CHAPTER ONE

      THERE was a soft thud as the Boeing’s wheels hit the tarmac, followed by a shrill scream of brakes as the powerful jet decelerated down the runway.

      The flight had been smooth and uneventful, and merely one in a series of many which Leanne had taken between the Gold Coast and Melbourne during the past five years.

      With one exception. This time Paige wouldn’t be waiting to meet her, and there would be no joyous reunion and exchanged laughter as mother and daughter attempted to catch up with each other’s news.

      An ache began behind her eyes, and she blinked quickly in an effort to dispel the threat of tears as she gazed sightlessly out of the window.

      It wasn’t fair that her beautiful mother should fall prey to a rare form of cancer, or that its stealthy invasion had proven to be so extensive that the medical professionals could only issue a grim prognosis. Within twenty-four hours of receiving the news, Leanne had arranged her flight and assigned a senior assistant to manage her beauty therapy clinic.

      The engines wound down to a muted whine as the large jet wheeled off the runway, then cruised slowly towards its allotted bay.

      Customary procedure completed, Leanne joined the queue of passengers vacating the aircraft, unaware of the appreciative glances cast in her direction. Vivid blue trousers and matching top in uncrushable silk accented her slim curves and were a perfect foil for her shoulder-length ash-blonde hair.

      Within minutes she emerged into the arrival lounge, and she moved with ease towards the luggage carousel, her eyes skimming the conveyor belt for a familiar bag.

      ‘Leanne.’

      The sound of that faintly accented drawl tore the breath from her throat, and her heartbeat stilled imperceptibly, then kicked in at an accelerated rate. It took only seconds to compose her features before she turned slowly to face the man standing within touching distance.

      His tall, broad frame was sheathed in impeccable suiting, and strong, sculptured facial features, piercing grey eyes and dark well-groomed hair completed an arresting composite that few women could successfully ignore.

      As head of the vast Kostakidas empire, he emanated a dramatic sense of power that was coveted by his contemporaries and viewed with supreme caution by those who chose to oppose him.

      Dangerous, compelling, and intensely ruthless. Lethal, she added silently as she summoned a smile in greeting.

      ‘Dimitri.’

      Five years ago she would have flung herself into his arms, accepted the teasingly affectionate brush of his lips against her cheek, and laughingly indulged in a harmless game of flirtatious pretence.

      Now she stood quietly, her eyes clear and unwavering, their blue depths masking pain. ‘I thought you’d still be in Perth.’

      One eyebrow rose slightly, and his expression assumed an edge of cynicism in silent reproof. ‘Like you, I rearranged my business affairs and caught the first available flight east.’

      Her features were a carefully composed mask that hid a host of emotions. ‘It wasn’t necessary for you to meet me.’

      He didn’t say anything. He had no need. She was Paige’s daughter and his late father’s silver-haired angel. As such, he would accord her every consideration, and refuse to concede her desire for independence.

      Leanne felt her body quiver slightly, and she forced herself to maintain rigid control. ‘Have you seen Paige? How is she?’

      His eyes held hers for a few timeless seconds, then his features softened. ‘An hour ago,’ he revealed. ‘She is as comfortable as it is possible for her to be.’

      Paige had earned Dimitri’s affection ten years ago when she’d married his widowed father, and her warmth and generous nature had turned Yanis’s house into a home, softened the hard edges of a cynical, world-weary man whose sole focus in life appeared to be escalating his empire to monumental proportions while grooming his only son to follow in his footsteps. The ensuing five years had resulted in an abundance of love and harmony, until tragedy had struck with a boating accident that robbed them of husband, father and stepfather, and placed Dimitri at the helm of the vast Kostakidas corporation.

      ‘Which bag is yours?’

      Dimitri had been educated in a number of countries, and his faint accent was an indistinguishable inflexion that lent itself easily to a fluency in several languages; Leanne shivered faintly as she attempted to maintain a mental distance from an intrusive memory.

      ‘The tan,’ she acknowledged, indicating its position on the carousel, and she watched as he extricated it with ease.

      ‘Shall we go?’

      It was crazy to feel so incredibly vulnerable, she chastised herself silently as she walked at his side to the sleek, top-of-the-range maroon-coloured Jaguar parked at the kerbside immediately adjacent to the entrance.

      Within minutes Dimitri urged the powerful vehicle into the flow of traffic exiting the terminal, and Leanne directed her attention to the scene beyond the windscreen, feeling strangely loath to indulge in idle conversation.

      The car’s air-conditioning provided relief from the midsummer heat, and the sun’s glare was diffused by tinted windows through which the sky appeared as a clear azure, with only a whisper of soft cloud evident on the horizon.

      Nothing appeared to have changed, Leanne mused as the Jaguar picked up speed on the freeway. Weathered brick homes dulled by pollution and age-lined suburban streets, and narrow steel tracks embedded into main arterial roads provided a linking tracery for electric trams as they whirred noisily to and from the city.

      She drew a deep breath, then released it slowly. Melbourne was a large, bustling metropolis of multinationals with a culture that was wide and varied. It was the place where she was born, where she’d grown up and attended shool.

      There was an intrinsic desire to turn back the clock. Except that that was impossible, for you could never recapture the past, she reflected sadly.

      Now she’d stay for