Only with the greatest effort did Pascha keep his features still.

Emily’s brown eyes held his as if in challenge before her lips—amazing lips, like a heart tugged out at the sides—curved upward. Her eyes remained cold. She leaned forward.

“It is obvious this buyout is important to you and you need to keep it a secret. I suggest we make a deal. If you agree to withdraw the threat of legal action toward my father I will keep my mouth shut about the Plushenko deal.”

Pascha’s fingers tightened on the document in his grasp. “You think you can blackmail me?”

She raised her shoulders in a sign of nonchalance. “You may call it blackmail but I like to think of it as us making a deal.”

If the Plushenko deal fell through, his legacy would be gone.

And so would Pascha’s last chance at redemption.

Could he trust her?

Beneath the collected exterior lurked a wildness. It echoed in the flickers of light emitting from her dark eyes. He could feel it.