandfather down, this was way beyond her agreement to help him in his time of need. ‘I’m sorry, Grandfather, but I simply can’t do what you’re asking. Even if I could just drop everything and fly to America, leaving my business to sink or swim—which I can’t—you were quite right. What you need is a femme fatale, and that just isn’t me.’ Not that she didn’t know how to be, but that was another story.

‘On the contrary,’ Nathan cut in softly. ‘With a little make-up and the right clothes I can see you holding your own with the best of them in the playgrounds of the rich. Places like Tahoe or…Cap d’Antibes, for instance.’

The pause was infinitesimal, but it registered on Rachel, who blinked in yet more confusion. Why had he mentioned Cap d’Antibes in that strange tone of voice? And just what was that jibe about the playgrounds of the rich? What on earth was he suggesting? Yes, she had been there, but only once, and the circumstances had been extraordinary. She looked at him sharply, but before she could demand an explanation, Linus spoke.

‘Thank goodness that’s one problem solved. You’ll take Rachel with you. If the whole mess can be sorted just as easily, we’ll be laughing. Now, I’ve booked two seats on the midday flight to Tahoe tomorrow, and a suite at the Tahoe Caesar Hotel. The rest will be up to you.’

Rachel could feel control of the situation slipping out of her hands. ‘Just a minute,’ she protested. ‘I haven’t agreed to go.’

‘Of course you’ll go, my dear. Nathan needs you.’

If he thought that would persuade her, he was mistaken. She stood up quickly, the better to enforce her stance. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s quite out of the question.’

Nathan rose too, reaching out to take her arm in a deceptively firm grip. ‘Don’t worry, Linus, it’s just stage fright. She’ll go,’ he declared unilaterally, and looked down at her with a clear message in his eyes for her not to argue. ‘Let’s talk it over, shall we?’ he suggested mildly, but she knew it for the order it was, and bridled.

Yet, however fuming she might be, she was unwilling to cause a scene in front of her grandfather, and set her jaw firmly. ‘Very well,’ she agreed frostily, determined to stick to her guns. ‘We’ll talk, but I’m telling you now, you’re wasting your time.’

‘That remains to be seen, sweetheart,’ Nathan murmured softly as he gently but firmly ushered her from the room.

CHAPTER TWO

NATHAN strode down the passage to the lounge, with scant care that she virtually had to jog to keep up with him, and urged her inside. The second the door closed behind them Rachel jerked herself free from his hold and turned on him.

‘Let me make myself quite clear. We have nothing to talk about. I’m not going with you, and you’ll have to explain that to my grandfather,’ she insisted, half turning back to the door. Nathan promptly stepped into her path, preventing her intended departure. ‘Get out of my way,’ she ordered curtly, but he shook his head.

‘I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you, sweetheart. Sit down. We might as well be comfortable whilst we talk,’ he suggested, following his own advice by taking a seat on the couch.

Rachel stood her ground. She wasn’t going to sit as she had no intention of staying. ‘How many times do I have to tell you there’s nothing to talk about? I have a business to run, and I can’t just walk away from it at the drop of a hat. There’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.’

‘Not even Cap d’Antibes?’ he challenged sardonically, and the way in which he said it had her breath catching in her throat even as she stared at him blankly.

‘You mentioned the resort before,’ she said, confused, spreading her hands to underline her incomprehension. ‘I don’t—’

‘Don’t what…? Remember?’ Nathan supplied before she could finish, steepling his fingers and watching her over the top of them. ‘Strange, I thought you had an excellent memory. It’s one of the reasons your grandfather thinks so highly of you.’

Totally confused now, because he sounded so certain, Rachel placed a steadying hand on the back of the nearest chair. She had no idea what was going on here, but the undercurrent swirling about her made her want to shiver in purely primitive reaction.

‘I was going to say I don’t understand,’ she ground out pointedly. ‘All I know is you’re talking in riddles and I simply don’t follow you. Why don’t you just say whatever it is you intend to?’ she advised without preamble, but for all the notice he took of it, she might have saved herself the effort. Nathan wasn’t about to be rushed.

‘I can see how you might want to forget. Allow me to refresh your memory of the long hot summer you spent in the South of France three years ago.’

Surprise must have been writ large on her face as a glimmer of light appeared. It was three years ago that she had been in Antibes, but it hadn’t been for the whole summer, and neither had it been a holiday. Far from it. The real surprise was what he appeared to be suggesting.

‘You were there?’ She sought confirmation. He nodded solemnly. ‘I never saw you.’

That made him laugh, and it was a far from pleasant sound. ‘Let’s face it, sweetheart, you only had eyes for one man. The rest of us were invisible, including his fiancée. As an interested onlooker, I admired the way you went after him with such single-minded determination. Your inventiveness knew no bounds. What a performance. You wanted him and you made sure you got him, no matter what. Then, in the blink of an eye, you were gone. Nobody could figure out what had happened. As a matter of interest, what did make you leave in such a hurry?’

Her eyes widened as the realisation of precisely what he had seen came home to her. Her acting tour de force that summer had had a purpose beyond the obvious, but seen from the outside there was only one perspective anyone would have seen. Suddenly his attitude towards her became abundantly clear. He thought she was a… There wasn’t a nice way of describing what he thought her. Of all the nerve! Not to mention hypocrisy. There were shades here of the pot calling the kettle black. OK, so he didn’t know her side of things, and to give him his due it was easy to jump to the obvious and nasty conclusion. But he hadn’t had to cling to it all this time! Clearly he didn’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

A cauldron of intense rage began to simmer inside her. She should put him straight right now, but the memory of all the things he had said to her, all the insinuations, kept her lips tight shut. She was damned if she would. She would tell him only when she was good and ready.

The truth was she had gone to Antibes that summer with the express purpose of saving her cousin Emma from an ill-advised relationship. Word had reached the family that the man Emma had become engaged to whilst staying with a friend in the South of France was a fortune-hunter. The Shaw family, and its various branches, were extremely wealthy, and Rachel and Emma had sizeable trust funds in their names, though both had chosen to work for their living. With their business still at the fledgling stage, Rachel had decided to stay at home, so it had been the first holiday they hadn’t spent together in years.

Which was how Emma had come to fall foul of Anton, because Rachel hadn’t been there to advise her. Of course, when her parents had tried to intervene, Emma hadn’t believed them, hence the family had turned to Rachel, who had gone in fighting as usual. She had flown over with the express purpose of making Emma see reason. An unenviable task, yet she had gone because she loved her cousin dearly and hadn’t wanted to see her hurt.

Naturally, knowing Rachel’s negative attitude towards love having lived through her parents’ rollercoaster marriage and messy divorce, Emma hadn’t believed her either. No amount of talking—and they had talked long into the night—had put a chink in Emma’s rose-coloured glasses. In the end Rachel had been forced to take strong measures. If Emma was so certain that Anton was for real, then she, Rachel, wouldn’t possibly be able to steal him away. Emma, just as stubborn as Rachel, had dared her to do her worst. So she had, and that was what Nathan Wade had seen.

Playing a man-eater had been relatively easy, for Rachel had always had a natural aptitude for acting. Basing her character on a girl she had known in college, Rachel had thrown herself into the part of a wild and wilful seductress who used her beauty and her fortune to get whatever man she wanted. She had pursued Emma’s fiancé, and, being without scruple, he had dropped Emma like a stone.

To cut a long story short, after several days of watching her fiancé dance attendance on her cousin there had been a showdown between Emma and Anton. It had been an unpleasant scene, especially when Rachel had revealed exactly who she was. Anton had vanished after saying some very nasty things, and once Emma had had a cleansing bout of tears the two cousins had packed up and flown home. The rest, as they say, was history. What neither of them had known, so wrapped up had they been in their personal drama, was that Nathan Wade had witnessed the juicier moments and taken his cue from that.

Emma and Rachel still ran a growing catering business, and shared a flat in London. That brief interlude in France was long forgotten—except by Nathan. Had he been a different man, Rachel wouldn’t have hesitated to clear the matter up forthwith, but she was too incensed.

Instead of doing the sensible thing and making a case for herself, she merely shrugged in her most offhand way. ‘How does urgent family business sound?’ she quipped lightly, and knew from the narrowing of his eyes it hadn’t gone down well. Not that she cared in that instant. His opinion could hardly get any worse when it was at rock bottom already.

‘Anton and his fiancée departed about the same time, too,’ Nathan went on. ‘I suppose they also had “urgent family business”?’

Rachel couldn’t speak for Anton, but Emma certainly hadn’t been able to get back to her family quickly enough. ‘I imagine so. They didn’t say,’ she agreed blithely.

‘Anyway, having seen you in action, you can imagine my consternation when I took over the running of the bank and found you were Linus’s granddaughter.’

Rachel sank down onto the arm of the chair. She had no difficulty imagining that at all. Having caught her act and believed the worst, she understood why he had disliked her on sight. But why had he remained silent all this time?

‘Why didn’t you say something before?’

‘I admit my first instinct was to confront you, but then I became intrigued. You looked so different from what I remembered. You acted differently, too. I began to wonder what you were up to. I waited to see what sort of game you were playing,’ Nathan explained smoothly.

Her brows lifted in an arc of surprise. ‘I wasn’t playing a game,’ she pointed out, and he half smiled.

‘On the contrary; you play it all the time. You have that look of innocence down pat. No wonder Linus thinks the sun rises and sets in you. Does he know anything at all about the men in your life?’

Her eyes narrowed at that. ‘He knows I date,’ she conceded cautiously.

Nathan laughed. ‘That’s a quaint way of putting it, but it keeps him happy, and that’s the way you want it. The game you play, sweetheart, is to keep him believing you’re still made out of sugar and spice and all things nice, when in reality your private life wouldn’t bear scrutiny.’

She frowned darkly, thinking she understood him all too clearly, but seeking clarity before she hit the roof. ‘My…private life?’ she probed in a tight voice.

‘You know, the things you get up to after hours. I don’t care what man you’ve set your sights on now, or how you go about getting him. It’s none of my business. What I do need, however, is for you to use that talent on Luther Ames. Use it to keep him occupied whilst I search for the letters.’

She was stunned by what he was suggesting. Now she understood his continued disdain. He had never seen her differently. All this time he had believed there were two Rachels. The one he saw during the day, who did her job and caused her family no harm, and the one who came out at night to prey vampirically on unsuspecting males. Dear God. It was almost too incredible for words.

Unable to sit still in the face of this, Rachel sprung to her feet, striding over to the window, battling to keep her temper in check. All this time, whilst she had been mooning like a lovesick idiot, he had believed her to be spending her nights having a good time with countless men whose names she doubtless couldn’t remember! Ooh! Never mind that she had, in fact, been a model of rectitude. In his mind she was branded a man-eater, and so she remained to this very day. The injustice of his blindness made her see red, but she fought with her own personal devil. She had promised her family she would do her best to curb her instinct to respond blindly in anger, but never had she needed to use more self-restraint. Turning back to face him, she folded her arms to hide the way her hands were balled into angry fists.

‘That’s quite an opinion you have of me. Tell me, Nathan, did it never occur to you that you could be wrong about me? Did you ever give thought to the possibility that I’m not the person you think I am?’ she asked in a seriously controlled voice.

Nathan’s lips curved mockingly. ‘No, but you couldn’t seriously expect me to. I’m one of the few people who know from experience that there’s more to you than meets the eye.’

She laughed out of sheer disbelief. ‘You truly believe you know me that well?’

‘Like I say, I’ve seen both sides of you. One I can respect; the other… Well, we both know what you’re capable of. We both know you can do what Linus is asking of you. Why bother to waste time denying your alter ego?’

She shook her head helplessly. Every word he said was pushing her towards an outcome her family knew only too well. When the devil got in her, there was no stopping her, but she was prepared to give it one more try. ‘You’re wrong, you know. There is no other me.’

His brows rose sceptically. ‘Are you asking me to believe that you’re a reformed character? Sorry, darling, but as felines go, you’re as sleek as they come. A prime example. And, as the saying goes, a leopard cannot change her spots.’

‘I don’t need to change,’ she argued through gritted teeth. ‘Think about it. There hasn’t been one breath of scandal linked to my name in all the time you’ve known me, has there?’

‘I’ll agree you’re certainly more discreet than you used to be. I haven’t heard any recent gossip about you,’ he conceded dryly, and it was the way he said it which put her back up and had her teetering disastrously on the brink.

‘Even with that you won’t accept that you heard nothing because there was nothing to hear. Damn it, why do you find it impossible to accept that you’re wrong about me? That there might be an innocent explanation for what you think you saw in Antibes?’

His expression became remote. ‘Because I’ve known women like you before. I’ve seen all the tricks they use to blind a man to their true character, but what they all forget is that in the end nature will out. They always give themselves away.’

The scales began to tip dangerously. What he didn’t say was that he considered her to have given herself away already. His arrogance was beyond belief. ‘How can you make such a sweeping statement? Nothing is so cut and dried. Surely it’s possible for at least one to have a change of heart?’

‘Am I supposed to believe that’s what happened to you? You saw the error of your ways and reinvented yourself?’ he challenged incredulously, and she wanted to shake him till his teeth rattled.

She wasn’t saying that at all, as he would know if he really knew her as well as he thought he did. Well, he was about to learn a great deal more. She went over the edge, waving caution goodbye. As far as she could see, she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t, so to hell with it. ‘Oh, believe what you like! You will, anyway,’ she snapped, with a defiant lift of her chin.

Nathan stared at her through eyes dancing with amusement. ‘Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’re now as pure as the driven snow. But frankly, sweetheart, that doesn’t interest me right now. What does is that you know what to do and how to do it to get the best result,’ he added trenchantly.

His patent disbelief fanned the flames of her anger. ‘Perhaps I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m prepared to help you.’

‘You think not?’ he murmured softly. ‘Don’t be too sure. Everybody has their price, Rachel. What’s yours, I wonder?’

Rachel laughed hollowly. ‘Don’t try to blackmail me, Nathan. It won’t work,’ she pointed out as coolly as she was able.

‘What if I were to put it this way? What would you do for my continued silence?’

The soft words seemed to ring around the room, and Rachel froze. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she asked in total disbelief.

He smiled mockingly. ‘I thought that would get your attention. I’ll give you my ultimatum. Do what Linus wants, and he’ll never hear about your private life from me.’

Rachel stared at him, wondering if she had somehow crossed a time warp into another life. He couldn’t be serious. How could he have rubbed shoulders with her for so long and not know that there was nothing to tell? Linus knew all about Emma, had been the one to send her out to sort the matter three years ago. He knew, too, about her inability to trust men after the way her father had behaved to her mother. He didn’t know she had fallen for this blinkered man he admired so much, though.

God, Nathan was so certain he knew her. So certain he was right. He deserved to have some of that arrogance knocked out of him, and, the way she felt now, she was just the person to do it.

Her heart began to race as she dealt with the temptation. What pleasure it would give her to throw the truth in his face! Her eyes narrowed in a way that should have sent a wise man running for cover. Nathan unwisely stayed right where he was. ‘You’d say nothing, ever?’ she checked, and his eyes glittered with amusement.

‘You’re getting more like yourself by the minute,’ he observed mockingly. ‘Do what Linus asks of you and my lips will remain sealed. You can get any man you want, any way you want, and yet you’ll remain as innocent as the day is long in Linus’s eyes.’

With a mental grinding of her teeth, Rachel rose to her feet once more. ‘Well, now, that does make a difference,’ she mused thoughtfully, crossing to the mirror and making a show of smoothing her hair back. Tucking in a stray lock, her eyes darted to his reflection and caught the curl of his lip. It hurt to finally realise what his opinion of her was, but she was a fighter, not a quitter. He would get the person he thought her to be, in spades. Starting now.

‘After all, I have nothing but Grandfather’s best interests at heart,’ she reasoned, and Nathan’s smile broadened.

‘Of course you do. Which is why you couldn’t stand by and refuse to help him now, could you?’ he enlarged simply.

Rachel smiled too as she swung round. ‘It isn’t that I didn’t want to help him,’ she explained with a shrug, getting into character.

Nathan appeared only too happy to follow her lead, which did nothing for her mood. ‘Of course not. It’s just that a girl needs to know where she stands.’

The rat. Her smile widened. ‘Absolutely.’

‘OK, now that we understand each other so much better, why don’t you come and sit down and we’ll make some plans,’ he drawled sardonically, making her palms itch. He would never understand her. Never.

She didn’t want to sit, but standing made her look tense when she needed to appear at ease. She chose the chair opposite. ‘What sort of plans are you referring to?’ she asked, determined to sound businesslike at the very least.

‘Getting our stories straight, for one thing. We’re supposed to be lovers. I’m the high roller and you’re my lucky mascot. Think you can play the part?’ he asked her with a decided glint in his eye.

Rachel shot him an equally mocking look. ‘So long as you don’t expect me to bring you luck.’ What she wished for him right now was quite the opposite.

As she was fast coming to expect, Nathan laughed. ‘Just remember we’re on the same side, lover.’

Lover. The word shivered across her skin like the faintest breath of hot desert air. She didn’t feel in the least lover-like. Murderous, yes. The trouble was, loathe him as she might for his blindness, she was still strongly attracted to him. The last thing she needed was for him to discover the fact, but how to prevent it when the pretence of their relationship would entail certain behaviour which would put her in close proximity with the man? Danger signals flashed. It would be as well for her to set the parameters of this fictional relationship right now.

‘I’ll remember we’re on the same side, and you remember that we aren’t lovers,’ she told him bluntly.

He looked over at her with a faint curl of his lip. ‘A fact for which I am extremely grateful. Rest assured I don’t want you, and never will. Try any of your games on me and you’ll regret it.’

He couldn’t have said anything more guaranteed to get her dander up. She forgot in that moment that she didn’t want him to want her and acted purely on feminine instinct.

‘Oh, really?’ she murmured with sweet viciousness. ‘I’ve heard it said that people who protest too much generally have something to hide.’

He had no trouble following her drift. ‘Some men might, but I’m not one of them. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s concentrate on the real problem,’ Nathan responded evenly, and it annoyed her no end that she couldn’t rattle him. She wanted to knock the wind clean out of him, and upset his complacency once and for all. She’d do it, too. Somehow. Before this was over. It was a promise she made to herself right there and then. She would find his weakness and use it against him. Everyone had their Achilles’ heel—even men like Nathan Wade.

She eyed his bent head as he opened the envelope Linus had given him. ‘You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?’

He looked up, blue eyes glittering sardonically. ‘Very sure. Remember that, if you’re ever tempted to take me on.’

Oh, she was tempted all right, and when the time was right she would act. ‘I’ll be sure and make a memo in my diary,’ she drawled, and his teeth flashed whitely as he smiled in acknowledgement.

‘So you don’t know anything about Luther Ames?’

She shook her head. ‘I only know what Linus said, that he prefers blondes.’

‘Exactly. Just remember, although he prefers them, he’s no gentleman.’

His warning surprised her, given his opinion. ‘Don’t tell me you’re concerned about me, Nathan?’ she charged with patent disbelief.

He sent her a reproving look. ‘Don’t take it personally. I’d worry about anyone who got tangled up in Ames’s sticky web of corruption. A man who would stoop to blackmailing his own aunt doesn’t have an ethical bone in his body. We don’t know what else he gets up to. Keep your wits about you, but don’t let him see you have any. His women aren’t required to think, just look decorative. Add all their vital statistics together, and they still wouldn’t reach your IQ. You should fit right in.’

Rachel came as close as she ever had been to smacking another human being. ‘Are you trying to be deliberately offensive?’

He eyed her quizzically. ‘Don’t get your nose out of joint. I meant you’d fit in because of your talent for being all things to all men. You should be able to play a dumb blonde with your eyes shut.’

‘Thanks, that makes it even worse!’ she returned dryly. ‘Do me a favour and don’t pay me any more compliments like those.’ All things to all men! He made her sound as if she spent her life on her back. Lord, but he was hateful. If it was the last thing she ever did, she would show him just how wrong he was about Rachel Shaw!

She became aware that Nathan was looking her over with a jaundiced eye. ‘You’re going to have to ditch the glasses,’ he declared flatly, and she nodded, for that was the least of her problems.

‘I only wear glasses when I’m working, anyway.’

‘I suppose you think they promote a different type of image, like the suits,’ he observed dryly, and Rachel took umbrage.

‘I take my work very seriously and I do my best to appear professional at all times. There’s nothing wrong in that,’ she pointed out acidly.

Nathan’s expression spoke volumes. ‘Rachel, are you under the impression that by playing down your looks you’ve lost the ability to turn men’s heads? Take it from me, it ain’t so,’ he informed her mockingly, and every nerve in her body jumped. ‘When it comes to sex appeal, sweetheart, you’d be oozing it if your hair looked like a bird’s nest and you wore nothing but a sack tied up with a piece of string. You might not flaunt it by day, but it’s still there. You’re a sexy woman, and no amount of glasses and power suits is going to change that.’

Considering she was not the person he believed her to be, his description of her as sexy, indeed, oozing sex appeal, came as quite a surprise. It meant he had noticed her after all—not that that did her the least bit of good when the woman he thought he saw wasn’t the woman he was looking at. The knowledge hurt, and she responded accordingly.

‘I’m more than just a body and a pretty face!’

‘Maybe, but right now those are the only two of your plentiful attributes we’re interested in. They’re certainly all Luther Ames will see. Speaking of which, the more he sees, the quicker he’ll take the bait, so remember to pack your sexiest clothes,’ Nathan ordered.

Rachel knew that if she possessed any blatantly sexy clothes it was by accident, not design. She tended to wear more trendily casual clothes, not the designer dresses and evening wear he clearly expected. She would have to do some hasty shopping, though it would go very much against the grain. She didn’t much care for the idea of dressing solely to invite men to ogle her, and was beginning to see where her anger had taken her. However, she was committed, and never let it be said that Rachel Shaw ran away from anything!

‘I should be able to find something suitable,’ she confirmed.

‘We can always go shopping in Tahoe,’ Nathan offered, and her nerves jolted.

‘No!’ she refused quickly. ‘That won’t be necessary.’ The last thing she wanted was for him to buy her clothes. That would be going altogether too far.

Nathan shot her a mocking look. ‘I’d pay. You don’t have to worry about any of the bills,’ he said dryly, and the embers of her wrath flared up again.

Her smile was a gem of fake sincerity. ‘Oh, I wasn’t, but, since you’re offering, I’ll supply the clothes, you provide the diamonds.’

As she had hoped, his amusement died instantly. ‘Diamonds?’

This time her smile was entirely natural as she realised he didn’t like the implication. ‘You’re a wealthy man, and if I’m your lover you surely must have given me jewellery. I always think a woman looks naked without diamonds. Oh, but you don’t have to worry, I promise to give them back afterwards. I wouldn’t want to appear greedy.’

Blue eyes narrowed to icy chips. ‘Very generous of you. Is there anything else I should provide?’

Enjoying his irritation, Rachel’s shrug was casual. ‘I’ll let you know if I think of anything.’

A muscle ticked at the corner of his tantalising mouth. ‘I’m sure you will,’ he said frostily, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Perhaps this whole situation would have its amusing side after all.

‘Nothing cheap, mind. I have expensive tastes.’ A calm smile tilted her lips as the lie was uttered. ‘Oh, and I really don’t care for rubies.’

A steely glint flickered in his eyes. ‘No rubies. You have no objection to emeralds or sapphires?’

‘None at all,’ she retorted brightly.

‘I’m glad to hear it. Now, if that’s the end of the shopping list, we’d better get on,’ Nathan urged, turning his attention back to Linus’s list of travel plans and thereby missing her grin of delight at having soured his mood. ‘Our flight leaves at midday tomorrow. I’ll swing by your place about ten to pick you up.’

The suggestion had instant alarm shooting through her. She couldn’t have him turning up at the apartment. If he saw Emma he was bound to recognise her, and that would never do. She wanted her pound of flesh before she hit him with the truth.

‘That won’t be necessary,’ she refused politely. ‘My…cousin will drive me,’ she explained, hoping her hesitation would make him assume her ‘cousin’ was male, and no relative at all. It worked like a charm and had his lip curling cynically.

‘OK, we’ll meet at the airport. Just make sure your “cousin” lets you get some sleep tonight,’ Nathan responded. Tucking the envelope into his jacket pocket, he took a quick glance at his wristwatch. ‘I have to leave. This business will make a mess of my calendar, and I’ll have some important meetings to rearrange. Heaven alone knows how long this is going to take.’

‘Surely a weekend should be long enough?’ Rachel put forward hopefully. She had no wish to prolong the affair either.

Nathan smiled wryly. ‘If I were Ames, I wouldn’t leave those letters anywhere they could be found too easily. We may have to search the whole damned house. You’d better just hope and pray he doesn’t have some state-of-the-art security system, or we’ll be screwed before we start. We could both end up in jail yet,’ he declared by way of a parting shot, and Rachel was left staring at the empty doorway.

She knew he wasn’t joking. Getting caught in the act was a distinct possibility, and it was a sobering thought. They were going to have to be very, very careful. Yet no matter the possibility of dire consequences, the thought of backing out never entered her head. She was going to see this through to the end for the sheer pleasure of throwing the truth back in Nathan Wade’s face.

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