Once I was under the covers of my sumptuous bed, I saw that I’d forgotten to close the drapes at the big picture window. It was late summer, so the night sky had a glow from the sun on the other side of the planet that didn’t happen in California. The night sky here wasn’t quite as dark as the southern US states would be, but I was used to it after four years of living in London. The nighttime landscape of Donadea was almost as stunning as the daytime one with the stars and the moon twinkling above the vastness.

I fell asleep while admiring the romantic view of the night sky shining through the picture window from my bed, glad that I hadn’t drawn the drapes after all.

And wishing Ivan had returned already, because I had so much to share with him about what I’d discovered.

But I also wanted to tell him that I’d missed him while he’d been gone.

Even as sleepy as I was, I realized I hadn’t longed for anyone in the way I was missing Ivan right now.

Never had I ever felt the way I was feeling about him.

Ivan was uniquely special in that way... for me.

Chapter 10

IVAN

I had every intention of leaving Gabrielle alone to sleep. I truly did. I’d been determined to just go to bed when I returned at nearly half-past eleven.

But shower first. I needed to wash away the day I’d had before sleeping was even possible for me. A day for which the first half had been the best I could remember in forever, and the second half had been utter and complete crap.

My mind was only on her while I was in getting clean. That she was still here at all was surprisingly remarkable. I hadn’t been at all confident it would be the case. But Finnegan assured me she was settled in at her desk hard at work the old-fashioned way—with a pen and paper. He told me the contracts had been delivered for her signature, and to him she’d seemed comfortable and content when he’d left her on her own after clearing away her dinner things. Which was rather unbelievable considering the situation I’d left her in. All afternoon I’d been imagining how she would’ve demanded a ride to the airport to put as much distance between herself and Donadea (and me) as quickly as possible.

But she didn’t. There were no hysterics or pleas to be returned to London. At some point she’d calmly left the study and met the dogs, who fell in love with her immediately according to Finnegan. Then she came back upstairs with them where he’d given her a tour of her new rooms. No surprise about the dogs falling in love with her. Didn’t everyone? She had to have seen what I did to that drone though. She was the one to spot it first. Recalling the look on her face when she screamed made me cringe even now. She’d been so perfectly submissive throughout the whole scene in my study—which was so fucking good—until it all went balls up in the worst possible way right at the end. If a single image of us ever saw the light of day, I swear they’ll have to add “murderer” to my list of credentials. I was so done with this gross invasion into my privacy. Just completely finished with all of it. If it cost me my job in cabinet, then so be it. I didn’t need the headache, or the job to live a peaceful life. I had plenty to keep me busy without government responsibilities. Gabrielle would have a lot of questions now, and I’d have to tell her where all this shit came from, and why. I dreaded telling her, but I would because she deserved to know the truth.