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“Don’t touch my wife!”
Turning in shock, Callie saw Eduardo’s handsome face distorted with rage. A beam of blood-red light covered his black, civilized business suit, from the sun setting fire to the west.
“No, Eduardo, no!”
But he didn’t hear her. Drawing back his fist, he punched Brandon so hard across the jaw that the other man, totally unprepared, dropped like a stone into the dust.
“No!” Callie shrieked. Around the souk, people stared at them across the busy, crowded market, speaking in a cacophony of languages. Fist raised, Eduardo started for Brandon again.
Callie ran between them, so fast her hat fell off her head. Holding up both her arms, she cried, “Don’t!”
Eduardo whirled on her, his black eyes so hot that she should have burned to ash. “You told him to meet you here!”
“No, of course I didn’t!” Looking at him, all Callie could suddenly think of was how he’d been lying to her face for months. How he’d caused her family pain. Forcing herself to take a deep, calming breath, she knelt down in the dust and checked on Brandon, who was knocked out cold but seemed otherwise fine. Rising to her feet, she glared at Eduardo. “Brandon couldn’t contact me. A fact you know well.”
Eduardo stared at her, breathing heavily. “What did he want from you?”
She lifted her chin. “To help me go back to North Dakota and file for divorce.”
“And what did you say?”
“What do you think I said?” she cried. “I said no! Because I’m married to you. I have a child with you. I love you! Of course I told him no. Are you out of your mind?”
Baring his teeth, Eduardo grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the staring eyes of the souk and down the warren of streets to the parked car. Pushing her inside, he started the engine. It was only after they were back on the road that he spoke to her through gritted teeth.
“I found you in his arms.”
Callie whirled on him. “I was comforting him!”
“I trusted you,” he ground out.
“Trusted me?” She looked at him, tears in her eyes. “That’s a joke! You never trusted me. You kept me a virtual prisoner, locked away from my family. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Eduardo looked at her, his handsome face pale beneath his tan. Setting his jaw, he didn’t answer.
“When I think of all the time I spent,” Callie whispered. “Sending them picture after picture, letter after letter.” She looked up at him fiercely. “And the whole time, you were keeping them away, and me, locked away in your own little cage!”
He turned his eyes grimly back to the road. As he drove from the fortified gates of the medina toward the sprawling palm desert, he was silent, his jaw tight.
“You’re not even trying to deny it,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
He changed gears with more force than necessary. “I was going to tell you about it,” he retorted. “It’s why I told Sanchez he could leave you there. I wanted to surprise you at the market, and take you out to dinner just the two of us, so we could talk in private. So I could try to make you understand.”
“I understand, all right!”
His hands clenched on the wheel. “I was trying to protect you. To protect all of us.”
“Brandon said he was followed. Did you have me watched, too? What about my family?”
Eduardo looked at her then looked away.
“Keith Johnson had the detail,” he said flatly.
The hot Moroccan air blew through the car window, whirling over her skin. “Keith Johnson?” she faltered. “But you use him to gain information on your rivals. On your enemies.” She looked at him. “Which one am I?”
“You’re my wife,” he said tightly. “I was trying to keep you safe.”
Her emotions were so jumbled she felt numb. “Safe!”
