Bree. Have no doubt about that.”
She wanted to beg him to let her go. But she knew it would do no good. Vladimir’s handsome, chiseled face was hard as granite. There was no mercy in it. But she couldn’t stop herself from choking out, “Please don’t do this.”
“My touch wasn’t always so distasteful to you,” he said softly. He ran his hands down her shoulders, pulling off her black leather jacket and dropping it to the marble bedroom floor. “Once, you shuddered beneath me. You wanted me so badly you wept.”
Bree swallowed. She’d once been sure of only two things on earth: that Vladimir Xendzov was the last honorable man in this selfish, cynical world. And that he loved her.
“Ya tebya lyublyu,” he’d whispered. I love you, Breanna. Be my wife. Be mine forever.
He’d been a different man then, a man who laughed easily, who held her tenderly, a fellow orphan who looked at her with worship in his eyes. Now, his handsome face was a lifetime harder. He was a different man, hard and rough as an unpolished diamond, his blue gaze as cold as the place that had been his frequent home for the past ten years—Siberia.
His grip on her tightened as he said huskily, “Do you not remember?”
Blinking fast, she whispered, “That was when I loved you.”
His hands grew still.
“You must think I’m a fool.” Dropping his arms, he said coldly, “I know you never loved me. You loved my money, nothing more.”
“It might have started as a con,” she said tearfully, “but it changed to something more. I’m telling you the truth. I loved—”
“Say those words again,” he exclaimed, cutting her off in a low, dangerous voice, “and you’ll regret it.”
She straightened her spine and looked at him defiantly.
“I loved you,” she cried. “With all my heart!”
“Be quiet!” With a low growl, he pushed her back violently against the bedpost. “Not another word!”
Bree’s heart pounded as she saw the fury in his eyes. She could feel the hard wood against her back, feel his chest against hers with the quick rise and fall of her every breath.
Abruptly, he released her.
“Why did you really come to Hawaii?” he said in a low voice.
She blinked fast, able to exhale. “We got offered jobs here, and we needed them.”
He shook his head, his jaw tight. “Why would you take a job as a housekeeper? With your skills?” His eyes narrowed. “You were surprised to see me at the poker table. If you’re not here to con me, who was your mark?”
“No one! I told you—I don’t do that anymore!”
“Right,” he said sarcastically. “Because you’re honest and pure.”
His nasty tone cut her to the heart, but she raised her chin. “What are you doing here? Because the last time I checked, there weren’t many gold mines on Oahu!”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Do you truly not know?” His forehead furrowed. “It was in the news….”
“I’ve spent the last decade avoiding news about you, chief. Not looking for it!”
“Three months ago, I was in an accident,” he said tightly. “Racing on the Honolulu International Speedway.”
An accident? As in—hurt?
She looked him over anxiously, but saw no sign of injury. Catching his eye, she scowled. “Too bad it didn’t kill you.”
“Yes. Too bad.” His voice was cold. “I am fine now. I was planning to return to St. Petersburg tomorrow.”
Her heart leaped with sudden hope. “So you’re leaving—”
“I’m not in any hurry.” He gripped her wrists again. “Nice try changing the subject. Tell me why you came here. Who is your mark? If not me, then who?”
“No one!”
“You expect me to believe we met by coincidence?”
She bared her teeth. “More like bad luck!”
“Bad luck,” he muttered. He moved closer to her, and his grip tightened. She felt tingles down her body, felt his closeness as he pressed her against the carved wooden post of the bed. His gaze fell to her lips.
“No,” she whispered. “Please.” She swallowed, then lifted her gaze. “You said … I could just clean the house….”
He stared at her. His blue eyes were wide as the infinite blue sea. Then he abruptly let her go.
“As you wish,” he said coldly. “On your back in my bed, or breaking it scrubbing my floor—it makes little difference to me. Be downstairs in five minutes.”
Turning on his heel, he left the bedroom. Bree’s knees nearly collapsed, and she fell back against the bed.
Vladimir didn’t believe she’d ever loved him. When he’d abandoned her to the sheriff that cold December night in Alaska, he’d truly believed that her love for him had just been an act. And now he was determined to exact revenge.
His punishing, soul-destroying kiss had been just the start. An appetizer. He intended to enjoy her humiliation like a lengthy gourmet meal, taking each exquisite course at his own leisure. He would feast on her pride, her body, her soul, her memories, her youth, her heart—until nothing was left but an empty shell.
With a silent sob, Bree dropped her face in her hands.
She was in real trouble.
SEVEN hours later, Bree had never felt so sweaty and filthy in her life.
And she was glad.
With a sigh, she squeezed her sponge over the bucket of soapy water. There was still almost no dirt—she guessed Vladimir’s team of servants had cleaned the place top to bottom the day before. But he’d still made her scrub every inch of the enormous house’s marble floor. She narrowed her eyes. Tyrannical man. Her back ached, as did her arms and legs. But—and this was the part she was happy about—she’d done it all with her clothes on. He’d thought a little cleaning could humiliate her?
Leaning back on her haunches, Bree rubbed her cheek with her shoulder and smiled at the newly shining kitchen floor.
This house was a beautiful place, she’d give him that. Glancing through the windows as she’d worked all day, surreptitiously plotting her escape, she’d seen an Olympic-sized infinity pool clinging to the edge of the ocean cliff. On the other side of the house, across the tennis
