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CHAPTER ONE

HE KNEW HE wanted her from the moment he saw her

Sharif bin Nazih al-Aktou at the joke of a friend when he turned and saoht, on the shores of Lake Como

She stood past a thicket of trees farther down the hill Her white dress was translucent in the silvery glow of light, and the bare trees of Noveainst her skin Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders, tu, lustrous as onyx Her eyes were closed in her heart-stoppingly lovely face as her sensual lips whispered unheard words

Sharif’s laughter fled Was she a ghost? A dream?

Just so special A trick of ht

And yet

He stared at her

Moroom, who’d recently been a fa his housekeeper pregnant The new bride was very beautiful, yes, he conceded, and seeht that way Not until the bitter end

Not until—

Sharif pushed the thought away, jerking his chin in the direction of the lakeshore “Who is that?”

“Who?”

“The woman By the lake”

His friend, the Duque de Alzacar, craned his head right and left “I don’t see anyone”

Between theuests werethe coolness of the late-autu, held in a medieval chapel on an Italian tycoon’s estate, had just ended, and they aiting for the dinner reception to begin But surely his friend could see the angel by the lake “Are you blind?” Sharif said impatiently

“Describe her to me”