PRINCE

VORONOV’S

VIRGIN

LYNN RAYE HARRIS

www.millsandboon.co.uk

“Put your legs around me.”

Her eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “Let me go! You aren’t trying to help at all—”

“Your choice, maya krasavitsa,” he said, stepping away. “Good luck.”

“No, wait,” she cried out as he started down the sidewalk. When he stopped, she let out a harsh breath. “Okay, I’ll do it your way.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, obeying without argument this time. Alexei cupped her thighs, pushed into the cradle of her hips. His coat was long and hid their bodies from view. If they did this right, anyone seeing them would think they were having sex.

She was small, soft, and she smelled like summer in the Urals—a hint of flowers, sunshine, and cool water. Anger flashed through him. Her scent made him remember, made him feel. He didn’t like feeling. He had no room for feeling.

Feeling made you weak, had the power to break you.

“Kiss me,” he growled as the footsteps pounded closer. “And make it believable.”

About the Author

Lynn Raye Harris read her first Mills & Boon® Romance when her grandmother carted home a box from a yard sale. She didn’t know she wanted to be a writer then, but she definitely knew she wanted to marry a sheikh or a prince and live the glamorous life she read about in the pages. Instead she married a military man, and moved around the world. These days she makes her home in North Alabama, with her handsome husband and two crazy cats. Writing for Harlequin is a dream come true. You can visit her at www.lynnrayeharris.com

To Mom, who took me to St. Petersburg and Moscow many years ago, and who has always been fascinated with all things Russian.

CHAPTER ONE

THE SCREAM THAT SPLIT the night arrowed down Alexei Voronov’s spine like a river of ice water. His senses throttled into high alert. A light snow fell steadily, dusting the cobblestones of Red Square. To the right, the Kremlin wall bordered the square. At the far end, the Spassky Tower, with its giant clock like Big Ben in London, stood out like a beacon, as did the colorful onion domes of St. Basil’s nearby.

But the hour was late, and there was no movement in the square.

Until the scream echoed again.

Alexei swore. He’d been standing in the shadows of the Russian museum, waiting for his contact to arrive, but he couldn’t ignore the cry. Though it was probably a fight in one of the nearby clubs, a woman screaming bloody murder while her man fought for her honor, he had to act. It was going to cost him valuable information since his contact wouldn’t wait around once he discovered Alexei wasn’t there.

Then again, he’d been waiting for the last half hour and the man was already fifteen minutes late. In truth, Alexei had begun to wonder if the other man had changed his mind.

It was possible.

If Alexei’s adversary had got wind of his intentions, he might have paid the informant more. Though Alexei had been about to pay him a fortune. Still, he couldn’t stand around and wait while a woman needed help.

Just his damned luck to be cursed with a nobility gene, even at the expense of his own best interests. He was ruthless in everything he did—except when someone was in physical danger.

Across the square from the Kremlin, the GUM department store shone brightly. Alexei started in that direction but stopped when he heard a noise. Footsteps? The echo in the empty square made it difficult to pinpoint their direction.

Before he could figure it out, a woman bolted out of the darkness. He had no time to step out of her path. She plowed into him, nearly knocking them both to the pavement.

Alexei caught her close, steadied her as he took a step backward to brace himself. It was like trying to hold a jaguar. She made no noise, but she shoved against him with all her strength, her elbow darting up toward his face. Instinctively he deflected the blow, then spun her until her back was to him, clamping a hand tightly over her mouth.

He could feel the scream gathering in her throat as he dragged her hard against him. If he let go, she’d shatter his eardrums.

“If you scream again,” he said very coolly in her ear, “whoever is chasing you will find you. And I won’t get in the middle of your lovers’ quarrel.”

Why couldn’t he, for once, stay out of it? It was later than the appointed time, but his informant could still arrive. A major business deal was at stake, not to mention years of working toward a single goal that was nearly within his grasp. Missing a meeting for the sake of what was most likely a drunken spat was not part of the plan. He could turn around now and be back to the museum in a few strides.

The woman’s voice was muffled as she tried to shake her head. It occurred to him she might be a tourist. There were many tourists in Moscow these days, unlike in the old days when he was growing up. He repeated it in English, just in case.

He felt the sharp intake of her breath, knew he’d guessed right. He also spoke German, French and Polish, but English had seemed the most expedient choice since nearly everyone spoke it as a second language.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said. “But if you scream, I will let him have you. Understand?”

She gave a quick nod as he turned her in his arms again. Her smoky eyes shimmered in the reflected light of the store. Her jacket hood had fallen back, revealing dark hair caught in a thick ponytail. Her features were fine, delicate, though the elbow she’d aimed at his head had been anything but weak. She was strong, this woman. Strong and delicate at once.

Alexei pulled his hand away from her mouth. Her expression was wary but she didn’t scream.

“Please help me,” she blurted, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the late April chill. “Don’t let them take me.”

American.

He shouldn’t be surprised, and yet something about her was wholly unexpected. Such as what an American woman who spoke no Russian was doing alone in Red Square at nearly one in the morning.

Don’t get involved, Alexei.

He shoved the voice aside and concentrated on her. “Don’t let who take you? The authorities? If you’ve done something illegal, I can’t help you.”

“No,” she said, casting her gaze behind her before turning to him again. “It’s nothing like that. I’m looking for my sister and—”

Angry shouts rang through the square. She didn’t wait for his answer; she simply bolted into the night as if shot from a cannon. Alexei caught her in three strides, clamping a hand over her arm and spinning her around.

“This way,” he said, hauling her toward the department store.

“It’s too bright. They’ll see us.”

“Precisely.”

Boots clomped over the cobbles, coming toward them. They had only seconds before the men made it down the hill. The slick snow was hindering them, but not much. Alexei shoved the girl back against one of the huge plate windows. She made a sound of protest.

“Put your legs around me.”

Her eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “Let me go! You aren’t trying to help at all—”

“Your choice, maya krasavitsa” he said, stepping away. “Good luck.”

“No, wait,” she cried out as he started down the sidewalk. When he stopped, she let out a harsh breath. “Okay, I’ll do it your way.”

Alexei gave her a smile he knew was anything but friendly. “Speciba. We will pretend to be lovers, yes? Put your legs around me,” he said as he crowded her against the window and pulled her hair free of its confinement. She wrapped her arms around his neck, obeying without argument this time. Alexei cupped her thighs, pushed into the cradle of her hips. His coat was long and hid their bodies from view. If they did this right, anyone seeing them would think they were having sex.

The American bit back a soft moan as he pushed harder against her most sensitive spot. The sound crashed through his veins like a shot of vodka. No matter how he willed it otherwise, his body was reacting.

Chert poberi.

She was small, soft and she smelled like summer in the Urals—a hint of flowers, sunshine and cool water. Anger flashed through him. Her scent made him remember, made him feel. He didn’t like feeling. He had no room for feeling.

Feeling made you weak, had the power to break you.

“Kiss me,” he growled as the footsteps pounded closer. “And make it believable.”

Paige blinked up at the dark stranger holding her so intimately. My God, how had she found herself in this mess? She should have gone straight to Chad the instant Emma came up missing. But she’d thought her sister had simply forgotten the time. And Paige wasn’t about to disrupt her boss’s evening when he’d been kind enough to allow her to bring Emma along on this trip in the first place.

Chad Russell was one of Dallas’s most eligible bachelors. He was cool, handsome and wealthy. And she was his secretary. Or at least she was for this trip, since his executive secretary wasn’t allowed to fly longer than three hours at a time per her doctor’s orders. Mavis had a clotting disorder that could be fatal if she spent a lot of time on planes, so Paige had gotten this assignment when Chad had to choose a secretary for the trip.

She’d been thrilled, and determined to do the best job possible since he’d chosen her over some of the other secretaries with more experience. No, Chad had enough to worry about without also taking on the problem of his junior secretary’s younger sister. He was here to close a major deal, not to track down an irresponsible twenty-one-year-old.

And Paige was here to prove she could handle more responsibility and that she was an asset to Russell Tech.

Lately she’d even thought Chad might be interested in her as more than just an employee. She’d tried not to read anything into his actions, but he’d taken her to lunch twice—and he’d asked about her personal life, about her sister, about many things other than work. Her heart had pounded the whole time. Chad was everything she’d ever thought attractive in a man. She’d had a small crush on him since the first moment he’d walked into the office and smiled at her nearly two years ago.

Until now she’d never thought it was anything more than futile.

Tonight, she’d let her feelings get in the way of her common sense. She should have followed her instincts and asked for Chad’s help. But she was so accustomed to solving her own problems that she’d dismissed her uneasiness and was determined to find Emma on her own. And now she was kicking herself for it.

“There is no time to waste,” the stranger growled.

His voice was deep, rich, the rolling of the vowels across his tongue a thing of beauty. His accent wasn’t heavy, but it was distinctly Russian.

Paige’s heart flipped in her chest as he squeezed her tighter. She had to find Emma. But first she had to survive the next few minutes. And to do that, she feared she had to do as he asked. What other choice was there? The men she’d run from outnumbered them. If they caught her, she might not escape a second time.

Not that she really knew what they wanted. She’d wandered too far from the hotel, gotten lost and stumbled into a group of men who’d frightened her. They’d been drinking, and they’d not been too willing to help. Or not without a price. She shuddered as she thought of the blond giant with the meaty hands who’d told her in thick Russian that he’d help her if she would kiss him.

Then he’d laughed, and the others had joined in. The sound was ugly and made the hair on her arms prickle. But it wasn’t until he’d grabbed her that she’d screamed. She’d bought herself a little time with the well-aimed kick to his groin. While the others scrambled to help him, she’d run.

Why she now believed this man was truly trying to help her, she wasn’t sure. But she was positive he was—or at least he was the lesser of two evils, if the way her senses were reeling was any indication. The simple contact of body on body, of his groin pressed intimately to hers in spite of the layers of clothing between them, had her heart thundering, her nerve endings tingling.

She wanted to know who he was, why he was helping her, but there was no time to ask. The stranger’s ice-gray eyes gazed down at her, urging her to comply. The heavy clomp of boots on the cobbles grew louder.

In an instant, Paige closed her eyes and fused her lips to his. She decided at the last second that she would keep her mouth closed. There was no reason to truly kiss him, was there? The appearance of it would surely be enough to fool these men.

But the stranger wouldn’t allow it. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips. She gasped at the heat and surprise of the movement.

That little gasp was all he needed to slip his tongue into her mouth. Her heart hammered as he kissed her with such expertise that her knees would have buckled had she been standing.

He tasted like brandy and mint, so masculine and strong, and she was shocked at the languidness stealing across her senses. He wasn’t Chad, wasn’t the man she’d fantasized about for the past two years—but she wanted to lose herself in his embrace, wanted to see what kind of magic he could make if they were alone together and naked.

Except she hadn’t the first clue how to make magic with a man, truth be told. In the last eight years, she’d had exactly one sexual experience—and that hadn’t been anything to write home about. Becoming a single parent to a sister when you were only eighteen, and then working your way through school and trying to support a household, didn’t leave much time for dating or building relationships.

But not one of the handful of kisses she’d ever experienced had been anything like this. This kiss was incredible. And it did things to her insides. She felt liquid and hot. Like the fireworks bursting in her body had turned into a single living flame.

Paige felt heat and passion so strongly that it shocked her. How could she be so responsive at a time like this?

The man growled low in his throat, squeezed her tighter to him as the kiss slid over the edge.

Paige wasn’t herself. It was the only explanation. She was no longer a dull secretary working for a man she could never have, no longer the responsible older sister who took care of everything. She was hot, sensual, and completely in charge of her destiny. She was living a life of international intrigue and danger, an exciting life filled with passion and amazing men who spoke Russian-accented English and kissed the living daylights out of her.

Voices sounded close by, bringing her back to reality. And then a wolf-whistle. Paige’s heart dived into her stomach.

“Don’t be frightened,” the stranger whispered against the column of her throat as he maneuvered her face away from the side the men were on. “They will go soon.”

She trembled in answer, though it wasn’t from fear as his mouth glided near her ear again.

“What is your name?”

It startled her, that question. He was pressed against her so intimately, his lips moving across her skin as if they’d been born to do so, the ridge of an impressive erection riding the crease in her thighs, and he didn’t even know her name. If the situation weren’t so insane, she’d have laughed.

He flexed his hips and sensation bolted through her. If he kept doing that, oh…

“Your name,” he said against her cheekbone.

“Paige,” she said in the instant before his mouth claimed hers again.

The whistles grew louder, and then a voice said something sharp and they stopped. The voice said something again, louder and sharper. She felt the stranger’s muscles tighten.

The other man spoke in Russian, a question by the way he left the statement hanging at the end. The truth hit her like a blast of icy water. He was questioning them. Paige’s breath drew in sharply.

“Moan,” the stranger said against her lips.

The word was so foreign to her, so heavy with meaning. His accent scraped over the word, made it seem both harder and sexier than anything she’d ever heard in her life.

He squeezed her thighs hard, and she realized they were in danger, that he knew it, too. Somehow, the fact he was aware of the danger made it seem bigger, more real. They were completely outnumbered. If these men realized who she was, if they decided to finish what they’d started, the stranger would be no help against so many.

Paige pulled her mouth from his, buried her face against his neck and let out the best moan she could. The sound was weak, unconvincing.

“Louder,” he said in her ear, his hips flexing once more against her center.

Sensation caught, held, spun her in its grip as he ground against her. The moan that left her lips this time was very real. His mouth sought hers again. His kiss was warm, hard and demanding. Paige threaded her fingers in the hair at his nape, toyed with the soft edge of the fur cap he wore.

With the pressure of his body centered on her most sensitive spot, he drove her toward something she’d never actually experienced with a man. They were clothed, and yet she was about to splinter apart.

She’d been so deprived and now—oh now the floodgates had been opened. They weren’t even naked, weren’t really intimate in any way, and she felt so much.

She moaned again, gasping as his hand cupped her breast through her shirt. His thumb slid over her nipple; he made a noise when he realized it was a hard little point. The sound of his voice rocked her, kicked up her senses.

Unbelievably she was almost there, almost to that peak of sensation. She felt wicked, hot and utterly desperate.

It was wrong, wrong, and yet—

The stranger tore his mouth from hers and put distance between them. He still supported her, but they were no longer so tightly pressed together. He looked completely unaffected by what had just happened while she was hot and cold and frustrated all at once.

And then she remembered. Her gaze shot over his shoulder as confusion gave way to panic. He’d decided to give her up, decided she wasn’t worth helping—

“They are gone,” he said. He eased her legs down his hips until she was standing. Released from his grip, she felt so cold all of a sudden. She wrapped her arms around her body. Her teeth started to chatter softly, but she couldn’t seem to stop.

“Thank you,” she said, strangely disappointed that she hadn’t tumbled over that peak after all. Her body still hummed with the aftereffects of too much adrenaline, too much thwarted pleasure.

“Ne ze chto. Now we must go.”

Paige blinked up at him, looking at him fully for the first time—and nearly sank to the cold ground in shock. He was a stunning man. Hollywood handsome in a way that screamed bad boy, playboy. Except he wasn’t a boy at all. It struck her how incongruous those terms were to describe a man like him.

She’d been so focused before, so scared, that she’d barely registered any details about him.

Now, she took them in. Every last incredible line. Beneath his cap, he had dark thick hair that was probably brown but looked black in the lights, and the kind of nose and cheekbones that artists had been sculpting out of marble for hundreds of years. His lips were full, sensual, his jaw strong. He watched her with glacial eyes that missed nothing. And he’d just told her they needed to leave. Together. Paige backed up a step, suddenly confused and wary. She’d made too many mistakes already. She’d come this far from her hotel without a plan, and nearly been assaulted. Going anywhere with this man was out of the question, no matter how much she might owe him for helping her.

“I appreciate your help, and I’d be happy to pay you, but if you think I’m going somewhere with you to finish—”

His expression grew absolutely stony. “You think too highly of yourself, Paige. And you will come with me now if you wish to avoid a repeat scenario. Those men could return to the square in five minutes, when they’ve realized you didn’t go into the subway or any of the open clubs.”

“I’ll return to my hotel. It’s just down the street—” “It’s not safe.”

“My boss is there and he can help—” “No,” he cut in. “It will be safer if you come with me now.”

The slow burn of anger began in her belly. Who was he to tell her what to do? And what did he mean it wasn’t safe? It had to be safer than going with him! “I appreciate your help, but my sister is missing and I think Chad is the only one who can help me—”

He took a step closer, every inch of him suddenly on alert. “Chad? Chad Russell is your boss?”

Paige bit her lip, uncertain whether this was a good or a bad sign. “You know Chad?”

His laugh was not precisely friendly. “Indeed, I know Chad Russell, maya krasavitsa. And I know that you had better come with me now, if you want to survive this night.”

Paige shivered. Something in his tone made her want to back away. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said.

He glared at her until she was certain he would grab her bodily and force her to go whether she wanted to or not. But then he shrugged. “It is your life. Do what you wish.”

“But why? Why isn’t it safe?” she demanded, her heart racing.

His mouth twisted disdainfully. “The streets are not safe at night, as you have so recently discovered. This is true of many big cities, I understand.”

She felt like he was mocking her, and yet there was some sense to what he said. Would she walk the streets of downtown Dallas alone at night? Definitely not.

“I can pay you to take me back to the hotel.”

His bark of laughter was not what she expected. Her face burned, as if she’d insulted him somehow and embarrassed herself in the process. God, what a strange night!

“Come with me, or go your own way. The choice is yours.” He didn’t wait for her to reply. He simply turned and started down the hill in the direction the men had gone. Paige chewed her lip, shivering and wondering what in the hell she should do now.

Maybe she could make it back alone, assuming she didn’t get lost again. Her hotel was through the square and down the road that ran along the Moscow River. It was a long walk. Cold. Dark.

She would run. She could make it in ten minutes if she hurried. Maybe Emma had already returned. If not, Chad was there to help.

The sound of male voices, speaking in Russian, filtered to her on the night air. Their speech was loud and punctuated with laughter. She didn’t know if it was the same men who’d tried to grab her, but could she risk it?

Paige pressed the heels of her hands to her temples. Oh, God, what was she doing here? Why had she thought she could handle this alone? She didn’t speak the language, and sometimes didn’t even understand the thickly accented English that was spoken to her. Her eyes strained to see the figure of the man disappearing into the night. She understood him.

But he was a stranger. How could she go anywhere with a man she didn’t know?

The Russian voices grew louder as they moved closer to where she still stood in front of the department store. Given a choice between meeting up with these men, or going with the man who’d helped her, she realized the truth: there was no choice.

Paige broke into a run.

CHAPTER TWO

ALEXEI POURED SCOTCH into a tumbler and handed it to the woman sitting so forlornly on his couch. The walk through the cold city streets had chilled her, he was certain, but a stiff drink would bring her around. And then he would find out why she’d been in Red Square at the precise time he’d been supposed to meet with his informant. Considering she was one of Chad Russell’s employees, it was quite a coincidence.

He did not believe in coincidences. Hard work and sacrifice had gotten him where he was today, not belief in mystical concurrences. If he’d left his life up to luck and circumstance, he’d probably be lying in a crypt with the rest of his family.

She accepted the glass without looking and took a big drink. Then she coughed. “That’s horrible!”

Alexei sipped his own scotch, enjoying the notes of caramel and oak as it slid down his throat. The fifty-year-old single malt was perfect. And so was her performance. She definitely knew how to play the innocent.

His mouth twisted in disdain.

Like his father before him, Chad Russell had always believed he could ruin Voronov Exploration if he threw enough money at the right people. He hadn’t yet succeeded, nor would he.

Alexei would die before he would lose the next round in their epic battle. Whoever could convince Pyotr Valishnikov to sell his Baltic and Siberian holdings first would reap a huge reward—and effectively leave the other company in the metaphorical dust. This deal was the culmination of everything Alexei had ever worked for. With the stroke of a pen, Valishnikov could give him the power to finally crush Russell Tech once and for all.

Then Katerina would be avenged. It was all that mattered.

Alexei studied the woman on his couch.

Was she here to dig up information about his plans? If so, she would be sorely disappointed. But if she was supposed to distract him enough to let down his guard, she wasn’t doing the best job of it. She was beautiful, though in an unstudied way. He’d known many beautiful women over the years, but this one seemed quite unaware of her beauty. She hadn’t once tried to fix her hair or asked to see a mirror so she could primp and preen. Her makeup was so understated as to be practically nonexistent.

And she seemed to be in shock, which was why he’d given her the scotch.

As he watched, she reached into one of the pockets of her very unstylish coat and pulled out a pair of glasses. Then she glanced up at him and shrugged as she put them on.

“I can see pretty well without them, but I get headaches if I go too long.” She dropped her gaze to the glass in her hand. “They fogged up when I went outside and I just never put them back on.”

“What were you doing in Red Square alone?”

She looked up at him again, her dark eyes shiny with unshed tears. Once more, he got that little kick in the gut he’d felt earlier when he’d breathed in her scent. His sister’d had dark eyes like those. Dark, haunting eyes that he couldn’t escape, no matter how successful he became or how much he tried to put the past behind him.

“I don’t even know your name,” she said numbly.

“Alexei,” he replied. He did not doubt that she knew exactly who he was. Perhaps he should have taken her up on her offer to return her to her hotel. He hadn’t believed it was genuine at the time, nor did he now. But what would she have done if he’d said yes? That would have caused a bit of consternation, he was certain. When he’d first told her she needed to come with him, before he’d known who she was, he’d had every intention of driving her back to her hotel once he’d reached his apartment.

Afterward, it had seemed unnecessary—not to mention counterintuitive to her plan. He wondered why she’d even told him she worked for Chad Russell in the first place.

“Alexei,” she repeated.

“Da. Now tell me about your sister.”

He would play her game. For now.

Panic threaded into those smoky eyes. She took another swig of scotch, coughed. If she was acting, she was doing a fine job of it.

“Emma’s twenty-one, as of yesterday. She’s nothing like me. She’s tall and blonde, and she likes to have fun and go shopping. She went on a guided tour this afternoon while I worked to prepare Chad’s papers for his meeting tomorrow. I ate dinner in Chad’s suite while we worked, and stayed with him until about eight-thirty. I had a text from Emma around eight, telling me she would be in the hotel bar for a while. She wasn’t in our room when I got back, but I didn’t think anything of it until she didn’t return by eleven. I tried calling her, but she never answered.”

The twinge of feeling he got when he thought of this woman with Russell surprised him. Because he doubted very much that she’d simply been working with her boss all that time. A beautiful woman like her with a man like Russell? He’d lay odds they’d been doing far more than going over paperwork.

She plunked the tumbler on the table and stood. But she must have gotten up too quickly because the color drained from her face and she sank back down again. Then she put a hand to her head.

“I don’t usually drink alcohol,” she said more to herself than to him. She looked up again, her eyes slightly glazed. How could anyone get drunk on two gulps of scotch? “I have to find her,” she whispered.

“I will find her for you,” Alexei said smoothly. Let her believe her plan was working. “You looked for her in this bar?”

She clasped both hands in her lap, her knuckles whitening. “Yes. I asked if anyone had seen her, but they claimed not to remember.”

“So you decided to wander alone through Red Square at midnight?”

Her eyes were huge and liquid. “It was stupid, I know. But I thought she couldn’t have gone far, thought maybe she was outside. And then someone said there was another bar, so I went there. Each place I went was farther than the last until I found myself in the square and those men started bothering me.”

“Where is your cell phone?”

She patted her coat, came up empty. “I think I dropped it when they grabbed me.”

Alexei took his phone from his jacket and handed it to her. “Try to call your sister.”

She punched in a few numbers. He could hear the error message on the other end as she handed the phone back, her expression a mixture of frustration and fear. “I don’t know how to dial it from a foreign number.”

“Tell me the number.” He punched it in while she recited it, adding the proper codes, then handed the phone back when it began to ring. Her face screwed up while she concentrated, as if she were willing her sister—assuming there really was a sister—to answer.

It didn’t work, however, because she gave the phone back to him a moment later, her expression crumpling.

Alexei dialed another number. After issuing instructions to his head of personal security, he hung up.

“Why don’t you give me your coat? I will turn on the fire to warm you.”

“I really should be going,” she said, her pretty bow mouth drawing his attention as her teeth scraped her bottom lip worriedly.

Alexei tried very hard to ignore the arrow of arousal that shot straight to his groin. She’d been uncertain earlier, but she’d warmed up to their kiss, coming alive beneath his touch. It had been everything he could do to push her away when all he’d wanted was to sample the rest of her. To see if the fire in that kiss would translate to the bedroom.

Odd, when she wasn’t his usual type of woman. He liked glamorous women, effortlessly feminine women who wore their confidence like a second skin. Paige was neither glamorous nor confident, though she was definitely feminine. Authentic was the word that came to mind—though of course that couldn’t be the case when she was working for Chad Russell. She was simply a very good actress.

“It is safer to remain here,” he said. “In case those men are looking for you.”

She blinked. “How could that be? They don’t know me—”

“Your phone.”

Her eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought of that. I still don’t know why they’d care.” She shook her head suddenly. “But they wouldn’t. And I need to find my sister, so I should go back—”

“I will find your sister, I promise.” He said it impatiently, since she couldn’t really want to leave yet, but she didn’t seem to notice.

She blinked at him, her eyes adorably owlish behind her glasses. “Do you really think you can find her?”

He nodded. “You are in Russia, maya krasavitsa, and I am Russian. I guarantee I will find her before your Chad could do so.”

Real hope kindled in the depths of those eyes. It made him wonder, for an instant, if he was wrong about her motives for being here.

That is exactly what you are supposed to think.

He shoved the thought aside, but not before he pictured another set of eyes gazing at him with hope. Katerina, I’m sorry…

A cold hand gripped his, pulling him back to the present. He didn’t mind the cold. It was the touch of her skin that surprised him. The jolt must have surprised her as well, because she quickly pulled away.

“Thank you, Alexei,” she said in that soft, breathy voice that reminded him of film stars of the 1940s. “You have been very kind. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”

If the whole scenario hadn’t been a setup, then he knew exactly what could have happened—and it wasn’t pretty.

“You must never go out alone at night in a strange city where you do not speak the language or understand the culture.” He said it rather harshly, he thought, but she merely nodded.

“You’re right, of course.” She sank back against the cushions and closed her eyes. When she didn’t open them again, he grew concerned. A moment later, her jaw dropped open and a soft snore escaped.

Alexei stood there for a moment in disbelief. Tossing back the rest of his scotch, he decided to turn the lights down and leave her where she was. If she were here to spy, she’d be up in no time. All he had to do was wait and see.

Paige was warm and cozy. Something soft nestled against her cheek as she stirred. She smiled, sighing as she burrowed deeper beneath the cover. The hotel bed was comfortable, but it felt different tonight than it had the night before. Firmer. And why was she still wearing her clothes?

A tendril of unease twisted through her. Something wasn’t right. Her eyes popped open—a second later, she bolted upright. Her gaze darted around the room, but nothing was familiar.

Where was she?

Her surroundings were luxurious—the couch she lay on was covered in silk brocade, oil paintings adorned the walls and the cover she’d been snuggling into was made out of some kind of fur.

A fire burned softly in the grate, the only sound in the room. Paige stood, wrapping the blanket around her though she was still fully clothed, and turned in a circle. She didn’t have a watch, and she’d lost her cell phone in the square. She had no idea what time it was, or whether Emma had been found.

How had she managed to fall asleep when she was so worried?

“Alexei?”

She started walking toward a hallway directly behind her. It might be late, but she couldn’t simply sit on the couch and wait until morning. She had to know if Alexei had found Emma.

The thought of her enigmatic rescuer sent a wave of a different kind of heat rolling over her. She’d been wary when he’d first told her she needed to go with him, but once they arrived at his apartment, she’d realized he had money. This apartment was in one of the old Baroque buildings that had withstood time, several wars and a revolution. It was also furnished with expensive paintings, antiques and woven rugs.

And he knew Chad, though she still didn’t know how he did, come to think of it.

But she’d relaxed a little then. Surely he did not need to lure poor American women back to his apartment for evil purposes. No doubt women fell all over a man who looked like he did. Add in the money, and you had a sure recipe for success.

No, Alexei did not need to bring her here in order to have his wicked way with her. He’d kissed her because it was necessary, not because he was attracted to her.

Paige lifted her chin. Nor was she attracted to him. He was a handsome man, no doubt, but he wasn’t Chad. Chad was tall, blond, Texan, bigger than life. Everything she’d ever dreamed about when she was a girl growing up in tiny Atkinsville, Texas.

She knew that Chad taking her to lunch—and picking her to accompany him on this trip—might not mean anything, but a girl could dream. Though he usually dated underwear models, actresses and beauty queens, he wasn’t seeing anyone just now. She knew because she was the one who usually got the task of ordering the flowers and making the dinner reservations. There had been none of those for over a month now.

Not that it meant anything, she reminded herself, when he’d been working nonstop on this Russian deal.

A lamp burned in one of the rooms off the hallway. Paige pushed the door all the way open. “Alexei?”

There was no answer, but she stepped inside to be sure he wasn’t there anyway. The room was an office, with floor to ceiling bookcases, a desk and filing cabinets. A computer stood on the desk, and a printer sat idle nearby. There was an Italian leather couch on one wall, and a couple of chairs facing it.

But no one was inside. She turned to leave, biting off a scream as a man stepped through the door.

“Looking for something?”

Paige put a hand to her racing heart. “You scared me.”

“Apparently,” he said, though there was no amusement in his voice.

“I was looking for you.”

One dark eyebrow arched. “Really? Why?”

Paige swallowed. He stood before her in jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt, as if he’d hurriedly pulled it on. His feet were bare, and his hair was mussed. She resolutely focused on his face instead of the naked skin of his chest and abdomen. Or the shadowed indentations of muscle and sinew.

“I’m sorry if I woke you. But I have no idea what time it is. If Emma returned to our room by now, she’ll be worried. I really should go…” Her voice tapered off as she realized she was babbling.

“Your sister is not in your room.”

Paige felt her heart skip a painful beat. She took a step toward him, thought better of it and clutched the blanket tighter instead. “How do you know? Do you know where she is?”

“Da. She is safe, Paige. You have nothing to worry about.”

Relief threatened to buckle her knees.

Alexei reached for her as she swayed, caught her in a strong grip. Then he ushered her to the couch and sat her down. “You are quite good at this,” he murmured.

Paige blinked up at him. “I’m sorry?”

He turned away and went over to a cabinet close by, returned with a glass and thrust it toward her.

Paige held up her hand as her stomach rebelled. “Not again—”

“It is water.”

She took the glass and drank, thankful because her mouth was suddenly so dry. Her head felt light, and her heart thundered in her chest. She’d promised Mama that she’d take good care of Emma. Her sister had only been thirteen when their mother died, and Paige had done her best. If Emma was a bit spoiled, a bit irresponsible, it was Paige’s fault for indulging her.

She’d been trying to make up for the lack of parents, but she hadn’t done the best job. Tonight, she thought she’d failed utterly. To know that Emma was safe filled her with a profound sense of relief.

“Where is she?”

“She is with Chad Russell, as you very well know.”

“Oh thank God,” Paige breathed. Though what made him think she knew where Emma was?

Before she could ask, Alexei’s cool silver gaze pierced her. “Why are you here?”

Paige blinked. “I was looking for you—”

“No, I mean why are you here, in my home?”

It took her a moment to formulate an answer. “Because you told me I had to come with you.”

“Yes, but why did you do so? What did you hope to find? Is Russell so desperate he would send a secretary to spy on me?”

Confusion crashed through her. And a thread of simmering anger.

“Why would I want to spy on you? I don’t even know you!” She set the glass aside and stood, tilting her chin up. It was simply a show of bravado since she was shaking inside her skin. But she’d learned at an early age to bluff her way through the rough spots when necessary. Or, as her mother used to say, never let them see you sweat. She’d had plenty of practice when Child Services had come calling to see if she was capable of taking care of her sister or if Emma needed to go into foster care instead.

“Stop pretending you don’t know who I am,” he commanded.

Paige stomped her foot. It was childish, she knew, but it was instinctive. She couldn’t stop herself whenever she was angry or nervous—though anger was not the dominant emotion at the moment.

“You are Alexei, a man I met in Red Square, who helped me when I was in trouble. You obviously have money, and you knew who Chad was as soon as I mentioned him. But I have no idea who you are.”

It was a troubling thought, not to know the man who seemed to know so much about you.

He closed the distance between them, slipped an arm around her waist beneath the blanket. His fingers traced her jaw, slid into the hair at her nape. “You are a fascinating woman, Paige. No wonder Russell chose you for this task. Or did you volunteer?”

With a tug, she was flush against him. The blanket fell away as she let it go to press her hands against his chest. Paige closed her eyes. His naked chest.

His skin was hot beneath her hands, silky and hard, and she longed to stroke it.

Stop it. How could she possibly find him sexy at a time like this?

“Let me go,” she breathed.

“Before you’ve done what you came to do?”

“I didn’t come here to do anything.”

“What did Russell offer you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Were you supposed to seduce me? Supposed to leave me sated and exhausted in bed while you went through my papers?” His head dipped toward her. “Because I have to say, Paige, that I am very disappointed in your technique thus far. But I find I am quite willing to allow you to complete your mission.”

She knew she should pull away when his lips touched hers, but it was physically impossible. Not because he held her too tightly, but because her body was zinging with sparks that she didn’t want to end.

His tongue slipped into her mouth, and she met him stroke for stroke. He smelled so good, like spice and a cold winter night, yet he was as hot as a volcanic eruption. His skin sizzled into her where she touched him with her bare hands. She wanted to slip the shirt from his shoulders, wanted to see if his skin tasted as good as it felt.

His hands slid into her hair, tugged her head back. His mouth left hers, forged a trail of fire along her jaw, the column of her throat.

Her head fell to one side, giving him greater access. He made a sound of approval, and she opened her eyes—just for a moment—and found herself staring at the most erotic scene she’d ever personally experienced. A mirror on the opposite wall caught their reflection, shone it back at her.

It was like a scene out of a movie. A gorgeous man held a woman in his embrace, a woman whose dark hair flowed wildly over her shoulders, whose eyes sparkled with passion as the man’s mouth moved across her skin.

It was exotic and beautiful.

And she wasn’t supposed to be the woman in the scene. This man didn’t care for her. He thought Chad had sent her here to seduce him, for God’s sake—which was a laugh in itself—and she had no idea who he really was.

Paige’s hands curled into fists against his hard chest.

And then she pushed. “Stop. Please stop.”

Amazingly he did. Alexei’s eyes were hot, glittering as he straightened to his full height and glared down at her. He was even taller than Chad, broader, and he did things to her insides—

Stop thinking about it.

Paige closed her eyes, took a step back. Her clothes were intact, but she felt as if he’d undressed her, as if he knew all her secrets.

A ridiculous feeling, really. He might know her name, and he might know she was Chad’s secretary, but he did not know her.

“I want to go back to my hotel,” she said with as much dignity as she could summon. “Chad has a very important meeting tomorrow, and I have to be there. He needs me. And Emma will be wondering where I am by now.”

Alexei shoved a hand through his thick hair—black, not brown, she realized. “You will not be going anywhere tonight.”

“I want to see my sister,” she insisted. “You have no right to keep me here.”

His gaze sharpened. “Your sister is busy, Paige. I doubt she will want to be disturbed. Though perhaps you did not know you were sharing your lover with her?”

Everything inside her went cold and still. “My lover?” she said numbly.

“You never give up the pretense, do you?”

She ignored him, her mind beginning to work overtime. Emma and Chad? They’d met once or twice when Emma had come to the office, but Chad hadn’t shown any particular interest in her sister.

Or had he?

She remembered Emma’s flirtatious giggle, Chad’s megawatt smile, Emma’s declaration later that night that Chad was probably amazing in bed. She’d thought the same thing herself, but she figured she’d never know.

She just hadn’t realized that Emma might actually find out.

Chad had suggested she bring Emma along on this trip when Paige expressed disappointment she would be gone for her sister’s twenty-first birthday. She’d thought he was being kind. She’d refused at first until he insisted it would be fine, that he wouldn’t hear of them being separated for Emma’s birthday.

And now this.

Paige put a hand on the bookcase to steady herself. Rage, disappointment, betrayal—they whirled inside her like a hurricane, spinning her in a vortex of emotion. She’d thought he was interested in her, when all along it had been Emma! She’d been so stupid, so blind.

Chad and Emma. Her boss and her sister. Making love while she searched the icy Moscow streets in a panic. Making love while she nearly got assaulted by a group of drunken men.

Her sister making love with the man she wanted, the man she’d secretly been in love with forever.

Tears pressed against the backs of her eyes. She would not let them fall, not now. Not here, not in front of Alexei.

“Paige,” he said, taking her arm.

She jerked away and hugged her arms tightly around her body. “Leave me alone.”

“I apologize if this news hurts you.”

She speared him with a glare. A blurry glare, since her eyes were swimming in moisture. “You don’t care, so spare me your insincerity. Besides, how do I know you’re telling the truth? How could you possibly have found Emma if she’s in Chad’s room?”

What if he’d made the whole thing up? Though why he would do so, she couldn’t say, but surely it was a possibility.

“My head of security used to work for the secret police,” he replied softly. “Yuri knows people, and he knows how to get things done. But I can certainly prove where your sister is if you wish. My men have audio of her with—”

“Stop,” she blurted, turning away, her body trembling with anger and pain. Her intuition had told her all along he was telling the truth, which was why she’d reacted, but that hadn’t stopped her from grasping at straws. The last thing she wanted to hear was Chad and Emma whispering together in bed. Or worse.

Before she realized what Alexei was about to do, he wrapped her in his embrace, his hand pressing against the back of her head so that her cheek was flush against his bare chest. Briefly she considered struggling—but gave up the idea as his other hand rhythmically rubbed her back.

It’d been a long time since anyone had comforted her. She was always the one doing the comforting, the one who’d sacrificed everything to raise her little sister, never complaining when Emma got the best of everything. Paige had been proud that her hard work enabled Emma to have a normal life, that Emma was able to be a cheerleader and a homecoming queen and a beautiful, successful young woman with a bright future.

She had done that for Emma, and she’d been happy to do so.

But why did Emma have to get everything?

On the heels of jealousy, guilt rode hard. Who was Paige to deny her sister anything? Paige had been practically an adult when their mother died. Emma was the one who’d grown up without a loving mother. Paige had done everything for her, but a sister wasn’t the same as a mother, no matter how hard she tried.

A tear spilled free, and then another, until finally Paige was curling her hands into Alexei’s shirt as the first heartbroken sob escaped her. After that, it was easy to cry. She’d held the tears in for so long. She hadn’t cried since her mother’s funeral, had believed that tears made her weak.

Now, it felt good to let it all out. Cleansing. The man holding her never stopped rubbing her back, never made a move to pull away and leave her alone. Selfishly she clung to him and cried for all the years she’d lost.

While she cried herself out, she made a decision. From now on, Paige would no longer neglect her own happiness for that of others. When she wanted something, she would not deny herself. She was through denying herself.

It was a new day for Paige Barnes. And she knew just how to prove it.

CHAPTER THREE

ALEXEI SENSED THE change in her before she acted. One minute she was sobbing her heart out, the next she was standing on tiptoe and pulling him down for another kiss.

He was tempted. More than tempted. Alexei let her kiss him, fighting his reaction as her lips moved tentatively over his. She tasted like salt and sadness, and he wanted nothing more than to take that sadness away. It was his fatal flaw, this desire to protect and comfort those in need. He’d spent years fighting for his family, years that had taken their toll.

But there was nothing he could do for this woman. Though it would be so easy to take what she offered, so easy to sweep her into his arms and carry her to his room, he wasn’t going to do it.

She wasn’t kissing him because she wanted him. She was doing this to prove something to herself. And he didn’t feel like being the conduit through which she tried to vanquish her anger and disappointment.

Her reaction to his news about her sister and Russell had not been what he’d expected. He’d set her up in his mind as a cold, calculating woman on a mission for her lover. He’d not stopped to think that maybe she really had been worried, or that she didn’t know her sister wasn’t missing but was instead sneaking off to Chad Russell’s room.

Alexei didn’t like the way her tears had made him feel, the way her sweet vulnerability just now—the tentative kiss, the hint of desperation—struck a nerve inside him.

She brought memories crashing into his head that he tried to shove away. Memories of a pale, sad woman lying in a hospital bed, her lips cracked and dry, a lone tear sliding down her cheek as she whispered that she loved him.

The last person on this earth who loved him had died because he wasn’t able to save her, because even though he was a prince, he’d been poor and broken and couldn’t afford to buy the best leukemia treatments money could buy. After Katerina’s death, he’d vowed on her memory that he would not be poor for the rest of his life. And he would strike back at the cold-blooded man who’d stripped them of everything before he’d returned to America with the rights to the land their mother had sold, and the rich oil and gas deposits beneath.

Tim Russell had left them with nothing, and though it would have taken only a fraction of the wealth he’d amassed from their land to help Katerina, he’d refused. Alexei had scraped together the money to fly to Dallas and beg for his sister’s life, but he’d been met with cold disdain. He still remembered standing in Russell’s office, high over the Dallas skyline, and being both awed and sickened by the wealth on display. He’d wanted that life for his family, and it had made him sick to think it might have been theirs had this man not stolen it from them.

Once Katerina had died, Alexei had found the initiative to start Voronov Exploration with nothing more than bravado and a geological engineering degree from Moscow University. He’d burned with a passion to regain everything that had been lost and to destroy the Russells in the process.

It had taken years, but he was at the pinnacle of his success now—and victory over the Russells was within his grasp. If he could turn back time, he would save his sister from the cancer that had eaten her strength and her life. He would give back all the money and give up the idea of vengeance if it was possible to have another chance.

But there was no going back. Ever. Life moved forward, no matter how much money you had. It hadn’t helped Tim Russell when his time had come, and it wouldn’t help his son when Alexei finally gained control of Russell Tech.

Alexei gripped Paige’s arms, gently, and set her away from him. She sucked in a breath, and for a moment he thought she might start to cry again. Instead she wrapped her arms around her waist and stared up at him, her eyes huge pools of hurt.

He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. Those tears had been real, regardless of her reasons for being here in the first place.

And maybe, just maybe, he could turn her anger and sadness at Chad Russell to his advantage. She was his secretary; she knew sensitive information about his business.

Information Alexei could use.

“You don’t really want to do this,” he said softly. “You are hurt and sad and you want to make it go away. I understand this. But tomorrow, you would have regrets.”

She shrugged one shoulder, as if to say it mattered not at all to her. Yet he knew it mattered a great deal with that single movement.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to m-make love,” she said, casting her eyes toward the floor when she said make love, as if it embarrassed her to say the words.

Now why did that hint of innocence spike the heat in his blood?

“Paige,” he said, waiting until she looked at him again before he continued, “I think you need to get some sleep. Tomorrow, everything will look brighter.”

How many times had he told that lie to Katerina? They’d both known it was a lie, but it was a fiction they’d counted on to get them through the hard times.

“I have to be back at the hotel by eight,” she said numbly. “Cha—my boss has an important meeting to attend.”

Alexei couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. He was the good guy here and he planned to make her see it. “Da, I know this.”

She frowned. “I really wish you would tell me how you know these things.”

He smiled as tenderly as he could. It was a risk, but if he wasn’t truthful with her, she wouldn’t trust him. And he wanted her trust now that Russell had broken it. It was vital to the new plan he was formulating.

“Because his meeting is with me.”

Her eyes grew big. For the first time since he’d met her, he truly believed she had no idea who he was. His sense of purpose redoubled. He would destroy Russell Tech when he was through, thanks to this woman.

“You are Mr. Valishnikov?”

He shook his head. “I am the other V.”

If anything, her eyes grew bigger. Her fingers flew to her mouth, pressed against her lips. When her hand dropped away, her face was pale.

“Oh my God,” she said. “You’re Prince Voronov.”

It was snowing as the Mercedes moved through the city. Fat flakes that ghosted down and gathered on the pavement. Paige stared wide-eyed out the window. She’d never seen so much snow in her life, and it was April! Dallas was balmy this time of year, and Atkinsville, on the Gulf Coast where she’d grown up, had always been temperate.

She wanted to turn to the man sitting beside her, to thank him for taking her back to the hotel so early when the meeting wasn’t for another two and a half hours, but she couldn’t look at him.

Alexei Voronov. A prince. She’d been kissing a prince. Trying to seduce him when her feelings were hurt, and he’d turned her down flat. Of course he had! Not only was he a Russian prince, but he was also gorgeous on top of that. Not at all the sort of man to be interested in her.

Paige’s face grew hot as she thought about how he’d kissed her in Red Square, the way his body ground against hers, the way she’d nearly splintered apart simply from the delicious pressure.

A game, she reminded herself. A necessary act to save them both.

But the man who’d rescued her wasn’t just any prince. He was Prince Voronov—and Chad seemed to hate him. According to Chad, Prince Voronov was determined to absorb Russell Tech into his vast operations—which he would be in a prime position to do if he acquired Valishnikov’s land.

If he succeeded in his quest, Russell Tech would cease to exist.

Jobs would be lost, people displaced—including herself. She wasn’t unemployable, but in this current economic climate, how long would it take to find a new job? And how would she make her rent and utilities until then?

Worse, would she find new work in time to make Emma’s tuition payment next semester?

Last night, she’d had plenty of time to think as she’d tossed and turned in the guest room Alexei had shown her to, and she’d realized that though she was hurt, it wasn’t Emma’s fault at all. Paige had never said she had a crush on Chad, and it wasn’t fair to be mad at Emma. Her sister couldn’t help being beautiful and vivacious; of course Chad had been attracted to her!

“You are very quiet, Paige.”

She turned her head slowly, steeling herself to meet Alexei’s gaze. Would she still see pity in his eyes? It was nothing but wishful thinking to hope he’d forgotten how she’d thrown herself at him after he’d told her about Chad and Emma. She wanted to sink into the leather cushions and disappear, but since that wasn’t happening, she forced herself to be cool under pressure.

“I’m just thinking,” she said. “We don’t get snow in April where I’m from.”

His smile made her heart thump. “Ah yes, it is quite tropical where you live.”

“I wouldn’t say tropical.”

He shrugged. “Compared to Moscow?”

Paige swallowed. He was too handsome, this man. Too easy to look at. She found herself wondering what it would have been like if he hadn’t pushed her away.

Mind-blowing, no doubt.

“I see your point.”

“You should see my home in St. Petersburg,” he continued. “It is an old estate dating back several hundred years in my family. The snow is pristine, undisturbed. There are wolves that howl during the night, and the stars shine so brightly you cannot believe. It is perfect for a troika ride.”

She had a vision from a movie, of a couple bundled under a fur and riding through the snow in a sleigh with jingling bells. It seemed so romantic, though of course he hadn’t mentioned it for that reason.

“That sounds lovely,” she replied.

“Perhaps I will show it to you someday,” he said, and her heart thumped harder.

Was he flirting with her?

Impossible. A man like him dated movie stars and models, not plain secretaries who were so pitiful they could only admire a man from afar.

“I don’t see how,” she replied truthfully, “though it’s a nice thought. We are leaving in a few days, and St. Petersburg is not on our itinerary.”

His gaze glittered strangely. “Do you intend to take your lover back after what he did?”

Shock zapped her like an electrical current. “Chad Russell is my boss, not my lover.”

“Is that so?”

She thrust her chin forward. “Yes, it is.”

He laced his fingers between hers, brought her hand to his mouth. She was too stunned to pull away as his lips touched the back of her hand. “Then that is really too bad for him, isn’t it? But it’s excellent for me.”

When he released her, she clamped her hands together in her lap. Her skin still tingled from his touch. “I don’t know why,” she said as the blood roared in her ears. “You had your chance last night and you didn’t take it.”

Had she really just said that to him?

His laugh was not what she expected. “When I take you, maya krasavitsa, it will not be as you cry over another man.”

Her face flamed. “I wasn’t crying over Chad.”

His expression said he didn’t believe it. She turned her head to watch the snow again. Damn him for seeing so deeply into her. Her shattered romantic fantasy hadn’t been the only thing she’d cried over, but she wasn’t planning to share everything about her life with this man in order to correct his impression.

He was nothing to her, in spite of the heat of attraction she felt. After he dropped her off, she would never talk to him again.

“I think perhaps you are in love with Chad Russell,” he said from behind her, “even if he is not your lover. And I think you are bitterly disappointed to learn he has chosen your sister over you.”

Paige whirled, both stunned and furious. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“I am not a blind man, Paige.”

Her breath stabbed in her chest. Was she that transparent? Had Chad always known it, too? Was that why he’d taken her to lunch? To try to let her down easily?

My God.

“Leave me alone, Prince Voronov,” she said coldly. “I appreciate your help, but that doesn’t give you the right to pick my life apart for your amusement. You don’t know anything about me, so save your rude speculation.”

The car drew to a halt, but she couldn’t seem to look away from the man staring so intently back at her. His icy gray eyes weren’t cold like she expected—they were hot, boring beneath her skin.

“Then I apologize,” he said after what seemed an eternity of them staring at each other in silence. “I would never want to hurt you.”

The door swung open and she realized they were at the hotel, that a valet waited for her to exit. But everything in the car was surreal, and she found it hard to break away. The next time she saw this man, it would be at a meeting of corporate bigwigs. He would not notice her—nor did she want him to.

If Chad knew she’d spent the night with Prince Alexei Voronov, even though it was innocent, he’d go through the roof.

And she’d definitely be out of a job.

“Thank you for your help,” she said again. She felt like a broken recording, but what else could she say? Paige tried her best to smile as if she wasn’t still raw inside. “I suppose this is goodbye then.”

Alexei’s smile was wolfish. “Ah, but this is not goodbye, is it? We will see each other again, Paige Barnes. We will see a lot of each other, I promise you.”

Paige hurried from the car and dashed inside the hotel lobby without looking back. Her skin was hot, in spite of the frigid weather, and she stripped off her coat in the elevator as it sped to her floor.

Why did Alexei Voronov rattle her so much? Yes, they’d skipped a few steps with that meeting in Red Square, but a kiss was a kiss. Wasn’t it?

Paige’s ears were hot. No, it definitely wasn’t. That kiss had been molten hot, and so had the kisses later, in his apartment.

That didn’t make the kisses extraordinary, however. And, really, how would she know? She had very little to base it on.

Paige fished her key from her coat and slipped into the room she shared with Emma. A pang of feeling pierced her heart, but she pushed it aside. So what if Emma was with Chad? Paige was so over it.

“Oh my God, where have you been? I’ve been so worried!”

Paige stopped dead in the midst of trying to close the door silently, in case Emma was in bed after all, and turned very slowly to face her sister.

Emma’s pretty face was lined with worry. Paige’s heart squeezed in her chest.

“I’m sorry, Emma. I couldn’t sleep and went for a walk.” The lie slipped from her tongue with ease, but guilt followed in its wake. She didn’t like lying to her sister, but it was easier than explaining what had really happened.

And safer, too, since Emma could be a chatterbox. She would innocently let slip the information that Paige had been with the evil head of Voronov Exploration, and that would be the end of Paige Barnes’s career at Russell Tech. She’d be on the next plane home with her tail tucked between her legs and no reference to find a new job.

She couldn’t even think about the potential repercussions to Emma and her budding romance, if that’s what it was, with Chad.

Emma tossed her glorious blond hair, her face shifting into a pout that Paige knew only too well. “You could have left a note.”

“Why would I do that?” Paige asked. “You never wake up before eight anyway.”

Emma had the grace to look sheepish. “Well, I did today. And you weren’t here. I was about to call Chad to help me find you.”

Déjà vu. Paige casually laid her coat over the back of the couch in their suite, thanking her lucky stars she’d returned when she did. The last thing she needed was Chad trying to find her.

“I’m here now, so you can stop worrying.”

“You’re wearing the same clothes as yesterday,” Emma pointed out.

Paige felt her face grow hot. “I put them back on when I woke up. Now I’m going to shower and get ready for the meeting.” She was almost to the bedroom door when she stopped and turned back. “You didn’t come home last night, Emma. Where were you?”

Emma’s face split into a grin. Typical of her sister that she wouldn’t see a parallel between her actions and Paige’s. It simply didn’t occur to her that Paige might have panicked when she hadn’t returned. She expected Paige to always be there for her, but she didn’t seem to think it was a two-way street.

“I was with someone,” Emma said. “And I think I’m in love.”

Paige forced herself to remain calm even though her heart was pounding a million miles an hour. “That’s fast,” she said. “You can hardly know this man.”

“Oh, Paige,” Emma said, her face glowing with happiness. “I wasn’t going to tell you just yet, because I knew you’d worry, but it’s Chad.”

Paige blinked. “You’re in love with Chad? But you barely know him—”

“I’ve been seeing him for a month.”

Paige sank onto the closest chair. A month. One month of lies, obfuscations and going behind her back. No wonder Chad hadn’t needed her to send flowers or make reservations.

And she was beginning to understand why he’d taken her for lunch.

“I had no idea,” she said numbly.

Emma came over and knelt before her, took both of Paige’s hands in her long-fingered elegant ones. “I’m sorry, but Chad thought you might be upset if you knew. We wanted to keep it a secret until we knew how we felt about each other.”

Paige’s hands were so cold inside Emma’s warm ones. One sister had all the life and heat while the other was cold and empty. It didn’t seem fair. “Isn’t a month awfully quick to know if you love someone or not?”

Emma’s smile said that it clearly was not. “Sometimes you just know.”

In spite of her pain, it warmed Paige to see her sister so happy. She’d always wanted the best for Emma. Though there were only five years between them, she often felt more like Emma’s mother than her sister.

But Emma’s beatific smile worried her, too. Paige squeezed her hands. “I’ve worked for Chad Russell for two years, Emma. He dates a lot of women.”

“I know that. But he loves me. He wants to marry me.”

Her heart was splintering into a million jagged pieces around her. She hadn’t realized until that moment that she’d been living for Emma. What would she do when Emma was gone?

And what should she say now? Emma was looking at her so hopefully, but all Paige could do was worry. Was Chad serious? Would he really put aside his playboy ways and make her sister happy? Or was he merely leading Emma along with no intention of marrying her? He was so rich. He moved in different social circles, circles that Emma had never been in before. Was this real, or was it simply another affair?

“Have you set a date?”

Emma shook her head as she stood. “When we get back to Dallas, we’ll start discussing it. He’s just so worried with this deal right now.”

Paige’s heart flipped. But whether it was from her misgivings about Chad’s true intentions or about the deal that held Russell Tech’s future in the balance, she wasn’t sure. Because when she thought of the reason they were here in Moscow, she also thought of Alexei. He’d helped her when she needed it, held her while she cried, and kissed her so expertly that she’d practically begged him to take her to his bed—though of course she hadn’t done it right since he had not complied.

But he wasn’t just any man. He was Prince Voronov, and he was out to destroy Russell Tech. If he succeeded, then he also destroyed Chad and Emma’s possibility of a happy future together.

Paige stood and hugged her sister tight. “I’m glad you’re so happy and I hope Chad realizes how lucky he is to have you. Because if he doesn’t,” she continued, pushing Emma back to look at her, “I’ll castrate him.”

Emma laughed and hugged her back. “Don’t worry about me,” she said fiercely. “I’ll do it myself if necessary.”

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