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“An innocent eant,” said a deep voice fro’s voice—as did Juliana—and at a sign froeant the otherand saluted

Andre ht, flanked by two nized “At ease,” Andre told the security guards “Thank you for your diligence, gentlemen, and your quick response, but I think Miss Richardson is no threat You may return to your posts”

“Yes, Sire,” the sergeant said quickly, snapping another salute before he and his men departed with military precision

Andre’s eyes never left Juliana as he waited for the security guards to leave Then he said, “I ahtened you, but were you not warned about the silent alarms?”

Juliana nodded, then found her voice “I was But I wasn’t thinking I just wanted” She wasn’t about to tell Andre she’d been trying to distract herself fro old haunts, and had co until it was too late Especially not with two strangers listening to every word she said

A faint smile touched Andre’s lips, and he lifted his chin in the direction of the doorway behind her “You were trying to enter Mara’s suite A trip down memory lane?”

She sed hard “So like that”

Without turning his head, he said, “Privacy, please, Dmitri Yakov”

“Yes, Sire,” bothseveral paces away, out of earshot

Andre took a step toward her “You could not sleep, either, little one?”

His tender voice was as tangible a caress as if he’d touched her, and Juliana shivered and backed away “Please don’t,” she begged “Please”

She wasn’t sure what she was asking, except that she couldn’t bear knowing she was as vulnerable to Andre as she’d been eleven years ago And that he knew it That he would take advantage of her when she had no defenses against him

His smile faded, and his eyes darkened “No, Juliana Since you ask it, I will not Nor will I iht” He turned and strode aith his deter as he went, “Dmitri, please escort Miss Richardson back to her suite”

Chapter 11

Once back in the Queen’s Suite Juliana paced No more able to sleep now than she had been before But it orse now, because seeing Andre tonight had brought hoer escape—whether he loved her or not, whether he deserved it or not, her heart irretrievably belonged to him Forever and a day She had to accept thatand move on

So what do I do now? she wondered She looked down the years of her life and realized she had co, just as it would be Dirk’s She wasn’t under contract for anything yet, even though she’d received half a dozen scripts to read and offers were on the table She didn’t need the money any more than Dirk did She’d never lived lavishly, so she’d saved enough h she was only twenty-nine

Even if she hadn’t saved her hly successful stage actress before she’d married Juliana’s father—that would support her if she needed it She’d never been a starving artist, not even when she first started out in Hollywood And eventually her father’stime, she prayed She couldn’t really remember her mother, so her father was the only parent she’d ever known Money could never fill the void in her life the loss of her father would bring

But the bottom line was that she didn’t need to support herself with her current career, had never needed to work at all Not for money anyway She had needed to work to escape

She still had her charity work She was on the governing boards of two organizations related to children’s rights—one advocating strict child labor laws in developing countries si the sexual exploitation of children They’d invited her for marquee na just how actively involved she’d beco children pushed all her buttons and alould So she still had that to focus on

Maybe she’d give stage acting a shot, too, although that was very different fro in thein hera Shakespearean actress—ive herself the chance to find out if she could do it or not