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Her stoave a nauseous lurch With so much at stake, only a lunatic would have behaved as she had It was useless to plead that she could never have foreseen this sequence of events… it did not make her any less responsible for the results And what herto what she would endure at theto prison Eile as she was at the best of times, it was very possible that the crisis would push Sylvia Forrester into another breakdown That danger was as unthinkable to Ashley as the risk of her little brother ending up in a cell, and the istered dully, within her own hands

Was it too late? Ashley straightened her shoulders and breathed in as she turned in her tracks She had to dig very deep for the courage to walk back into the Cavalieri Bank Hot-cheeked, she approached the reception desk, inwardly cringing at the necessity One of the receptionists approached her 'Mr di Cavalieri phoned down to say that you could go straight up, Miss Forrester '

In bewilder her? How could he have known that she would return before she knew it herself?

In the lift she fancied that she felt the weight of a ball and chain on her ankle Pacing down that wide corridor again, she iined she could hear the clank of the heavy links as Vito rattled her chain But already her agile brain orking back over their previous dialogue with greater cool It didn't make sense It didn't make sense that Vito should dehly sexed but he was no slave to that sex-drive He had proved that fact when he walked away toany attee would not be the end result Furthermore, so much bitterness lay between them no could he possibly still find her desirable? Was it true after all, that old cliché which said that men were different, more easily able to separate all e soame with her?

He was a tall, lithe silhouette by the tinted wall of glass that filtered light into the ultra-modem room He contemplated her in silence What lay behind those iuess But suddenly she are as she had not allowed herself to be aware earlier that she was facing a brilliant adversary, infinitely more experienced in tactical warfare than she was

'How did you know that I'd come back?' she proht soon contrive to suffocate her if she didn't break it An eloquent dark brow lifted 'The fury, the walkout, the truculent reappearance? The pattern is not unfamiliar to me'

Burning colour drenched her pallor 'You've got me over a barrel'

'Crude,' he acknowledged 'But apparently true I never credited you with so '

She evaded his scrutiny; conscious that he rounds to betray surprise on that point In the past, she had strenuously resisted his desire to meet her fah family ties were unimportant to her But how could she have taken him home to witness at first hand the atmosphere in her own home? Hoould he have reacted to the discovery that her father loathed all foreigners? Her father had more prejudices than a roomful of people could acquire between them in a lifetime Vito would have been politely appalled and she would have cringed with erounds would have been even ly apparent

'What possible pleasure could you receive froe?' she demanded in helpless frustration

'What force do I eift of free choice'

'That's not fair!' she argued in growing desperation 'Life isn't always fair'

'You're de the impossible!'

'Then we have nothing further to discuss' It was said with cool finality

'We could talk about this,' she proffered curtly, playing for time

'We have a great deal to talk about We'll lunch at my apartment'

Thrown by the suggestion, she stared up at him 'Lunch?'

'I'nificent physique into a superb cashmere coat Perfect calraceful lift of one ebony brow

'I thought you had a house here now'

'The apart hours'

A private lift ran froround car park where a car awaited them 'So… what are you in?' Vito enquired as the li traffic 'Your brother was not disposed to satisfythat we met'