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“Once I’ve satisfied my hunger for you?” He tilted his head to the side as he answered her with a question rather than allowing her to know exactly what was going on.
That wasn’t like the Abram she knew. Of course, there was always the chance she hadn’t known him as well as she thought she had.
“That’s not a satisfactory answer, Abram. ”
His eyes were cool and hard. She hated that look, that impassive, emotionless look so similar to Khalid’s. A look that had been honed in the hellish existence where they had fought to survive, here in this foreign desert.
“That’s the only answer I have for you at the moment. But I will have some answers from you. How did Azir’s men manage to kidnap you?”
Paige crossed her arms over her breasts as she leaned back in the couch and glanced away from him.
“I went home,” she finally answered, knowing it was the wrong time to become stubborn.
His expression tightened further, this time in anger.
“Are Khalid and Marty safe?”
She nodded jerkily. “They were at the Conovers’. Tally’s party. ”
He closed his eyes in frustration before wiping his hand over his face and giving his head a brief, hard shake. When he looked at her again, he didn’t bother to hide the anger heating inside him.
“You were told to stay safe. ” He growled as the irritation rose. “What happened, Paige? Don’t try to tell me Khalid attempted to throw you out either. ”
Paige wanted to laugh at the comment, but the expression on his face didn’t exactly invite amusement.
Instead, she dropped her arms, her hands clenching into the the couch cushions as she leaned forward, her own anger surging inside her.
“Do you realize I’ve lost my job because of this mess?” she snapped back at him. One hand lifted to wave at his room to emphasize the situation. “I haven’t worked in over two weeks now, I have bills to pay and responsibilities to meet. Do you think I was meeting those responsibilities by playing the cowering puppy at my brother’s home? Do you think my landlord is going to just nicely wait for me to pay my rent?”
“Since when did your parents refuse access to your trust fund, Paige?” His tone was chillingly uncompromising and unforgiving.
It was her own fault she had been taken and she knew it; she wasn’t trying to claim otherwise. But he made her feel about two inches tall and responsible for the fall of the modern world with that look and tone.
“I didn’t say it was the smartest idea I’d ever had,” she burst out furiously. “But for God’s sake, Abram, it had been two weeks. Khalid and I were at each other’s throats and starting to go for blood. I just wanted to go home long enough to figure out how to handle him and his insistence unning my life. ”
“And that did you how much good?” He grunted irritably as he shot her a look of complete male frustration. “You were being protected and you insisted on leaving that protection. Now you can settle in here for the next three weeks and twiddle your thumbs until I can send you home. ”
She stared back at him in shock. “Abram, I can’t stay here for three weeks,” she whispered. “I have to go home. ”
“Khalid will take care of your bills and any problems that arise, and I’m certain he’ll have a nice little discussion with the owner of the company you worked for so you can return. You have no choice but to cooperate here, Paige. Attempting to make me feel guilty for your situation will do you no good. ”
“You could send me home,” she retorted angrily.
“If I could send you home I’d have you on a transport now,” he snapped back as anger flashed across his face. “Unfortunately, that isn’t possible at the moment, trust me on this. ”
Her lips thinned as she glared back at him. “Then let me call Papa. He’ll come get me. ”
“Oh, there’s a good idea. ” His smile was tight and hard. “Let’s call Pavlos Galbraithe and have him arrive to antagonize Azir further. ” His bark of laughter was filled with sarcasm. “I can see that one working out well. ”
So, maybe that wasn’t the wisest course of action, but staying here for three weeks wasn’t acceptable either, not when old man Mustafa was bouncing around the place trying to find his little lost Marilyn.
The thought of it was sickening.
It sickened her and God only knew how her mother was feeling at the moment.
Raking her fingers through her hair she stared back at Abram in frustration, wondering where the heated, hungry lover of earlier had gone.
With that thought came another. Why, once she’d come until she thought she was going to die, hadn’t he taken her fully and achieved his own release?
