She raised a hand to her chest and closed her fingers around the locket that her father had given her when she was five years old—the one with the code to a safety deposit box. Her father had instructed her not to go to the bank until she was eighteen, and now even after five years, Kaya was still awed at the contents of that safe.
She’d had the jewel appraised, and almost fainted when she learned how much it was worth. Her father had left a letter explaining how he’d come into possession of the gem. He’d written that he wanted her to know that it wasn’t stolen. Unsure of what to do with it, Kaya had just left it alone. Had her father given Lauren a similar gem? Had Lauren sold her inheritance to purchase L’etoile du Nord, her multimillion-dollar estate? Had she squandered the rest on an extravagant lifestyle that she couldn’t maintain?
Kaya sighed as the questions surged through her mind. Steven was right again. There was so much about her sister’s life she didn’t know. What she did know was that the contents in that safe was all she had of her father’s memory, the only tangible bond she had to her ancestry. She couldn’t bear the thought of parting with it, even though it would solve her newly acquired financial problems and set her and the children up for life. But that was asking too much. It wasn’t fair that she should have to spend her inheritance on Lauren’s children. She had preserved her heirloom while Lauren had wasted hers on a big…
Kaya turned from the window as the only other solution took root in her mind. “The estate,” she said walking back over to Steven. “It’s worth millions, hopefully more than Michael and Lauren owed their creditors. If I sell the estate, I can—”
“Um, Kaya, you can’t sell that estate.”
“Why not? Don’t tell me there’s a lien against it.” That faint thread of hysteria was back in her voice. If their father had given Lauren the same kind of gem he had given her, Lauren could have paid cash for the estate. Did she mortgage it off to sustain her luxurious lifestyle?
“No. There’s no lien against it,” Steven said.
Kaya breathed a sigh of relief. “Well then, why can’t I sell it?”
“Because it didn’t belong to Michael and Lauren. It doesn’t belong to the children.”
Kaya’s mouth dropped open. “What do you mean it didn’t— doesn’t belong to them? If it isn’t their estate, then whose is it?”
“Mine. L’etoile du Nord belongs to me,” came a rumbling voice behind her.
Kaya spun around, her heart flying to her throat when her eyes collided with the powerful bronze body of the man standing on a pair of legs that would make a Viking proud.
Bryce Fontaine, New England’s business mogul—CEO and president of Fontaine Enterprises—in the flesh.
He was far more handsome than his pictures portrayed, she thought, staring in admiration as he bent his snow-dusted head to get his large frame through the door.
The ample shoulders, stretching beneath a dark-green sweater, the sharp chin, and generous mouth all spoke of power and resolute strength. The man possessed a captivating presence and an air of authority that made you stop and take note when he entered a room. She was taking note—a lot of notes.
If Kaya had to sum Bryce Fontaine up in one word, it would be “intimidating”.
A tingling sensation generated in Kaya’s belly and traveled south to her thighs, and then to her knees, making them go weak. She slumped against the edge of the desk and tried to bring her escalated breathing under control.
Steven walked over and met him near the door. Even Steven—who was about six feet, two inches tall—had to roll his head back to face the giant as they talked in low voices.
Steven had called Bryce the night of the tragedy, but a blizzard in the Alps had delayed his return. He must have flown all night, Kaya thought, taking in his stubbled chin and disheveled appearance that made him seem even more imposing.