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He kept staring at me. “I don’t spend time, gifts, or attention on women I don’t like.” His gaze turned pensive. “Maybe I was mistaken in my initial assessment.”
I took a deep breath and willed my nerve endings to stop firing.
“Maybe I was mistaken in my initial assessment.” Was he saying he did like me?
Not that that mattered.
At all.
Right? Wrong.
“I don’t want your gifts or attention,” I said, but inside, I realized I craved both.
Shit.
I squared my shoulders, clinging to my resolve. “I’ll get back to the hotel on my own. Thanks for today,” I said, my voice firm despite the tremor in my legs. “But I insist on paying you back for these clothes.”
“Fee,” he started, but I cut him off.
“Even without my purse, I’ll find a way to repay you once we get back to the hotel,” I said, even more determined to retain my independence.
He sighed—was he relenting? Then his face transformed back to a scowl, and there was a nerve jumping in his clenched jaw.
But after a moment, he nodded. “As you wish.”
I smiled, feeling both triumphant and conflicted as I met his gaze head-on.
The brooding look in his eyes didn’t match his words. He was used to getting what he wanted, and he wasn’t used to being defied.
By anyone.
For a moment, I got lost in the burning depths of his almost-black eyes. And holy fuck. I wanted to please him.
Wanted to sink down on my knees before him and submit to him. Fuck.
I turned, and without a look back or another word, I fled.
No man had ever made me feel like this. No man could render me breathless and melting with just a look. I didn’t even know this was possible.
Until him.
Until he squeezed my neck and caught me in his dark, arresting gaze. The power this man had over me was nothing short of frightening.
The moment I stepped out of the boutique, the warm Maltese sun bathed my skin, casting a golden glow on the buildings surrounding me.
I took a sharp left and escaped as fast as I could. My footsteps echoed on the cobblestone streets.
I caught my reflection in a shop window. The woman staring back at me looked haunted.
Shit.
I couldn’t deny the magnetic pull Alex had on me, but I wasn’t about to let it drag me back into a world I had fought so hard to escape.
Or fall for a dangerous and cruel man like him.
I just needed to get a new passport and avoid him at all costs.
Easy-peasy.
