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something he swore he’d never do.
    Eight months later she was still as torn up about it as if it had happened only the day before. She felt as if she had spent those months in a void and only today, after coming face to face with Dominic, did she come alive again. It was like taking the first breath after being under water for a long time.
    Not even the birth of their daughter had jarred her out of her numb state. Like acid on an open wound, she couldn’t withstand the pain. She vibrated with it, was consumed by it.
    Oh my God, it still hurts!
    The intercom buzzed. “Mrs. Stone, the meeting will be starting shortly.”
    Rinah was grateful for the interruption from her turbulent thoughts. She took a few minutes to wash her face and repair her makeup. By the time she took the remaining empty chair in the board room, there was no trace of the volatile emotions that had gripped her for the past hour.
    She operated on autopilot until the end of her work day. She was relieved to shut out the rest of the world as she closed the door of her elegant home behind her later that evening.
     

Chapter Two
    I t was after seven in the evening and Dominic sat behind his desk, listening as his team discussed the final proposal on the agenda. The meeting had started shortly after lunch and for the next few hours he’d doggedly scrutinized, interrogated, and challenged the detailed information provided in their weekly round-up discussion. His focus was usually sharp, leaving no room for dwelling on his distracting wife. But that was not the case tonight. He knew that the complex operational issues of his international business empire required his full concentration. The risks and challenges that came with such a diverse operation weren’t much different from his time with the SEALs. He just used other, less deadly, methods to achieve his objectives.
    His business interests and the covert work he undertook for the United States government had consumed him in recent months. And it was because of his tenacious focus on work that his operation continued to grow to staggering proportions. But that single-minded attention to detail was shot to hell to night.
    Unfortunately, he had also been deeply submerged in eradicating the danger that a past enemy posed to his young family. That threat had forced him to let things deteriorate even further in his relationship with Rinah. She knew nothing of his involvement with U.S. intelligence. For the past two months, since his return to the island, he’d buried his anger at Rinah’s continued mistrust and stubbornness by working every hour God gave, and then some. Whether it was in the board room or in his team’s war-room, he worked until exhaustion. He slept very little and kept such a demanding pace, none of the six executives who sat in front of him now had been able to take a holiday since his return.
    “How many of our competitors know about SIMS vulnerability to a takeover?” Dominic queried, watching his six-member team closely to gauge how committed were they to the acquisition under discussion.
    Jim Webber, his chief operating officer, was the first to answer. “This is early in the game, but it is no secret. My sources say it is in fact SIMS management that is fueling the rumor mill. They need funding badly and have apparently explored the usual avenues without success, and are now desperate for an injection of cash, or risk losing everything.”
    Jim outlined the numerous banks and lending institutions that had already declined SIMS Cable and Wireless’ proposal. “They’re now courting private financing before their creditors get wind of the financial cluster fuck their board has created.” Jim finished and passed his summarized report on SIMS finances around the table to everyone.
    “They’re obviously enjoying the Bahamas’ lack of a credit bureau and the bank secrecy laws. I’m not prepared to move ahead just yet,” Dominic said after another half hour of discussion. He