Working from home today, she’d kept Maia with her. There was no need to go out into the madness until things had died down. The last thing she needed was some snot-nosed children telling Maia her mother was a murderer. The brats at that private school had already said enough hurtful things to her little girl. No. Maia would stay there with her until it was not so bothersome to venture out. Too bad poor Natalie didn’t have the same luxury. The girl had class that morning and had no choice but to brave the media that would no doubt soon be onto her as well.

All of this was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. The police were pissed they hadn’t been able to nail her for the murder and were taking every opportunity to let it be known. Instead of harassing her, they should be finding Gina’s killer.

Days later she still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Gina was dead. Fun-loving, business-savvy Gina. Throat cut like she was a damned deer. And the police still hadn’t recovered the murder weapon. For all they knew whoever the killer was had tossed the knife in the ocean. With the incompetent jerks on the force today, Ava didn’t hold out hope of them finding the weapon either. They needed Sherlock Holmes for this one. Too bad he was just a fictional character.

But Dominic’s not fictional, is he, Ava? No, Dominic wasn’t. And he’d been calling her cell phone insistently. She hadn’t spoken to him. What happened between them was still too raw, too confusing. The messages he’d been leaving telling her not to ignore him weren’t helping either. Or the ones where he told her that she wasn’t just some fling and he still wanted her. It sucked that her heart skipped a beat every time she replayed one of the messages. What was wrong with her?

She didn’t know. She honestly didn’t. Joseph was the only man she’d ever been with before Dominic. Was she having strange and conflicted feelings about Dominic because he was only the second man she’d ever been with?

It was still a real possibility that Dominic was her husband’s illegitimate son and Maia’s half brother. Not to mention the fact that he was suing her for a piece of Joseph’s estate. It was a twisted situation all around. Then why can’t I stop thinking about him?

About the way he’d kissed her. The way he’d pleasured her in ways Joseph had never dared. His eagerness to have her again and again. Her thighs trembled at the memory. The buzzing of her cell phone on the table startled her. She glanced down at it. Immediately she recognized the number. Dominic. Stop being a wuss. Just talk to him already. The phone continued to buzz and she waited. Taking a deep breath, she finally picked it up.

“This is Ava.”

“I know that. About time you picked up.”

“I don’t have to talk to you.”

“No, you don’t, but I’m glad you finally are. I miss you.”

Ava’s breath caught in her throat. His words were stuck in her brain. He missed her. Really? This was just too much.

“You don’t even know me, so how can you miss me?” she asked.

“I know all I need to know about you, Ava.”

“Is that so?”

“I know you make little noises in your sleep. I know that—”

Ava sat up straighter. “You watched me sleep?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you looked so unguarded. So beautiful. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Ava swallowed. “You know that makes you sound like a stalker, right?”

“I think it makes me a hopeless romantic.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“What? No such thing as romance. I disagree.”

“Then it sounds like you’ve been reading too many romance novels. In real life a man doesn’t sweep a woman off her feet and give her a happily ever after. He seduces her until he gets what he wants and he moves on, regardless of whether he marries her or not. The allure is gone. What he felt for her, he will feel for somebody else.”

Dominic sighed in her ear. “I hate to hear you say that. It doesn’t always happen that way, Ava. For some people happily ever afters do exist.”

“Not for people like me.”

“Yes they do and if you would stop being so stubborn, you’d see that I’m ready to give you just that.”

Ava stood up. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. Give me a chance, Ava. That’s all I’m asking.”

“A chance to do what?”

“Love you.”

Ava nearly dropped the phone. Her chest felt tight. Love me? He wants to love me? No. This was a game. It had to be. This was about getting Joseph’s money.

“So after spending less than two days with me, all of a sudden you’ve had this epiphany that I’m the one? That you want to pursue me? No. I’m not buying it.”

“Ava, I told you when we left the ship the way I felt. Don’t act like this is some surprise to you. I already told you I’ve watched you for some time, but seeing you face-to-face that night was like getting hit by a bolt of lightning. And the time we spent together was the closest I’ll ever get to heaven.”

“If you’re not running a scam, you’re just infatuated. Nothing more that a schoolboy crush.”

“We both know that I am not a boy.”

She suppressed a grin. He was definitely all man. But no, it didn’t matter…

“Believe it, Ava. I want you. Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same about me.”

A denial sprang to her lips, but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead she sighed.

“You do feel something for me,” Dominic said softly.

“It’s lust. That’s all.”

“It’s more than that. The sooner you admit it to yourself, the happier you’ll be. I miss you, Ava. Don’t you miss me?”

Ava raked a hand through her hair. She bit her lip, but that didn’t stop the words from coming out. “Yes. Damn it. I miss you. You happy now?”

“I’d be even happier if you’d let me see you now.”

“I can’t. My daughter’s here.”

“Why is that a problem? She’s going to have to meet me sometime,” Dominic said with impatience.

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m going to be in both your lives. I’m not going to be just some booty call you see at night. I want more than that, Ava.”

“I haven’t agreed to anything.”

“You’re right. So let’s start with me coming over later tonight. I want to see you. To hold you in my arms. To hear your cries as I make love to you. Don’t you want that?”

She wanted that. To spend the night with him. To have her thighs locked around him as they made love all night.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“We’ll be meeting in court.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Yes it does. What kind of whore would have a relationship with a man who might be her daughter’s half brother and is suing her in court?”

“You’re not a whore, Ava. Don’t feel guilty about what you feel for me. It’s not wrong.”

“Yes it is.”

“No it’s not. Look, the truth is, I started out hating you, wanting to take you down a peg. I blamed you for my mother’s unhappiness, I blamed you for the half-assed family I grew up with, and I even blamed you when he was killed.

“But when I started watching you, trying to figure out how I could take everything from you… as sick as it sounds, I began falling in love with you.”

“You’re right, it does sound sick.”

“I watched you dropping your daughter off at school, going to work, taking business lunches, going to the gym… I was sure if I watched you long enough, I’d find proof that you were a whore, a horrible mother, a gold digger who didn’t deserve her business…

“But I found the exact opposite. You’re a devoted mother, I’ve never seen you with another man and you’re at your office from sunup to sundown. I found nothing but reasons to fall in love with you. And I have. I’ve fallen in love with my dead father’s wife, and I’m not afraid to say it.”

“Goodbye, Dominic.”

“Ava, wait—”

She hung up the phone. This was too much. His pursuit of her, the way he was trying to pull out all the stops to convince her to give him a chance. She couldn’t. Things were too tangled between them. She didn’t trust his motives. But most of all, she couldn’t trust her own mind where Dominic was concerned.