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"Maybe I should just return to h some part of her had just been cruelly ripped fro he loved her He wasn’tfor her There was no hint of co other than the fact that he had been watching her and she had driven him crazy

"What the hell do you want fro and turned back to hi what she hadn’t even known she’d so desperately needed

"I want you to stop being frightened of me, to start with," he de on him fully, her arms propped on her hips, Piper confronted him as she had never confronted her brother "For God’s sake, Jed, I never knehat the hell you’ve wanted froave ht stand Or is that all you wanted?"

Heated anger was brewing inside her, rising to the surface and threatening to break free of the shield she nor it

"What do you think I wanted?" Dark e her of the thin ice she s froh, so why start now?

Why should she even atte, or anyone else? she thought furiously as she watched hi the remote to the bed

"You think I’ve drivento ensure you have the space you need to deal with your brother and decide what you ith rowled

Hehi her to hiainst his hard body while his free hand slid into her hair, clenched, and pulled her head back

"You er, and soleamed in his eyes "Son of a bitch, Piper, you s I’ve never felt before, and I have no idea how to fucking deal with them"

Her eyes widened

"What do I make you feel, Jed?"

His lips parted, but what he would have said, she didn’t know

"How very sweet"

That voice

Grating Harsh

She knew it It echoed in her head and slaeha as he used one arhtly since the attack in New York The face she could never remember The vision of horror and pain she hadn’t been able to escape

The h the left side of his upper lip and bisecting a weak chin Thinning dark brown hair and un leveled at Jed’s chest

"You’re a stupid erous fury building in his body

"How do you figure that?" Thin lips curled into a sneer as bulky shoulders shifted beneath a light jacket that strained across them "I slipped in on you, didn’t I?"

"Did you?" Was that amusement in Jed’s voice?

The other irlie there," he suggested "She can run over to the next roo theht let you live if she hurries And if she brings theripped his waist with one hand as the other balled into a fist and pressed against his back Fear rose inside her and threatened to steal her breath An ugly flash of life without Jed sla back tears

"How do I know you don’t have soh he hadn’t just been watching the complete emptiness of her suite

"Doesn’t ," the man stated, his voice harsh as he advanced another step "Now, does she go after those jewels or do I kill you? Then her" A s question passed them "Or I could just hurt you a little bit to show her I un at Jed’s kneecap

"No need to go that far," Jed drawled, as though it were all a game "She can just do as you ask"

She knew Jed’s voice She knew the passion-rich sound of hunger in it as well as the icy slide of a warning And the warning in his tone was unht be the case" The intruder’s slanced to Jed’s side to peek around at her

He chuckled with a grating rasp "It’s nice to see you’ve healed froht it a rather wasted effort to add e before the old bruises have healed"

And he appeared to enjoy the thought of adding those bruises

He had every intention of killing theaze Cruelty was inherent in the ainst her undefended body

"Go on, Ms Mackay," he ordered her softly, waving the gun toward the door between Jed’s room and her own "Collect all the jewels now Miss any and he’ll die"

"Hoould I know?" Licking her dry lips, she didn’t have to pretend pure terror; it was there, slapping her in the face "They’re mixed in with the rest of the stones"

Evil hazel eyes narrowed "What do you ht at the craft store" Forcing the words past her lips, she tried to hold back the quaver in her voice "I thought they were the fake stones I’d bought"

For the briefest second surprised disbelief filled the hter left his lips