on the screen behind his head. ‘Excuse me...er...Luis? What are you doing? I want to go to the airport!’
Frantically she tried to think of the words in Spanish, but before she could even muster up a basic sentence he had got out of the car and opened her door.
‘What is going on? Hablo—habla inglès?’ she said, staring up at him in frustration. ‘No. You don’t understand. I need to go the airport—’
Still holding the door open, the chauffeur stared impassively ahead. Realising she was getting nowhere, Addie slid past him and stalked angrily back into the hotel and up to the reception desk.
‘Hello,’ she said breathlessly. ‘It’s Carolina, isn’t it? I’m sorry, but your driver—I don’t think he quite understands what I want him to do. He was supposed to be taking me to the airport but he’s brought me back here.’
The girl bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Farrell. But he was given new instructions.’
Addie gazed at her in frustration. ‘What do you mean, new instructions? I thought he was my driver.’ She pointed in exasperation to where Luis stood, still looking straight ahead.
‘He—he is,’ the girl stammered. ‘But there was a change of plan.’
Addie shook her head. ‘Not by me. So who changed it?’
‘That would be me!’
There was a long, frozen pause and then Addie turned slowly round. Standing in the centre of the foyer, Malachi was watching her, his eyes fixed on her face.
‘Then I suggest you change it back again,’ she said through gritted teeth. Her heart was racing with anger.
Slowly he shook his head. ‘That’s not going to happen.’
‘It’s not up to you.’ She stared at him furiously. ‘You might be important to some people but you don’t have any power in this hotel.’
He met her gaze. ‘That’s not strictly true. I do pay their wages.’
Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Really?’ she said coldly. ‘By the day? Or by the week?’
A muscle flickered in his jaw. ‘I think they’re all quite happy with their contracts.’
‘Lucky them,’ she snapped. ‘But, fascinating though this is, I’m sure you didn’t drag me back here to discuss your staff’s employment contracts. So what is it, Malachi? What do you want?’
‘We didn’t finish our conversation.’
‘No, we did, Malachi. You just didn’t have the last word.’ She gave a tired laugh. ‘Is that what this is about?’ She shook her head, her mouth curving contemptuously. ‘Fine, then—just say it. Go on.’
He glanced past her. ‘Maybe we should take this somewhere a little more private.’
She felt the air punch out of her lungs. Shaking her head, she met his gaze. ‘No. We should not. I’m not going anywhere with you, Malachi. So, short of abducting me, you’re going to have say whatever it is you want to say right here.’
He stared at her in silence, his eyes never leaving her face. Finally he shrugged. ‘As you wish.’
Glancing past her, he smiled.
‘Gracias, Carolina y Luis. I can take it from here.’
Then before Addie had a chance to react, he had crossed the foyer and tipped her body up over his shoulders.
‘Put me down!’ Twisting, kicking, struggling, she beat her hands against his back. ‘Malachi! You can’t do this.’ She felt his arm tighten around her legs and then, hearing the lift doors open, she began to yell. ‘Call the police! I don’t care if he’s your boss—’
The lift doors closed in front of her.
‘You can’t do this! Put me down!’
Abruptly he leaned forward and she slid ignominiously from his shoulder. Immediately she rushed at him, but he caught her easily, holding her flailing arms by the wrists.
‘Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. I told you—I just want to talk.’
Yanking her arms away, she ignored him. Opening her bag, she pulled out her phone. ‘I am going to call the police and have you arrested, and you can see how you like talking to them—’
Taking her phone away from her ear, she stared at the screen irritably.
‘Let me guess. No signal?’ Malachi said helpfully. ‘You won’t get one inside the lift.’
‘Fine!’ she spat. ‘I’ll ring when we get to the suite.’
He nodded. ‘That would work.’
Pausing, he turned and opened a small door in the side of the lift, slid a card into it and swiped it down.
‘Only we’re not going to the suite.’
The lift stopped moving.
Addie stared at him incredulously.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ she said finally. ‘Why are you doing this?’
‘I told you. We didn’t finish our conversation.’
‘There is nothing else to talk about,’ she said furiously. ‘Why do you think I left? I don’t have anything to say to you.’
He nodded. ‘I know. And you don’t have to say anything. You just have to listen. I’ll do all the talking.’
‘It’s too late, Malachi. If you wanted to talk to me you should have done it an hour ago.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘In fact you should have done it five years ago.’
He leaned back against the doors, his face hardening. ‘As I recall, you didn’t give me a chance.’
She stepped towards him, her fingers curling into fists. ‘That is not what happened. I tried to talk to you and you just walked away.’
‘It was our wedding!’ His face was taut. ‘You were making—’
‘What? A scene? Oh, I’m sorry—what was I supposed to do? I’d just heard two men talking about how lucky it was that your new wife had such strong ties with the local community. How it had made such a difference to getting your plans for a new casino approved.’
‘That’s not what happened,’ he said savagely, and he stepped towards her, his eyes locking on to hers.
‘So that isn’t why you married me?’ Her whole body was shaking with anger but her heart contracted painfully at the memory. ‘Tell me I got it wrong. Go on. Tell me.’
Looking at his stricken face, she felt suddenly nauseous.
‘You can’t because it’s true.’
