Elijah owned a large estate not far from where her grandfather lived in the hill country west of San Antonio and Austin. His property was close to Jake Bannaconni’s huge, sprawling ranch. It was where all the millionaires lived, although Bannaconni was a certified billionaire according to Forbes. Most of the bigger estates and ranches were out away from the city. She knew Bannaconni took a helicopter to work. She didn’t know what Elijah did, but she wondered.

There were rumors, of course. Her grandfather was Italian. He’d actually emigrated from Italy with his wife to raise his family in the United States. He’d worked hard for his winery and, although he made his money legitimately, the rumors persisted. They did about Elijah’s family as well. His family was Spanish and had come from somewhere in South America. Because she knew her grandfather was a good man who had worked hard all of his life for his family, she didn’t judge Elijah or the whispers surrounding him.

The high wrought-iron gates to his ranch were closed, and she leaned over to look into the camera and state her business. There was a moment of silence while her heart pounded. She twirled a thick strand of hair from her ponytail around her finger, which she often did when she was nervous, but couldn’t help it. The gates swung inward. Heart pounding, she drove through and up the long, winding driveway to his house.

She knew this wasn’t the family home, the huge one Elijah’s father had owned before he’d been murdered. Rumor had it that his own uncle had ordered the hit on his father and then his uncle had been killed, leaving Elijah the head of his family business. No, this was the house Elijah bought to entertain his women in. His tall, thin, blond, beautiful women. She sighed, knowing she spent far too much time at school where she had developed low self-esteem for a variety of reasons. It hadn’t helped living in her grandfather’s house with all the men coming and going.

She’d always felt like an outsider. Not always, she corrected herself. Not when her grandmother was alive, but she could barely remember those days anymore. She’d spent her school years fairly isolated. There was no having friends at school, her grandfather’s men saw to that. Having two hulks go with her everywhere made her seem pretentious. Even some of her professors balked at them entering the classrooms. It had left her without many social skills. She didn’t exactly relate well to others and kept to herself most of the time, even at home, although she did go dancing because she loved to dance.