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He chuckles "That would be the best case scenario No one knohere Cecile is She disappeared, four years ago Fro to connect the dots Nathan Drew Cecile’s disappearance "Did Nathan do so to do with her disappearance, I would have strangled the truth out of him by now No, Nathan wants to find Cecile as badly as I do"

"Why?"

"When Cecile disappeared, she took two things with her One was Nathan’s heart The other was thirty million dollars of his money Which, at the time, was all he had to his name"

Drew explains The thirty million had been Nathan’s inheritance, advanced to him early, so that he could pursue his passion in real estate develop hi notes that would need to be covered in order for him to finish Casa Mar, a six hundred-rooo to his fa tothat she would return to hi her to loan hih to cover his debts and float hireed, and after Casa Mar sold out, Nathan set up an offshore account in her na fifty million dollars into it--his repayratefulness in interest His plan was to give her the account number on her twenty-third birthday, which was less than three weeks away

"She died four days before her birthday," Drew says flatly "In a fire at his parents’ home You ask e picked you? Why you are here--in this house?"

I raise my eyes to meet his

"Nathan’s sister was born on June 6, 1984 Her na the information sink in "You’re here for one reason The day you were born, and that passport that is co in the mail You will be, as far as that bank in the Bahamas is aware, the owner of that account, and Nathan is planning on using you to make one hell of a withdrawal"

CHAPTER 8

I process the infor into place I look up and find Dreatching me, his eyes wary "I want to speak to Nathan"

He looks down at the floor, then back at ive him a call"

I wait on the couch, a place I have never sat I have always been ushered in and out of theinside when there is a place for ym, to the kitchen, to Nathan’s bed, to his cock But soed Drew is on the phone, and I a into the soft white leather of the sectional, listening to Drew as he speaks Yesterday, I would haveToday, with h power to sit on the couch and risk Nathan’s wrath

"She is asking to speak to you"

"No, she wasn’t suicidal I can’t explain it all nohen can you come ho over and stopping before reen "He’ll be back in a few hours He has to wrap sos up first"

"Why didn’t you tell hio over well I thought it better I do it in person … after his day is done" He steps to the side, leaning on the glass and looking out to the city "What are you going to do, Candace? Leave us?"

I crossto find an answer that I don’t yet have "I’d rather talk to Nathan about that"

He turns and studieslook, he shtly "Cecile He is still madly in love with her It is why he is so cold with you" He glances out at the view and I stiffen, the slight hurtful in its truth

"He’s not cold," I whisper Not always There are tiainst ed It is a fes that are hers And he, as reen eyes ice cold "I just thought you should know For Nathan, the moment he saw her--he was done for It’s one of the reasons he’s still looking She still, even four years and thirty million dollars later, has co her"

I look away, not interested in drowning in his e to decipher whatof Nathan, but I feel this is about us And I don’t knohat he expects from me I don’t knohat I expect from him All I know is that I want to speak to Nathan

The tension in the roo with it I push toopen the slider and return to s enormous relief First, in the for to kill me Second, it illuminates my escape I am here for a reason If I perform as expected, I should be allowed to leave without penalty I aotiate my release At this moment, I have hand

The sound of Nathan’s voice in n that it takes me a mo him in the doorway, his tie loosened, shirt untucked His hair looks like he has been running his hands through it allat hilasses rose-tinted with the new information that I no about him

It is the romantic side of me, the side who devours love stories, the side who still believes in soul ic love That side of me is enamored by the fact that this man can still pine for the woman who crushed his heart Theat me like I have taken his favorite toy and tossed it off a bridge "Drew has apparently been overly talkative"

My ive hi you; I didn’t realize that you would take hts"

"I didn’t realize that you thought I would be capable of murder" His wry voice doesn’t match the hurt in his eyes

I bite back a sharp response, thinking of the ways this man has demeaned me over the last twothe part of angel now "I have a proposition for you"