chapter 3

 SARAH

After catching a taxi home Sarah still trembled from the encounter as she let herself into her air conditioned apartment. She'd come to love living in this tropical paradise. . .this vibrant city at the top of Australia. . .but now there was a devil in the paradise who goes by the name of Alexandre Flynn. God, he had to be deranged if he thought she would pay her debts off at the expense of using her body.

 Her debts.

 She swallowed hard and sank down on the brown leather sofa, her knees suddenly week. What had Robert been thinking when he'd Forged her signature on that document? Because it was a forgery, that was certain. She even remembered when he'd tried to get her to sign some paperwork. He'd said it was a business deal and he'd needed her signature as a witness. Only she'd felt so uncomfortable and mistakenly misplaced it. She heard nothing more about it from Robert. Pity she hadn't read it before she'd thrown it away.

 Two hundred thousand dollars! For what? It made her wonder what else he had done. Had she known her husband at all?

 Not that Alexandre Flynn would have believed her if she'd told him the truth. He clearly thought she was as guilty as her husband and any further attempt to refute that would have been met with suspicion.

 She blinked back tears . This was supposed to be a new beginning for her. After three years of being smothered by Robert and his dear mother, she'd finally broken free after his death and moved into this luxurious apartment. Living with Robert's mother had been hell enough during her unhappy marriage, but since Robert's death, Veronica had been trying to manipulate her just as she had her "Robbie".And feeling sorry for the other woman's loss, she had given in too many times to even count.

 But she'd had enough of it all. A realtor who'd been an acquaintance of Robert had offered this dashing apartment to Sarah at a minimal rent. Signing tu lease had lifted a weight off her shoulders. The place was beautiful and it made her very Happy and more comfortable. She loved the space , especially the living room and the open plan kitchen, and the glass doors leading to the balcony looked over the wide expanse of an ocean. Being surrounded by such glamorous beauty made her feel as if she could breathe again. It had been exactly what she needed and better yet, it was all hers. For a year or two , anyway.

 And now this.

 Now she owed Alexandre Flynn Corporations a large sum of money and had no idea how she was going to pay all of it back. And pay it back she would . Robert had taken the money and she was his wife and as much as she wanted to walk away from all of it and say it wasn't her problem, she couldn't. It was her problem.

 But the six dollars she'd managed to save from her part time job was woefully inadequate. Besides, she wouldn't give that up. Couldn't give it up. It was her security blanket, held in an account Robert hadn't known about. Thank God . He hadn't wanted her to be independent and she'd fought hard to hold on to her job during her marriage—against both Robert's and Veronica's wishes . If she'd given it up to become a lady of leisure the way they'd wanted, then somehow she may as well have given up on herself.

 No, she'd just have to find another way to pay the money back. And not through sleeping with Alexandre, either , even though she couldn't deny the fact that her heart had skipped a bit over him.

 The tycoon had definitely been at the front line when looks were been handing out , with the sort of handsome features that stole a woman's breath away and make her curled her toes.

 Strong, sexy and silent. With broad shoulders more than a enough for a woman to caress,not to mention the thick brown hair that lured a woman's hands.

 She could imagine feeling it's shining silkiness underneath her fingertips.

 Perhaps some would call her insane for refusing to have s*x with a man with such remarkable blue eyes and a sensually perfect mouth. She called it survival.

 He was one of those men who expected everyone to abide to their biddings. She'd spent three years being smothered by a man who'd fought to control her and she wasn't about to step back into another relationship like that —no matter how much money Alexandre Flynn said she owed him.....