Read Online Wildest Hearts by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online

the front door. Oliver Rain was studying the contents of Wildest Dreams with cool interest. He still had the leopard under his arm.
     
    It occurred to Annie that Oliver looked right at home here in this room full of strange and wondrous things.
     
    Out on the sidewalk an expressionless Bolt politely opened the door of the black limousine. He was dressed as usual in his formal blue suit. Today he was wearing gold-mirrored sunglasses that hid his eyes and made him look more like an android than usual. Annie smiled tentatively at him as she scrambled into the back of the big car. Bolt did not return the smile.
     
    Oliver handed the leopard to Bolt as Joanna got reluctantly in beside Annie. “Take care of this until we get home.”
     
    “Yes, Mr. Rain.”
     
    Bolt stuffed the leopard into the trunk, closed the lid, and then walked around the car and got behind the wheel. A moment later the big car pulled soundlessly away from the curb.
     
    “Nice,” Annie said as Bolt worked his way smoothly through the downtown traffic. “Very nice. But I still say it would have been easier to walk. Where will Bolt park? There won't be any space on the street at this time of day.”
     
    “I pay Bolt to solve problems like that,” Oliver said.
     
    There was a short silence.
     
    “I really feel we should all talk this over before we go through with the wedding,” Joanna announced.
     
    “I appreciate your concern,” Oliver said. “But I'm afraid there isn't any time left. I've been fielding calls from Daniel's major suppliers since the news of the marriage broke yesterday. They all told me they'll continue shipping only if they know for certain I'll be in charge.”
     
    “Face it,” Annie said to Joanna. “Daniel's suppliers and investors are all a bunch of male chauvinist pigs who don't think two women can keep the business going on their own.”
     
    “It's not the fact that you're both female that worries them,” Oliver said. “It's the fact that neither one of you has any experience or background in the electronics industry or in running a highly competitive business such as Lyncroft.”
     
    “All the same,” Annie muttered as Bolt drew the limousine to a halt in front of the courthouse, “I think they would have reacted differently if Joanna and I had been male. Good lord, who are all those people waiting for us?”
     
    Oliver glanced out the heavily tinted windows. “Family.”
     
    “Yours?” Annie shot him a quick, searching glance. She realized that even though Daniel had mentioned the Rain family in passing, she had not really imagined Oliver having real relatives.
     
    “Mine.” Oliver studied the small group. “The two young men on the left are my half brothers, Nathan and Richard. The two women on the right are my sisters, Valerie and Heather. Nathan and Richard are in college. Valerie is an assistant curator at the Eckert Museum and Heather is a doctor.”
     
    Annie noted the undercurrent of pride in his voice. “I'm impressed. And the woman in the peach suit?”
     
    “That's Sybil, my father's second wife.” Oliver's tone turned cool. “She's Nathan and Richard's mother.”
     
    Annie glanced at him but could read nothing in his eyes. She turned back to study the Rain tribe more closely as Bolt parked the limousine in a no-parking zone.
     
    Oliver's half brothers were twins. Both were good-looking with the lean, graceful build and dark hair that seemed to be characteristic of the men in the Rain family. Heather and Valerie were equally attractive, although they both had light golden brown hair and softer, less angular features.
     
    Heather looked every inch the professional woman with her short, stylish haircut and serious eyes. Her expensive, well-tailored tweed suit had a narrow skirt that ended just below her knees.
     
    Valerie was equally stylish and equally businesslike. Her hair fell to her shoulders.
     
    As Bolt opened the door, Annie realized that Sybil Rain was considerably