Married for the Prince's Convenience

The knock on the door made her jump. Reyes barked out an order and a member of staff walked in with a tray.

He took it and walked to the bed. Waiting until Jasmine sat up against the pillows, he set it down across her lap.

‘I will force-feed you if necessary, but you will eat this meal, understood?’ He didn’t want to look at her, see how pale she was. Or remember his gut-churning anxiety when he’d been unable to wake her earlier.

Her head bowed as she looked down at the tray. ‘No force-feeding necessary. I seem to have my appetite back.’ Her stomach rumbled and one corner of her lush mouth lifted.

Reyes looked away and stepped back.

‘Your things are being collected from your home. My plane will be ready to leave in the morning. Make sure you’re packed and ready to leave.’

He headed for the door before he was tempted to do something idiotic. Like watch her eat.

CHAPTER SIX

‘IS THERE REALLY no other way for me to make amends?’

Reyes took the empty tray and handed it to the member of staff hovering nearby.

‘No.’

He glimpsed a touch of rebellion in her eyes and something fizzed through his blood, almost an anticipation of his battle with her. Which was curious. And ridiculous. All he was interested in was making her pay for her actions. ‘You’ll come with me—’

‘Or you’ll report me to the authorities? Have me thrown in jail?’ Her fingers twisted in her lap. ‘I know. Maybe that’s a better option than...’

‘Facing my brand of justice? You know, I think that’s the first sensible decision you’ve made since we met. But seriously, do you want to take your chances locked in the basement again? You didn’t last half a day. The bureaucracy before you’re brought to trial alone would take months, if not years. On the other hand, a Santo Sierran prison is so much better. We deliver justice swiftly. If nothing else, you’ll have wall-to-wall sunshine all year round; you can acquire a permanent tan during your lifelong incarceration.’

Fear clenched her heart. ‘Is that where we—you’re going?’

‘Eventually. You have until morning to decide. Then I abandon you to the ambassador’s mercy.’

She paled further. ‘I’ve suffered worse, I’m sure. But I really don’t think it needs to come to that.’

Surprise sparked through Reyes at her reply, then he berated himself for his reaction. Obviously his wasn’t the first threat of punishment Jasmine Nichols had received in her life. Curious, he regarded her. How many other men had she tricked with her body, then stolen from? How many others had fallen for her sensual beauty? Been duped by the promise of her bed-me eyes and silken skin?

Anger rose inside him.

The need to deliver his own brand of justice grew stronger. Needing to turn up the heat, he stalked closer. ‘You mentioned your family,’ he started conversationally. ‘Do they know you’re a thief?’

Her colour receded a little more, her full lips firming just a tiny fraction. Satisfaction coursed through him.

‘Will they be prepared to lose everything they have in order to make reparations to the Santo Sierran people?’

She drew in a sharp breath. ‘This has nothing to do with my family.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong, Jasmine. You wronged my people, my family. It is only right that you and your family make the appropriate amends.’

‘No! Please—’

‘A simple phone call is all it would take to round them all up. Santo Sierra has extradition treaties with the United Kingdom—’

‘No. I meant what I said. It doesn’t have to come to that.’

‘So you would prefer me to leave your family out of this?’

Her lips worked for several tense seconds, which stretched to a full minute. Then a sigh of defeat escaped her parted lips. ‘Is it worth me saying anything else but that I would like you to leave my family alone?’

He took a deep breath. And smiled. ‘No.’

‘Then I’ll...come with you...wherever you want me to.’

He turned and walked out of the room. Jasmine set her cutlery down and tried to think through the roller-coaster speed of her thoughts. In the end, she could only hope she’d made the right decision.

* * *

Sunset bathed the hills in orange and red as their car climbed the roads leading to Reyes’s Spanish hacienda. Jasmine had long given up any hope of trying to memorise her whereabouts. All she knew was that they were somewhere deep in Northern Spain.