Reformed con man Xander King and his stepsister, Poppy, both sense the electric chemistry between them. So when they start working together, it’s not long before meetings in the boardroom become steamy trysts in the bedroom! But Xander’s hiding a secret about the death of Poppy’s father and the guilt is tearing him apart. Will Xander’s dark past ruin it all, or is their red-hot passion fierce enough to redeem this King?

CHAPTER ONE

Xander

I HATED POPPY VALENTINE.

First there was her name. I had no idea what her mother, Lily, had been thinking at the time. Poppy as a first name was fine. Valentine as a surname, also fine. But together? Showy. A name for a burlesque dancer not an actual person.

Just my opinion naturally, but it made me cringe every time I heard it.

Second, she was my stepsister. Right from the very first day Dad had introduced her to me and my two brothers, Poppy had been nothing but rude. She’d been ten to my fifteen and snarky as hell even then. I’d been unfortunate in that Dad had chosen me to look after her, and she made no bones about how unimpressed she was with me in particular and the King family in general.

Again, fine. I was unimpressed with her and her attitude.

Third, all that snark and sarcasm was wrapped up in the most phenomenally beautiful package. She had a cloud of curly black hair that looked as soft to the touch as the barbs she spat out were sharp; skin that looked in some lights like deep gold, in others like polished bronze; eyes the colour of molten copper coins and killer curves designed specifically to drive a man to distraction. Not that I’d noticed. At all.

Fourth, I needed a personal assistant and even though she was the very last person in the world I wanted to hire, it was starting to look like I had no choice in the matter, since no temping agency in Sydney wanted to work with a King.

My father, Augustus King, had headed the biggest crime empire in the city before his arrest five years ago, and it had taken years for my brothers and me to drag our name out of the mud.

Even the three of us running a totally legit property development company hadn’t absolved us in the eyes of the people of Sydney. Even my brother Leon marrying Vita Hamilton, the daughter of one of their favourite philanthropists, hadn’t redeemed us.

No, apparently we still had a way to go.

I was okay with that. We’d been getting rid of the remains of our father’s empire, sniffing out and sweeping away the last of his lies, and even though we weren’t there quite yet, we would be.

Not being able to get and retain good staff was simply a minor irritation.

Of course, the fact that no one wanted to work for me might also have had a little something to do with my reputation as a cold, ruthless bastard, but that was beside the point.

I didn’t want to hire Poppy, full fucking stop. But I needed someone. Someone I could trust wasn’t in league with our enemies—and there were plenty of those still around. Someone who wasn’t still hoping for my father’s return and wanting to curry favour.

Poppy might not be my first choice for a PA—or even my last, to be fair. But one thing I was sure of was that she had nothing to do with Augustus King’s empire.

I didn’t trust her, but she was someone I didn’t trust the least.

Not that I had any choice in the matter, considering the distinct lack of other candidates.

Now Poppy was sitting at the head of the boardroom table in the King Enterprises Sydney offices—in my oldest

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CHAPTER ONE Xander

CHAPTER ONE

Xander