‘Whatever you’re going to say, save it.’
‘Very well, I won’t ask if you have the necessary health shots to survive living in a place like this. Instead I’ll ask how long you think you can keep your father on that sofa when it’s clear he needs advanced medical attention?’
Anger and frustration sparked fire in her eyes. ‘You think I don’t know what he needs?’ She lifted a shaky hand to her temple. ‘I had a system in place. It wasn’t brilliant but it was working—until...’
‘Until?’ he bit out.
Despair replaced her anger. ‘He’s been so good,’ she whispered. ‘We were almost there.’
‘He’s relapsed?’ Remi guessed accurately.
She nodded miserably. ‘Now the hospital won’t take him.’
‘What hospital?’
‘The one I was taking him to for a kidney transplant.’ She shook her head and picked up the cup with a shaky hand. ‘Why am I even telling you any of this?’
He stepped forward and took the cup from her before she dropped it. For one unguarded moment he basked in the added leverage he’d been granted. Then he was reminded of life’s cruelties, and the wisdom of seizing opportunities when they arose. At some point between last night and this morning he’d decided this woman was the answer to his dilemma. He wasn’t about to be swayed by softer feelings.
He set the cup down.
‘What are you doing?’ she demanded. ‘I have to—’
‘Your father doesn’t need water. He needs urgent care.’
‘Yes—the kind that requires money!’
His eyes narrowed. ‘The money I’m paying you?’
‘Of course. Why else would I subject myself to your presence?’ she sniped.
Remi wanted to kiss those insolent lips, run his mouth, his tongue, his teeth over her flawless skin and keep going until he possessed her completely.
He suppressed the wild craving. Just as he suppressed the guilt. For whatever reason, this lust had a hold on him for now, but he knew the moment he had her the thrill would be over. For now he needed to concentrate on achieving his immediate goals.
‘What I’m paying you will be nowhere near enough to give him the proper care he requires.’
She frowned. ‘Of course it will. I spoke to the hospital myself. I know exactly what I need.’
‘Does that include long-term after-care? Does it include a contingency plan if he rejects the organ? Or treating the myriad complications that could arise? What about now he’s relapsed? How long was he to remain clean before they would perform the operation?’
‘Six months,’ she whispered, her face paler than before.
‘So you’re going sit around for another six months before you can reschedule?’
‘Enough with the questions. I really don’t need you to point out my problems to me.’
‘Good. Then allow me to provide a solution.’
Wary blue eyes met his. ‘What?’
He pushed his hands into his pockets, took a step back from her so he could think more clearly without the enthralling scent of her warm, perfumed skin fracturing his thoughts. ‘There’s a clinic in Switzerland, funded by my family. It’s secluded, with state-of-the-art facilities, and most importantly discretion is guaranteed.’
‘Don’t tell me—it’s where you royals go to dry out when you fall off your gilded wagons?’
Remi remained silent. He wasn’t about to confirm that Jules had been the main reason for their association with the Swiss clinic.
‘Why are you taunting me with this medical wonderland?’ she asked guardedly, her arms around her middle.