He suppressed his sigh of relief. He’d gotten what he wanted with very few concessions on his part. Now he was in a position to manipulate the future to fit his needs, to do what he needed to help Mandy. “I’ll meet with my lawyer in the morning and have the papers drawn up. You can have your lawyer look them over, and if we all agree, we’ll do the deed. The sooner we move, the better, because we need to present a united front at that meeting next week.”

He stood and settled his hat so it again shaded his eyes. Someday, he’d have to tell her more about why he needed to marry her, about why he needed to work at a job he’d vowed never to hold. Someday soon. Tipping her chin up with his knuckles, he stared into her eyes, trying to gauge her reactions to all that had happened in the past few hours. But she was almost as good as he was at concealing what she felt. All he could identify was a deep wariness.

Of him.

He nodded and walked away without looking back. Good. If she was wary of him, that gave him a weakness to use to his advantage. And he’d need every advantage he could find if he was going to pull this off. For the first time in years, he had a plan, a goal. And for the first time in years, he felt truly alive again, ready for the next battle.

The quiet of the night slipped around him as he stepped outside, reassuring him he was doing the right thing. His pride had taken a beating these last few months. But he was about to change all that, about to grab his future and direct his destiny again. He caught one more tantalizing glimpse of Darci in the window before turning away.

Darci sat stone still, watching Cole’s reflection in the plate-glass window until he disappeared from sight. Only then did she allow her head to drop into her hands, showing the first sign of weakness since he’d walked back into her life.

Little girls’ dreams rarely came true, and hers had suddenly turned into a shadowed nightmare.

Excitement and dread warred for her attention. The attraction she felt for Cole was stronger than ever, had built on her childhood fantasies and become a force to be respected. Suddenly, she was going to have to face him every day, every night, and not let him see how much he affected her.