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Faith hesitated. "Look, all I want-"
"Did I ask what you wanted?"
"All I need is some money, just enough to get started somewhere." She drew a deep breath. "I'll make a deal with you."
He grinned, a quick slash of white teeth in his tanned face. "You'll make a deal with me?"
"You keep the house. I won't fight you for it. Just just let Peter and me go on living here for a while, until I find a job. Until I sort things out..."
"Maybe I could let you live here until I sell the house," he said gently. "And then give you, say, fifty percent of the sale price. How's that sound?"
It sounded too good to be true. He was setting a trap. She knew it. She just couldn't figure out how to avoid stepping in it.
"Well," she said carefully, "that would be ...it would be very generous. And-
"And you'd be ever so grateful. Am I right, Faith?"
"I would be, of course. I mean-"
"You don't have to explain what you mean." Cole moved quickly. She thought he was going to walk by her and she started to get out of his way but he slipped his arms around her and even as she brought up her elbows and tried to jam her hands against his chest, his hand was in her hair, forcing her head back as he lowered his mouth to hers.
His kiss was a savage avowal of desire. She tried to tear her mouth from his but he wouldn't permit it. He used his teeth and tongue, penetrating her, forcing her to open to him. She hated him for it, hated him, hated him even as she moaned and let him bend her back over his arm and kiss her until there was nothing in the universe but the man who held her captive to his passion, and to hers.
He drew back first, ending the kiss even as her hands curled into his shirt. His hands clasped her shoulders; he held her out in front of him, his eyes blazing.
"My brother didn't have a chance," he said gruffly. "The poor bastard was lost the second you went after him."
"Get out of my house." Her voice shook. She could feel his fingers marking her flesh. "Get out!"
"We've had this conversation, remember?" She tried to wrench away from him again but he wouldn't let her. "I told you that you can't throw a man out of his own home."
"And I told you, I'm prepared to fight you in court. Everybody seems to think the Camerons are invulnerable. Well, not anymore. I know how the world works, Cole. Money is power. And the Cameron money is-" She stumbled as Cole suddenly let go of her. He dug out his wallet, removed a card and tossed it on the table. Faith eyed it with suspicion. "What's that?"
"It's the reason you're not going to fight me. Go on. Take a look."
She took the card from the table. Raised black letters were set on heavy ivory vellum. The design was understated, almost elegant, but she handled it with caution, as if it were a bomb that might go off.
"Read it out loud."
She took a breath. "'Cole Cameron."' Her tone was hesitant. "`Cameron Oil. Cameron Exploration. Cameron Energy Resources. Cameron Invest..."'
"Investments," Cole said coldly, when her voice began to tremble. She looked up, the color fading from her face. "That's me, baby. Liberty's prize package. It's been an interesting nine years."
"Yes. So I---so I see. You've-you've gone into business."
He laughed. "Let's just say that I need this house and the three-quarters of a million it might bring the way a snake needs shoes."
Faith moistened her lips. "Then-then why...?"
"Why not let you have it? I could. I could burn the house to the ground, hand you a check for what it's worth and never once blink." He reached out, ran a finger down her cheek. She stared at him, mesmerized, and he remembered stumbling across a gazelle and a lion face-to-face in the desert. The gazelle had trembled with terror but the certainty of the outcome had kept it immobilized. "But I won't," he said softly, "because I know what you are."
"Cole. The past is dead. What I'm asking you for is Peter's future.'
"Exactly. The boy is my brother's son. And Ted was my flesh and blood. I shouldn't have held him responsible for what you'd done. I loved him." His voice cracked; he drew a ragged breath. "Peter's a Cameron. So am I" His mouth twisted. "You're trash. You always will be."
"Damn you!" Tears of rage glittered in Faith's eyes. "Why did you have to come back? I hate you. I hate you with all my heart!"
"That makes things simpler all around. We can dispense with the pretense."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She stepped back. "And I don't care. I'll manage without any help from you. Peter and I-
"Peter's no longer your problem."
