Wildest Hearts

you poison about me.”

    “I don't believe this.” Dazed, Annie staggered over to the chair and dropped down into it. “You had me watched.”

    Oliver looked concerned. “Are you okay, Annie? You look a little ill.”

    “I might throw up at any minute.”

    He started toward her. “Here, let me help you get to the bathroom.”

    She held up a stern hand. “Do not, I repeat,do not touch me.”

    He stopped a pace away from the chair. “Annie, if you're ill, we should get you to an emergency room.”

    “I am not ill. Not in the way you mean. Don't worry, I won't throw up on your rug.” Annie drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. She narrowed her eyes at Oliver. The look of concern on his face was genuine, she realized. “You'll have to forgive me, Oliver. I'm a little confused at the moment. You don't happen to have a twin, do you?”

    “A twin?”

    “Are there two of you?” she asked patiently. “A nice Oliver and a nasty Oliver? Is this one of those stories in which there's a good twin and a bad twin?”

    “No.” He smiled slightly.

    “I was afraid of that. Which means we have to work with what we've got.” Annie shot to her feet, still clutching his shirt around herself. “I think I'm beginning to get a hint of the true nature of the monumental problem we have here, Oliver.”

    “I'm glad one of us is.”

    Annie resumed her pacing, her mind working furiously. “It's obvious you've gotten away with murder over the years.”

    “Not quite.”

    She sent him a quelling glance. “In a manner of speaking. The truth is, you manage your family the way you manage your financial empire. You're an old-fashioned feudal lord at heart. And now you think you can manage a wife the same way.”

    “Annie, you're getting a little carried away here.”

    She spun around and stabbed an imperious finger at him. “Your problem is even more complicated than I first thought.”

    “I believe you said something about me not being a great communicator.”

    “This goes beyond your inability to communicate.”

    “We've already been over this, haven't we?” Oliver asked politely.

    Annie lifted her chin. “I've done some more detailed analysis.”

    “I see.”

    “Now, then, you have a strong, natural tendency to dominate everything and everyone in your world. Probably a result of all the responsibilities you were forced to assume at an early age. Then, again, maybe you were born that way. You, Oliver, are what they call a controlling personality.”

    “I'll keep that in mind.” Oliver took a step toward her. He halted as she shook her finger at him. “There's more?”

    “Much more. You've been allowed to become a tyrant. No one stands up to you. Your family respects you and admires you, but they're all far too much in awe of you. You get away with your dictatorial tendencies because no one confronts you head on and draws a line. I, however, am not afraid of you, Oliver.”

    “I'm glad.” He took another step toward her, stalking her slowly, with infinite patience.

    Annie retreated a step and then stood her ground. “There are going to be some changes made around here.”

    “Are there?”

    “Yes, there are. For starters, I do not want Bolt spying on me. It gives me the creeps. Think how you would feel if someone were lurking about watching you.”

    Oliver weighed that. “All right.”

    She eyed him warily. “I mean it. I won't have him skulking about in the bushes wherever I go.”

    “I said all right.”

    “Really?” Annie was disconcerted by the ease of her first victory. “You promise you won't have him spy on me?”

    “He wasn't spying on you. He was keeping an eye on you for your own good. But, yes, I promise I won't have him do it any more. I don't think it's necessary, now that we've had this discussion. I can understand your point of view.”

    Elation swept through Annie. She smiled at Oliver with approval. “That's wonderful. I knew you weren't truly insensitive, just a little thickheaded.”

    “Thank you.”

    “From now on, we're going to talk about things as they come up,” Annie said earnestly.

    “I'll try. But I'm a little rusty at this kind of thing. Will you be patient with me?”

    “Of course I will,” she assured him.

    Inside she was ecstatic. Oliver cared enough for her to try to change himself. A woman could hardly ask more of a man than that. He might even be falling in love with her, Annie thought happily.

    “I'm glad we had this