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glitter—a glitter echoed in the equally fiery gold of Draco’s eyes. What an idiot she’d been. This was no ordinary man. Those eyes. The hair. The stunning good looks and charm, a charm now eclipsed by a tough, ruthless edge. It all screamed Dante, even the ruthlessness, a quality her grandmother had long warned was endemic to his family. How terrifyingly ironic that she was now in a position to confirm that firsthand.
    Shayla fought to speak past a throat gone bone-dry. “Yes,” she finally said. “I do believe they are fire diamonds.”
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing with them?”
    She escaped from the bed with as much dignity as she could muster, winding the sheet tightly around herself in order to preserve some shred of modesty. Ridiculous considering what they’d been busy doing all night and how many times and ways they’d done it. “They’re mine. Give them back this minute.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Bull. Dantes doesn’t sell loose fire diamonds. The only way to purchase them is set in jewelry. So, unless you were foolish enough to pry the diamonds out of their setting…?” He lifted an eyebrow in silent demand.
    â€œI don’t owe you an explanation. The diamonds belong to me and unless you can prove otherwise, I suggest you return them to where you found them.”
    She held out her hand and fixed him with an implacablegaze. He didn’t argue, which surprised her, but folded the diamond back into the blue-and-white parcel paper and returned it to the leather drawstring bag. Jerking the strings closed, he tucked it into her beaded purse and lobbed it toward her.
    â€œYou might want to get the clasp on that bag fixed. Everything fell out when I tossed your purse onto the couch last night.”
    â€œI’ll get right on that.” Relief flooded through her now that she had her handbag back in her possession, a very short-lived relief.
    â€œAnd what about this?” He flipped up his index and middle fingers, a folded piece of paper tucked between them, a very damning piece of paper that listed the main Dante players and their job positions. “Care to explain this?”
    How could she have forgotten the list? And of more urgent interest, why wasn’t his name on it? Why hadn’t he been mentioned in any of the Dante literature or internet research she and her grandmother had done? This morning just kept getting better and better. Gathering the shreds of her dignity, Shayla lifted her chin. “It’s none of your business.”
    His expression iced over, assuming a merciless aspect. “When it comes to the Dantes, it’s very much my business.” He stepped closer. “You claimed you didn’t know me. A lie, sweetheart?”
    She refused to back down. “Did you see your name on that list?”
    â€œDamn it, Shayla. What the hell is going on?”
    â€œNothing illicit,” she retorted, stung. “It just happens that I have a meeting with certain members of your family today and I was dismayed when I discovered your identity because I didn’t want a—” she almost said one-night stand and snatched back the words at the last possible second “—an intimate relationship with one Dante to affect my meetingwith the others. That’s why I crashed the reception last night. I wanted to get a look at who I’d be meeting today.” Not that she’d managed even that. Instead, she’d allowed desire to get in the way of her promise to her grandmother. Shame filled her. “Just out of curiosity, why wasn’t your name on my list?”
    â€œI handle gemstones on a regular basis. Sometimes I carry them. For security reasons I prefer to remain off the grid. Now, about this meeting. Who, what and why, Shayla?” He snapped out the questions. “Not to mention, when?”
    At the reminder, she inhaled sharply. “What time is