From inside, they heard Alex's scornful voice, only slightly muffled by the nylon sides of the big top. "You're a real businesswoman, Sheba. If you sell Sinjun to me I'll make it worth your while. All you have to do is name your price."

Both she and Brady stood rooted to the spot, knowing they should leave but unable to. Then Brady grasped her hand and pulled her into the shadows by the back door, where they couldn't be seen but had a partial view of the center ring.

She saw Sheba stroke Alex's arm. "It's not your money I want. You should know that. It's your pride."

He pulled himself away, as if he couldn't bear her touch. "What the hell does that mean?"

"If you want that tiger back, you're going to have to beg me for him."

"You go to hell."

"The great Alex Markov is going to have to get on his knees and beg."

"I'd die first."

"You won't do it?"

"Not in a million years." He splayed his hands on his hips. "You can do whatever you want with that damned tiger, but I'm not getting on my knees for you or anybody."

"I'm surprised. I guess I thought you'd do anything for that little simp. I should have known that you don't really love her." For a moment she looked up into the shadows of the rigging, then she returned her attention to him. "I suspected it all along, and I guess I should have followed my instincts. How could you love her? You're too damned coldhearted to love anybody."

"You don't know the first thing about the feelings I have for Daisy."

"I know that you don't love her enough to get on your knees and beg for her." She regarded him smugly. "So I win. I guess I win either way."

"You're crazy."

"And you're smart to refuse. I got on my knees once for love, and I don't recommend it."

"Jesus, Sheba. Don't do this."

Her voice lost its taunting quality. "I have to. Nobody humiliates Sheba Quest and gets away with it. And either way, you're going to be the loser today. Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

"I'm sure."

At that moment Daisy knew she'd lost Sinjun. Alex wasn't put together like other men. He was held together by steel and grit and pride. If he demeaned himself, it would destroy the man he was. Bowing her head, she tried to turn away, but Brady blocked her path.

Alex spoke in tight, hard tones. "You know what the irony in all this is. Daisy'd do it. She wouldn't even think twice about it." He gave a rough bark of laughter that bore no trace of humor. "She'd be on her knees in a second because she' got a heart beating inside her that's strong enough to take on the world. She doesn't care about honor or pride or anything else when the well-being of the creatures she loves is a stake."

"So what?" Sheba sneered. "This isn't about Daisy. It's about you. What's it going to be, Alex? Your pride or the tiger? Are you going to lay it all out for love, or are you going to hold on to everything that's important to you?"

There was a long silence. Tears had begun to stream down Daisy's face, and she knew she had to get away. She pulled back from Brady, then froze as she heard his angry sputter.

"That son of a bitch."

She whirled back and saw Alex still standing in front of Sheba with his head high. But his knees were beginning to bend. Those mighty Romanov knees. Those proud Markov knees. Slowly, he sank down into the sawdust, but at the same time, she knew she had never seen him look more arrogant, more unyielding.

"Beg me," Sheba whispered.

"No!" The word was ripped from Daisy's chest. She wouldn't let Sheba do this to him, not even for Sinjun! What good would it do to save one magnificent tiger if she destroyed the other? She ran through the back door and into the arena, kicking up sawdust as she flew toward Alex. When she got there, she caught him by the arm and tried to drag him to his feet.

"Get up, Alex! Don't do this! Don't let her do this to you."

He didn't take his eyes off Sheba Quest. They burned. "It's like you once said, Daisy. Nobody else can demean me. I can only demean myself."

He turned his face upward, and his mouth tightened with scorn. Although he was on his knees, he had never looked more glorious. He was every inch the czar. The king of the center ring. "I'm begging you, Sheba," he said flatly. "Don't let anything happen to that tiger."

Daisy's hand convulsed around his arm, and she dropped to her knees beside him.

Brady made a sharp exclamation.

And Sheba Quest's mouth curled in a crooked smile. The expression that came over her face was a queer combination of wonder and satisfaction. "Son of a bitch. You really do love her after all."

She looked down at Daisy, kneeling next to him in the sawdust. "In case you still haven't figured it out, he loves you. Your tiger will be back in the morning, and you can thank me anytime. Now, do I have to paint another picture for you, or do you think you can take it from here by yourself without screwing up?"

Daisy stared at her, swallowed, and nodded.

"Good. Because I'm getting sick and tired of everyone in this circus moping around worrying about you."

Brady started cussing.

Alex's eyes narrowed.

And Sheba Quest, the queen of the center ring, swept past all three of them, head high, bright auburn hair flying like a circus banner.

Brady caught up with her just before she got to the back door, but before he could speak, she turned on him and jabbed him in the chest as hard as she could with her index finger.

"Don't you ever again ever again say that I'm not a good person!" say that I'm not a good person!"

Slowly a smile replaced the look of shock on his face. Without a word, he bent down, drove his shoulder into her belly, and carried her out of the top.

Daisy shook her head in bewilderment and gazed at Alex as they knelt together in the sawdust. "Sheba set all this up. She knew Brady and I wouldn't be able to resist eavesdropping. She understood how I felt, and she set this up so I'd believe you really loved me."

His eyes flicked over her, and they were as hard as amber and coldly furious. "Not another word."

She opened her mouth.

"Not a word!"

His pride had been badly battered, and he wasn't taking this at all well. She knew she had to act quickly. After everything they'd been through, she wasn't going to lose him now.

With all her might, she shoved against his chest. She caught him by surprise, and he sprawled backward into the sawdust. Before he could right himself, she threw her body on top of his.

'Don't get stupid, Alex. I mean it." She grabbed handfuls of us crisp, dark hair in her fists. "I'm begging begging you. We've come too far for you to get stupid on me now; I've done enough of that for both of us. But a lot of it was your fault; you know it was. All that talk about how you couldn't love. And then when you really did love me, I thought it was guilt. I should have known. I should have-" you. We've come too far for you to get stupid on me now; I've done enough of that for both of us. But a lot of it was your fault; you know it was. All that talk about how you couldn't love. And then when you really did love me, I thought it was guilt. I should have known. I should have-"

"Let me up, Daisy."

He could easily throw her off, but she knew he wouldn't do it because of the baby. And because he loved her.

She plastered herself flat on top of him, wrapping her arms in a stranglehold around his neck, pressing her cheek to the side of his head. She flattened her torso and legs against his and let her toes curl on top of his ankles. "I don't think so. You're in a temper right now, but you'll be all right in a couple of minutes, as soon as you have a chance to think everything over, and until then, I'm not letting you do anything you're going to regret."

She thought she could feel his body beginning to relax, but she didn't shift her weight because he was tricky and this could be a ploy to catch her off guard.

"Get up now, Daisy."

"No."

"You're going to be sorry."

"You wouldn't hurt me for anything."

"Who said anything about hurting?"

"You're mad."

"I've been happier."

"You're really mad about what she made you do."

"She didn't make me do anything."

"She sure did." Daisy drew her head back far enough so she could grin down into his scowling face. "She got you good, Alex. She really did. If we have a girl, we may name her Sheba."

"Over my dead body."

She curled into his neck again and just waited like that, lying peacefully on top of him as if he were the world's best orthopedic mattress.

His lips brushed her ear.

She snuggled closer and whispered, "I want to get married before the baby's born."

She felt his hand in her hair. "We are married."

"I want to do it again."

"Let's just do it."

"You're going to be vulgar, aren't you?"

"Will that get you off me?"

"Do you love me?"

"I love you."

"You don't sound loving. You sound like you're gritting your teeth."

"I am am gritting my teeth, but that doesn't mean I don't love you with all my heart." gritting my teeth, but that doesn't mean I don't love you with all my heart."

"Really?" She drew back her head and beamed at him. "Then why are you so anxious to get me off you."

His grin was sly. "So I can prove my love."

"Now you're making me nervous."

"Are you afraid you're not woman enough for me?"

"Oh, no. I'm definitely not afraid of that." She dipped her head and nibbled at his bottom lip. That lasted for about half a second before he turned it into a deep, sensuous kiss. And then she started to cry because it was all so wonderful.

He began kissing her tears away, and she rubbed her fingers over his cheek. "You really love me, don't you?"

"I really do," he said huskily, "and this time I want you to believe me. I'm begging you, sweetheart."

She smiled through her tears. "All right, then. Let's go home."

Epilogue.

Daisy and Alex were married for the second time ten days later in a field north of Tampa. The ceremony took place at dawn because of the bride's insistence on the presence of one guest the others would just as soon she'd forgotten.

Sinjun lay at Daisy's feet, and the two of them were joined by a length of silver ribbon. At one end, it encircled his neck, while, at the other, it looped her wrist. As a result of his presence, the number of people attending the six o'clock ceremony that October morning was quite small. And understandably nervous.

"I don't know why she couldn't keep him in his cage," Sheba snapped to her husband, the man she had married several days earlier in a center ring ceremony complete with a performance by the Flying Toleas.

"Don't talk to me about stubborn women," he replied. "I'm married to one."

She regarded him with knowing eyes. "Lucky for you."

"Yeah," he smiled back. "Lucky for me."

Heather stood off to the left and stroked Tater's trunk while she gazed critically at Daisy. If this was her wedding, Heather decided, she'd wear something nicer than an old pair of jeans, especially since Heather knew very well Daisy couldn't even get them snapped at the waist anymore. Just as bad, she had on one of Alex's blue dress shirts to hide the evidence.

Still, she looked pretty cute. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes all shiny, and she had this bridal wreath made up of daisies in her hair. Alex had given it to her as a surprise, along with a diamond ring so big it was a good thing the sun hadn't come up the rest of the way or they'd all be blinded.

So many changes had happened in Heather's life this summer that she still couldn't quite take them in. Sheba wasn't selling Quest Brothers, and Heather was pretty sure she and her dad were trying to make a baby. Sheba was the coolest stepmom. She'd said Heather could start dating this year even though her dad said over his dead body. And Sheba'd turning into as big a hugger as Daisy.

Daisy had told Heather she'd be taking classes at Alex's college just as soon as the baby as born so she could learn how to be a kindergarten teacher, and the two of them were going to Russia in December on some kind of buying trip for this big museum Alex represented. Best of all, they were traveling for a month next summer with Quest Brothers, and Daisy even said she was going back into the ring with Alex. She'd told Heather that she wasn't scared anymore because she'd already lived through the worst thing that could happened.

Alex started speaking his vows in a deep, mushy voice, and as he looked down at Daisy, his face was all soft so that everybody there could see how much he loved her. Daisy, naturally, started to cry, and Jill had to hand her a tissue.

Daisy sniffed and blew, then started in on her vows. "I, Daisy Devreaux Markov, take thee..." She paused.