Leopard's Prey by Christine Feehan

entering into it at this late date.
    “Twice, when I was a teenager, living in the mansion with Bodrie, I had a huge fight with him. A giant eye was sprayed on my bedroom wall with a can of red spray paint. A few months after Bodrie died, I found that eye drawn on the ground in my front yard with the same red spray paint. It was disturbing, but not at all frightening.” She shoved both hands through her hair and sat back in her chair.
    How did one explain to those probing eyes why she hadn’t been more proactive about death threats? She’d grown up around them. Stalkers were part of her childhood. As a teenager and while she attended college, she’d dealt with both threats and stalkers on a regular basis. Nine times out of ten, the threats ended up being someone trying to scare her because she’d turned them down when they’d asked her out on a date.
    “Threats and stalkers are commonplace with bein’ Bodrie’s only child. I wanted to live a normal life . . .”
    Remy growled. There was no other word for it. The sound was frightening. Her gaze jumped to his.
    “How the hell did you expect to live a normal life, Blue? You’re worth a fuckin’ fortune. You’re the daughter of one of the most infamous men on the planet and you sing for a living. A little protection might have been an intelligent decision.”
    She pressed a hand to her suddenly churning stomach. “If you’re goin’ to insist on insultin’ me, Remy, then screw this. I’m not tellin’ you a thing.” She’d never discussed her life with anyone. It wasn’t easy, especially with him. Damn him anyway. She was all caught up in his good looks and dark sensual nature, and forgot he thought of her as twelve. “Thanks for lunch, but I’ve got a few things to do.” She reached for the packet of letters.
    His fingers shackled her wrist, pinning her hand to the table. “I’m sure you’re very aware I have no problem with public confrontation. I don’ mind throwin’ you over my shoulder and takin’ you somewhere more private to discuss this. Can you imagine the number of videos and pictures that will be put up on YouTube?”
    She glared at him, afraid to say anything. They stared at one another for a long while. He didn’t blink once. Not once. She became aware of his thumb sliding back and forth over her wrist. It felt like a caress to her and after a couple of minutes, she couldn’t think of anything else she was so aware of that small motion. His touch sent a rush of heat through her entire body.
    “I shouldn’t have implied you aren’t intelligent,” he relented. “I read the newspapers and more than once your name has come up for the business decisions you’ve made. It’s just that I know a lot more about human nature than you do. I’ve seen just about everythin’ ugly one human can do to another. I don’ want to take chances with your life.”
    She was in
way
over her head. For all of her money and sophistication, the life she’d led, she’d never been really attracted to a man before and she was falling fast for Remy. She kept reminding herself the attraction was leftover hero worship of a man who had cared enough to be angry at her. He clearly still thought of her as a child.
    “It’s all right.” She experimented with moving her wrist subtly, hoping he’d get the hint and release her so she wasn’t so aware of him physically.
    “No, it isn’t,” he contradicted. “We both can’t be hotheads, Blue. You’re goin’ to have to mellow out and learn to stay calm. Stalkers and anyone puttin’ you in danger are always goin’ to be a trigger for me.”
    The way he looked at her with those deep blue eyes, so focused on her, mesmerizing her, the way his thumb moved over her bare skin, sent her tumbling straight off a cliff. There was that note of humor combined with his lazy drawl that added somersaults and dizzy spins to her fall. How could she possibly ever hope to be sensible when he was so sexy without even