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kittens over to a staff member. He pointed his finger at Kristoffer, laughing warmly. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
    The headmaster grew serious. He whistled, a door opened, and the cats headed toward it without protest. Kristoffer assumed someone had opened a can of tuna or some other feline enticement behind the door. Anderson took the cat from his hands and set it down to follow the others. Before it did so, the tabby rubbed against his charcoal gray pants leg, leaving tufts of orange and white fur in its wake. He bent to rub behind its ears one more time before it, too, followed its nose.
    Anderson crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest and stared intently at each potential investor, one after the other. “This was simply my way of illustrating how investing can be a lot like herding cats unless you know what you’re doing.”
    Kristoffer had to give him props for orchestrating this elaborate object lesson.
    After reiterating the importance of finding the right person to head up the academy, Anderson continued, “You may think that you came here tonight to decide whether this is the right investment for you, but you’d be only partially correct. I will not hand over this business unless I feel confident that you or your client is worthy to own this training center.”
    Kristoffer clapped his hands slowly and with admiration. “Well played, Mr. Anderson.” At least he’d made a good impression, which might give Gunnar’s proposal a leg up over the others, because as they moved toward the boardroom to discuss the details further, he heard a number of the members of the group express interest as well. Kristoffer would have to come up with a solid, tempting proposal that would be advantageous to both parties in order to win the day.
    While there wasn’t much he could control anymore, Kristoffer intended to make sure he acquired this property for Gunnar if his cousin’s heart was set on it. There were so few checkmarks in his “win” column in any other aspect of his life, but when it came to business affairs, Kristoffer excelled.
    The brunette seemed quite pleased by the subterfuge and met Anderson’s gaze. Had she been in on it as well? When she glanced his way, Kristoffer couldn’t shake the feeling he knew her until the young woman burst into youthful giggles that echoed down the hallway, making it difficult for him not to smile himself. Such innocence and passion. He hoped she’d never have to face any serious heartache in her life.
    With a sudden burst of clarity, he realized what had been bugging him since he’d first seen her. This was none other than Brianna Bennett! While researching the Submissive Training Center in LA in preparation for this tour, he’d watched the documentary she’d made describing her experiences there. Her exuberant praise of the program was one of the reasons he’d agreed with Gunnar to give the place a closer inspection. That also explained her obvious familiarity with Anderson.
    Kristoffer shook his head, grinning as he wondered what the two were planning next.
    Before entering the meeting room, he glanced down the hallway to the classroom where he’d seen Doctor Jeffrey’s naked body in great detail. The chances of another encounter with her—clothed or otherwise—would be slim.
    Thank you, God of Thunder .

Chapter Two
    K ristoffer let the sounds of Miles Davis’s mellow trumpet fill his high-rise condo as the clock’s hands crept toward midnight. He stared out the wall of windows at the city lights in the distance as he tossed back the remainder of the glass of scotch. Most nights, he drank wine to relax, but needed something stronger tonight. Normally, a single glass of twenty-year-old scotch neat was the perfect dose of self-medication to take the edge off. For some reason, this evening he’d poured a second.
    Idly stroking Noma behind her ears, he relaxed even more. This temperamental feline had been his only companion since the accident. Well,