Vanessa Fewings - The Chase

Will she risk it all for a priceless desire?

A rising star in one of London’s top art investigation firms, Zara Leighton’s talent for seeing deep into paintings is in her blood. She’s chosen to help track down Icon, an enigmatic international art thief whose heists are methodical, daring, baffling. To Zara the case is maddening—bordering on an obsession.

She finds distraction in the chiseled form of top-shelf client Tobias Wilder, a magnetic American billionaire who demands her expertise, her discretion—and her secrecy. Wilder doesn’t ask questions. He gives orders. His gaze alone ignites her deepest fantasies. And his touch...

The sudden whirl of exclusive exhibitions and decadent parties that Wilder introduces her to is a potent aphrodisiac. But surrender soon becomes tinged with suspicion. Is Zara’s tryst with Wilder the real thing...or just a convincing forgery?

The Chase

Vanessa Fewings

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For Mum

Acknowledgments

Embarking on this new series with Zara and Tobias has been a thrilling journey, one that would not have been possible without the support of many people. I have the deepest gratitude and respect for my editor, Ann Leslie Tuttle; her kindness and enthusiasm is inspirational, and I’m so honored to work with one of the romance industry’s most renowned senior editors. Thank you to Gina Macedo for your time and precision. Thank you to the entire HarperCollins and Harlequin team for all they’ve done for the ICON Trilogy.

This series exists thanks to agent Kimberly Whalen, and I’m constantly wowed and grateful for her expertise and passion. Thank you for sharing in my vision for this series and encouraging me to write it!

Thank you to Tara Carberry. Her enthusiasm for Wilder right at the start spurred me on to create an inspiring book boyfriend for us all.

Thank you to Peter Katz and Guy Birthwhistle for their support and generosity.

My gratitude for all the bloggers and reviewers who have supported me from the very beginning. Many of you have actually become friends, too, which leads me to thanking Hazel Godwin, Lauren Luman, Heather Pollock and Louise Sandford for their continued support.

Thank you to those reviewers who are new to me for taking a chance on my novel and recommending this series to your readers. They are the living force behind each author, and we couldn’t do this without them!

Endless gratitude to SueBee at Goodreads for her librarian skills and determination to take care of our beloved readers.

Nina Grinstead and Jenn Watson at Social Butterfly PR, thank you so very much for lending your powerhouse talent to the promotion of this series along with your entire team. A big thank you to Lisa Wray, publicist extraordinaire at Harlequin, for directing such a great promotion.

A shout-out to my incredible Facebook friends who are always cheering me on; thank you for telling your friends about my books! I hope you enjoy spending time with Wilder!

For Brad, my wonderful husband, who has supported me from the very beginning and has been there for every moment of my journey—thank you for making me see the funny side when I get too serious and reminding me there is a world outside the window when I become too obsessed with writing.

A big hug for Liz and Mand, my beloved sisters, who cheer me on.

To my beloved readers, thank you so very much for spending time with Tobias and Zara and joining me on this wild ride of their adventures together!

I hope this book inspires many of you to return to your favorite museums and to perhaps discover new galleries.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

—Edgar Degas

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Epigraph

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Copyright

Prologue

The Courtauld Institute of Art

The stillness of the Witt Library embraced me as I sat at a corner table, my breaths slow and steady, my thoughts wandering, slipping almost into a trance. I tried to see the events that had transpired through his perspective as though I’d been there with him.

This faceless man who’d seized my every waking thought.

Closing my eyes, my fingers traced the file. I’d combed through every detail of this three-week-old report, a precise translation from French to English by the Police Nationale. As an employee of Huntly Pierre, London’s most prestigious investigative art firm, I’d been permitted exclusive access.

It wasn’t only that I’d been tasked with hunting him down, or his obvious passion for art that seemingly equaled mine, drew me to him. Rather there was an unfathomable connection to this stranger that now consumed my days and nights. Perhaps this was only the inevitable shakiness of a newbie forensic art specialist finding her way through the precarious underworld of corruption.

Though that didn’t explain why he’d visited my dreams as though we shared a deeper connection.

Forcing these nonsensical thoughts away, I tried to focus on the details in the file. I could see this theft had presented our suspect with a technical hitch like no other. There were so many irregularities to plan for when breaking into a private estate at three o’clock on a crisp Sunday morning. I imagined the kind of preparation it would have taken. More than requiring a disciplined mind to navigate through complex innovations in home defense, the job would also have demanded brute force. He’d abseiled into a privately owned, billion-dollar rotunda displaying some of the most priceless masterpieces in existence around its curved wall. The kind most people would never see. The estate was owned by the Burells, who had made their money through the family business. Their private contractor company used the guise of combat support to deploy well-trained mercenaries into war. Their impressive art collection was proof that business was booming.

Resting my hand upon the small samples of evidence collected, I envisioned him wearing black khakis with a tight T-shirt pulled over a sculptured torso. After all, given that the climbing harness he wore would suspend him fifty feet in the air, he’d have to be fit. Peering through his night-vision goggles, without which he’d be in pitch blackness, that sheer drop beneath him was an exhilarating rush that was all part of the allure.