The Collector's Edition Volume 1 Read Free Page B

Jayne pushed herself to her feet and crossed the office to watch the transmission roll out. It was the official confirmation she had requested for the purpose of satisfying Lin Zhiyong and the team of Chinese engineers that the replacement expert was on his way.
    The prime objective had been attained.
    She had, indeed, got Dan Drayton.
    The only question was whether she would get past this encounter, unscarred, unscathed and unhitched from the man she had once thought she would love forever.
     

CHAPTER THREE
    D RAGON LADY…
    The name the Chinese had given his wife—she wasn’t ex yet—simmered in Dan Drayton’s mind as Lin Zhiyong’s official car transported him and Baby from the hotel to this evening’s party. It put Dan more and more in a dragon-slaying mood.
    The Chinese might find Jayne formidable. He didn’t. She could throw out as much fire as she liked. It couldn’t match the slow burn that had been building in intensity inside him ever since her call. The desire to cut the wind out from under her wings and bring her thumping down to earth was uppermost on his agenda.
    Jayne Winter . The denial of his name stung. She had been happy enough to be Jayne Drayton when they were first married. Throwing her maiden name at him was like saying their marriage had never been, scrubbing out the four years they had shared together as though it was nothing to her. He was nothing to her.
    That was precisely how she had spoken to him, not the slightest acknowledgement of what they had once meant to each other, not even a civil inquiry about how he was or where he’d been orwhat he was doing now. What had he ever done to her to deserve being treated as though she had never had any personal, let alone intimate involvement with him?
    It riled him even more that she had left him and gone to work for Monty Castle. If she had found sharing his life so intolerable, why had she become personal assistant to a man in the same line of work? And here she was in China, apparently contending easily with a culture that was every bit as foreign as that of Iran.
    Baby pointed excitedly to the colourful paper lanterns strung from the trees in the park they were passing. It was a perfect evening and the park was thronged with people out to enjoy the festivities with their families and friends. Traditionally Zhongqiu Jie had always been ‘the Reunion Festival’, an occasion for the expression of nostalgic sentiments.
    Dan wondered if Jayne knew that. The irony of it certainly struck him. The only reason for this reunion was Monty Castle’s need for him. Dan didn’t anticipate hearing any nostalgic sentiments from Jayne tonight, but he sure as hell intended to stir some memories.
    It was a quixotic twist of fate that these circumstances had arisen. He’d never told Jayne his connection to Monty Castle. By the time they’d met and married, he’d gone way beyond being Monty’s protégé in the explosives field.
    It must have come as a heart-thumping shock when Monty had told her to get him. Though not so much of a shock that she had spilled the fact she was his wife. Monty still didn’t know. That was obvious from their conversation at the hospital this afternoon.
    It added another burning question to all the others in Dan’s mind, making him pause before committing himself to helping Monty. A decision on the project could wait until he knew all he needed to know. In a professional sense, he’d already repaid Monty for all he’d learnt from him. He didn’t owe him anything, except the caring that came with mutual liking. As for Jayne…
    He cuddled Baby closer, rubbing his cheek over her soft black curls, breathing in the sweet scent of her, taking deep pleasure in the innocence of her love and trust in him. She was his first consideration now, not Jayne, and he had no compunction in ramming that home to the woman who had so comprehensively rejected him.
    It had given him a great deal of satisfaction to hear the snippy tone creep