Cole Cameron's Revenge

The cool air evaporated as she made her way up the steps to the third floor and down the corridor to Sam Jergen's office. Faith could feel her hair curling, her blouse wilting. She paused outside the office, wiped her hand down her skirt, tugged at her jacket, patted her hair...

"Just stop it," she said under her breath, and she opened the door and stepped inside.

The empty reception area was hot, almost airless. Faith glanced at her watch. It was precisely nine o'clock. Where was the iron-jawed secretary who normally sat at the desk?

"Hello?" she said, after a couple of minutes crept past.

There was no reply. Faith sat down on the sofa, put her leanly muscled frame. His feet were slightly spread and his hands were in his trouser pockets.

His stance was casual but something about it suggested that he knew he owned the world.

Faith's heartbeat slowed to a sluggish crawl. She forced her eyes from the man to Jergen's secretary.

"Why don't I come back later?" she said in a breathless voice that didn't sound a bit like her own. "Say, at ten? Or this afternoon? I mean, I thought I had a nine o'clock appointment but obviously-"

"You do. Mr. Jergen had to step out for a minute. He asked you to wait for him in his office."

"No! I can wait in the reception area-"

The woman took her arm. Faith wanted to grab for the wall and hang on but the secretary drew her forward, through the door and into the office.

"No," she said again, but it was too late. The man turned from the window and looked at her.

"Hello, Faith," Cole said.

And everything went black.

CHAPTER TWO

COLE had wondered how Faith would react when she saw him.

He'd thought about it through the long flight home-not that Georgia was home anymore. He had offices in Caracas, London and New York, a condo in Aspen and a penthouse in

New York but when the news of Ted's death reached him, he was deep in the Orinoco basin. It had taken him more than a week just to get back to civilization.

She was such a clever actress. Who knew what routine she'd try and pull?

He'd imagined her offering a cool smile and a handshake.

Hello, Cole, she'd say, as if he'd never left. As if there'd never been anything between them. As if they'd never made love on a soft summer night.

Or she might try the ingenue act again. He'd fallen for it years ago. So had his brother. Why wouldn't she stick with something that had been successful? Sweet Faith. Innocent Faith. Oh yeah. That had always worked.

Maybe she'd play the grieving widow. Stare at him through big eyes, weep as if her heart were breaking. Actually, he'd doubted she'd be foolish enough to try that. She had to realize that he, of all men, would know she didn't have a heart.

A swoon was the last thing he'd figured but that was exactly what she did. Looked at him, rolled up her eyes and went down in a heap. Cole cursed, moved fast, and caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Get some cold water," he snapped at Sam Jergen's secretary.

The woman flew down the hall. Cole headed in the other direction, elbowed open the conference room door and unceremoniously deposited Faith on the couch. He looked at her dispassionately and wondered if he might have walked past her on the street. The girl he'd known had lived her life in shorts and T-shirts. The woman he was looking at was dressed in designer silk.

"I suppose you know all about your brother's marriage," Jergen had said carefully, when the call had finally reached him. "That he and Faith Davenport..."

"Yes," Cole had said, interrupting the man. Surely, the lawyer hadn't phoned to give him old news. "I know all of that. Why are you calling me, Mr. Jergen?"

There'd been a long silence over the satellite phone. "Your brother's been in an accident," Jergen had finally said. "I'm afraid it was a bad one. He was driving to Atlanta. It was dark and the rain was heavy..."

It was funny, what adversity could do to a man. Nine years of rage had disappeared in a heartbeat. This was Ted, his brother. And Cole loved him.

"What hospital is he in?" he'd demanded, glancing at his watch. "I can be in the States by-"

"He's not in a hospital," Jergen had said softly. "He's gone."

Ted, gone? That couldn't be. "No," Cole had whispered, "God, no..." And then his heart had almost stopped beating. "Faith? Is she... ?" His hand had tightened around the phone. "Tell me what happened to her. Is she-did she-"

"She's fine," Jergen had replied, and then his voice flattened and he said that Faith hadn't been in the car, "Ted made the trip to Atlanta once a month and he always made it alone."

"Always alone? What's that supposed to mean?"

"We can talk about all of that when you get here," the lawyer had said.