They parted at the restaurant and Tia was on foot for the entire trip back to the office. Did he plan it this way? she had to wonder, her mind going a mile a minute. No, how could he? I suggested the bet, and I only just did it. He couldn’t have anything planned yet.

Well, nobody else could, but nobody else is Marcus Pike.

She knew his history, or at least part of it, and there was a lot more to it than real estate and tech stocks. He’d had his hands in international weapons negotiations, precious metals dealings, chemicals. She only realized then that she never knew the full extent of his deals even when they were together, never mind what he’d truly been up to over the previous ten years.

Maybe he’s planning to kill me, and this is just a clever way of letting me walk right into it? No, he’d just have had it done quietly, not shown up in a restaurant with me to be seen by countless witnesses just days or perhaps hours before I disappear for real.

No.

But Tia knew she didn’t dare let her guard down. She’d set herself up for the triple challenge of a lifetime. Not only did she have to evade Marcus, but she had to successfully kidnap him twice. Tia knew she couldn’t just hide out or leave the state, she had to play the game and win. She had to beat Marcus, to find a way to nab him unaware, and that would take everything Tia had. Marcus already had the advantage of knowing where Tia worked and, judging by the doll, where she lived. Can I go back to either place? Tia wondered, instantly thinking about grabbing a room at a nearby hotel. I can have clothes sent up, stay out of sight, make my plans from there.

Tia’s smartphone rang in her purse, and she was instantly struck with a swirl of nervous bile to pull the phone out and see the word unavailable on the screen. She had no choice but to swipe it.

“Tia McBride.”

“Tia, it’s me…Shin Lu.” She sounded frightened, her voice quivering, very out of character for the self-composed little woman. “I-I’m in trouble, I need help—” But the call ended there, and Tia was unable to return the call.

After a few scrambled seconds on Madison Avenue, the phone rang again, once more with that dreaded unavailable written across the screen.

“Shin Lu?”

“Tia, it’s Marcus.”

“Marcus?”

“I have your friend, the little Korean woman. Well, I don’t have her here with me, but that call you just got came from my associate.”

“Marcus, you didn’t! I didn’t have a chance to tell her about any of this, Marcus! That’s really kidnapping! What’s the matter with you?”

“Under the circumstances, I’d say the real question was, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”

“Marcus, the game’s over, I’m going to have to go to the cops.”

“You’ve got ten minutes to get to the Guggenheim; there’s still a payphone on the corner.”

She looked around, increasingly nervous, heart starting to pound. “The Guggenheim? That’s on, what, Fifth? I’m on the other side of the park, I can’t make it in ten minutes.”

“Then stop wasting time,” he said, the call ending.

Tia glanced around, guessing the right direction and running down the sidewalk, weaving between the pedestrians and tourists, dog walkers and hotdog vendors.

He couldn’t have, Tia told herself. But there was no doubting Shin Lu’s voice, or the genuine terror behind it. I knew I shouldn’t have done this, she scolded herself, I was in over my head from the start.

Tia crossed the busy intersection just a few seconds too soon, a cabbie honking at her before pushing on down the boulevard.

No, Tia had to admit, if he’s acted this quickly, he’d have moved anyway. Taking me to lunch at all was just a ruse. His trap was set and I had no idea.

What about the IRS then? Is that still his responsibility? What would that have to do with this? If he was planning on grabbing Shin Lu, why go through all the trouble of including the IRS? How much pull would he really have with them anyway? And if he did, why come after me at all? Why try to join forces if he’s sent the government to ruin me? Who’d want to partner up with a company that’s under investigation by the IRS? And if just wanted me to close up shop, why be so ready to pounce on Shin Lu? Could that have been a contingency? Is this whole contest just a put-up job to keep me quiet?

It just doesn’t make sense!

But there was no more time to think about it. The oddly shaped bowl that was one of the world’s most famous museums came up slowly in front of her as Tia ran up to the phone booth in front of the Guggenheim.

The payphone started ringing just as she arrived. Perfect timing, Tia thought. Maybe too perfect?

She picked up the phone. “Marcus, it’s me.”

“Nice work, Tia, very good.”

Panting, almost unable to speak, Tia tried to shout, “Where is she?”

“The Waldorf Astoria,” he said, “Room 210, the key’s under the New York Times in front of the door. Come alone or you’re all dead.” The line ended, a long buzz reminding Tia of why she was there and where she was going.

Can’t bring the cops, she realized, she’s probably not in room 210 at all, and he’s just watching me, making sure I don’t betray him. Damnit! Doesn’t matter, he’s got me dead to rights. Not much I can do but just go and turn myself in. I haven’t got any guns on me, and if Marcus isn’t acting alone, he’s probably got some pretty beefy help. It must have taken at least two big men to bring Shin Lu down, and they’ll both be waiting for me. Maybe if Shin Lu is there and she can be free to fight, we may stand a chance.

Slim to none.

Tia walked down Lexington, each step taking her closer to her fate, she was certain. I suppose I’ve earned this; it’s what I deserve after a decade of servicing the dark side of human sexuality. It was bound to bounce back on me eventually, but I didn’t think it would be anything like this, or that it would hurt an innocent person like Shin Lu.

I guess I also should have known that, if anybody, it’d be Marcus Pike who’d finally bring me down.

She walked into the hotel, unimpressed with the elegant decor, marble floors, and stately pillars, ignoring the other guests and visitors as she walked toward the elevators. Once on the second floor, Tia couldn’t mistake that eery stillness that seemed to be following her around more and more.

Well, she could only think, that’s all over now.

She got to the door marked 210 and bent to the newspaper sitting in front of the jab. The key card was under it, just as Marcus had said. With a lump rising in her throat, Tia slipped the key into the door-handle slot. The red light turned green, and she knew she had only a few seconds to push her way into that room.

And there’d be no turning back.

Tia stepped into the dark room, large for a hotel room of that age. And it appeared to be empty. No, nobody’s here, Tia told herself. It’s a trap; I knew it!

But just as she turned to run out through the still-open door behind her, Marcus appeared from the hallway and stepped in, forcing Tia into the hotel room and closing the door behind him. He turned to lock it, still cloaked in the long shadows of his diabolical mastery.

“Tia,” he said with a smile, “so good of you to come. Welcome…to your kidnapping.”

“Marcus,” she said, not even bothering to look around the room. “Where is she?”

“Oh, of course. Come on out, dear.” Tia turned to see a woman stepping out of the closet, but it wasn’t Shin Lu. She was tall, with long flowing hair. “I’m sorry,” Marcus said, clicking on a lamp near the California King bed. “Allow me to present Denise DuBois, my personal assistant.”

She was gorgeous, with mocha-colored skin, almond-shaped eyes, a curvy figure to match Tia’s own. “Hello,” she said with a smile, Tia shocked beyond returning the casual greeting.

Tia turned back to Marcus. “She’s the one who grabbed Shin Lu.”

“No,” Marcus said. “In fact, your friend is safe in her home. She knows nothing of what’s going on here.” Tia scrambled to piece it all together, but there just wasn’t time. Marcus went on, “I’m surprised you didn’t call her back to double-check.”

Damnit, Tia told herself, he’s right! But she explained, to herself as well as to them, “There wasn’t time; you had me running around Manhattan for the last thirty minutes. But how did you—?”

Denise smiled and, in near-perfect mimicry of Shin Lu’s voice. “Tia, help me…I’m in trouble.”

Tia felt her posture slump. Damnit!

“But how did you put this together so fast? The bet was my idea.”

Marcus smiled. “Didn’t I teach you anything over the years, Tia? People believe what they want to believe; their sense of control extends only as far as their own illusion. You think that was your idea.” Marcus and Denise shared a little grin and Marcus turned back to Tia. “Anyway, here we are.”

Marcus crossed to a bottle of champagne sitting in an ice bucket, three glasses nearby. He popped the cork, the sound filling the room for a flash of a second.

Tia said, “Champagne? You don’t really expect me to just…party with you two, celebrate your victory?”

Denise said, “It would be the sportsmanlike thing to do.”

Marcus added, “And there’s no reason not to celebrate, really, the reunion of old friends, old lovers.” Marcus handed Tia the glass and, despite her hesitance, she took it. It was cold and delicious, tickling her tongue.

“You’re trying to take my company,” Tia said. “I don’t see that as anything to celebrate.”

“We could still work together,” Marcus said, “join forces.”

Denise smiled and raised her glass. “Just image what the three of us could get up to.”

Tia knew what Denise meant, and it was territory she’d trod many times before. Tia had been in virtually every lusty combination and had emerged the more powerful in every instance. This time, Tia had the notion that she was out of her depth.

But she was more and more interested in finding out.

“You couldn’t have thought I would involve an innocent person in this,” Marcus said.

Tia was embarrassed by her answer, and glad when Denise said, “I think it’s noble, how dedicated you were to Shin Lu, how ready you were to sacrifice yourself for her.”

Tia couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t really have much choice. And I guess that’s a tip of the hat to the two of you.”

“Praise from Caesar,” Marcus said, raising his own glass before downing and then refilling it.

Tia smiled, recognizing the old saying as one she used to say to him in the years of their romance, a decade before. And even through all the doubt and fear and worry, the frenzy of her search for Shin Lu, the swirl of inexplicable events around her, Tia couldn’t deny the familiarity of the mood between her and Marcus. There had always been a certain ease between them, and when they made love it had been explosive. He’d taught her everything she’d ever used in her sexual tool belt, from the pile driver to the King Kong, from bondage to threesomes. Those memories came back to Tia then, more and more clear with every passing glass of champagne.

The second cork didn’t have the surprise of the first, but it also didn’t need it.

And those weren’t the only memories: there were nights in Paris, the City of Lights spread out beneath them; the glorious hot sun of Hawaii, lazy afternoons making love on the deck of his yacht, open for all to see. Tia tried to ignore the feelings stirring in her.

She’d played the role of submissive before, but she’d never been manipulated; that had always been her specialty. Whether being kidnapped in the water and dragged to her own yacht or being swept up into a van and driven out to the cabin her company owned for such things, Tia knew every facet of her business, and every facet of everybody who worked for her. But this was different. This time she didn’t know, or hadn’t known. And that had given her a thrill she’d never imagined, one she gave her clients on a regular basis—even more, because they did know and she didn’t.

Yet Tia was still just as safe, just as rewarded for her pluck and courage, just as thrilled or even more so. And the more she thought about that, the more excited she became. And for Tia McBride, the exceptional could only escalate into the extraordinary and beyond, to the realm of the ecstatic.

Sensing the collecting sexual tension that was nearly thick enough to smother them all, Tia found herself saying, “So, you two, are you…involved?”

Marcus and Denise glanced at one another. Marcus answered, “Right now, we’re involved…with you.”