Prince Voronov's Virgin. Lynn Raye Harris

and Emma. Her boss and her sister. Making love while she searched the icy Moscow streets in a panic. Making love while she nearly got assaulted by a group of drunken men.

      Her sister making love with the man she wanted, the man she’d secretly been in love with forever.

      Tears pressed against the backs of her eyes. She would not let them fall, not now. Not here, not in front of Alexei.

      “Paige,” he said, taking her arm.

      She jerked away and hugged her arms tightly around her body. “Leave me alone.”

      “I apologize if this news hurts you.”

      She speared him with a glare. A blurry glare, since her eyes were swimming in moisture. “You don’t care, so spare me your insincerity. Besides, how do I know you’re telling the truth? How could you possibly have found Emma if she’s in Chad’s room?”

      What if he’d made the whole thing up? Though why he would do so, she couldn’t say, but surely it was a possibility.

      “My head of security used to work for the secret police,” he replied softly. “Yuri knows people, and he knows how to get things done. But I can certainly prove where your sister is if you wish. My men have audio of her with—”

      “Stop,” she blurted, turning away, her body trembling with anger and pain. Her intuition had told her all along he was telling the truth, which was why she’d reacted, but that hadn’t stopped her from grasping at straws. The last thing she wanted to hear was Chad and Emma whispering together in bed. Or worse.

      Before she realized what Alexei was about to do, he wrapped her in his embrace, his hand pressing against the back of her head so that her cheek was flush against his bare chest. Briefly she considered struggling—but gave up the idea as his other hand rhythmically rubbed her back.

      It’d been a long time since anyone had comforted her. She was always the one doing the comforting, the one who’d sacrificed everything to raise her little sister, never complaining when Emma got the best of everything. Paige had been proud that her hard work enabled Emma to have a normal life, that Emma was able to be a cheerleader and a homecoming queen and a beautiful, successful young woman with a bright future.

      She had done that for Emma, and she’d been happy to do so.

      But why did Emma have to get everything?

      On the heels of jealousy, guilt rode hard. Who was Paige to deny her sister anything? Paige had been practically an adult when their mother died. Emma was the one who’d grown up without a loving mother. Paige had done everything for her, but a sister wasn’t the same as a mother, no matter how hard she tried.

      A tear spilled free, and then another, until finally Paige was curling her hands into Alexei’s shirt as the first heartbroken sob escaped her. After that, it was easy to cry. She’d held the tears in for so long. She hadn’t cried since her mother’s funeral, had believed that tears made her weak.

      Now, it felt good to let it all out. Cleansing. The man holding her never stopped rubbing her back, never made a move to pull away and leave her alone. Selfishly she clung to him and cried for all the years she’d lost.

      While she cried herself out, she made a decision. From now on, Paige would no longer neglect her own happiness for that of others. When she wanted something, she would not deny herself. She was through denying herself.

      It was a new day for Paige Barnes. And she knew just how to prove it.