Wildest Hearts

night.

    “He's an interesting but rather dangerous man,” Daniel said to Annie later. “You never know for certain what he's thinking. I don't believe he trusts anyone. When I worked for him, he was almost obsessive about maintaining files on all key employees and the people with whom he did business.”

    “Files?”

    “More like security dossiers.” Daniel's mouth curved wryly. “He always claimed that personal inside information on people was what he relied on to give him the edge.”

    “I would imagine having an edge would be very important to a man like that,” Annie said thoughtfully. “He would want to be in control at all times.”

    “The thing to remember about Oliver Rain is that he's always got his own agenda, and he never lets anyone else know what that agenda is until he's ready. He's a lone wolf, not a team player.”

    “Is he a gangster?” Annie asked, horrified at the possibility that her brother might be in debt to a criminal.

    Daniel grinned. “If he is, he's smart enough to bury the bodies so deep that no one will ever find them.”

    “Why on earth did you let him back you if you don't trust him?”

    Daniel looked at her in surprise. “I never said I didn't trust him. I just said he was dangerous.”

    “There's a difference?”

    “A big difference?”

    Annie hugged herself against the small shiver that went through her. “What else do you know about him?”

    “Not much, even though I worked for him. The man's a legend.”

    “Why?” Annie asked.

    “Fifteen years ago his father walked out on the family. Just vanished. I don't know the whole story, but I do know that a few months before he disappeared, Edward Rain had persuaded some of his friends to invest in one of his development projects.”

    “Let me guess,” Annie said. “The investors' money vanished along with Rain?”

    “Right. Not only that, but Edward Rain had liquidated most of his own personal assets. He took that cash with him, too. The family was left with virtually nothing except a mountain of debts.”

    “I've heard tales of that kind of thing happening. There was a story in the papers just the other day about a prominent banker who simply got on a plane with several million dollars and was never seen again. He left his family and his whole life behind.”

    “That's what Edward Rain did,” Daniel said.

    Annie stared at her brother. “What happened?”

    “Oliver paid off all of his father's debts within two years,” Daniel said. There was cool admiration in his voice. “He rebuilt his father's fortune from scratch. It's now far larger than it was before Edward Rain disappeared, which should tell you something about Oliver.”

    “Poor Oliver,” Annie whispered. “He must have been emotionally devastated when his father vanished.”

    Daniel frowned in alarm. “Now, Annie…”

    “The shame and humiliation would have been intolerable to a man like that,” Annie continued thoughtfully. “He's obviously been scarred for life. No wonder he's not very outgoing.”

    “Hold it right there,” Daniel ordered. “Don't even think about it.”

    “About what?” Annie asked innocently.

    “About trying to rescue Oliver Rain. He is definitely not another wounded stray male you can add to your collection. Believe me, Rain doesn't need rescuing.”

    “Everyone needs to be rescued at one time or another, Daniel.”

    “Not Rain,” Daniel said flatly. “That man can take care of himself. Trust me.”

    Annie did not see or hear from Rain again until two weeks later. He had called the day after Daniel's private plane went down in the ocean on a flight to Alaska. That had been a month ago in October. Rain had asked her very gently if she needed help of any kind.

    Caught up in the chaos of the situation, struggling to deal with reporters and the authorities who were conducting the search-and-rescue operation, as well as trying to console Joanna, Annie had been tense and distracted. She had brusquely told Oliver Rain that she did not need his assistance.

    It was only as she hung up the phone that she belatedly recalled the fact that Rain was her brother's chief creditor. Now that Daniel had disappeared, Rain was a potential threat. If he chose to call in the huge loan on the grounds that Daniel's fledgling company lacked leadership, Lyncroft Unlimited would go under. There was simply no way to pay off Oliver Rain at this point.

    But it wasn't Rain who had turned out to be the