‘I know,’ he said simply. ‘But it’s true. And if the thought of those pictures really upsets you then I’ll have my team take care of removing them.’
Liyah blinked. ‘You would do that?’
He nodded. ‘I could certainly limit them.’
Liyah asked, ‘Will they be good for your business?’
Sharif hesitated for a moment, and then he said, ‘In a word? Yes. More than you know.’
‘Then it’s okay—leave them out there.’
‘Are you sure? We have a window to limit this right now, but if we wait till morning it’ll be gone.’
Liyah shook her head. She put her hands on Sharif’s chest. ‘No, it’s okay. I know you’re not used to answering to anyone. But next time... Just let me know. Okay?’
Sharif’s mouth tipped up on one side. ‘Deal. Now, will you let me make it up to you?’
‘How?’
‘Like this...’
He pressed the button to make the privacy screen go up between them and the driver, and then he reached for the zip at the back of the suit, pulling it down so that he could peel the suit over her shoulders, down her arms and away from her chest, exposing her breasts to his hungry gaze.
‘Sharif...’ Liyah said weakly as he bent forward and cupped one breast.
He looked at her and arched a brow. ‘Yes?’
‘We shouldn’t...not here.’
He blew on her nipple, before flicking out his tongue to taste the hard tip. It hardened even more. Liyah bit her lip.
‘Do you want me to stop?’
Never. Liyah was on fire.
She moved back, drawing Sharif with her so he loomed over her supine body. ‘No. Don’t stop.’
He smiled and it was wicked. ‘Your wish, Mrs Marchetti, is my command.’
And even in the midst of Sharif’s lovemaking Liyah knew that something had happened here in the back of the car. Something that she didn’t want to look at too closely. Because she sensed that, far from renegotiating this marriage as a purely physical thing, they’d moved way beyond that now.
Or, fatally, she had.
CHAPTER NINE
Two days later, London
LIYAH LOOKED OUT at a spectacular bird’s eye view of London—naturally. Sharif’s apartment was the penthouse of one of London’s most exclusive hotels. On one side was the Presidential Suite and on the other Sharif’s apartment.
Liyah could see the iconic Tower Bridge nearby, and all the way up the Thames to the London Eye.
As per Sharif’s schedule, which was emailed to her now, they were here for the engagement party of Sasha and her fiancé. Sasha was Maks’s younger sister, but no relation to Sharif or Nikos as she’d had a different father.
Liyah was curious to meet Maks and his wife—and Sasha. And to glean more nuggets of information about Sharif.
She still felt a little tender after Paris. Tender from the revelation that she could no longer ignore.
She’d fallen in love with Sharif. And it had happened in spite of everything she’d experienced that had made her want to protect herself from such vulnerability. She knew how those who were meant to love you most either left you or just...didn’t love you.