A Reputation For Revenge Read Free Page A

floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the city on the other. Tossing her backpack on a long table of polished inlaid wood, he walked over to the wet bar on the other side of the library. “What will you have?”
    “Tap water, please,” she said faintly.
    He frowned back at her. “I have sparkling mineral water. Or I could order coffee…”
    “Just water. With ice, if you want to be fancy.”
    He returned with a glass.
    “Thanks,” she said. She glugged down the icy, delicious water.
    He watched her. “You’re an unusual girl, Josie Dalton.”
    Unusual
didn’t sound good. She wiped her mouth. “I am?” she echoed uncertainly, lowering the glass.
    “It’s refreshing to be with a woman who makes absolutely no effort to impress me.”
    She snorted. “Trying to impress you would be a waste of time. I know a man like you would never be interested in a girl like me—not
genuinely
interested,” she mumbled.
    He looked down at her, his blue eyes breathtaking.
    “You’re selling yourself short,” he said softly, and Josie felt it again—that strange flash of heat.
    She swallowed. “You’re being nice, but I know there’s nopoint in pretending to be something I’m not.” She sighed. “Even if I sometimes wish I could.”
    “Unusual. And honest.” Turning, he went to the wet bar and poured himself a short glass of amber-colored liquid. He returned, then took a slow, thoughtful sip.
    “All right. I’ll get your sister back for you,” he said abruptly.
    “You will!” If there was something strange about his tone, Josie was too weak with relief to notice. “When?”
    “After we’re wed. Our marriage will last until the land in Alaska is legally transferred to me.” He looked straight into her eyes. “And I’ll bring her to you, and set you both free. Is that what you want?”
    Isn’t that what she’d just said? “Yes,” she cried.
    Setting down his drink on the polished wooden table, he held out his hand. “Deal.”
    Slowly, she reached out her hand. She felt the hot, calloused hollow of his palm, felt his strong fingers interlace with hers. A tremble raced through her. Swallowing, she lifted her gaze to his handsome face, to those electric-blue eyes, and it was like staring straight at the sun.
    “I hope it won’t be too painful for you,” she stammered, “being married to me.”
    His hand tightened over hers. “As you’ll be my only wife, ever,” he said softly, “I think I’ll enjoy you a great deal.”
    “Your only wife
ever?
” Her brow furrowed. “That seems a little pessimistic of you. I mean—” she licked her lips awkwardly “—I’m sure you’ll meet someone someday…”
    Kasimir gave a low, humorless laugh.
    “Josie, my sweet innocent one—” he looked at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes “—you are the answer to my every prayer.”
    Prince Kasimir Xendzov hadn’t started the feud ten years ago with his brother.
    As a child, he’d idolized Vladimir. He’d been proud ofhis older brother, of his loving parents, of his family, of his home. Their great-grandfather had been one of the last great princes of Russia, before he’d died fighting for the White Army in Siberia, after sending his beloved wife and baby son to safety in Alaskan exile. Since then, for four generations, the Xendzovs had lived in self-sufficient poverty on an Alaskan homestead far from civilization. To Kasimir, it had been an enchanted winter kingdom.
    But his older brother had hated the isolation and uncertainty—growing their own vegetables, canning them for winter, hunting rabbits for meat. He’d hated the lack of electricity and indoor plumbing. As Kasimir had played, battling with sticks as swords and jousting against the pine trees, Vladimir had buried his nose in business books and impatiently waited for their twice-a-year visits to Fairbanks. “Someday, I’ll have a better life,” he’d vowed, cursing as he scraped ice off the inside window of their shared room.