AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
HE WATCHED AS SHE crossed the room, a frown on his face. A frown that was there more often than not these days. A frown that he was barely conscious of. To an outsider, Xavier Salbatore was six and a half feet of muscle and sin.
He was used to inspiring a reaction, if not of admiration, at least of awe.
He was certainly not accustomed to being walked away from.
And yet this distractingly stunning woman did precisely that, her back revealed by the low silk that draped just above the curve of her rear, her shimmering dark hair swept up into a low bun that he felt an almost visceral compulsion to loosen.
She was familiar to him – yet not.
Cursing the vagaries of his mind, the many, many black holes that were formed in the grey matter, he watched her leave without letting her go. She paused half-way across the crowded room, stopping to speak to someone. A woman who looked remarkably similar.
So they were twins?
Was that why she was familiar? Had he, in fact, met the sister instead?
No, it wasn’t that.
No sooner had the idea occurred to him than he dismissed it.
He dragged his gaze over both women, one with hair that was cut in a bob, both with matching, fine-boned profiles and dark red lips, both slim and petite. Both beautiful, to be sure, but it was only one that caused his body to stir, that caused a hardening in the region of his groin that would – that must – be satisfied.
He propped an elbow on the bar and ordered a single malt, neat, without taking his eyes off the woman. She’d said they didn’t know one another and yet he couldn’t shake the certainty that they did.
Had she forgotten him?
His ego said no.
But she hadn’t even blinked when she’d told him they were strangers. So?
Wasn’t that in and of itself unusual? Wouldn’t a more natural response have been to smile and apologise, to say that she wasn’t sure if they knew one another, and then introduce herself?
They had met.
He was sure of it.
There were so many blanks in his mind, and there was no sense obsessing over them. If willpower alone were enough to recall all of the days and weeks he’d lost then he’d see it all clearly now.
But those dark spots of his past were gone forever – swathes of his personal history had been lost to him.
And somewhere in the recesses of his malfunctioning mind, he was certain this woman existed.
His arousal strained hard against his pants; his body apparently remembered her just fine. She turned her head towards him, their eyes locked, and a mocking smile tilted his lips without his consent. She didn’t look away, as he’d expected. He could see the faint tremble of her pulse at the base of her throat, and noted with interest the way her breathing was rushed. Yet she kept looking at him, as though she couldn’t look away.
And a frisson of something like impatience tore through him.
He hadn’t felt anything like it in a long time, but he had felt it before – he just couldn’t remember precisely when.
Irritation with his own damned shortcomings had him throwing the scotch back and straightening.
She finally looked away, but not before he caught the unmistakable expression of wariness on her face.
As though she were trapped; hunted.
Fascinating.
He cut through the room, ignoring the two men who tried to get his attention along the way. Xavier was used to people attempting to ‘network’ with him at events such as this. In command of a billion-pound empire, there were many people who sought to curry favour with him. But in that moment, his focus was singular and unbreakable.
