Kane’s voice broke into her fragmented thoughts. “There’s a chance that I’ll be out of town at the time of the hearing.”

“But don’t you have to testify?”

“I’ve already signed a sworn deposition,” was the clipped reply. “I’m sure it will satisfy the court.”

“Oh, Kane.” Erin sighed, suddenly feeling very tired and unnerved. “Are you sure that you want to prosecute Mitch?” she asked, her hand reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He withdrew as quickly as if he had been seared by her touch. Twisting his head to meet her startled gaze, he drew his lips into a thin and menacingly grim line. “Is that what this is all about?” he demanded, and grabbed her wrist harshly.

“What—I don’t understand!”

“Is that what you want, for me to drop the charges against your ex-employer? Is that why you’ve been so willing?” Steely eyes swept over her body and charged her with a crime she couldn’t understand.

“Why, you…bastard!” she gasped, suddenly understanding at least a part of his vicious accusation. Involuntarily she drew her free hand backward in an effort to slap him. But she stopped in midswing as the same tortured look that she had seen so often in the past softened the severity of his dark gaze.

He dropped her wrist and closed his eyes for a second. “I’m sorry,” he whispered huskily.

“You should be!”

“All right!” He reached a hesitant hand to her cheek and caressed its regal lines with exploring and sensitive fingers. “I have no choice,” he assured her. “I have to prosecute Cameron. The board of directors would insist upon it, the bonding insurance company….”

“But if you did have a choice?” Liquid violet eyes melted into his, and he drew his caressing hand away from her face.

“Nothing would change! I would still prosecute!” He stood up and put some distance between her body and his. He found it difficult to think when he looked at her or touched her. She was too close to him and to the truth. Perhaps, even now, she knew that he suspected her of involvement in the embezzlement. He had to be cautious with her—or did he? Damn it! Never in his life had he let a woman come between him and his purpose in life. Never had a woman been so intimately involved in his private thoughts. Dear God, why did it have to be this woman who attracted him so achingly? His thoughts weighed heavily on him, and he leaned against the broad mantel of the fireplace and let his head rest against the worn wood. He needed time to think, time alone, to put his life in perspective. It was a mistake bringing her to this isolated haven; he should have realized that before he insisted that she accompany him. How could he have been such a fool? Where was his common sense? His voice, a throaty whisper, crept across the thick silence that separated them.

“Can’t you understand, Erin?” he pleaded. “Mitchell Cameron is a crook, and he has to pay.”