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Jesse said, “we do have to watch the publicity on this like a bunch of hawks,” he said solemnly.
    “And we will!” Reggie assured him.
    “I intend to. I thank you all for your votes of confidence in me,” Max said. Then he stood abruptly. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll let my secretary know that she needn’t type up my resignation.”
    Max left, followed by Jesse and then Niles, both pausing to say goodbye to Wes, and then to kiss Reggie on the cheek.
    The moment they were gone, Reggie leaped up, having realized suddenly that she had been left all alone with her sandy-haired nemesis.
    But even as she stood, a hand of iron came falling over her own.
    “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked lightly.
    She couldn’t have freed her hand if she had really tried, she knew. She felt a flush coming to her cheeks. “I—I have work to do, of course. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Blake. I appreciate your support of my brother. Even if you are somewhat of a shameless, arrogant snoop!” she added in a sudden rush.
    He laughed softly. A dangerous laugh. She felt it inside and out.
    “You’re not going anywhere, Miss Delaney.”
    “I’m not?” she inquired, her ire rising.
    He shook his head slowly. Those gold eyes seemed to slice right through her.
    “You promised me dinner.”
    “Oh, but I didn’t! That was just—”
    “Oh, but you did.”
    “I can’t possibly—”
    “Oh, but you must!”
    She did try to pull her hand away. He stood, never losing his grip, his eyes never faltering from hers.
    She gritted her teeth. “I need to see Max—”
    “Running to your brother?” he asked. “Do you need him to defend yourself from me?”
    She inhaled sharply, then a dark winged brow rose high against her forehead. “Why? Do I need defending? Are you threatening me?”
    “Not in any way,” he replied politely. She didn’t know how, but she was suddenly closer to him. Close enough to feel the pounding of the heart and the heat radiating from his taut, hard-muscled form. “But you did promise me dinner. And people do keep their promises to me.”
    “I—”
    “I especially think that you should.”
    She lifted her chin. “And why is that?”
    “Well, if your brother isn’t guilty of some kind of foul play, then someone else is.”
    Reggie shrugged uncomfortably. She’d thought of that, but hadn’t given it much consideration. She gasped suddenly. “And you think that I might be guilty!”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Well, you might as well have!” she exclaimed. She backed away from him, tugging at her wrist. “And what about you? I understand that you were at the wedding, that you knew Daphne—”
    “Yes, that’s right, I was there. I knew her.” He smiled. “But I didn’t know her like you knew her.”
    “We’re talking in the past tense! We don’t even know that anything has really happened. Daphne was rude and cruel and flighty. She might be on an island in the sun somewhere, just imagining what this is doing to poor Max.”
    “Ah! You didn’t like her much, did you?”
    Reggie gasped again—more at what she had given away so quickly than at the scope of his perception.
    “Do you know that you are brash, arrogant and rude?” she accused him.
    “Only when I need to be.”
    She stared at him, still tugging at her hand. She was amazed when he pulled her close once again. The warmth of his breath touched her face and seemed to start all kinds of fires in her again.
    “But when it’s necessary, Miss Delaney, I am anything I need to be. Right now, it’s necessary. I’m going to find out the truth, Regina. I’m going to find out the whole truth, about everyone. Now, you can be in this with me, or you can be against me. But I swear to you, when I’m done, I will know everything. Everything. Now, are you coming with me, or not?”

Chapter 4
    T he truth …
    Reggie could hear Wes Blake’s words ring in her ears—and feel the force of his fingers around her wrist—throughout