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“I heard all of it.” His eyes drop to my ears. “Including the lost earring you found without removing either earring.”

“It was more of a temporary displacement.”

“Into a wastebasket.”

“Near a wastebasket,” I correct, although my voice loses conviction.

He walks around the desk. I step back, and the edge of a filing cabinet presses against my shoulder blades.

Andrei stops close enough for me to smell his soap and the dark fruit of the wine he tasted earlier. His heat reaches me in the cool office, stirring the same unreasonable pull beneath my ribs.

“You left the event after questioning employees about Connor Brewster,” he says. “You asked one which building contained my conference room, then used your cousin to occupy Tessa and Reid while you came here.”

“Birdie was genuinely concerned about Reid’s countertops.”

“I’m sure she was.” His eyes lower briefly to my mouth. “Your story requires me to believe you got lost looking for a bathroom, forgot how earrings work, passed an empty reception desk in search of aspirin, and accidentally entered the one office where someone was destroying financial records.”

“It sounds less convincing when you arrange it chronologically.”

“It was never convincing, Cassandra.”

Hearing my full name in his low voice sends heat through me, even though fear should leave no room for it. I lift my chin, irritated that he’s taken apart my lies without changing his tone.

“You knew who I was before Tessa introduced us,” I say. “You knew I was Connor’s sister.”

“Yes.”

He doesn’t even try to deny it. “How did you know?”

“You and Birdie were seen leaving Connor’s apartment Wednesday.” Andrei moves toward me as he speaks. I step away from the filing cabinet, but he follows until my back meets the wall beside it. “The number used to change the reservation led to her business, and her website led to your bookstore.”

He plants one palm against the wall beside my head, surrounding me without touching me anywhere else. We are almost nose to nose, close enough for his breath to warm my lips and for me to see the darker rings around his gray irises.

My heart pounds as I search his face, trying to decide what he plans to do. I’m alone in a restricted office with a powerful man who had me followed, knows where I live, and has positioned himself between me and the door. Any sensible woman would recognize how dangerous this is.

Apparently, the rest of my body has no interest in being sensible. Heat pools low in my stomach, both annoying and wildly inappropriate given the circumstances. I flatten my palms against the wall to keep from placing them on his chest and remind myself that being attracted to a dangerous man doesn’t make him less dangerous. It only makes me easier to distract.

Cold moves through me. “He worked for you.”

“He did.”

“He went into the building after Birdie and I left.” I hold Andrei’s gaze. “You sent him to search my brother’s apartment, didn’t you?”

“I sent him to find documents connected to my company.”

“That isn’t better.” I try to slip to the left, hoping to move out from beneath his arm without admitting how badly I need space.

Andrei’s other hand comes up and presses against the wall beside my head, closing off the only available path. He still doesn’t touch me, but his arms form a barrier on either side of my body, leaving me trapped between the wall and six feet four inches of muscle and expensive clothing.

My pulse jumps as I look from one hand to the other. “Do you usually corner women who disagree with you?”

“Only the ones who enter restricted buildings and lie about why they’re there.” His voice remains low, and the Russian beneath it grows stronger.

Every instinct I possess tells me how dangerous my position is. Another part of me notices the heat of his body, the movement of his chest inches from mine, and how easily I could close the remaining distance. That part of me has terrible survival instincts.

“Normal vineyard owners don’t keep men who follow women and break into apartments,” I say, forcing myself to hold his eyes.

“I have never claimed to be a normal vineyard owner.” Andrei leans closer until almost no space remains between our faces, and the man beneath the tailored clothes becomes much easier to see. “Connor approached me with information that could damage this company and every person who depends upon it. Then he vanished. I will use every resource available to find out why.”