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gesture that communicated that he needed an audience with the shipping tycoon. After a few minutes of back and forth between Vidal and his man, the man delivered an answering nod.
    Nope, now was not the time to deal with the stowaway. Still, Dax couldn’t keep himself from stalking her with his eyes. Rhee appeared near the front of the stage with some guy in a tux. Fuckin’ square. The guy placed his hand on the small of her back in a most familiar way. Too familiar.
    Dax felt a low, primal growl build in his gut as Rhiannon disappeared from sight on the other man’s arm. Something within him, something feral and possessive, demanded that he launch himself after her, rip out the other man’s throat, and pull Rhee into his arms, willing or no. Dax shook himself, forcing his mind to focus on the task at hand. Rhee left for a reason. She was obviously doing quite well. This was what she wanted and he had no right to mess up her life. Again.
    Dax glanced sidelong at Wince. The kid’s eyes were trained on the left exit of the stage, where Rhee had gone. Dax nudged him and Wince tore his gaze away, rubbing his eyes as if he had seen a mirage.
    “It was her. Right?”
    “Looks that way.”
    “What the fuck is she doing here?!”
    He could hear the hurt in Wince’s voice and hoped the same emotion did not leach into his own words. “Fuck if I know, man. We’re not here for her.”
    Dax forced himself to shrug, to give off an air of nonchalance. Apparently he was a better actor than he had assumed because his behavior seemed to bolster Wince’s ego.
    “You’re right. Sorry, man. It was just a shock, you know, seeing her…” Wince trailed off and Dax made eye contact again with their contact.
    “We’re in. Let’s go.”

Chapter Five
    The fundraiser was a huge success, bringing in substantially more money than the last three events combined. After socializing with donors, calculating totals, and overseeing clean up, Rhee was beyond tired. And she was fucking annoyed. Despite her protests, her boss, Darren Shepard, had yet again insisted upon attending the function, just as he had done the last few times. Rhee felt somewhat indebted to the man. He took a chance on her when he hired her on the spot, without any references. The man even let her use the store as the setting for her first few auctions. Darren had seemed nice enough at first, and he had definitely stuck his own neck out on her behalf. In a way, she owed him. But, Darren was becoming overly attentive and increasingly persistent. Rhee recognized the signs. She had seen them before.
    Rhee hunted around for another place to work, but there were few options close enough to her hale . She needed the meager income her job provided. She settled for taking precautions, and praying that Darren wouldn’t cross the line. Rhee never worked late and she made sure never to be alone with her boss. Lately, something about the way he looked at her unnerved her, and she was finally starting to listen to her gut after all of these years.
    Rhee ticked off all of the red flags in her head. Her boss had started to invade her personal space more frequently. He made excuses to brush past her, or to look over her shoulder, and he constantly dropped hints that he found her attractive.
    It was time to lay down the line. Rhee had no desire for anything more than an employer/employee relationship. Darren was significantly older than her, and his high, nasal voice grated on her ears. Sure, he was successful at his business, but he wasn’t attractive to Rhee at all. More like….dorky. Darren had been married once before. In front of others, he seemed like nothing more than an attentive boss, but Rhee knew better. Darren was up to something, and she realized that she didn’t trust him anymore. Not one bit.
    Manali didn’t like the guy either, but then again, she didn’t like most of the males that came sniffing around Rhee. There were a few romantic overtures from random guys when