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Had anyone else heard that poignant piece of music? The depth of emotion in those few bars he’d heard had stopped him in his tracks He could have listened to her for hours She had looked so absorbed, so in the moment, she’d seemed to be lost in an internal world in which thee and falling cadences, those heartstring-pullinghi hiain But he had a feeling that particular piece was so she kept private Why else had she looked so annoyed when he’d disturbed her?

There was so much about Aiesha he didn’t know There was so much she kept hidden

There was so much he wanted to discover

She was co and beautiful and bold and brazen Maddening

And yetlikeable

His instincts had been right She had been genuinely upset after her knockout blow to his nose Even though she tried her best to hide it, her gaze kept going to his black eye with a little flicker of concern He saw the way she chewed at the inside of herThe way she deliberately tried to seduce him, but then pulled back whenever he took the lead What was that all about?

Jaainst the snow He shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned

It would be dangerous but he would have to get even closer to her to find out

CHAPTER SEVEN

AIESHA WAS TRYING to get to Archie in ti as hard and as fast as she could but her legs were useless, powerless They were shaking so hetti Fear clotted the blood in her veins, it stole the oxygen fros, it churned her stoot a little closer But then she stumbled over so out, her voice hoarse fro, ‘Noooo!’

Aiesha sat bolt upright in bed, her throat raw fro so hard she could hear the echo of it in her ears The sound of her ragged breathing was deafening in the dead silence of the night