He hadn't see Kimiko Tohomiko for seven years and still she had the ability to seriously disturb his day.

Endless legs, silken hair, soft mouth and a wide, trusting smile.

For a time she'd truly had him fooled with that loving, giving, generous act that she'd perfected. Accustomed to being with women who were as sophisticated and calculating as himself, he'd been charmed and captived by Kimiko's innocence, openness and her almost childlike honesty.

It was the first and only occasion in his adult life when he'd made a serious error of jugdement.

She was a greedy little gold-digger.

He knew that now. And she knew that he knew.

So what could possibly have possessed her to throw herself in his path again?

She was either very brave, or very, very stupid. He strolled towards her, watching her flinch and tremble and decided that she didn't look particularly brave.

Which just left stupid.

Or desperate?

Kimiko stood with her back to the wall and wondered how she could have forgotten the impact that Raimundo Pedrosa had on women. How could she have ever thought she could hold a man like him?

Time had somehow dimmed the memory and the reality was enough to stun her into a temporary silence.

She was tall but he was taller. His shoulders were broad, his physique lithe and athletic and his dark, dangerous looks alone were enough to make a women forget her own name. The truth was that, even among a race renowned for handsome men, Raimundo stood out form the crowd.

She stared at him with almost agonizing awareness as he strolled towards her, her eyes sliding over the wavy dark brown hair, those thick lashes that sheilded brooding, dark emeraled green eyes and down to the darkened jaw of a man who seemed to embody everything it meant to be masculine. He was dressed formally in standered business attire but even the tailored perfection of his dark suit couldn't entirely disguise a nature that barded on the very edges of civilised. Although he moved in a conventional world, Raimundo could never be described as 'safe' and it was that subtle hint of danger that added to his almost overwhelming appeal.

His attraction to the oppisite sex was as powerful as it was predictable and she'd proved herself to be as susceptible as the rest when it came to his particular brand of lethal charm.

Feeling her heart pound against her chest. She wondered wether she'd been mad to come here.

She didn't move in his leage and she never had. They played a completely different set of rules.

And then she reminded herself firmly that she wasn't here for herself. Given the choice she never would have come near Raimundo again. But he was her only hope.

"Raimundo." His eyes mocked her in that lazy, almost bored way that she used to find both aggravating and seductive. "Very formal. You used to call me Rai."

He spoke with a cultured male drawl that held just a hint of the dark and dangerous. The staggeringly successful international businessman mingled with the raw, rough boy from the streets.

There was enough of the hard and the tough and the ruthless in him to make her shiver. Of course he was tough and ruthless, she reasoned, trying to control the exaggerated response of her trembling body. Rumor had it that he'd dragged himself from the streets of Rio before building one of the biggest multinational businesses in the world.

"That's in the past." And she didn't want to remember the past. Didn't want to remember the times she'd cried out his name as he'd shown her yet another way to paradise.

He raised an eyebrow and from the look in his dark eyes she knew that he was experiencing the same memories. The temperature in the room rose by several degrees and the air began to crackle and hum. "And is that what this meeting is about? You want closure? You have come to beg forgiveness and repay the money you stole?"

It was typical of him that the first thing he mentioned was the money.

For a moment her courage faltered.

"I know it was wrong to use your credit cards-" she licked her lips "-but I had a good reason...." She broke off and the carefully prepared speech that she'd rehearsed and rehearsed in her head dissolved into nothing and suddenly she couldn't think how on earth she was going to say what needed to be said.

Now, she urged herself frantically, tell him now!

But somehow the right words just wouldn't come.

"You did give me the credit cards-" She managed to say, but was cut off.

"One of the perks of being with me, "Raimundo said silkily, "-but when you spent the money, you were no longer with me. I have to congratulate you. I thought that no women had the ability to surprise me-" he paced around her, his voice a soft, lethal drawl. "-and yet you did just that. During our relationship you spent nothing. You showed no interrest in my money. At the time I thought you were unique amongst your sex. I found your lack of interest in material things particularly endearing." His toned hardened. " Now I see that you were in fact just clever. Very clever. You held back on your spending but once you realised that the relationship was over, you showed your true colours."

Kimiko's mouth fell open in a genuine amazement.

Just what the hell was he implying?

PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 3

"I was innocent-" She yelled.

His breath warmed her mouth and he gave a slow, sexy smile that made her heart thud hard against her chest. "You were desperate." he whispered.

He was going to kiss her.........

It was now. It had to be now. "I'm here because-" her voice craked and she licked her dry lips and tried again. "I'm trying to tell you...w...we had a son together, Rai, and he's now six years old." Her heart pounded and her body trembled. "He's six years old and his life is in danger. I'm here becuase I need your help..........I've no one slse to turn to."

R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)