by Nora Roberts
“No, don’t.” Panicked, she grabbed Philip’s arm and pulled. “Don’t. He didn’t hit me.”
He spared her a brief glance. “There’s blood on your lip.”
“It’s nothing. I—”
“Not this time, Addy.” He said it very calmly an instant before he rammed his fist into Abdu’s jaw. The king went down, taking a Queen Anne table with him. The sting in Philip’s knuckles gave him more satisfaction than holding a hundred rare stones. “That was for the bruise you put on her face.” He waited until Abdu had pulled himself onto the torn couch. “For the rest you owe her, I’d have to kill you, but she doesn’t want you dead. So I’ll say this, there are ways to maim a man. I’m sure you’re aware. Think of them and think of them carefully before you raise your hand to her again.”
Abdu wiped the blood from his mouth. He was breathing heavily, not from pain but from humiliation. Not since the day he’d become king had he been struck, or touched unless he had granted permission. “You are a dead man.”
“I think not. Your two goons outside are already answering a few questions of my associate as to why they’re carrying concealed weapons. That’s Captain Stuart Spencer of Interpol. I neglected to mention I worked for Interpol, didn’t I?” He glanced around. “We’d better fire that housekeeper, Adrianne. I could do with a brandy. Would you mind hunting some up?”
She’d never seen him look like this. She’d never heard his voice carry this edge. She hadn’t been afraid of Abdu, but she was afraid of Philip at this moment. And afraid for him. “Philip—”
“Please.” He touched a hand to her cheek. “Do this for me.”
“All right. I’ll just be a minute.”
He waited until she was out of the room, then sat on the arm of a chair.
“In Jaquir you would not live to see the sun set, and you would praise God when you died.”
“You’re a bastard, Abdu. The fact that your blood’s blue doesn’t make you less of one.” He let out a long breath. “Now that the pleasantries are over, I want to start off saying that I don’t give a damn about your ways, not here. What I feel for or about you at the moment doesn’t matter either. This is business. Before we get down to it, I’d like to explain the rules to you.”
“I have no business with you, Chamberlain.”
“Whatever else you are, you’re not a stupid man. I don’t have to detail the reasons for Addy taking the necklace. You should know that the plan was hers. I came in on it only during the last stages, and though it bruises the pride to admit it, she could have carried it off alone. She slipped it out from under your nose, and it’s to her you’ll make payment.” He paused a moment. “But it’s to me you’ll answer if any harm comes to her. I should add that if you’ve any thought of making a deal, then having our throats quietly slit, Interpol already has the details of the entire transaction. Our deaths, accidental or otherwise, will trigger an investigation of you and your country which I believe you’d prefer to avoid. She’s bested you, Abdu. My advice is to take it like a man.”
“What would you know of being a man? You’re nothing but a woman’s lapdog.”
Philip only smiled, but even the amusement was deadly. “Would you prefer to go outside and settle this in an alley? I assure you I’m agreeable.” He glanced over as Adrianne walked back into the room. “Thank you, darling.” After accepting the brandy he gestured to Abdu. “I think we’d better get on with business. Abdu’s a busy man.”
Her hands were steady again. She deliberately chose a chair between Philip and Abdu. “As I said, the necklace is my property. This is the law, one which would be held up even in Jaquir if the situation were made public. I’d prefer to avoid publicity, but will go to the press here, in Europe, and in the East if it becomes necessary. The scandal would be of little consequence to me.”
“The story of the theft and your treachery would ruin you.”
“On the contrary.” Now she smiled. “I could dine off the story for the rest of my life. But that’s hardly the issue. I’ll return the necklace to you and forfeit all claim to it. I’ll keep silent about your treatment of my mother, and of your dishonor. You can return to Jaquir with The Sun and the Moon and your secrets—for five million dollars.”
“You put a high price on your honor.”
Hard, unwavering, her eyes met his again. “Not on mine, on my mother’s.”
He could have them dead. Abdu weighed the satisfaction of seeing them blown apart by a car bomb, assassinated by a silenced bullet, poisoned at some decadent American party. He had the means and the power to arrange it. The satisfaction would be great. But so would the consequences.
If their deaths were traced back to him, he could not hold off the outcries. If it became known that The Sun and the Moon had been taken from him, his people might riot and he would be shamed. He wanted the necklace back and couldn’t, as yet, afford to avenge himself.
His ties with the West were hateful but necessary. Money was pumped out of the desert every day. Five million dollars would scarcely lighten his purse.
“You will have your money if money is what you require.”
“It’s all I require from you.” Rising, she opened her purse and took out a business card. “My attorneys,” she said as she handed it to Abdu. “The transaction will be made through them. The moment I’m assured the deposit has been made in my Swiss account, I’ll give The Sun and the Moon to you or your representative.”
“You will not return to Jaquir or have contact with any members of my family.”
Her price, and it was heavier than she’d ever imagined. “I will not, as long as you live.”
He spoke to her in Arabic softly, so that she paled. Then he turned away and left her standing in the rubble of her home.
“What did he say to you?”
Because it was important not to care, even now, she shrugged. “He said that he would live a very long time, but that to him, and to all members of the House of Jaquir, I was already dead. He will pray to Allah that I will die in pain and despair, like my mother.”
Philip rose and tilted her chin up with his hand. “You could hardly expect a blessing.”
She forced a smile. “No. It’s done, and I expected to feel a fabulous wave of joy, if not satisfaction.”
“What do you feel?”
“Nothing. After all this, after everything, I can’t seem to feel anything at all.”
“Then maybe we should go down and look at your building.”
Now the smile came easily. Then she laughed and dragged her hands through her hair. “That might do it. I need to know it was right.” When she looked over at her mother’s portrait her stomach muscles unclenched. “The money meant nothing to him, but I want to be sure he understood, and he remembers.”
“He understood, Addy. And he’ll remember.”
“Philip.” She touched his hand, then drew back. “We have to talk.”
“Am I going to need more brandy?”
“I want you to know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He decided it best to sit again.
“Don’t take it lightly. You helped me turn the most important corner in my life. Without you I might have accomplished it, but it wouldn’t have meant the same thing.”
“Oh, I doubt it. Doubt that you could have pulled it off without me,” he explained. “But if it makes you feel better to think so, go ahead.”
“I knew exactly what—” She caught herself. “Never mind. The point is that I want to thank you for everything.”
“Before you walk me to the door?”
“Before we each get back to our own lives,” she corrected him. “Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Not at all. I’m only trying to be certain I know exactly what you want. Have you finished thanking me yet?”
“Yes.” She turned to kick at a broken vase. “Quite finished.”
“Well, you might have gushed a bit more, but I’ll have to settle. Now, if I have this right, yo
u’d like me to stroll out the door and out of your life.”
“I’d like you to do what’s best for both of us.”
“In that case.” When his hands came to her shoulders she pulled away.
“It’s over, Philip, I’ve got plans I’ve got to start in motion. The clinic, my retirement, my—social life.”
He decided he could wait a day or two to tell her she would be working for Interpol. When the time was right, he’d add the fact that Abdu was going to have to answer some tricky questions about possession of a stolen painting. But they had other business, personal business, first.
“And you don’t have room for a husband.”
“The wedding was part of the act.” She turned back. This was supposed to be easy, she thought. Something they should have been able to laugh over before they went their separate ways. “It may be a bit awkward dealing with the press and well-meaning friends, but between us, the entire thing can be dissolved very simply. There’s no reason why either of us should be bound by a—”
“Promise?” he finished. “There were a few promises tossed about in there, I believe.”
“Don’t make this difficult.”
“All right, then. We’ve played it your way until now. We’ll finish it your way. How do I go about it again?”
Her mouth was dry. Adrianne picked up his brandy and took a gulp. “It’s easy. You only have to say ‘I divorce you’ three times.”
“Just like that? I don’t have to stand on one foot and say it under the light of a full moon?”
She set the snifter down with a click. “That’s not funny.”
“No, it’s ridiculous.” He took her hand, curling his fingers tight around hers when she would have pulled away. He knew how to figure the odds, had always known. This time he couldn’t be sure they were in his favor. “I divorce you,” he said, then leaned down to touch his mouth to hers. Her lips trembled. Her own fingers tightened. “I divorce you.” With his free arm he pulled her closer and deepened the lass. “I—”
“No.” Swearing, Adrianne threw her arms around him and clung. “No, dammit.”
Relief made his knees weak. For a moment, just a moment, he buried his face in her hair. “You’ve interrupted me, Addy. Now I’ll have to start all over again. In about fifty years.”
“Philip—”
“My way now.” He drew her back so that he could look at her face. She was pale again. Good. He hoped he’d scared the life out of her. “We’re married, for better or worse. If necessary we’ll have another ceremony here or in London. The kind that requires solicitors, a great deal of money, and a great deal of trouble to dissolve.”
“I never said I’d—”
“Too late.” He nipped at her lower lip. “You blew your chance.”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t know why.”
“Yes, you do. Say it out loud, Addy. Your tongue won’t fall out.” When she pulled back he tightened his grip. “Come now, darling, you’ve never been a coward.”
That had her eyes opening. He watched them spit at him and grinned. “Maybe I love you.”
“Maybe?”
She let out a huff of breath. “I think I love you.”
“Try one more time. You’ll get it right.”
“I love you.” Now her breath came out in a rush. “There. Satisfied?”
“No, but I intend to be.” He dragged her down to the ruined couch.
To Carolyn Nichols,
for the support and the friendship
Bantam Books by Nora Roberts
BRAZEN VIRTUE
CARNAL INNOCENCE
DIVINE EVIL
GENUINE LIES
HOT ICE
PUBLIC SECRETS
SACRED SINS
SWEET REVENGE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nora Roberts is the first writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. The New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Sacred Sins and Divine Evil, she has become one of today’s most successful and best-loved writers. Nora Roberts lives with her family in Maryland.
