Page 29 (1/2)

Chapter One

When you’re looking forhand—and if you have even half a brain—you should know better than to ask the devil And yet sometiaining with the devil was the only other choice

She peered out froilant watch on the three sets of elevator doors, disappointed that not one of them had opened in the last half hour Obviously, the “devil” wasn’t aperson

In fact, she’d been told repeatedly by his assistant that the bastard would not even see her, and that he had no interest in donating anything to anyone, much less her foundation What a dick

Ivy, however, was determined not to let his assholian personality deter her plans She’d figured that if she got into his office before everyone else did, then he would have no other choice but to hear what she had to say—and it was a lot

Therefore, earlier today, at six a , every inch of her body focused on acting like she belonged here

When the two guards lifted their heads to inquire about her identification, she’dto speak to soist of CONLO’s business—on her cell phone Thankfully, they’d backed off, and she’d ed to disappear into the elevators with a frantically pounding heart

She still couldn’t believe she’d gotten aith that first bit Now, over two hours later, she pretended to survey her htly locked glass doors—that led into the top offices The locked doorswith the first unsuspecting executive

God, she really hoped it was not “him”

We’ve tried The guy won’t see us, the other volunteers at the foundation had warned her

I’ll find a way to goad his secretary, Ivy had assured the ones

Ivy, let’s find souy’s a billionaire now He’s as powerful as Zeus but has the disposition of Hades, and the last time I saw hi to help, even for his wife

Trust me He will, Ivy had assured them

All her friends were terrified of Cade West, but what they didn’t know, and what Ivy didn’t tell them, was that she’d seen this man a decade before He probably didn’t reet him

Ivy’s mother had been treated in the same hospital as Cade West’s wife had, and the day the latter had passed, Ivy had been visiting How could anyone forget the sight of him that day?

Dark and sexy as a pirate, he’d always been apresence even the nurses whispered about But on that day, he’d been … broken Ivy would never forget seeing his enor-roo low, his face buried in a pair of hands that were broad and tanned and ner jacket stretched with each of his breaths, and he was breathing fast, so fast

Ivy had been heading back to college when she spotted him It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him around, but it was the first time she could allow herself to stare

What she saw made all the blood pool low and hot inside her belly

She’d drunk in every awesome inch of his muscled frame, muscles that looked tense and coiled in pain, and little by little, her heart had shattered with his

Pulled by a force beyond anything she’d ever experienced before, she’d headed over, twenty years old and still not very wise in the ways of the world He seeaze Before she could even reach hiht at her with red-rimmed eyes that were on fire with emotion

And he spoke

What the devil are you looking at, Barbie doll? Don’t you have a Ken to go screw?

God, he’d been so angry that Ivy had rushed away—so she was determined not to do this time around