‘No,’ she said, staring at the door as if it might fly off its hinges. ‘Go away!’
‘Very well, Joanna. We’ll wait for someone to phone the police. They’ll probably show up with a dozen reporters in tow, but that’s fine with me. Jandara can use all the publicity it can get.’
She flew at the door, her fingers trembling as they raced across the locks, and then she threw the door open.
‘How dare you do this?’
‘This is America,’ Khalil said with a cold smile. ‘People can do anything they want in America. Didn’t you tell me that once?’
‘No! I certainly did not. I—’
Joanna fell silent. Khalil was dressed much as he had been the night they’d met, in a dark suit and white shirt, but somewhere along the way, he’d taken off his tie, undone the top buttons of his shirt, and slung his jacket over his shoulder. He looked handsome and wonderful, and the sight of him made her feel giddy.
She clutched her silk robe to her throat. ‘You can’t come in!’
He smiled, showing even, white teeth. ‘Can’t I?’
‘No. This is my apartment, and—’ The door slammed shut behind him as he pushed past her into the foyer. ‘Damn you,’ Joanna cried. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said? I don’t want you here. Get out!’
Khalil shook his head. ‘No.’
No. Just that one word, delivered in that insolent, imperious voice…
Joanna tossed her head. ‘All right, then, wait here and get thrown out! The doorman’s probably on the phone this very minute, calling the—’
‘The doorman,’ he said with a smug little smile, ‘is chatting with my minister.’ He folded his arms over his chest in that impossibly arrogant manner she detested. ‘Did you know the man was born a stone’s throw from Hassan’s birthplace?’
Joanna’s eyes narrowed. ‘Hassan was born in Brooklyn?’
Khalil grinned. ‘Well, perhaps he stretched things a bit. But it is true that Hassan has a cousin who was born in Brooklyn.’
Joanna lifted her chin in defiance. ‘As far as I’m concerned, you and Hassan could have a string of cousins who—’
‘We were at a dinner party all this evening, Joanna.’
‘Isn’t that wonderful,’ she said sweetly. ‘I’m delighted for you both.’
‘I only just got back to my hotel, and I turned on—what do you call it?—the twenty-four-hour-a-day news channel—’
‘I am certain there are lots of people who’d be interested in a minute-by-minute accounting of how you spent your evening, Khalil, but personally—’
‘I saw your news conference.’
Joanna felt her face go white. ‘What news conference?’ she said with false bravado. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘That informative little gathering you arranged outside the Palace Hotel.’ A cool smile curved over his lips. ‘That news conference.’
‘It wasn’t a news conference, it was a circus. Now, if you’re quite finished—’
‘What a clever pair you and your father are, Joanna.’
She gaped at him. ‘What?’
‘Telling two such disparate but fascinating stories to the Press.’ Khalil’s eyes narrowed. ‘What better way for Bennettco to garner publicity, hmm?’
‘What better way for…’ Joanna burst out laughing. ‘Is that what you think? That Sam and I set that up?’
‘Didn’t you?’
‘No, of course not. What would be the point?’
‘How do I know? Perhaps the price of Bennettco’s stock has fallen and you two decided front-page headlines would shore it up.’
Joanna shook her head in disbelief. ‘My father would be proud of you, thinking of something like that.’
‘You didn’t arrange it, then?’
‘Me? I had nothing to do with it. It was my father who…’ She stopped in mid-sentence and colour spotted her cheeks. ‘Look, if that’s all you came here for—’
‘Why?’ He moved forward quickly, before she could back away, and took her by the shoulders. ‘Why did he want you to pretend I had hurt you?’ His eyes darkened. ‘Heaven knows I would never do that.’
‘I—I told Sam that. But—but he had some crazy idea that—that he could influence things in Jandara—’
‘By destroying my reputation,’ Khalil said, his voice flat.
‘He knows it was wrong,’ she said quickly. ‘I swear to you—’
‘But you wouldn’t let him lie.’
Joanna’s throat worked. ‘I—I didn’t think it was right.’
Khalil’s hands spread across her shoulders. ‘And so you told two hundred million people that you went away with me willingly.’
She felt the rush of crimson that flooded her cheeks. ‘Please go now, Khalil.’
‘Not yet, not until I have the answers I came for.’
‘You have them. You wanted to know if my father and I—’
‘I wanted to know why you told the entire population of the United States that you love me,’ he said softly.
‘It was—I mean, I thought it was—’ She looked up at him helplessly. ‘I couldn’t think of anything else to say.’
He grinned. ‘Really.’
‘Yes. Really.’ Joanna swallowed hard. ‘I didn’t mean it, if that’s what you think.’
What he thought was that she was still the most beautiful woman in the world, and that he would surely have died if he had never looked at her wonderful face again. He smiled and traced the fullness of her bottom lip with his thumb. The last time he’d gazed into Joanna’s eyes, his heart had been so filled with pain that he had been blind to everything but his own anguish.
But the passage of time had made him begin to wonder if he’d reacted too quickly that terrible morning three months before. He had dreamed of her for weeks, thought of her endlessly, and now he had come to the States on a mission for his country—but in the back of his mind, he knew he had come to find her, to find the truth…
…and there it was, shining along with the tears that had risen in her beautiful green eyes. He was certain of it, certain enough to do something he had never done before, put aside his pride—and offer up his heart.
‘Didn’t you?’ he said softly.
Joanna swallowed again. ‘Didn’t I what?’ she whispered.
‘Didn’t you mean it when you said you loved me?’
She closed her eyes. ‘Khalil—please, don’t do this—’
‘I think the only time you lied about how you felt was that morning outside the cave.’
Her lashes flew up and she looked at him. ‘You’re wrong. I don’t love you. I never—’
He lowered his head and gently brushed his lips over hers.
‘How could I have been such a pig-headed fool? You told Abu you loathed me to save my life—didn’t you, Joanna??
??
Joanna stared into Khalil’s wonderfully blue eyes. She could walk away from this with her pride intact. Well, sure, she could say, smiling, I did—but that doesn’t mean I love you. I just did what I could to save your neck because it was the right thing to do…
‘Joanna.’ He cupped her face, tilted it to his, and when she looked into his eyes again, her heart soared. ‘Beloved,’ he whispered, ‘will it be easier to tell me the truth if I tell it to you first?’ Khalil kissed her again, his mouth soft and sweet against hers. ‘I love you, Joanna. I love you with all my heart.’
Her breath caught. ‘What?’
‘Why do you think I kept you captive, even after I knew your father would never negotiate for your release?’
‘Well, because—because—’
He smiled and put his arms around her. ‘It was wrong, I know, but how could I let you go when I’d fallen in love with you? I kept hoping you would stop hating me, that you’d come to feel for me what I felt for you.’
Joanna felt as if her heart were going to burst with joy. ‘Oh, my darling,’ she whispered, ‘my love—’
He drew her close and silenced her with a kiss. Then he sighed and brought her head to his chest.
‘That night in the cave, I let myself believe you loved me, but the next morning—’
Joanna leaned back in his embrace and flung her arms around his neck. ‘I do love you,’ she said, laughing and weeping at the same time, ‘I do!’
He kissed her again. After a long time, he lifted his head and smiled into her eyes.
‘Lilia speaks of you. She is very happy. Her father was found alive, in one of Abu’s dungeons.’
‘That’s wonderful!’
He grinned. ‘Rachelle still speaks of you, too. She says she hopes some day you will see the error of your ways and admit what a wonderful person I really am.’
Joanna laughed. ‘I’ll do my best.’ Her smile faded, and she touched the tip of her tongue to her lip. ‘Khalil—about Lilia. I felt awful, involving her in my escape, but—’
‘Do you still have it in your heart to be a teacher, beloved?’
She looked at him with a puzzled smile on her lips. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There is much to do in my country. Lilia, and all the children, are eager to learn.’ Khalil kissed her tenderly. ‘Do you think you could give up your job at Bennettco and come back to Jandara with me to teach them?’