Caine Forsythe knew moving her had probably been a bad idea but he couldn’t leave her there to bleed to death lodged between the trash bins and the chain link fence. It was too cold outside not to mention the sky had opened up drenching them both with a bucket of unexpected rain. He carried her across the parking lot which seemed a lot longer the second time through it. He had never noticed that before, but he also hadn’t been carrying a bleeding woman either.

The back door to his club had swung closed from the wind. It swirled down the alley and past him as if on a reckless mission. Caine knew the door locked automatically. He hoped Lila hadn’t gone home yet. He kicked his boot on the back door. The clanging was hollow and not as loud as he hoped. When no one appeared, he tried again.

A black woman inched her head out the back door holding onto a baseball bat. The moment she saw Caine the tension fled from her body. “What the hell is wrong with you? Kicking in my back door, good Lord! Gonna scuff up those new boots of yours. You know I noticed. It’s not everyday you invest in new clothes. What happened to you anyway? Get a new girlfriend.” Lila flashed a knowing smile then her eyes rested on the woman in Caine’s arms. “Good Lord in heaven. Get yourself in here! Letting me talk my fool head off while you’re trying to be a Good Samaritan.”

Caine kicked the door open wider and hauled them both inside. “Call 911.” He barked out orders to Lila as he made his way snaking down the corridor to his office. He placed the pale woman on an old couch that seen better days. It was a trophy from his med school period.

He glanced up after settling the woman to see Lila staring at him expectantly. His patience was wearing thin and his mouth mirrored his emotions by drawing into a hard dark line. “You’re not calling.”

His sing song voice didn’t fool her. He was mad and he was scared spitless. She hesitated but didn’t move. “I can’t call. Don’t you remember? On the news this morning?” Lila attempted to jog his memory.

Caine’s shoulders sunk. “Someone sabotaged the 911 system.” He couldn’t believe he had forgotten. He and Lila had had a long conversation about it that morning.

“It’s down all over the city.”

“Then call Diana,” Caine threw her his cell phone. “My sister’s number is on speed dial. One I think.”

Diana had to be there. She was his only hope. His body shook with a memory he had tried to forget, but the woman lying helpless on his couch was bringing it all back to him. She looked so much like Cindy it was startling. Black straight hair that hung to her shoulders, the hip, but not too hip clothing. The oval face as ivory as a perfect cameo. So much like Cindy. God, why did he have to remember?

Ten years ago seemed like minutes as he relived a very similar incident that happened in his past.

On the campus where they had lived, car jackings were very rare. Cindy, his girlfriend at the time, had recently received a posh new car for her birthday, a silver Corvette. She had loved that stupid car. Always insisted on driving so she could show off the silver bullet to all her friends. She liked people to know what her daddy could buy her if she only asked.

As they pulled to a stop light, one dark moonless night, three men came out of the shadows. Two had guns, one a knife.

A normal woman would have given them the damn car, but not her. Not Cindy. Cindy wanted to keep daddy’s precious toy. The two men with guns held him at bay while the one with the knife dealt with Cindy. He screamed for her to give them the car, but she told him she had everything under control.

That was the last thing she ever said.

Then without a backward glance, the three men hopped into their new car and drove away as if what had transpired was only business as usual leaving Caine, a young medical student, to mop up the bloody mess.

He had never seen anyone so horribly misshapen. The marks on her face and arms were deep. Blood pooled near the center of her body where he had plunged the knife into her stomach. There was so much blood. Too many wounds.

Caine shook his head and banished the memory to that part of his brain where he considered it safe. This wasn’t going to turn out the same way, he vowed. This woman was not going to die.

He brushed a lock of black hair off her face. Her skin was so pale. He couldn’t tell if it was from loss of blood or lack of sun. His body involuntarily spasmed and his heart pounded threatening to break his rib cage. His head throbbed in sync with his heart.

She had a wound in her stomach. Just like Cindy had. History was not going to repeat itself. Lila offered him a cloth and he pressed it into the woman’s stomach. If he had to do anything before Diana arrived, he had to stop the bleeding.

The gash on her head wasn’t serious but it needed cleaning up.

Where the hell was Diana? He couldn’t handle this alone. He didn’t want to be responsible for another woman’s death!

Lucky Faraday paced outside the door while both Diana Forsythe and Austin McRae were inside trying to ascertain why Michela was still unconscious. He’d been in the hall too damn long. Hours it seemed.

He was through being patient. He wanted answers and he wanted them now!

He tried to be quiet as he barged through the door to the examination room. Neither doctor looked at him as he entered. They both were focused on an incision at the base of Michela’s skull.

“Only a full MRI work up will tell us anything,” Austin said off hand.

“My God, what did they do to her?” Diana stepped back, away from her sister.

Lucky interrupted. “What do you mean? Who are they?”

“I don’t know, but there has to be a “they”. Someone must have done this to her.” Diana paused. “No wonder she can’t remember the last four years.”

“She has amnesia?” Lucky asked. He was surprised by this revelation. In the back of his mind, he had convinced himself that amnesia was only good for covert agents as a cover story. He never thought about it in relation to someone real, someone like Michela.

“Partial. Localized to the last 4 years. She remembers the night she left for Europe and then waking up six months ago in her bedroom at Wyndham. No one knows how she got into the house without being seen.” Diana still seemed spooked by her sister’s trauma.

“So, do you think that cut on the back of her head caused her memory loss?” Lucky was fascinated and it was an unusual sensation for him. Complicated medical matters didn’t usually make him in awe of medical science.

“Possibly,” Austin interjected. “I knew Michela during the time frame she can’t remember. I don’t remember seeing such a large cut back then, but her long hair does mask the mark rather well.”

“Your knowing her then could be useful,” Lucky remarked as if collecting evidence for a federal crime scene. “But what about the fainting? Why hasn’t she regained consciousness?”

“It’s impossible to calculate, but she’s been having these fainting spells ever since she came back.” Diana had often wondered why Michela was fainting but she never expected it to be like this. This bizarre. She only suspected her sister hadn’t been eating well.

Lucky took in the lax expression on Michela’s face. “Is she always out this long?”

“No, not long. Usually, she wakes up within a few minutes. I do have a theory, though,” Diana said, as if asking for permission to reveal her findings.

“Please,” Austin said in abject fascination. “I’d love to hear it.”

“Something “they” did to that lobe of the brain is causing her body to shut down. Almost like a mini coma. I think the effect is directly linked to her emotions because every time she has had an attack, she has either been extremely agitated or under a great deal of stress.”

Austin was impressed. “So, when her body is healed enough to function properly, it wakes her brain up?”

“Exactly.” Diana seemed pleased Austin was agreeing with her.

“How about a time frame here, folks? Will she wake up between now and next Tuesday or what?” Lucky was hoping for sooner than later.

A small moan came from the woman lying on the table. Lucky released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He wanted to lean down and kiss her. She’d scared the living daylights out of him. The best part was, she was going to be okay. Her eyes opened and he didn’t think he’d ever seen a more inviting chocolate color living in their depths.

The phone at Lucky’s hip rang. He smiled once again at Michela, then winked. He answered with a careful, “Hello.”

Lucky didn’t think anyone could wipe the smile off his face. But the short talk with his commanding officer, Harry, had. It was horrific news. Horrific for Michela and Diana and their family.

He snapped his cell phone closed and looked at the three expectant faces staring at him. Michela was fully awake now. Lucky was talking directly to her.

“Did you hear me?” Lucky said again after getting no response from his first try. “Carlos has kidnapped your father.”

She leaned back on the hard surface of the examination table and willed the next fainting spell to over take her. Things were so much easier to handle in unconscious mode.

Rayna Ambrose was in the midst of a full scale shouting match.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that little twit! Barging in on me... on us... while we were making love! She knows when that door is closed she is to stay out of my room.”

“Aren’t you being a bit melodramatic, Rayna?” Alex Collins smiled and ran a hand up her arm. “She’s gone now.”

Alex seemed content to pick up where they left off, but Rayna was not finished ranting, not by a long shot. She growled and glowered then thrust herself from the bed. She attacked her wardrobe with the vengeance of a mad woman donning clothes and casting others aside.

Rayna glanced at Alex with an intensity that could melt ice. “Not now, Alex!” she bit out. “I have a housekeeper to terrorize.” With that as her last statement, she marched out of her room leaving him lying there naked and alone.

Stone Jacobs ran into the darkened barn next to the stable and searched for the hooded figure. He found nothing but Mila crying, sitting cross legged on a hay square. The hooded figure was gone. Maybe it had been his imagination.

He walked toward Mila and she looked up at him expectantly. “I just did what she asked.”

“I know, honey,” Stone said, trying to soothe her. “I don’t know what you saw up there, but this isn’t worth it. Whoever it is doesn’t deserve your tears.”

Stone brushed the tears from her face. She had grown up in the years since he was last here. Mila had turned into a beautiful woman. His hand wouldn’t leave her face after the tears were wiped away.

He had always felt protective of Mila, but this was something different. More than concern. The longer his fingers lingered on her skin his ears buzzed with awareness. He tried to push that sensation down, but it wasn’t working.

“Tell me what happened, Mila.”

The side of Mila’s face where Stone was touching her felt ten times as warm as the other side. His closeness didn’t shock her, it only made her more aware that he was a man and she was a woman. Even Alex hadn’t caused a shock like this to her system.

“Tell me,” he urged again.

“I was stupid. I believed what Alex said.” Her voice was hoarse with shame.

“What did he say?” Stone’s heart pounded in his chest. If that damned stable boy had hurt Mila in any way, he was going to hog tie him and beat him within an inch of his life.

“He said he loved me.” The tears came again and Mila sank into Stone’s embrace. “I’m sorry.”

“What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?” Stone’s anger swirled in a heated storm inside his head.

“He said the first time would be good. That I’d like it. That it wouldn’t hurt. But it did. So much.” She couldn’t believe she was saying these things to Stone. But the words came forth easily. She had always known she could trust him.

Neither had heard Rayna Ambrose stomping up behind them. Her eyes were wild with anger. “You are a damned liar! Alex would never sleep with you! You’re just trying to get soft hearted Romeo here in the sack. I can’t believe the nerve of you. First you invade my privacy and now you’re spreading lies.”

Stone was up on his feet in the span of a heart beat.

“I would suggest you walk away Rayna. I’m this close to reconsidering my position on hitting a woman.”

Rayna gasped in indignation. “I can’t believe you’re falling for her Cinderella act. I should have known. Janette was just like her. I was always the bad guy, the evil sister. But I’m not going to put up with this from you &endash; A SERVANT! Pack up your things and get off my property immediately!” Rayna pointed to the door with a stern finger and an icy glare.

“Come on, Mila.” Stone helped her up from the hay square. “Let’s get out of here.”

They walked though the barn door and then heard Rayna shout, “And don’t bother coming back!”

Prudence watched from her position on the porch. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. Stone would never come back now, and he would never be interested in a woman who hurt Mila. He had always been protective of that girl. She decided one thing was clear. She had to change her tactics or Stone and Rayna would never get together.

The call came unexpectedly.

The streetlights sliced past them in sudden bursts of light. He was beginning to enjoy stealing side glances at Honor when his cell phone rang. The call was quick. Its meaning clear. Peter Forsythe cursed silently and snapped the well worn cell phone closed.

He could feel Honor’s eyes on him. She sensed his discomfort but said nothing. She pleaded with her eyes for him to tell her what was wrong. He calculated the distance remaining to her house and cursed again. He slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the road.

“What’s wrong?” she said, her lips mirroring what her eyes had already told him.

She could see a vein in his jaw throbbing. She took that as a bad sign. Must not have been good news on the other end of that call.

“After we left the restaurant tonight, my father and his business partner were kidnapped.”

Her gasp was expected but the hand covering his was not. Her touch was warm and comforting. The mere hint of their hands brushing together sent a fire storm hurling from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. It wasn’t natural for him to have this intense a reaction to someone he had just met.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah.” Peter didn’t say more when a lump formed in his throat. How many times had he wished the old man would go away and mind his own business where his love life was concerned? Now he had finally gotten that wish. Only this wasn’t the way he wanted his father to distance himself. He didn’t want him dead. A guilty feeling washed over him.

Peter’s voice was filled with a husky emotional quality he found strangling. “I have to go home. We’re calling a family meeting.”

Honor immediately understood. “Oh, by all means, your duty is to your family, not to me. Drop me off at the next gas station. I’ll have one of my sisters come and pick me up.”

He knew his duty to his family but he didn’t want to leave this intriguing woman just yet.

“No. I want to take you with me to Wyndham. Then later, after we get things settled, I’ll take you home.”

Honor held out her hand in protest. “No, you don’t have to do that. You’re father was just kidnapped. I’m an insignificant person in this equation. Your family are the ones who need you now.”

Peter ignored her objections. “I’m taking you home with me.” He started up the car and turned around heading toward the other side of town.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered.

“I insist. It’s the last thing my father asked of me.”

Diana couldn’t believe this was happening. First Michela and her amnesia, now her father’s kidnapping. It was almost more than she could emotionally bear. She stared at the three people standing before her. Lucky Faraday was the first to speak.

“I know Carlos is responsible for this,” he bit out. “And I know how this lunatic’s mind works. I’m not leaving either of you ladies alone until I get you both home safely.

Austin wanted to be involved. He felt a strange new connection to Diana and he didn’t want her to get away without insinuating himself into her life somehow. If the spark between them was real, he wouldn’t have to bother with remarrying Honor and making their marriage real. As it stood, the letter he received from the church in the South Seas told him what he already suspected. His marriage to Honor wasn’t legally binding in the eyes of the law or God, especially when an escaped felon had performed the ceremony. The priest had looked unassuming at the time. But later reports detailed that he was hiding from the authorities in the parish.

It was just Austin’s luck. He couldn’t go forward with his plan for Honor now. But maybe he could find a bigger score in the form of rich heiress Diana Forsythe. It might be worth the trouble of getting rid of Honor just to bed the black haired beauty.

He considered his options and decided to accompany Lucky on his quest to protect the ladies. Neither of them had to know they might need protecting from him one day.

Lucky’s concern for Michela brought Austin from his ruminations.

“Are you all right?” Lucky asked.

“Fine. Just a little light headed.” Lucky steadied Michela who looked on the verge of fainting a second time.

“Why don’t we take these beautiful ladies home, Luck. I’m sure there is strength in numbers.” Austin was making sure he could spend more time with Diana, no matter what he had to do.

“Good idea. My Jeep is out back. Let’s go.”

Lucky carried Michela to the Jeep to a great many objections. He had ulterior motives himself, although he tried not to internally voice them. He was honorable saying he wanted to protect the sisters, but he also wanted to get to know Michela better -- a lot better. Better in a way that had his mouth crushing her mouth and slick bodies writhing in a king sized bed. He shivered at the thought. He had never wanted someone so completely before. And it definitely wasn’t his style to want to wake up with her next to him in the morning. But with her that was exactly what he wanted, and more. And it had nothing to do with Carlos or the missing Forsythe patriarch. It had to do with simple ole chemistry and lust.

Honor had done a lot of thinking on the way to the Forsythe mansion. Being with Peter tonight had been like being struck by lightening. She didn’t know she could feel such intense things by only holding his hand, but she had. It had never been like that with Austin. She had never once wanted to rip his clothes off and make mad passionate love to him in the front seat of his car. And that idea kept flashing in Honor’s mind. Only Peter was the star of her daydream, not Austin.

She and Austin had been married for two whole months, but he had yet to take her to bed and make love with her. Every night she wondered what was so wrong with her that he didn’t want to touch her in an intimate way. After a while, she forgot about the sex part of their marriage and tried to focus on the relationship aspect. It was hard being married to a doctor. The hours he worked were long and rigorous, but he never seemed to have time for her or their spousal responsibilities.

She wondered how she was going to get through this hurdle in their marriage. What they had now was a hopeless shambles. She tried to mask it with pretty words and innocent kisses, like back at the restaurant, but it wouldn’t be long before her sisters, Glory and Hope, caught on to the charade. She had never been able to lie to them.

Then yesterday, before the dinner at Antony’s, she was given the worst news possible. She and Austin would never be able to have a baby. He was infertile.

A flood of tears sprang forth. Tears for all she’d lost and all she could never have, one of those things being unconditional love from her husband.

Peter walked into the library and found Honor there sitting in the dark. He didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. He sat down beside her and gathered her into his arms. He instinctively knew it was what she needed. Hell, it was what he needed as well. They sat that way in the dark comforting each other for a very long time.

She sniffled and glanced up at him. “Have you heard anything about your father?”

“No, nothing. The sheriff is a friend of mine, and he’s looking into it for us.” Peter paused and ran a soothing hand up her arm. “Quietly and discretely, of course. Once the press gets a hold of this, it will be a media circus.”

Honor wiped her tears flicking the tell-tale stains away. “I’m sorry.” She winced. “I know I keep saying that, but I should be the one comforting you.”

“You are,” he said, holding her tighter. “Believe me, you are.”

A shadow filled the door blocking the light from the hallway. Peter introduced the man as Ramsey.

“Ramsey and his wife, Sophie, have worked for us for as long as I can remember. Now that mom’s gone, it’s like having a second set of parents.”

“Would you like me to make up a room for the young lady, sir? It is getting rather late.” Ramsey’s British debonaire side was coming out. The English accent was more pronounced for Honor’s benefit.

“That’s a good idea. Use the one next to mine. Caine’s old room. I can’t remember the last time he used it.” Peter turned to Honor. “Caine lives over his club downtown in the warehouse district near the airport. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“I don’t want to intrude. I should just go home.”

“Nonsense.” Ramsey and Peter said simultaneously.

“We have enough rooms for an army of people. So please, do me the honor and stay tonight.”

Honor knew it was against her better judgement, but she relented. Getting to know Peter better was too great a draw.

“Great. Tomorrow we’ll have Sophie make you one of her famous homemade breakfasts guaranteeing you’ll want to keep seeing me just for the food.” Peter’s smile lit up the room. “You won’t regret it.”

Peter explained to her how to find Caine’s room, then he disappeared into the bowels of the house with Ramsey not far behind.

Once upstairs, she found herself lost. The doors seemed to all look alike.

“Was it the second door after the first landing or the third?” Honor sighed. She guessed it didn’t matter. Peter explained that there were quite a few empty rooms on this level. Any would do.

“Enie, meanie, miney, moe.” Her finger landed on the third door from the top of the stairs. “Guess you’ll just have to do,” she said with a second sigh.

She removed her clothing and slipped beneath the sheets in only her bra and panties. The bed was cold, but it didn’t matter. Once her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

Peter was exhausted as well. It had been a long night. Dom Martinez, the sheriff who owned the property north of Wyndham, had promised him he would look into his father’s disappearance the next morning. Since they hadn’t received a ransom demand, Dom told Peter to get as much sleep as possible. He knew he would need it.

He decided to turn in for the night. He stood at the third door at the top of the stairs and glanced to the door next to his. Maybe tomorrow he would be able to get a hold of Caine. His cell phone had been busy all night.

Peter felt bone weary as he opened the door to his room. He thought about peeking in on Honor, but he decided against it. The woman deserved her privacy. He was too tired to even turn on the light as he stripped to his boxers. The sheets felt cool and he shivered, drawing them up to his chest. When he shifted to his side and positioned his pillow more comfortably under his head, he realized he wasn’t in his bed alone.

Honor’s face, relaxed in sleep, looked so innocent. He brushed a clump of blond hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He had been thinking about her being in his bed all evening. Like a miracle, here she was. He was glad their first attempt to drive her home had failed. That made it possible for her to be here with him now like a fulfilment to a dream.

The cold sheets began to feel warmer with two bodies in bed, and Honor’s sleeping form responded to the heat from Peter’s body. She inched backward spooning herself into Peter closer than he thought wise. Her back was touching his chest and her butt against his arousal.

It was more than a sane man could take.

The sensation of her meeting the length of him was doing strange things to his mind. Suddenly, he was having a hard time thinking clearly. This was not a good situation. He wanted her badly before he even so much as touched her. Now with her body so close to his, that need grew ten fold. Maybe this would be a good night to sleep in Caine’s room.

He knew if he didn’t move now, he never would.

As he tried to extract himself from the bed, a wimper escaped Honor’s lips and she turned to face him. Her eyes were still closed.

“Don’t leave,” she whispered, huskily.

Peter groaned. He didn’t know if he was going to make it through the night, much less get any rest. He was already so aroused by her presence, he was about to explode.

“You can do this, Forsythe,” he coached himself. “You can be a gentleman.”

He could tell, even in sleep, Honor was not going to let him out of the bed. So he resigned himself to his destiny and hoped to hell he kept his hands to himself while he was sleeping.

For Peter, sleep was a long time in coming.