The limo stopped, and a valet in breeches and an eighteenth-century wig opened Bree’s door and helped her out. Feeling the shock of cold, bracing air on her face, she looked around in awe. She touched the green peridot against her skin, beneath her white fur. Standing in this courtyard, she could almost imagine herself as the princess of an ancient, magical land of eternal winter.
She could almost imagine she was a Russian prince’s bride.
His bride.
As Vladimir took her hand in his own, smiling at her with so much warmth she barely even needed a coat, she could not stop herself from wondering, just for an instant, what it would be like to be his wife. To be the woman he loved, the mother of his children.
“Are you still cold?” he murmured as they passed the bowing doormen.
She shook her head.
“But you’re shivering.”
“I’m just happy,” she whispered.
Stopping inside the palace doors, he pulled her into his arms. Kissing the top of her hair, he looked down at her with a smile.
“At last,” he said softly. “I have what I wanted.”
Searching his gaze, Bree sucked in her breath. That smile. She couldn’t look away. It was so open. So...young. He looked exactly like the young man she’d first fallen in love with, so long ago.
The man she’d never stopped loving.
As he took her hand to lead her down the elegant hallway, Bree nearly stumbled in her sparkling high-heeled shoes.
She was in love with him.
She could no longer deny it, even to herself.
Vladimir took her into the ballroom, and Bree barely noticed the exquisite, lavishly decorated space, the gilded walls or the crystal chandeliers high above. She barely spoke when he introduced her to acquaintances. As he led her out onto the dance floor, she didn’t see all the gorgeous people all around them.
She saw only him. She felt only his arms around her, and the rapid thrum of her own heart.
She loved him. It was foolish. It was wrong. But she could no more stop herself than she could stop breathing. She loved him.
For hours, they danced together. They drank champagne. They ate. They danced some more. For Bree, it all flashed by in a moment. In his arms, she lived a lifetime in every precious minute. The regular laws of time were suspended. Hours sped by in seconds.
Suddenly, as they were dancing, the music stopped. Lifting her cheek from his chest in surprise, Bree saw it was nearly midnight.
Vladimir looked down at her as they stood unmoving on the dance floor, and as the last seconds of the year counted down, for Bree it was as if time not only became suspended, but was reversed. His gaze locked with hers, and ten years disappeared.
She was eighteen and he was twenty-five. They were in each other’s arms. The world was new. Brand-new.
He cupped her face. “Breanna...”
Cheers went up around them in the ballroom as she heard the last seconds of the year counted down in a jumble of languages, German, French, Chinese, Spanish, English, and Russian loudest of all.
“Pyat...”
“Cheteeri...”
“Tree...”
Lowering his head, Vladimir said huskily, “Let’s start the New Year right...”
“Dva...”
“Ahdeen...”
His lips pressed against hers, smooth and rough, hard and sweet. He kissed her, and fire flashed not just through her body, but her soul.
“S’novem godem!”
Raucous cheers and the sound of horns and singing revels exploded across the ballroom. “Happy New Year!”
When Vladimir finally pulled away from their embrace, Bree stared up at him, her heart in her throat. She swayed, nearly falling over without his arms around her.
“S’novem godem,”
he murmured, cupping her cheek tenderly. “Happy New Year,
angel moy.
”
She looked up at him.
“I love you,” she choked out.
He stared at her, his eyes wide.
All around them, people were dancing to the music of the orchestra, laughing, drinking champagne, kissing each other. But Vladimir was completely still.
Tears filled Bree’s eyes as she gave him a trembling smile. “Even when I hated you, I loved you,” she whispered. “When I made the wager in Hawaii to be yours forever, part of me must have been willing to lose that bet, or I never would have made it.” She licked her lips. “You have always been the only man for me. Always.”
He did not answer. His face was pale, his blue eyes as frozen as a glacier.
A chill of fear sneaked into her soul.
“And what I need to know is...” She bit her lip, then lifted her gaze to his. “Can you ever love me?”
Vladimir’s eyes suddenly narrowed. He cleared his throat.
“Excuse me,” he said shortly. He walked past her, leaving her alone on the dance floor.
Mouth agape, Bree turned and stared after him in amazement. Her cheeks went hot as she noticed exquisitely dressed Russians and other wealthy, beautiful people staring at her with open curiosity. Embarrassed, she walked off the dance floor.
She’d never felt so alone. Or so stupid.
She lifted her hand to the necklace, to the heavy weight of the peridot against her bare skin.
He cares for me,
she repeated to herself silently.
He cares.
But even that beautiful jewel seemed small consolation, considering that she’d just confessed her love for him, and he’d left her without a word.
Maybe he was called away on urgent business.
At midnight. On New Year’s Eve.
She clawed back tendrils of her long blond hair. Why had she told him she loved him, and worse, asked if he could ever love her back? She knew he couldn’t! He’d told her that straight-out, from the start!
Oh, God. She covered her face with her hands. She was an idiot.
Maybe when he came back, she could give a hearty laugh, as if it had all been a joke. She could tell him she’d been pretending to have Stockholm syndrome or something. She could be persuasive with her lies, as she’d been long ago. She could turn off her soul and disconnect from her heart. She knew how.
But...
She pulled her hand away.
She didn’t want to.
She was tired of bluffing. She didn’t want to be that con artist anymore. Ever again.
And sometimes telling the truth, showing her cards, would mean she lost the game.
She gave a ragged laugh. She’d never expected the cost to be this high. Snatching a flute of champagne from a passing waiter, she tried to sip it nonchalantly, as if it was quite enjoyable to be standing on the edge of the dance floor in a blue Cinderella gown, alone in a crowd of strangers. But as minutes passed, she suddenly wondered if Vladimir was even coming back. For all she knew, he’d already jumped into the limo and was heading for the airport.
Why not? He’d abandoned her before. Without a single word.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Please don’t leave.
A prickle went up her spine as she felt someone come up behind her. Vladimir, at last! In a rush of relief, she turned.
But it wasn’t Vladimir. A different man stood before her, slightly younger, slightly thinner, but with the same hard blue eyes—only filled with cold, malevolent ruthlessness.
“Kasimir?” Bree whispered. “Kasimir Xendzov?”
“Having a good time?” he replied coldly. Before she could answer, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the crowd, into a private alcove. She stared at him. She’d met him only once before, in Alaska, the Christmas night he’d burst in upon them, desperate to tell his brother the truth about Bree’s con. He’d been twenty-three then, barely more than a boy. Now...
Bree shivered. Now he was a man—the type of man you would never want to meet in a dark alley. She yanked her arm away from his grasp. “What do you want? If you’ve come to find your brother—”
“I haven’t come to see my brother.” Kasimir gave her a cold smile. “I came for you.”
“Me?” she breathed.
“It’s about...your sister.”
“Josie?” An icy chill went down her spine. “What about her?”
He came closer, invading her personal space. She instinctively backed away. He straightened, and his eyes glittered. “I’ve married her.”
“What?” Bree gasped.
He gave her a cold, ruthless smile. “Your little sister has become my dear, dear wife.”
“I don’t believe you!”
For answer, he pulled something from his pocket and held it out to her on his palm. Josie’s cell phone. Bree snatched it up. There could be no doubt. She saw the colorful rhinestones that her sister had glued to the back in the shape of a rainbow.
“I asked her to marry me some time ago,” Kasimir said, “and she refused. Until you disappeared. Then she came back. She offered to do anything,
anything,
if I would only save you from my evil brother. Marriage was my price.”
“But why would you want to marry her?” Then suddenly Bree knew, and her heart dropped to the floor. “The trust,” she said dully. “You want her land.”
“It’s not
hers,
” he said tightly. “It’s been in my family for a hundred years. It never should have been sold. We’ve fought for it, died for it—” Catching himself, he relaxed his clenched hands. “So. The land will be mine in three days, when the banks reopen. After that, I can either divorce her quickly with a nice settlement, or...”
“Or?”
His eyes met hers coldly. “Or I can seduce her, make her fall in love with me and destroy her pitiful little heart. I can force her to be my wife forever, and you will never see her again. It is your choice.”
Bree flinched, even as her heart pounded with fear. “How do I know this isn’t all some lie? It might just be some sick joke, some game in the battle between you and your brother—”
Taking the cell phone away from her, he dialed a number, then pressed the phone back against Bree’s ear. She heard her little sister’s voice.
“Hello?”
Bree gripped the phone. “Josie,” she gasped. “Where are you?”
“I’m so sorry, Bree,” her sister whispered. “The poker game was all my fault. I was trying to save you. That’s why I married him....”
“But where are you?” Bree cried.
Kasimir yanked the phone away. As he disconnected the call, Bree went for him, her hands outstretched. He pushed her away easily, tucking the phone in his tuxedo jacket pocket.
“Tell me where she is,” she cried. “Or—or I’ll kill you!”
“You’re scaring me,” he drawled.
“Then...” Bree had already threatened to kill him. What could be more frightening than that? She lifted her chin furiously. “I’ll tell Vladimir!”
Kasimir’s expression was cold. “Go. Tell him.”
She was flabbergasted at his casual tone. “But he will destroy you!”
“He’s tried to destroy me for years,” he said scornfully, “and I only grow stronger.” He moved closer. “And you are wrong, Miss Dalton,” he said softly, “if you think his desire for you will make him sacrifice anything for you or your family. He cares for you because you please him in bed, and he values that pleasure. But given the choice between helping you or himself, he will not hesitate.”
Was Kasimir right? She licked her lips, barely hearing the music from the nearby ballroom. With a deep breath, she lifted her hand to her necklace. She felt its rough weight around her throat.
“Vladimir cares for me,” she whispered.
“Because he gave you my great-grandmother’s necklace?” His brother lifted a dark eyebrow. “He sold that once, you know. And he will sell you, if it ever gives him any advantage.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Try him and see,” Kasimir suggested silkily. “Go to him. Explain how Josie agreed to marry me and give me every acre of the land. He will say her predicament is her own fault, for being foolish enough to seek me as her ally. Vladimir is not a man who excuses mistakes. He punishes them.” His brother narrowed his eyes. “He will not lift a finger to save her.”
Bree trembled in her blue silk ball gown. Was it true?
Vladimir had cut Kasimir out of his life completely, cheating him out of hundreds of millions of dollars, just because of a few angry, drunken words to a reporter. He’d forced Bree to live as his mistress even when she’d begged him for her freedom—all because of a one-card wager. “You made the bet,” he’d said. “Now you will honor it.” Thinking of how he’d just abandoned her on the dance floor when she’d told him something he apparently didn’t want to hear—that she loved him—Bree’s heart lifted to her throat.
Would he treat Josie any more mercifully?
“She will never grow up,” she remembered his hard voice saying. “She will always be helpless and weak, unless you allow her to face the consequences of her own actions.”
“What do you want me to do?” she whispered.
Kasimir’s eyes glittered. “You will help take back what should have been mine.” Pulling an envelope from his pocket, he handed it to her. “Make him sign this.”
“What is it?”
“A deed that transfers control of his company to me.”
Bree stared down at the paper. “I hereby renounce all shares in Xendzov Mining OAO,” it read, “giving them freely and in perpetuity to my brother....”
She looked up, openmouthed. “He will never sign it.”
“You are a clever girl, with a flair for trickery and deceit.” Kasimir tilted his head. “For your sister’s sake, you will make him sign. Even if it causes you a small twinge of grief.” He walked slowly around her. “Your lies caused
me
a great deal of grief ten years ago. I am glad to finally see you and my brother suffer—together. I could not have it planned better.”
Bree’s heart gave a sickening thud.
“It was you,” she breathed. “You’re the one who arranged for us to be taken to Hawaii. You’re the one who bribed Greg Hudson to hire us.”
Kasimir smiled. “My brother was stuck there, bored out of his mind, attending the same poker game each week. I knew he had a weakness for you. I hoped seeing you would cause him pain.” Kasimir snorted. “Instead, you created an opportunity for justice I never could have imagined. You insinuated yourself into his life. Like a disease.”
“Even if his signature is obtained through trickery,” she said desperately, “it will never stand up in court.”