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.‘It’s no problem,’ Kate said.‘My sister’s picking her up from after-school care.’‘She lives in the country?’Kate nodded, her throat just a touch dry, a dull blush spreading on her cheeks, but she hid it well, busying herself on the computer and trying, desperately trying, to keep her voice light.‘Yes, Georgie’s staying there this weekend.’He made no comment.She wasn’t even sure if he’d heard her—didn’t even know if he’d factored it in.Kate had.Going over and over and over the nights he’d come to her place, the only common denominator was that Georgie hadn’t been home.Had she been, Kate might not have let him in.So she had the figures ready for the meeting with Belenki, and afterwards, when he came out with a face like thunder, she informed him she had arranged the best table at the casino for him and his date to dine that night.Then finally, after a very long day, she picked up her bag as Aleksi left for his very public night out.He was dressed in a dinner suit.Freshly washed, his hair was slicked back, gorgeous yet slightly unkempt, and Kate frowned.‘Did you keep your appointment?’‘Sorry?’She glanced down at his hands, at nails that were spotless but just not as polished as usual.Every other Friday without fail Aleksi headed over to the trendiest of trendy salons, sat and drank green tea as his thick black hair was washed and trimmed, his nails buffed, his designer stubble made just a little bit more so.She had rung them during the week to say the appointments would now resume, and had told Aleksi the same.Except his five o’clock shadow was a natural one and his hair was still just a touch too long.‘The salon—’ Kate started, but Aleksi just screwed up his nose.‘Tell them they are to come to me now—I’m tired of going there.’‘Sure.’ She made a quick note in her diary and said goodnight—it wasn’t an unusual request.Aleksi often changed his mind, and it was her job to sort it out when he did.‘Have a good night, then,’ she said to him.‘You too,’ Aleksi said.‘Any plans?’‘A bath and then bed,’ Kate admitted, and then she smiled.‘Or I might just hit the clubs!’‘Oh, that’s right,’ Aleksi said.‘You don’t have Georgie tonight.’‘No.’ She was standing by the lifts, and had to turn her face to concentrate on the lift buttons rather than let him see her blush.‘I’ll see you on Monday.’‘Sure.’She would, Aleksi told himself.She would see him on Monday, and not a moment before.He watched her leave, watched her yawn as she pressed the lift button and could, for a dangerous moment, imagine her slipping out of those shoes, peeling off that suit, sinking into a bath, relishing the end of the week, the end of the day.For Aleksi the night had just started.He was tired, but he blocked that thought.He was in pain, but he refused to take another pill.It had been twenty-four hours without them and it was getting harder by the minute, but he would not take another—they messed with his head.He headed for the lift and stared for a full three seconds.He didn’t want Ground he wanted Reception.He had made the same mistake so many times this week.Not that anyone could have guessed.Not even Kate.He raked back his hair with his hands, and as he stepped into the lift he closed his eyes and tried and tried again in vain to picture the location of the hair salon.His eyes snapped open as the lift doors did the same.‘Goodnight, Mr Kolovsky.’He nodded to the receptionist.Actually responded to the doorman tonight.Made the steps with apparent ease and then slid into the back of his waiting car.Tonight he would prove to the world he was back.Put paid to all the rumours.He kissed his date thoroughly.They’d been out a few times before the accident and she was delighted, she said, pressing herself into him as they sped to the casino, that he was back.‘It’s good to be back,’ Aleksi said, and then he kissed her again—but only because it was easier than talking.It was far easier to kiss her than to tell her that he couldn’t remember her name.Chapter FourTHERE was no thrill.Aleksi put a million on black and just stared as the wheel went round.Win, lose.There was just no thrill any more.He didn’t need the money, and he didn’t need Kolovsky.Wasn’t sure if he wanted either.He won.He could hear the cheers, turned to what was surely the most beautiful woman on this planet and accepted the kiss on his lips, but he still couldn’t remember her name.He kissed her back, could taste her champagne on his sober tongue, and for a moment he pulled her in, wanted her smell, her breasts, her body to do something to cure the numbness.Yet he couldn’t even accept the toast that was raised to him, let alone raise one himself.He was back!His suite awaited.Paradise awaited.Oblivion, even.He was fifty million richer and he couldn’t even become aroused by the beautiful woman he held in his arms.Ah, but he knew his body.Like his Midas touch, it had never once failed him—and it didn’t now.There it was—that primal response, the Kolovsky legend that never dimmed—and there was her triumphant smile as she finally felt his surge of arousal…What was her name?‘Excuse me one moment.’He had been born in Australia but schooled at home, surrounded by his family, his history, and despite his perfectionism still there was just a hint of Russian to his voice.He walked to the restroom.The door was held open.He relieved himself, zipped himself back into his exquisite suit pants and then washed his hands.Then, because it was numb and it felt like plastic, he washed his face as well.He pressed it into a fluffy towel and caught his reflection in the mirror.Black hair, thick and glossy—check.Slate-grey eyes, not a hint of blood in their whites—check.Smooth, unblemished skin—check.Designer stubble—check.The chief of Kolovsky.He loosened his tie, because he could feel his pulse leaping against his collar.He knew.What it was, he couldn’t remember—but he knew something important!More than his brother Levander, who had lived it.More than his twin, Iosef, who had dealt with it.More than his sister Annika, who had worked through it.He was cleverer than the lot of them—and being clever was a curse.He knew.He knew so much more than any of them, and though he denied it—though his father had beaten him into silence because the truth would change everything—it was harder and harder to hide from it now.There was a memory—an image, just a breath, just a realization away—yet no matter how he reached out to it, over and over it slipped from his grasp.Why couldn’t he remember?He pressed his face into the cool mirror, willed clarity to come, and stared into the murky depths of his mind, hoping to God that coming off the pain medication would help clear it somehow.Because Aleksi knew that something had to be done.He just didn’t know what.His phone was bleeping in his pocket, summoning him back to his immaculate world.He took a breath and headed out there, and then it bleeped again and he looked at the screen.Brandy.Yes, that was her name [ Pobierz całość w formacie 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