mirror. The outfit pleased her, but it was nothing to make a
demanding man sit up and beg.
Tiana narrowed her gaze at her reflection, trying to imagine
clothes that would make Liam beg and failed. Just as well, she preferred to do
the begging. The thought made her giggle.
A glance at the nightstand clock said if she wanted to
arrive early, she didn’t have time to change. She scooted down the stairs,
grabbed her keys and raced out the kitchen door, locking it behind her. She had
an invitation from Master-Right-Now.
A star jasmine wound through the breezeway between the house
and the garage. She slowed to inhale the delicate fragrance. The acrid taint of
stale cigar smoke nearly made her gag.
For a few seconds, the sickening odor transported her back
into the nightmare of Richard’s abuse and she froze. She flexed her hands,
working out the stiffness from the healed burns and grounding herself in the
here and now.
One of the construction crew had probably lit up a stogie
before heading home. Richard certainly hadn’t crawled out of his grave. The man
was dead and buried and incapable of hurting her or anyone else.
She stiffened her spine, refusing to be scared by something
as silly as a smell.
* * * * *
Back at the ranch, Liam reviewed the background information
Jacque had emailed on Tiana, slowing to reread more than once. He grew more
impressed with every entry. No wonder she believed she would attract students.
She’d been a nationally ranked rider since her teens and a favorite to set new
records during the last Olympics.
What he knew about dressage wouldn’t have braided her
mount’s mane, but he was learning fast. He understood no one achieved that
level of excellence without putting in serious time along with a lot of sweat,
grit and heart.
Somewhere between nominations and final selection for the
USA equestrian team, something went wrong. News coverage on Tiana stopped three
years ago as abruptly as if she’d been abducted by aliens.
Last fall she’d hit the front pages again, this time as the
victim of a brutal assault by a man identified as her fiancé. Jacque had
included the photos the newspapers had run—a publicity shot of her on horseback
and candid snap of her attacker, an accountant with a mid-sized regional firm.
Prior to the fiancé, she’d had one lover, a career soldier
who hadn’t made it back from his last tour. Two men, both dead, made a rough
romantic history for such a stunning young woman.
Judging by the length of her hospital stay and the duration
of her physical therapy, her last Master had inflicted serious damage.
Liam punched up Jacques’ number as he read. “I want you to
dig up whatever there is to know about Richard Miller.”
“Sure, boss. Uh, you know he’s dead, right?”
“Yeah, I caught the news on your report. I still want
everything you can find on the sick bastard.”
“I’m on it. Any more problems with Travis?”
“Nothing concrete—I had the feeling of being watched at
Tiana’s. Her brother has a crew working, so I probably was being eyeballed by
one of them.”
“The team watching Travis hasn’t reported any problems. Last
I checked he was chilling at his sister’s place. Grant’s on site at Tiana’s,
but he’s supposed to pay attention to her not you.”
“Good choice.” The fact Grant was newly married and as
immune to gorgeous women as possible for a healthy man helped alleviate Liam’s
instinct to insist on covering Tiana’s security himself. “Doug is relieving
him?”
“Yes. Forgot to ask, do you want her medical records?”
Doug is solid choice too, but not a newlywed. Damn it. “Not necessary, she’s going to tell me everything.”
“Understood, boss. Don’t take it too personal if she can’t
remember. Her primary doc is a neurosurgeon specializing in coma cases.
Depending on the damage incurred, her memory loss for the period of the
original trauma may be permanent.”
“Good point. I’ll take a rain check on
demanding man sit up and beg.
Tiana narrowed her gaze at her reflection, trying to imagine
clothes that would make Liam beg and failed. Just as well, she preferred to do
the begging. The thought made her giggle.
A glance at the nightstand clock said if she wanted to
arrive early, she didn’t have time to change. She scooted down the stairs,
grabbed her keys and raced out the kitchen door, locking it behind her. She had
an invitation from Master-Right-Now.
A star jasmine wound through the breezeway between the house
and the garage. She slowed to inhale the delicate fragrance. The acrid taint of
stale cigar smoke nearly made her gag.
For a few seconds, the sickening odor transported her back
into the nightmare of Richard’s abuse and she froze. She flexed her hands,
working out the stiffness from the healed burns and grounding herself in the
here and now.
One of the construction crew had probably lit up a stogie
before heading home. Richard certainly hadn’t crawled out of his grave. The man
was dead and buried and incapable of hurting her or anyone else.
She stiffened her spine, refusing to be scared by something
as silly as a smell.
* * * * *
Back at the ranch, Liam reviewed the background information
Jacque had emailed on Tiana, slowing to reread more than once. He grew more
impressed with every entry. No wonder she believed she would attract students.
She’d been a nationally ranked rider since her teens and a favorite to set new
records during the last Olympics.
What he knew about dressage wouldn’t have braided her
mount’s mane, but he was learning fast. He understood no one achieved that
level of excellence without putting in serious time along with a lot of sweat,
grit and heart.
Somewhere between nominations and final selection for the
USA equestrian team, something went wrong. News coverage on Tiana stopped three
years ago as abruptly as if she’d been abducted by aliens.
Last fall she’d hit the front pages again, this time as the
victim of a brutal assault by a man identified as her fiancé. Jacque had
included the photos the newspapers had run—a publicity shot of her on horseback
and candid snap of her attacker, an accountant with a mid-sized regional firm.
Prior to the fiancé, she’d had one lover, a career soldier
who hadn’t made it back from his last tour. Two men, both dead, made a rough
romantic history for such a stunning young woman.
Judging by the length of her hospital stay and the duration
of her physical therapy, her last Master had inflicted serious damage.
Liam punched up Jacques’ number as he read. “I want you to
dig up whatever there is to know about Richard Miller.”
“Sure, boss. Uh, you know he’s dead, right?”
“Yeah, I caught the news on your report. I still want
everything you can find on the sick bastard.”
“I’m on it. Any more problems with Travis?”
“Nothing concrete—I had the feeling of being watched at
Tiana’s. Her brother has a crew working, so I probably was being eyeballed by
one of them.”
“The team watching Travis hasn’t reported any problems. Last
I checked he was chilling at his sister’s place. Grant’s on site at Tiana’s,
but he’s supposed to pay attention to her not you.”
“Good choice.” The fact Grant was newly married and as
immune to gorgeous women as possible for a healthy man helped alleviate Liam’s
instinct to insist on covering Tiana’s security himself. “Doug is relieving
him?”
“Yes. Forgot to ask, do you want her medical records?”
Doug is solid choice too, but not a newlywed. Damn it. “Not necessary, she’s going to tell me everything.”
“Understood, boss. Don’t take it too personal if she can’t
remember. Her primary doc is a neurosurgeon specializing in coma cases.
Depending on the damage incurred, her memory loss for the period of the
original trauma may be permanent.”
“Good point. I’ll take a rain check on
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