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  Alyssa bit back a bitter chuckle. If only he’d known he was wasting his time, even the little he’d invested. Her father might have been rich as Croesus, but she sure as hell hadn’t been. Wasn’t. Maybe never would be. Although, money had never really mattered to her.

  He’d left her there, humiliated, drunk and alone. She’d been forced to call her father to come pick her up. Ignoring the tear tracks on her cheeks, he and her stepmother had lit into her. Bridgett had ranted about what a bad influence she was on her half sister, Mercedes.

  And there was nothing she could say.

  From that night on, any hope she’d ever had of repairing her relationship with her father had crumbled to dust.

  But that had been years ago, and until Kayne’s name had come across her desk, attached to an intent to bid notice for the Watch Me app, she’d thought she was long over the experience.

  Oh, how wrong she’d been. Just his name had sent anger, humiliation and something much more sinful washing across her skin. There was no way in hell she’d do business with the man and she’d said as much to her partner, Mitch Dornigan.

  They might be equal owners of V&D, but he hadn’t protested or questioned her snap decision. In the weeks since, her anger hadn’t dissipated. In fact, it had only increased, especially with the man’s latest stunt. She wanted to reach across the conference table and scratch the smug expression right off his face.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her from reacting to him. Just the sight of his powerful, suit-clad body had energy humming through her bones, pure electricity. Her pulse skittered, her mouth went dry and her palms started to sweat.

  God, she hated that Beckett Kayne had this kind of primal effect on her. She was a strong, independent and intelligent woman. So why, the moment he walked into her sphere of existence, did her brain go haywire and her body revolt?

  The simple answer was that the man was inherently sensual in a dark and dangerous sort of way. Even more so now than back then. Any living, breathing female would respond to him. The problem was, he knew exactly the effect he had and wasn’t afraid to use it. Beckett Kayne had a reputation for being ruthless, using whatever advantage he was given.

  She had no intention of giving him any more by letting him know just how he affected her.

  His thick brown hair made a woman want to grab and take hold. His moody blue eyes were consuming and observant. Rumor had it that he liked to watch, from a room high above the floor of his clubs.

  An unwanted shiver snaked down her spine. Alyssa shook it off. Now was not the time. She had to get a grip. The man was here to destroy her business, something she’d spent the past two years building. She’d be damned if she was going to let him. She needed her mind clear and her faculties focused.

  He wore a precisely tailored business suit. The material was expensive and skimmed across his body in a way that highlighted the lean muscles and tight build hidden beneath. It was a far cry from the tight jeans, frayed at the hem, and skintight black T-shirt he’d worn the first time they met.

  Then he’d looked like an outlaw. An air of danger had clung to his skin along with the scent of alcohol, musk and something purely male. But that wasn’t what had drawn her. Beneath that there’d been a...vulnerability. A misery she recognized, understood and, for some strange reason, wanted to soothe.

  Apparently that had been a lie, as well.

  She wanted to think the business suit was an improvement, but somehow not even that facade could hide the edge of savagery, the tiger pacing lazily behind iron bars. You just knew if he ever broke free, that deceptive drowsiness would disappear and he’d rip your head off.

  Beckett Kayne moved with that same kind of powerful, predatory grace.

  Biting back a growl of frustration—at herself—Alyssa watched him drop into the chair across from her and cut a smile over her people. Two seats down, Deirdre sighed, the soft gush of air difficult to misinterpret. He hadn’t even opened his mouth and she was already mesmerized.

  The one saving grace was that Kayne didn’t even bother to look in Deirdre’s direction. His eyes were trained unflinchingly on her.

  A few seconds stretched into thirty, sixty and then more. Alyssa fought the heavy weight of silence. The pressure built, as if her insides were frantically moving while she sat perfectly still, waiting for him to make the first move. The sensation was unnerving...almost as much as Beckett Kayne’s scrutiny.

  Something wicked flashed in his eyes, but before she could blink it was gone. Tingles raced across her skin. Slowly, the most amazing smile stretched his mouth. Wide, knowing and enigmatic, for some reason it made fear spin deep in the pit of her belly.

  “Ms. Vaughn, wonderful to finally meet you.”

  The warm, throaty rumble of his voice didn’t help to quell the churning. In fact, it made it worse. There was an edge to his words, some deeper meaning that made her muscles tense.

  Could he actually remember?

  No, surely not.

  “I’m afraid I can’t say the same, Mr. Kayne.” Grinding her teeth together, Alyssa struggled to keep her emotions in check and tone civil. “I don’t appreciate the position you’ve put us in.”

  She’d hoped to see a flash of regret. Or maybe just something that proved the man had a heart. To her surprise, instead of dimming, his smile morphed. His eyelids went heavy, dropping into a lazy, sensual squint. His mouth crooked, pulling higher on one side. Some might say it was a flaw, his one imperfection. But after all these years it was the thing she remembered most.

  It made him human. Attainable. Real.

  Once her gaze was snagged, Alyssa fought to force it away from his lips. And failed. It was the only reason she noticed the telltale twitch of humor.

  “You gave me no choice, Ms. Vaughn, by ignoring my requests to do business together.”

  Blowing out a sound of frustration, Alyssa couldn’t stop her voice from rising. “Perhaps you should invest in a dictionary, Mr. Kayne. It might fill in some of the gaps your lack of education has apparently left. Not giving you the answer you want isn’t the same as ignoring you.”

  His lips flattened into a compressed line. Disappointment clawed at her. That she did ignore. Or tried.

  “We weren’t interested in doing business with you.”

  “Yes, you made that abundantly clear, although I have no idea why. The problem is you made that decision while simultaneously leaving yourselves vulnerable. I’ve never been the kind of man to walk away from an open invitation.”

  Probably sensing just how close she was to losing it, Mitch stepped in before she said something that would derail any possibility of finding a reasonable solution to the situation.

  “Taking out that loan was hardly an invitation.”

  Kayne shrugged his shoulders, the motion smooth and negligent. “That’s the problem with doing business with friends. Taking out a private loan with a personal acquaintance instead of a bank is always risky. Less legal oversight governing the contract.”

  Alyssa’s jaw ached from the pressure to keep her mouth from overriding her brain. She’d had plenty of practice swallowing her words, but for some reason the ones she swallowed now were more bitter than any others.

  They’d tried to get a conventional loan and none of the banks would back them. Why would they, when the business was already in the red? The bank’s algorithms and number crunchers couldn’t take their upcoming success into account. They were weeks away from a huge influx of capital when their first app sold. And they had another that would be ready within the next two months.

  Both she and Mitch had already been tapped out, savings gone and mortgaged to the gills. They’d only needed a few months’ operating capital to make it through, though, and everything would be fine. They’d been so close....

  When Mitch had suggested going to a family friend for t
he money, someone he trusted and had known for most of his life, it had seemed an obvious solution. Sure, it carried more risk, but they’d felt fairly safe and confident in taking that chance.

  Hindsight was definitely twenty-twenty.

  Apparently, the connection Mitch had counted on had been outweighed by blind greed. According to their sources, Beckett had purchased their loan for almost a fourth more than the face value of the contract.

  They were supposed to have six months to pay off the loan. More than enough time to bridge the gap. However, Kayne had decided to activate an escape clause, which allowed him to call the loan due at any point during the term. And he was pulling the trigger.

  They had less than two weeks to come up with a huge chunk of change or Beckett Kayne would legally own V&D, including all their intellectual property—specifically, the app he so desperately wanted. She had no intention of letting him have Watch Me.

  Not only would it gall her to lose the technology to the man, but they desperately needed the funds from selling the app to keep V&D moving forward.

  A few days ago, Alyssa would have said there was no way she could hate Beckett Kayne any more than she already did. She’d have been wrong about that, too. Frustration and desperation warred inside her.

  Her hands clenched into tight fists beneath the table as she tried to reign in her emotional turmoil before it bubbled up and spilled out all over the place like a destructive, scorching flow of lava.

  “You can’t tell me that in all your years as a businessman, you never took a calculated risk?”

  His churning gaze zeroed back on her. “Of course. The difference is, I made damn sure the reward was worth it.”

  Realizing this line of discussion was getting them nowhere, Alyssa cut to the chase. “What do you want, Kayne?”

  “I would have thought that was obvious.”

  A frustrated sound buzzed in the back of her throat. “I’d rather you spell it out for me so there are no misunderstandings or false assumptions.”

  The smile fell away, taking the facade with it and leaving behind a piercing expression that had a tremor racing through her body. For the first time since he’d walked in the door, Alyssa felt like maybe she was getting a true glimpse of the man. The problem was it scared her spitless. Beckett Kayne was a bloodthirsty animal with his prey clearly in his sights.

  “Watch Me. I want it. Exclusively.”

  “You’re making a mistake.”

  “I seriously doubt it.”

  Alyssa crossed her arms beneath her breasts and stared him down. “I assure you, you are. You think you’ve got us backed into a corner. You’re already counting your win. Don’t forget we still have time to come up with the funds.”

  His shoulders rose and fell on a negligent shrug that had her teeth clacking together. She didn’t have the luxury of reacting, not if she wanted to save her company and the work she’d poured her heart and soul into for the past eighteen months.

  “Call off your attack dogs. Get your offer together and let us review it along with the others we’re expecting in next week. We’ll even give you a few extra days if you need them.”

  “Why would I do that, Ms. Vaughn? Long before you can formalize any offers and arrange payment I’ll have what I want. For the bargain price of a few months of your operating capital I’ll own not just the app, but your entire company.”

  Dread flooded her mouth, it tasted bitter and vile, but she choked back her reaction. She would not let Beckett Kayne see her sweat.

  “I will not let you destroy V&D. We’ll have the money in time, and when we do any chance you had for procuring the app disappears.”

  Something sharp flashed through his blue-gray eyes. “You’ve made it clear I have no chance anyway. You forced me to play dirty, Ms. Vaughn. You don’t have the luxury of crying foul now that you’re the one sitting there covered in muck.”

  Alyssa wheezed out a breath. But she refused to let his words derail her. She leaned across the table, closing the space between them. “I’m giving you one chance to do the right thing, Beckett. We both know calling that loan due four months early is a dirty move.”

  Surprising her, Kayne matched her movements, leaning against the edge of the table and deep into her personal space. His stare was hard and indecipherable.

  “It isn’t a dirty move. It’s a smart move. You strike me as an intelligent women, Ms. Vaughn. Something tells me you’re perfectly aware of my reputation. Do I look like the kind of man who’d care even if it was?”

  Silence and tension crackled between them, making everything inside her contract.

  Something hard and hedonistic glittered in his eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched. Her own gaze dropped to the movement. But once there...she couldn’t look away.

  His lips were lush, perfect, with a hint of harshness. Not the kind of man who’d be soft and safe in bed. She wanted to press her mouth tight to his and find out. Would he devour her? Nibble and tease? Demand her surrender or leave her drowning in a sensual haze?

  She sucked in a sharp breath, the sound exploding into the quiet room. Everyone heard it. They had to, and no doubt knew exactly what it meant...that she’d been waylaid by the pull of Beckett Kayne.

  With a satisfied smirk on his face, Kayne dropped back into his chair.

  “I am doing the right thing, Ms. Vaughn. I’m acquiring the cutting-edge technology that will take my company worldwide, by any means necessary and open to me. I learned a long time ago—the hard way, I might add—that there are no friends in business. It’s every man, or woman, for himself. This world can be cruel. You were bound to learn that lesson at some point. I’d like to say I’m sorry I had to be involved in the education, but that would be a lie.” His stormy eyes flashed, pinning her in place. “I’ve enjoyed matching wits with you too much to regret the experience.”

  From the far end of the table, Deirdre made a small choking sound. Mitch leaned forward, body tense and hands splayed across the table as if he were about to vault over and rip into Kayne.

  Alyssa stopped him, curling her fingers around his wrist to hold her business partner in place. Beckett’s gaze dropped to her hand, his eyes narrowing.

  His sharp, steady gaze returned to hers, and his voice lowered into a dangerous growl, “Let me assure you, Ms. Vaughn, I always get what I want.”

  Alyssa’s lungs seized, stealing her ability to respond. Not that she’d have had much opportunity. Surging to his feet, Beckett Kayne ended the discussion long before she was through, disappearing out the door.

  Beside her, Mitch snarled. Deirdre sighed, slumping back into her chair.

  And Alyssa just sat there, dumbfounded. Her body was a jumble of useless reactions. Her skin tingled, her heart thumped, her skin flushed with swelling temper. She had no outlet for any of it.

  Why did it feel as if he meant to own much more than her company?

  3

  THE DOOR CLICKED shut behind Kayne. Every molecule of tension left the room right along with him. Apparently that tension had been holding her up, because the second it was gone Alyssa’s body slumped into a boneless mess.

  What were they going to do?

  There was always her stepmother. Just the thought of the perfectly coiffed, hypercritical, manipulative woman had Alyssa letting out a groan.

  Sucking in a hard breath, she let her head drop, not even trying to stop the sharp pain as her skull clunked heavily against the edge of the table. Because that pain was better than the inevitable agony that resulted whenever she ventured into the same zip code as her stepmother, she did it again. And again.

  “Jesus, Lys, stop it,” Mitch said beside her, slapping his palm in front of her so she’d hit him instead of the table.

  Her forehead smacked into the warmth of his hand and instead of going back for more, s
he rolled against him. Back and forth, as if shaking her head would allow her to deny everything that was happening and make it all disappear.

  With a sigh, Alyssa said, “Deirdre, can you leave us for a bit?”

  Pretending wouldn’t help the situation, even if it was tempting to run away and lock herself into the comforting solitude of her workroom. Her computers never yelled or criticized or ignored. They were there when she needed them, uncomplicated and nonjudgmental.

  But she was far from the emotionally damaged girl she’d once been. She’d spent years fighting for her self-confidence, to figure out who she was and where she belonged in the world. And she’d be damned if anyone—especially Beckett Kayne—sent her back to that dark, lonely place.

  The warmth of Mitch’s hand settled between her shoulder blades. Just...there. As he always was. Not for the first time, she wondered why she couldn’t be attracted to him. But she wasn’t and never would be. With Mitch it had always been easy and comfortable. No tension. He didn’t make her skin tighten with anticipation or her heart flutter with awareness. He was the protective older brother she’d never had and always needed.

  “We’ll figure this out, Lys. I promise.”

  Twisting her head, she looked up at him, forcing a sad smile to her lips.

  Mitch had always been the one shining light when she’d needed it most. Whenever she started to feel so thin and invisible everyone could surely see straight through her, he’d forced her back into existence. He wouldn’t let her disappear into herself.

  He’d saved the girl she’d been and given her the space and support she’d needed to become the woman she was. She owed him everything, including whatever it would cost her to fix this mess.

  Bridgett, her stepmother, was calculating and ruthless. Alyssa had no idea how her father had never known just how cold his wife could be. No, that wasn’t true. He never knew because Bridgett didn’t want him to see. She was pregnant less than three months after their wedding, and from the moment Mercedes had come into the world Bridgett had made sure her father doted on his youngest child. Spoiled her. Gave her everything, most especially his attention and love.