dare you?’ She rounded on him. ‘I’ve been wandering the streets of Paris for the last few months, no thanks to you. I’m sure I can manage to go out alone and buy a dress in London.’
‘Don’t be so dramatic. You make it sound like you were destitute, when the reality was very different.’ He turned as the lift doors opened, walking in without a backward glance, obviously intent on being her escort and security.
More infuriated than she’d ever been, she marched in after him. ‘What do you mean: “the reality was very different”?’ she asked as the lift enclosed them, wishing he wouldn’t keep alluding to such things. If he’d thought she would approach him after that night and ask for financial support he didn’t know her at all.
An uneasy feeling settled over her, as if he was waiting for her to trip up. He obviously didn’t believe a word she said.
‘You are a princess, and you should be living like one—no matter where that is.’ His gaze held hers as he folded his arms across his chest and nonchalantly leaned against the polished lift wall, as if having such discussions in a lift were part of everyday life.
Shocked to the core, she could only stand and look at him, but his changing expression showed he was fast losing patience. He talked as if he’d given her vast sums of money, as if such an act had appeased the guilt of his rejection. Last night she’d pushed aside those suggestions that she’d been given money without much thought, but now it niggled in her mind.
Now wasn’t the time to ask questions. He obviously thought she was trying to get as much money from him as possible. Why disabuse him of that opinion when it might just be what she needed? If he thought that was what she was doing, then getting him to agree to a divorce would be much easier, especially since she’d finally accepted the truth, despite how she felt about him—she needed to be completely free of him.
‘Obviously your idea of how a princess lives is different to mine,’ she taunted him, pleased when he drew in a sharp breath. Let him think she’d spent all his money. She didn’t want it and she didn’t want him. The important thing was to be able to make Claude well. That was all that mattered right now and she’d do well to remember that when her heart hammered as soon as he came close.
‘At least we both know where we stand now.’ His voice was harsh and he looked away from her, giving her the opportunity to study him. The wild ruggedness she had fallen for when she’d first met him wasn’t so apparent now, as if abandoning the desert sands to rule his country was slowly taming him.
The lift doors opened onto the busy hotel lobby and she almost ran out, still desperate to put as much distance between them as possible. Everything about him was messing with her emotions. ‘I’m not exactly going to run out on you. A young boy’s health is now dependent on me going to Barazbin—and on you keeping your word.’
Kazim studied her for a moment and she watched a muscle flicker as he tensed his jaw, his lips pressed into a thin line of annoyance. She raised her brow at him, sending him a challenge despite knowing she shouldn’t. Just what was it about him that made her act so—irrationally?
‘Do not argue with me, Amber.’ His firm words irritated her and she glared at him. ‘I am coming with you.’
She sighed in resignation, which earned her a questioning look. Determined not to show him just how much he was getting to her on every level, she waltzed out of the hotel. Within seconds, just as he’d done in Paris, he fell into step beside her. She scanned the boutiques of the affluent street, knowing they would be too far out of her price range. She was certainly in the wrong part of London for her current budget.
‘Kazim,’ she said, stopping in the street so suddenly other pedestrians would have collided with her if he hadn’t pulled her close. Flustered, she looked up into his eyes, as dark as ever, but, instead of the usual hard and passionless depths, they blazed with something so intense it echoed deep inside her. As if, with that one look, he was claiming her as his.
‘What is it now?’ A smile teased at the edges of his lips and her heart jumped then raced erratically, his change of mood confusing her, disarming her.
She swallowed hard, not wanting to admit anything to him but she had no choice. ‘I can’t afford to shop here.’
‘We’ll go to the next one then,’ he said without taking his eyes from her face. Heat was spreading from his touch and the world around them stopped, blurred into oblivion, ceasing to exist. The hum of the traffic slipped away and it was just the two of them.
Mentally she shook herself, trying to clear her head, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ‘What I mean is I can’t afford anything, not from this street.’
He let go of her so abruptly she almost stumbled and the noises of the traffic rushed at her as if someone had suddenly turned the volume back up.
* * *
Kazim kept a tight rein on his temper. She certainly knew how to infuriate a man. He had no idea why he’d even decided to go with her. Shopping in any form was something he just didn’t do. But he’d glimpsed a hidden part of her as she’d studied the view from the suite earlier. He’d seen vulnerability as she’d stood at the hotel window. Vulnerability he was now compelled to protect.
Of course his security team would have discreetly followed her, just as they were doing now, but she’d stirred in him an old need to protect and, along with it, bad memories from his childhood.
He took her hand and the moment of hesitation in the soft brown of her eyes almost made him waver. ‘In here,’ he demanded roughly, not comfortable with the direction of his thoughts as he imagined her dressed for dinner in a sexy figure-hugging dress. ‘Get what you need for tonight and a further two days. I will attend to the bill.’
Her hand loosened within his as he strode into the nearest boutique. He glanced down at her; the expression on her face was so desolate, so untainted that he wanted to hold her hard against him and kiss her lips.
‘Let’s just go back.’ She pulled on his hand, preventing him from going into the boutique, but he held her hand firmly, sensing she’d slip away into the crowded street if she got the slightest chance.
‘Go back?’ He knew his tone was harsh, but exasperation mixed with heady desire rushed around him mercilessly. He let her hand go, pushing open the door of the boutique and leaving her little option but to follow.
Glamorous assistants rushed forward and instantly his control returned as he told them what was required, watching as they took over, guiding Amber towards the dressing rooms of the boutique. She looked back at him, her beautiful face almost frozen with horror.
He turned his back on her, unable to deal with the need to protect her from hurt and harm that just being with her ignited. It was as if he was a young boy again, protecting his mother from his father’s wrath, boldly standing between, glaring at his father. He sighed and, with arms folded across his body, he stared broodingly out at the street, wondering just how everything had suddenly become so complicated.
He’d come on a mission to reclaim his wife but, as he surveyed the passing traffic, he begrudgingly accepted why it was so important. He wanted to prove, once and for all, to his father that he was worthy of his time, his respect. Failure wasn’t an option, even if it was what his father had cruelly taunted him with, despite his weakened state of health.
Kazim had to succeed, he had to return with Amber and take up his role as heir, but he hadn’t expected to want
