He’d also engaged the agency to find Katrina. It was the first time the outfit had failed him, which was why they had continued to search for her free of charge.
He was put through to Royce, the owner, straight away.
Briefly and concisely, Alex outlined what had happened.
‘Lime Taxis, you said?’ Royce confirmed. ‘The information is going to cost you.’
‘I don’t care how much it costs,’ Alex grated. ‘Find her.’
He’d spent seven months kicking his heels, wondering where Katrina was and what she was doing.
His interest hadn’t been in the least personal, of course. The minute he’d discovered she was trying to foist another man’s child on him, he’d known their relationship was over. But he had felt it wise to keep an eye on her so that the situation didn’t explode in his face.
But Katrina had hidden herself well. He had no intention of letting the same thing happen again; he wanted the experts on the job while her trail was still hot.
‘OK,’ Royce said. ‘I’ll call you back as soon as I have the information.’
‘Make it fast.’
Alex paced his office like an animal trapped in a much-too-small cage. When his mobile phone rang, Alex almost broke the thing in his eagerness to answer. ‘Royce?’
Royce got straight to the point. ‘The taxi dropped her off at an apartment in Waverton. Here’s the address.’
Alex scribbled the information down on his notepad. Before ending the call, he said, ‘I want you to send someone over to the apartment to watch Katrina. They are not to let her out of their sight. I want to know where she goes and who she sees. And I want a report on who she’s staying with. Got it?’
Alex didn’t wait for a reply. Despite the fact Royce and his people had failed to find Katrina, they were still good operatives. The best, in fact. He had no doubt his request was already spinning into action.
Ripping the page from his notepad, Alex shoved it in his pocket and left the office.
‘I’m going to be out for the rest of the day,’ he said, striding past Justine’s desk without pause.
‘But you have appointments all afternoon,’ Justine called after him.
‘Cancel them,’ Alex flung over his shoulder. ‘I have more important things to attend to!’
Katrina was scrubbing the stove top when the doorbell rang. There was something therapeutic about making the white enamel gleam. She always cleaned when she was upset or had some serious thinking to do. And right at this moment she could tick the box against both of those things.
The doorbell pealed again.
‘Coming,’ she called, dropping her cloth then pulling off her green rubber-gloves and flinging them down on the edge of the kitchen sink.
Hurrying to the door, she pulled it open.
She was quite unprepared to find Alex standing on the doorstep.
For one stunned second all she could do was gape up at him like a stranded fish. Then she dragged in a breath, regathered her wits and tried to slam the door in his face.
She was too late.
An expensive black leather shoe wedged itself between the door and the jamb. Then a strong, longfingered hand curled around the edge of the door and began pushing it open.
Katrina leant against it with all her weight, but it was useless. She was no match for Alex’s size and strength. It was like an ant trying to push over an elephant.
Recognising that she was wasting her time, Katrina stepped away from the door so fast that Alex practically fell into the apartment.
After staring at her long and hard, he looked around.
‘You live here?’
The slight emphasis he’d given the last word managed to convey exactly what he thought of the apartment. Her hackles, which were already sticking up like the needles on a porcupine after their earlier meeting, bristled some more.
Katrina followed his gaze. She had to admit the carpet needed replacing. It was threadbare in places and stained in others. The walls were also long overdue for a coat of paint.
Peter had apologized for the condition of the unit, but he’d over-extended himself when he’d bought it and was struggling to meet the mortgage repayments.
Katrina had jokingly said it was OK because it didn’t show up her furniture. It would be generous to call her stuff ‘second hand’. She was probably its third or fourth owner, each piece displaying a series of dents and scratches from each of its previous lives.
But so what?
If he looked hard enough, Alex would notice what was really important. And that was that she kept the place immaculately clean and tidy.
She tossed her head, angled her chin into the air and said coolly, ‘Yes, this is where I live. Sorry if it’s not up to your high standards, but we can’t all be as rich as you. What are you doing here, Alex? How did you find me?’
‘I’m here because you ran out on me before we finished our conversation,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘As to finding you, that was easy. You were seen getting into a Lime Taxi. Discovering where it had dropped you didn’t take long.’
‘That’s an invasion of privacy. They had no right to tell you where I’d gone.’
‘Tell that to someone who cares.’ Alex slammed the door behind him and moved determinedly towards her.
Katrina, who had managed to stand her ground at the bank earlier in the day, backed away from him.
His eyes were a glittering, angry blue, his jaw squared with the same emotion. He also looked impossibly, wickedly handsome, and the closer he moved into her personal space the more she was aware of him.
Her heart and her pulse rate both picked up rhythm.
Her back came up against the wall that divided the small living area from the even tinier kitchen. She pressed against it, as if she could somehow go through the painted brick to the other side.
Alex planted a hand against the wall on either side of her head, effectively trapping her.
His heat and his smell were all around her.
Anxiety and awareness coursed through her, making her tremble.
‘That’s the second time you’ve run out on me. And the last. Understand?’ Alex said in a dangerously soft voice, his breath wafting across her face.
‘I didn’t run out on you,’ she said, angling her chin into the air. ‘I walked.’
He growled something completely incomprehensible under his breath. ‘Don’t split hairs. Why did you leave?’
She snatched in a breath. ‘I left because I didn’t like what you were saying.’
‘So why didn’t you just tell me that?’
‘I did. I said I wasn’t going to sign your stupid document. And I’m not,’ she added for good measure. ‘I haven’t changed my mind.’
He bared his teeth in the parody of a smile. ‘You will if you know what’s good for you.’
The threat stirred her anger to life. She welcomed the emotion because it banished her awareness of him.
‘No, I won’t.’ She dug the point of her index finger into the centre of his chest. ‘Because Sam is your daughter.’
He froze, face twisting. ‘Stop saying that. It’s not true!’
Her