CHAPTER ONE

WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE DOING HERE?

The helicopter swooped low over the trees and Grace felt her stomach roll.

Beneath her lay acres and acres of lush tropical rainforest, the canopy forming a dense green umbrella that sheltered and concealed the exotic mysteries of the forest floor. At any other time she would have been captivated by the wild, breathtaking beauty of her surroundings, but she was far too tense to think about anything except the meeting that lay ahead of her. The meeting and the man.

What on earth was she doing dressed in this ridiculously hot, scratchy suit, flying over the top of the Brazilian rainforest to throw herself at the mercy of a man who apparently didn't know the meaning of the word?

Rafael Cordeiro.

Brilliant, dangerous, damaged. So many words came to mind when thinking of him, none of them tame or soothing. Shockingly wealthy and wielding more power than kings and presidents, he was reputedly so clever with figures that the financial press had likened him to a walking computer. Which didn't bode well, Grace thought gloomily as she clutched at her seat, given her allergy to technology.

Beneath her, the trees parted and a swollen river snaked through a deep gorge and plunged over rocks in an explosion of white froth. 'He has properties all over the world—' she turned to the pilot, seeking answers to the questions bubbling in her mind '—so why is he living all the way out here?'

The pilot kept his eyes on the treetops. 'Because the world won't leave the man alone. He likes his privacy.'

Which fitted with what she'd heard about him. Ruthless, unemotional, unsentimental—the list of unflattering adjectives went on and on. Considering the man never gave interviews, there was no shortage of information on him. 'He's a loner?'

'Well, I wouldn't exactly call him soft and cuddly, if that's what you're asking, not that women seem to mind. Being bad and dangerous just seems to bring them flocking. That and the power. Women can sniff out power from a hundred paces. Power and money.' The pilot fingered the controls and then glanced towards her. 'You don't look like his usual type.'

His usual type?

Wondering how anyone could possibly mistake her for a billionaire's girlfriend, Grace almost laughed. 'I have a meeting with Mr Cordeiro. His company put up the original investment for my business.' And that investment had changed her life. 'He's what they call a business angel, but I expect you know that, given that you work for him.'

'Angel?' The pilot convulsed with laughter and the helicopter swooped alarmingly close to the treetops. 'Rafael Cordeiro—angel?'

'It's an expression. It means that he invests in small businesses that interest him.' And he'd been interested in hers. Until recently. The sick feeling in her stomach was suddenly back and Grace lifted her briefcase onto her lap and stroked the surface, trying to solder her fractured confidence.

The pilot was still laughing. 'Angel. I don't know what he does to make his money but I can tell you one thing,' he fixed his gaze on the horizon and fiddled with the controls, 'the man is no angel.'

Refusing to let him frighten her, Grace straightened in her seat. 'I don't believe everything I read in the papers.'

'Obviously—' he glanced towards her and the smile on his craggy, weathered face was faintly pitying '—or you wouldn't be here. I can see you're a gutsy girl with a mind of your own and that's good, it will get you a long way out here in the jungle.'

'There's nothing gutsy about attending a business meeting.'

'That would depend on who you're doing business with.' The mountains rose and dipped and the helicopter swooped through a green-clad valley. 'And where. Not many people have the courage to visit the wolf in his lair.'

Despite her determination to keep an open mind, Grace felt her mouth dry. 'You call him the wolf?'

'Not me. That's what everyone else calls him. I just call him the boss.' His hands shifted on the controls and the helicopter lost height.

Losing her stomach and her nerve, Grace closed her eyes briefly and tried not to also lose her lunch. She'd never been any good on roller coasters. 'I'm sure Mr Cordeiro is a very reasonable man.'

'Are you?' He fixed his eyes on a spot far below them. 'Then you've obviously never met him. Hold on. We're going down.'

'Going down?' Grace stared at him in alarm, her worries about sickness and the dangers of Rafael Cordeiro momentarily eclipsed by that less than reassuring statement. 'Do you mean we're landing or we're crashing?'

But the pilot didn't answer. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw clenched as he played with the controls. For a moment it looked as though they were going to plunge into the trees and then, at the last minute, a small landing pad revealed itself and he lowered the machine down, landing like a giant insect in what seemed like a ridiculously small gap between the trees.

'Not crashing, then.' Grace gave a wobbly smile and let out the breath she'd been holding. 'I had a mental image of carnage.'

'If you're meeting with Cordeiro then there's going to be carnage.' The pilot flicked a switch in front of him. 'I've seen grown men in tears after five minutes with him. Take my advice and fight your corner. If there's one thing the boss hates, it's wimps. Welcome to the Atlantic rainforest, Miss Thacker. One of the most endangered little ecosystems on our planet.'

'You're leaving me? Here? In the middle of nowhere?' Grace turned her head and looked out of the window and only then did she see the lodge—a building that seemed to consist of nothing but glass domes and smooth, weathered wood, it blended into the forest so cleverly that it seemed almost to have grown naturally amongst the trees. 'Oh.' She looked at the walkways suspended high above the forest floor. 'It's stunning. Amazing.'

Copyright © 2007 by Sarah Morgan.