now, sir. I put some newspapers and your laptop back there for you. It’s only about an hour and a half’s drive until we’ll be there.’
Alex’s gaze snapped to the carrying case on the floor. A computer with the Internet, a connection to everything he’d been denied while he’d been detained. He didn’t have to settle for grade-school notebooks any more, but he kept the ones he had secure at his side.
Getting online was tempting, but he remained gazing through the window. There would be time enough for that soon. Right now he concentrated on the passing scenery, fully aware that the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville was at his back.
He wouldn’t think of it any more. It was the future on which he was focused now. Firmly. With steel-like focus.
It was time to take back what was his.
* * *
The sun was hovering just above the horizon when, an hour and forty minutes later, the car arrived at Wolfe Manor. Just outside the affluent town of Bedford, New York, the family home was situated on a hundred acres of prime virgin real estate. The gates that closed behind the Bentley as it pulled onto the property were as big and strong as those in Otisville, but the wrought iron here was styled in a pattern of winding ivy and leaves.
More importantly, Ax could control them.
Tall trees crowded the long drive, grouping closer as the Bentley left the main road. The forest soaked up the light, making it seem darker than it really was. At long last, all those trees opened up again in a man-made clearing and the main house rose before them.
‘Here we are.’ James stopped along the circle of the drive, got out and rounded the car to open the back door. ‘Home sweet home.’
Ax looked at the wolves guarding the house’s front door and the snake in his stomach curled into a tighter knot. There was nothing sweet about the place. Never had been, never would be.
But the land … He glanced at the grounds, from the manicured lawns and gardens to the woods that stood just beyond.
The front door of the house opened, silent for its size. A silver-haired man in a crisp dark suit bowed in respect. ‘Master Wolfe.’
‘Leonard.’ Ignoring propriety, Ax reached out and shook the older man’s hand. The grip was tight and went a moment past what was necessary. ‘I see you’ve kept up the place while I’ve been gone.’
‘Yes, sir.’ The butler cleared his throat. ‘We’ve done our best.’
With a nod, Leonard dismissed the driver and closed the front door.
It blocked out the piercing sun, but Alex was ready this time for the inevitable click. He breathed slowly and set the laptop and the notebooks on a side table. Glancing up, he took in the staircase as it loomed above him. He could gain access to anywhere he wanted here, whenever he wanted. Hell, he could sleep out on the balcony if he got the urge.
His shoes clipped along the polished hardwood flooring as he made his way into the main room. Everything was so familiar, from the heavy mahogany furniture to the ornate wall fixtures to the delicate vases with fresh flowers. Familiar, yet foreign. Loved, yet hated.
And right now he hated it with a passion that burned white hot.
The snake inside him leaped, attacking with a sudden surge. He swept up a black onyx wolf figurine from the sofa table, turned and hurled it at the wall. It cracked against the fireplace and shattered into pieces as it hit the ground.
Leonard wisely disappeared from the room.
Alex stood with his hands opening and fisting at his sides. He looked at the ceramic shards that littered the floor. ‘Damn it.’
Tugging at his tie, he loosened his collar. That would not do.
Looking out of the panoramic window, he stared hard at the lake. Wolfe Lake. Deep and dark. Mysterious and beckoning. He shrugged out of his Savile Row jacket and tossed it over the back of an overstuffed chair. Opening the glass door off the main room, he stepped out onto the balcony.
It was quiet out here. He braced his hands on the balustrade and soaked up the silence until a noise caught his attention. He looked towards the trees. For the first time in months, he heard birds twittering and squirrels chattering. The lake was alive, too. With the sun low on the horizon behind him, the water reflected the rays like countless golden jewels.
A sanctuary. That’s what these grounds were. He rolled his head on his neck and felt the fire inside his chest bank just a little.
But then he noticed movement and his chin came up. He looked again towards the water. This time it wasn’t a bird or a squirrel.
It was a woman.
On his dock.
On private Wolfe property.
His spine snapped ramrod straight and his fingers dug into the limestone railing. ‘What the hell?’
His gaze focused with laser-like intensity on the lone figure. Out there, over the water, a young woman stretched her arms high over her head. She looked like a siren, straight out of Greek mythology. Her loose low-slung white pants fluttered in a soft breeze that also captured the strands of her long dark ponytail. She stood motionless, breathing rhythmically, before gracefully stepping back and twisting at the waist.
She was doing yoga.
Alex stared on in disbelief. She moved fluidly from pose to pose, her body seeming long and lean, even though she was a petite thing. She controlled each movement, each breath and each position. She seemed so calm and peaceful as he stood fuming, enraged by the intrusion of her very presence.
He was about to call out to her, to order her off the property, when she folded in half and planted her hands flat on the dock in front of her. The position lifted her hips in a way that brought to mind only one thing and lust slammed into his body with all the delicacy of a battering ram.
Pure, white-hot and dangerous.
The words died on his lips and his mouth went dry as a bone. He felt like a voyeur, but he couldn’t stop watching as she flexed and contorted, the water glittering all around her.
His fingers turned numb around the railing. He hadn’t seen a woman in what seemed like for ever. Hadn’t talked to one. Hadn’t touched one and certainly hadn’t made love to one.
Yet this beauty was no ordinary woman.
Hunger swirled around inside him, combining with the anger for a treacherous blend. He didn’t know who she was and didn’t like that she was here, but he was a red-blooded man. She was a sensual woman and he wanted her underneath him, naked and straining. He wanted to slide into her hot, tight heat.
Most of all, though, he wanted her gone.
He straightened, pulling back his shoulders as irritation won out – but then she relaxed from her exercise and looked over her shoulder. Their gazes connected and he nearly vaulted off the balcony to go claim her.
The air pulsed as their gazes locked. Each breath Alex sucked into his lungs was hot and jagged until she finally broke the connection. She seemed timid then, a scared little
