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Her phone beeped again. The location of the meeting made her eyes widen. Of all the places in the world … She noted the time and texted her agreement.
Then she sat and stared at her holographic goldfish, willing herself not to dissolve into tears because even they now reminded her of Damion.
Cherry blossoms in full bloom in her favourite park in Kyoto normally lifted her spirits, but Reiko couldn’t summon up an ounce of pleasure as she chose a bench and tucked her hands deep into her coat pockets. Normally she would have been intrigued by a client who chose such a venue to meet, here in her favourite place in the world, but while her heart was in tatters she didn’t much care. On cue, her eyes prickled.
For the love of—
A shadow emerged from behind a particularly stunning blossom tree. The breadth of his shoulders and the arrogance in his stride made her breath catch. She forced herself to breathe.
There was no use suffocating herself over every man whose height or walk reminded her of Damion. Forcibly, she wrenched her gaze from the figure. She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. Couldn’t …
Her gaze whipped back to the figure.
He was much closer. Close enough to see his face, his eyes, the devastatingly gorgeous cut of his jaw.
Joy slammed through her heart before she desperately wrenched it back.
‘Damion! What are you doing here?’ Her voice, feverishly breathless, squeaked from her throat.
He closed in on her and stared down into her face. ‘If you were expecting Radcliffe, I’m sorry to disappoint you.’
Her senses reeled with the reality of him. He’d invaded her thoughts day and night, asleep and awake, for weeks. And now he was in front of her …
She frowned. ‘I was expecting Yoshi. And how do you know about Tom Radcliffe?’
His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘You walked away from me. I let you because I wasn’t at my best. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me, Reiko. Whatever you do, I’ll find out,’ he promised in a dark purr.
‘If that’s code for stalking, then you need serious help. And what do you mean, you let me?’
His eyes gleamed at her. ‘You belong to me, Reiko. It’s time to come back.’
Damion watched the different expressions chase over her face, following each one with his heart in his throat, his every sense readying for a fight if that was what it took.
The past three weeks had been the worst of his life. At first he’d told himself she needed time. But it had been he who’d needed it.
He’d needed to sift through the disaster zone his hitherto carefully composed emotions had become. In the end it had been simple.
His need for Reiko Kagawa trumped everything else. Everything.
‘Take a good look, Damion. There’s no collar around my neck. You don’t own me.’
‘I don’t want to own you.’ He shoved a hand through his hair and paused. ‘We belong to each other. Putting several thousands of miles between us isn’t going to change that fact.’ His jaw clenched. ‘And letting Radcliffe sniff around you isn’t going to make you forget me, either.’
A bleak look entered her beautiful eyes, cutting him to the bone. ‘It’s not that simple, Damion. You know it isn’t.’
He nodded, for a moment unable to speak around the hard thumping of his heart. ‘No, it’s not easy. But you trusted me with your darkest, most painful secret. And I messed up. I would’ve come earlier but my grandfather died—’
Her fingers flew to her lips. ‘Oh, Damion, I’m so sorry.’
His pain was evident, despite his short nod. ‘Merci. I have no right to ask you to trust me again, but I’m asking anyway. We can get through this, Reiko.’
‘There’s nothing to get through. I’ll never be able to have your children, Damion.’
Pain tore through her as she uttered the words.
His grey eyes darkened. ‘Do you want to?’
Her breath rushed out. ‘Please, Damion, don’t …’
