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Auntie Kaya.  Don’t forget, now.”
    “I wouldn’t.  I promise.” 
    Alyssa skipped across the floor and descended three short steps that led into a playroom near the kitchen area.
    “So, how did your meeting with Steven go?”  Libby asked.
    “Interesting.”  Kaya noted the sparkle in Libby’s eyes at the mention of her fiancé.  Kaya never felt enthusiastic when she spoke about Jack, thought of him, or even when she was with him.  He seemed more like an old familiar friend than a fiancé.  The sight of him caused her no real delight, just a warm comfortable feeling, like she would get from slipping on a cozy sweater on a chilly evening, and being grateful that it still fit, and could do its job.
    But her heart was pounding out of control at the mere thought of Bryce Fontaine.  Her fingers still tingled from his touch, and those gnawing pangs in the core of her belly were back at the memory of his dark probing eyes, sexy brown lips, and bronzed giant stature. 
    The man had set her on fire with just one look.
    Kaya let out a harsh breath.  “Is he always so damned arrogant?”
    “Who, Steven?”  A frown wrinkled Libby’s forehead.
    “No.  The godfather .”
    “Oh.”  Libby split a wry, freckled smile.  “You met Bryce.”
    “Collided with Bryce would be a more accurate account.”  Kaya had to bite back her impression of the man since Libby worked at Fontaine Enterprises as head of the accounting department.  “Why didn’t you tell me this house belonged to him?”
    Libby shrugged.  “I assumed you knew.  Didn’t you and your sister talk?”
    “I wish we did.  Then I might understand why Bryce thinks her children belong to him.  He went ballistic when he heard I’d inherited them and that I was taking them to Florida with me.  For a minute there I thought he was the biological father instead of the godfather.”
    Libby dropped her gaze and her expression turned somber.
    “What is it, Libby?  Is there something I should know, besides what I don’t already?”  
    “Bryce loves these kids, Kaya.  It would break his heart if you took them away from here.”
    “So do you and Steven, but I don’t see you going into a rage over it.”
    “It’s different for Bryce.  Ever since—”
    “Ever since what?” Kaya prompted when Libby stopped. 
      “Bryce experienced a horrific heartbreak a few years ago, Kaya.  It changed him in more ways than any of us anticipated, even his parents.  He still hasn’t recovered from it.  Just go easy on him, okay?  I know he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but his heart is always in the right place.”
    That was hard for Kaya to believe after the way he’d tried to pay her off.  She should have known there was something profound driving that man.  He’d been warm and charming when she’d first met him, then in the space of a heartbeat, he’d turned into a raging tyrant.  Now Libby was telling her that the omnipotent Bryce Fontaine wasn’t that invincible after all.  He was human and vulnerable like the rest of them.
    “What happened to him, Libby?”  The depth of Kaya’s curiosity, the force of her need to know more about the man who rubbed her in all the wrong ways, surprised even her.
    “I shouldn’t have said anything.”  Libby shot to her feet and clasped her hands over her mouth as if to keep more gossip from spilling out.
    Kaya followed her up.  “But you did.  And you can’t leave me hanging like this.  Maybe, if I know what’s going on in his head, I could better understand his irrational behavior.”
    “Would it change your mind about taking the kids to Florida with you?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Libby eyed her speculatively.  “Just forget I said anything.  When and if Bryce wants you to know about his past, he’ll tell you.  Please, don’t tell him that I mentioned it.  He trusts very few people in this world, and two of them just died.  I don’t want to give him a reason not to trust