Diamond in the Desert

Suddenly all the anger and hurt inside her exploded into fury, which manifested itself in an icy question. ‘And what if I get a better offer in the meantime?’

‘Then you must consider it and we will meet again. I should tell you that the consortium has been in touch with your sisters, and they have already agreed—’

‘You’ve spoken to Eva and Leila?’ she cut in. He’d done that without speaking to her? She couldn’t take any more in than she already had—and she certainly couldn’t believe that her sisters would do a deal without speaking to her first.

‘My people have spoken to your sisters,’ Emir explained.

‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’ They didn’t think to tell me? She was flooded with hurt and pain.

‘I just have.’ A muscle flicked in his jaw.

‘So all the time we’ve been here—’ Outrage boiled in her eyes. ‘I think you’d better go,’ she managed tensely. Suddenly, all that mattered was speaking to her sisters so she could find out what the hell was going on.

Meanwhile, Emir was checking round the room, just to be sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, presumably. He didn’t care a jot about her, she realised with a cold rush of certainty. This had only ever been about the deal. How convenient to keep her distracted here while the consortium’s lackeys acted behind her back. How very clever of Emir. And how irredeemably stupid of her.

‘If you’ve left anything I’ll send it on,’ she said coldly, just wanting him to go.

How could her heart still betray her when Emir’s brooding stare switched to her face?

‘I knew I could count on you,’ he said as her stupid heart performed the customary leap.

Emir’s impassive stare turned her own eyes glacial. ‘Well, you’ve got what you wanted from me, so you might as well go. You’ll get nothing else here.’

The inky brows rose, but Emir remained silent. She just hoped her barb had stabbed home. But no.

‘This is business, Britt, and there is no emotion in business. I wish I could tell you more, but—’

‘Please—spare me.’ She drew herself up. ‘Goodbye, Emir.’

She didn’t follow him out. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She listened to him jog down the stairs, while registering the tenderness of a body that had been very well used, and heard him stride across the main room downstairs where they had been so briefly close. It was as if Emir were stripping the joy out of the cabin she loved with every step he took, and each of those departing steps served as a reminder that she had wasted her feelings on someone who cared for nothing in this world apart from business.

Apart from her sisters and Tyr, that had been how she was not so very long ago, Britt conceded as the front door closed behind Emir.

She hadn’t even realised she had stopped breathing until she heard a car door slam and she drew in a desperate, shuddering breath.

* * *

There were times when he would gladly exchange places with the grooms who worked in his stables and this was one of them, but harsh decisions had to be made. He thought he could feel Britt’s anguished stare on his back as he held up his hand to hail the black Jeep that had come to collect him. His men would take him back to the airport and his private jet. His mind was still full of her when he climbed into the passenger seat and they drove him away. It was better to leave now before things became really complicated.

* * *

Her sense of betrayal by Emir—and, yes, even more so by her sisters—was indescribable. And for once both Eva and Leila were out of touch by phone. She had tried them constantly since Emir had left, prowling around the cabin like a wounded animal, unable to settle or do anything until she had spoken to them. Even her beloved cabin had let her down. It failed to soothe her this time. She should never have brought Emir here. He had tainted her precious memories.

Not wanting to face the fact that she had been less than focused, she turned on every light in the cabin, but it still felt empty. There was no reply from her sisters, so all she could do was dwell on what she’d seen through the window when he’d left—Emir climbing into a Jeep and being driven away. She’d got the sense of other big men in the vehicle, shadowy, and no doubt armed. Where there were such vast resources up for grabs, no one took any chances. She had been kidding herself if she had thought that bringing investors in would be easy to handle. She was up against a powerful and well-oiled machine. She should have known when each man in the consortium was a power in his own right, and she was on her own—