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    Before she could reach for her key, he had it in his hand and with the other pressed lightly to the small of her back, walked with her to the elevator.
    It wasn’t until the doors whisked shut and she was alone with him in the elevator that she tasted the first bubble of panic. What was she doing? What was he doing? He’d only pressed the button for her floor.
    She’d broken every rule in The Businesswoman’s Travel Handbook. Had obviously wasted $14.95 and all the hours she’d spent studying every page. He knew her room number and that she was traveling alone.
    He would force himself into her room, rape and murder her. Or, or with the imprint of the key he could be making even now, he’d sneak in later and rape and murder her.
    And all because she’d paid no attention to Chapter Two.
    She cleared her throat. “Are you on four as well?”
    “Hmm? No. I’m on six. I’ll walk you to your door, Tia, as my mother would expect. I need to find a present for her, some glass, I’m thinking. Maybe you’ll help me choose the right thing.”
    The mention of his mother, as he’d expected, relaxed her again. “You’ll have to tell me what she likes.”
    “She likes anything her children buy her,” he said as the elevator doors opened again.
    “Children?”
    “I’ve a brother and a sister. Gideon and Rebecca. She went biblical on the names, who knows why.” He stopped at her door, slid her key into the lock. After he’d turned the knob, eased it open a crack, he stepped back.
    He heard and nearly chuckled at her quiet sigh of relief. And because he’d heard it, been amused by it, he took her hand. “I have to thank you, and the gods, for a memorable evening.”
    “I had a lovely time.”
    “Until tomorrow, then.” He kept his eyes on hers as he lifted her hand, brushed his lips over the knuckles. The little quiver of response did a great deal for his ego.
    Shy, delicate and sweet. And as far from his type as the moon from the sun. Still, there was no reason a man shouldn’t experiment with a new taste now and again.
    He might just have a sip of her tomorrow.
    “Good night, Tia.”
    “Good night.” A little flustered, she backed into the door, her gaze locked with his until she stepped over the threshold.
    Then she turned. And she screamed.
    He was in the room ahead of her like a bullet. Under other circumstances she’d have noted and admired the speed and grace with which he moved. But at the moment, all she saw was the wreck of her hotel room.
    Her clothes were strewn everywhere. Her suitcases had been slit to pieces, the bed overturned, and all the drawers dumped. Her jewelry case had its contents spilled out and its lining ripped free.
    The desk in the sitting area had been ransacked as well. And the laptop that had sat on it was gone.
    “Bloody hell,” Malachi stated. All he could think was the bitch had beaten him to it.
    Fury dark on his face, he whirled around. And one look at Tia had him biting back the rest of the oaths. She was white as a sheet, her eyes already going glassy with shock.
    She doesn’t deserve this, he thought. And he had no doubt it was his hunting her down that had brought this on her.
    “You need to sit down.”
    “What?”
    “Sit.” Brisk now, he took her by the arm and pulled her to a chair, dumped her in it. “We’ll call security. Can you tell if anything’s missing?”
    “My computer.” She tried to catch her breath, found it blocked. Fearing an asthma attack, she dug in her briefcase for her inhaler. “My laptop’s gone.”
    He frowned at her while she sucked on the inhaler. “What was on it?”
    She waved a hand as she drew in medication. “My work,” she managed between gulps. “New book. E-mail, accounts—banking.” She rooted through her bag again for pills. “I’ve got a disk copy of the book in here.” But it was a prescription bottle she pulled out.
    Malachi nipped it out of her hand. “What’s this?” He read the label, and his frown