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      To two inspirational women,

      Miranda Lee and Emma Darcy, with thanks.

      PROLOGUE

      ‘YOU can’t save us!’ The hoarse cry echoed in Declan’s ears and he tore his gaze back to Adrian, dangling below him on the rope. ‘It’s going to give way!’

      They were suspended a hundred metres above an isolated canyon. The wind was rising and his brother’s nerves were shot. Already Adrian’s panic had dislodged one of the pitons securing them to the cliff.

      ‘Hang on,’ Declan gasped. His lungs hammered from his last attempt to haul them up.

      Craning his neck, he looked up to where they’d fallen. A cascade of crumbling rock splattered his face. His throat shredded raw with each breath.

      If only he’d called Adrian’s bluff when he’d threatened to climb solo. But Adrian had seemed so brittle, Declan hadn’t pushed. He’d hoped to regain their closeness and persuade Adrian to open up while they climbed.

       Now their survival hung in the balance.

      ‘Steady, Ade. It’ll be OK.’

      ‘OK?’ Adrian’s voice rose. ‘Don’t lie, Declan.’

      Declan shot him a reassuring look. ‘I almost made it last time. Third time’s the charm. You’ll see.’

      Setting his jaw, he grabbed the rope and hauled, blocking out screaming pain as the rope lacerated hands already raw. His shoulders and neck locked in agony as he took their combined weight. It felt as if his spine might snap or his shoulders dislocate from the strain.

      ‘You’ll never do it. It’s impossible.’

      The words washed over him. He had no wind for speech.

      ‘You know, it’s not so bad.’ Minutes later Adrian spoke again, his voice barely audible over the thundering of Declan’s blood. ‘A fall will be quick, at least.’

      ‘Won’t …’ Declan fought to dredge up words in a throat scoured dry ‘… fall.’

      ‘I’ve thought about it. One turn of the wheel in front of an oncoming truck and it’d all be over.’

      The words slurred, warped by the frantic throb of Declan’s pulse and the searing pain in his hands. Sweat blurred his vision.

      ‘It’s not like there’s anything to live for.’ Adrian’s voice was so soft Declan wasn’t sure if he imagined it. Could pain make you hallucinate?

      ‘I’ve lost her. She wants someone rich and successful like you, not a failure. She dumped me!’

      ‘Dumped?’ Declan’s voice was a husk of sound.

      He needed to stop before his arms wrenched from their sockets. The world narrowed to the line that wore his hands to the bone, the wrenching strain and the eddying sound of Adrian’s voice. A shiver of anxiety snaked through him at his brother’s tone, but he was too exhausted to respond.

      The wind picked up, swaying them.

      The salt tang of blood burst on his lip. Two metres …

      ‘I can’t go on. I’ve tried, but she’s the only woman I ever loved and she betrayed me. This is for the best.’

      Best? The rope jerked unevenly. Despite the sweat streaming over Declan’s sun-baked body, an icy finger slicked the back of his neck.

      ‘Ade?’

      Readjusting frozen neck muscles, he managed to look down. Familiar grey eyes met his. This time they held no panic, only an odd calm that made Declan’s heart plunge.

      ‘This way one of us might survive. I can’t go on without her.’

      Declan gasped in horror as he looked lower to where Adrian sawed at the line that bound them.

      ‘Adrian! No!’

      ‘Goodbye, Declan.’

      Suddenly the dragging weight on his shoulders disappeared. There was no scream, no sound. It seemed a lifetime before Declan heard the muffled crunch of branches below and lost sight of his brother.

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE stack of towels was thick and soft in Chloe’s arms as she nudged open the laundry door and headed for the pool house.

      She dipped her head and inhaled the scent of sunshine and lavender: one of the special touches she prided herself on when the weather was good enough to use the drying hedge rather than the industrial-sized drier.

      Concentrating on such small things, resuming her routine, had seen her through this difficult first morning back at Carinya.

      She refused to let memories spook her. Her job was too precious and she needed the financial security more than ever. Besides, she had nothing to fear now.

      So she’d ignored the anxiety feathering down her spine when she’d entered her housekeeper’s quarters and remembered the last morning she’d been here. And again as she’d started work and imagined a dark-haired presence watching from the shadows as he had so often watched before.

      That was in the past. He’d gone for ever. That knowledge helped banish the shadows.

      Turning the corner of the house she slowed, hearing the sound of someone in the pool.

      The sight of a familiar dark head emerging from the water with each stroke slammed her heart against her ribs. She faltered to a stop, not believing her eyes.