Wildest Hearts

to go home this afternoon just so he could hear Annie tell him again that she loved him. Maybe if she told him often enough, he would eventually allow himself to believe her.

    “Annie seems content?” Sybil repeated incredulously. “What does that mean? Are you trying to tell me you've seduced her into thinking that you actually love her?”

    “Sybil, I suggest we change the subject.”

    Sybil tilted her head slightly, reacting to the ice in his voice. She had known him long enough to know when she had pushed too far. “All right. Let's do that. There's one more thing I want to know before I leave.”

    “What's that?”

    Sybil held his eyes for a moment longer. Then she broke the contact and walked over to the window. She stood with her back to him. “I want to know how far the mellowing of Oliver Rain has gone.”

“Try being more specific.”

    “Is Valerie the only one who is going to benefit from the magical effect Annie is apparently having on you?”

    Oliver studied the rigid set of Sybil's shoulders. “I take it you want to know if it's safe to tell me about your affair with Jonathan Grace?”

    “Christ. You really are a bastard, aren't you?” Sybil did not turn around. “How long have you known?”

    “Does it matter?”

    “I suppose not.” She sighed wearily. “I don't know why I even bothered to try to keep my relationship with Jonathan under wraps.”

    Oliver thought about it. “Maybe you tried because you're genuinely serious about him.”

    “I haven't felt like this since Greg,” she whispered. “I love him, Oliver. Are you going to ruin it for me?”

    “Let's not get melodramatic. I can't and won't stop you from marrying anyone. I don't have that kind of power over you.”

    “You're wrong,” Sybil said. “You do have that kind of power. And you know it as well as I do. All you have to do is threaten to cut me out of the Rain fortune and I'll drop any dreams I have for marrying Jonathan. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers.

    “The money is that important to you?”

    “Yes, goddamn it.” Sybil whirled around, her face a tight mask of fear and anger. “Yes, it's that important. You think you had it tough because your father walked out and left you holding the bag, but you don't know how tough life can be, Oliver Rain.”

    “But you're going to tell me, right?”

    “You didn't grow up on welfare. You didn't have to live in a housing project. That neighborhood was so dangerous my mother wouldn't let me play outside for fear I might get raped. My father didn't walk out when I was twenty-two, Oliver. He left before I was even born. Yes, the money is that important to me.”

    “Doesn't Grace have money?”

    “He has money, all right, but that's not the point. I want the money I earned. I need to know I have money of my own. And I did earn my share of the Rain fortune, Oliver. You know I did. We made a bargain and I help up my end of it. Admit it.”

    Oliver wondered what Annie would say if she were here. “The money is yours, Sybil. You're right, you earned it. You'll continue to get your share regardless of whether you decide to remarry.”

    Sybil's eyes widened with shock. Then hope glimmered in them. “Do you mean it?”

    “Yes.”

    “You give me your word?”

    “Yes.” Oliver reached out and switched on the computer. “Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get something done this afternoon. I'm trying to keep Lyncroft afloat.”

    Sybil moved slowly toward the door. She looked dazed. “My God, Annie really is having an impact on you, isn't she? I would never have believed it.”

    “Good-bye, Sybil.” Oliver punched up the cost-analysis data he had been studying earlier.

    Sybil paused, her hand on the doorknob. “Oliver?”

    “Yes?”

    “I know this is going to sound stupid, but I'm suddenly dying of curiosity. Is there the remote possibility that you've actually fallen in love?”

    “Good-bye, Sybil.”

    “I knew it was a stupid question. Good-bye, Oliver. Oh, one more thing. Are you going to Valerie's preview tomorrow night?”

    Oliver frowned, remembering that Annie had said something about attending. “I don't know yet.”

    “If you decide to come perhaps I'll introduce you to Jonathan. I think you'll like him if you'll give yourself a chance.”

    Oliver looked up. “One thing, Sybil.”

    “What's that?”

    “You're a wealthy woman.”

    “Thanks to you,” she murmured graciously.

    “What do you know about