Besides, whatever dark magic Joanna had wrought was more like a curse, and it showed no signs of being reversible. She had to remember that. She had to remember what Nate was good for. He was amazingly good at two things—being her friend and sending her into a most frenzied state. She hoped to achieve many of the latter in London, and that’s why he had the car swing by her office, where she ran upstairs and grabbed her very own LolaRing, clutching it tightly to her chest as she raced back down, an electric thrill charging through her from the knowledge that she was finally going to have what The Happiest Ladies in the World were having.

Next, the car made its way to the west side, stopping by Nate’s apartment.

“Be right back,” he said as the car pulled up to the curb.

“I need to pee. I’m coming with you.”

When they stepped out of the car, they both froze, their eyes landing on a tall, gorgeous, completely captivating black-haired beauty with green eyes that were bewitching. She was dressed all in black—black tank top, black jeans, black lace-up boots, and a thin black scarf, even though it was June. Casey had never met her, and hadn’t even seen a photo, but there was no doubt in her mind this woman was the Dark Queen.

15

New York, late night . . .

His gut twisted. He hadn’t seen her in years, and perhaps if he had actually returned her calls he wouldn’t be seeing her tonight. But he didn’t want to return her calls, or respond to her emails, so he hadn’t done either. She couldn’t possibly have anything to say that he would need or want to hear.

He started walking into his building, like a man on a mission. Maybe he could even ignore her and march straight up to his apartment, grab his suitcase, change his shirt, and act as if he’d never seen her. Hell, maybe she was simply an apparition.

But judging from the tension on Casey’s face, the way her lips were parted and her jaw dropped, Joanna was very much real, in the flesh, and waiting for him.

“Nate!” Joanna took a step towards him. He took a step away. She took another step. He closed his eyes briefly, wishing her away, then opened them. She was still here.

“Yes?” He could’ve said why are you here, what are you doing, what do you want, but he didn’t want to give her the courtesy of that many words.

“You haven’t returned my calls or responded to my messages,” she said, sounding oddly apologetic. “So I had no choice but to come here in person.”

“Actually, you did have a choice. You had a choice not to find me. You always have a choice. You just chose different things. Let’s not confuse the issue, Joanna,” he said, biting out the words. Perhaps he had more to say to her than he’d thought.