A Scandal Made in London

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT ON EARTH...?

From behind his desk, situated on the top floor of the forty-four-storey building that housed the Knox Group, Theo Knox stared at the web page that filled the screen of the iPad that his head of security had just brought in and placed in front of him.

It appeared to be a table of information.

Harmony was the heading; below that came the details.

Geographical location: London

Age: 26

Height: 6' 1"

Vital statistics: 38-28-38

Hair: blonde

Eyes: blue

Tattoos: one

Interests: travel, books, music

Sexual experience: none

And the website? Belle’s Angels, according to the elaborate logo involving entwined vines that shimmered in the top right corner. ‘Matches made in heaven’, apparently.

Which was all well and good, but of what use was any of this to him? And why did Antonio Scarlatto, a valued employee he’d previously considered competent and level-headed, think it would be?

Theo had absolutely no interest in dating sites, or in any kind of dating at all, since the occasional one-night stand when the need arose suited him fine. And even if he did, he had no time for it. As owner and CEO of a company that spanned the globe, employed thousands and was worth billions, he had a multitude of issues clamouring for his attention, the principle one of which currently was figuring out how he was going to persuade the ridiculously sentimental owner of the business he badly wanted to sell it to him.

‘Why are you wasting my time by showing me this?’ Theo demanded, lifting his gaze from the screen and levelling it at the man standing on the other side of the desk, who was way out of line if he thought Theo needed Harmony in his life.

‘It relates to a current member of your staff,’ said Antonio, not batting an eyelid in response to the dark look and arctic tone that usually had people quaking in their boots. ‘She’s registered on the site and this is her page. She tried to log in from her work computer twenty minutes ago. Our firewall flagged it up. As it’s against company policy to access sites like this, I need to know what action to take.’

‘It’s a dating site,’ Theo said flatly.

‘It’s not just a dating site,’ Antonio countered. ‘I wouldn’t have disturbed you if it was. Scroll down.’

Mentally having to concede that point, Theo shoved a lid on his exasperation and switched his attention back to the tablet. He briefly ran his gaze over the table again, automatically registering and dismissing the information, then swiped up.

And froze.

Because to accompany Harmony’s description were half a dozen photos. Of the woman in question in various outfits in various eye-popping poses. In the first four pictures, she was at least wearing clothes—short and tight and pretty revealing, but clothes nevertheless. In the last two, however, she wasn’t wearing very much at all. Technically she had on a negligee, he saw, but she might as well not have bothered. It was so diaphanous it hid nothing that wasn’t concealed under a few scraps of strategically placed lace beneath. Not her curves. Not the length of her limbs. Nothing.

And her face...

He knew that face.

It was Kate Cassidy.

Harmony, with her luscious body and dazzlingly striking looks, was Kate Cassidy.

The realisation hit Theo like a blow to the gut and he reeled.

What the hell was she up to?

Steeling himself, he scrolled down and read the text that accompanied the photos, and his blood turned to ice. Antonio had been right. Belle’s Angels wasn’t just any dating site and Kate wasn’t after any kind of normal date at all.

As the implications of what he’d read and seen sank in, questions ricocheted around his head. What on earth was she thinking? Did she have any idea of the danger she could be putting herself in? More importantly, now he knew what she had planned, what was he going to do about it?