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Arja had every right to look at Cassie with scorn.
It was she, Arja, who Layth was choosing to commit to. Cassie was just someone to warm his bed.
But was she? Her mind ran over the night they’d shared – dancing to the backdrop of the storm, talking about their childhoods. How could he push that aside to marry someone like Arja?
Because it was expected of him. Because it was what he wanted.
Cassie was frozen to the spot.
“Ma’am?”
Agent Two didn’t touch her. He wouldn’t dare. But he moved into her field of vision. Cassie swallowed. What was upstairs? Her phone. Her bag. But she had her keys. She’d grabbed them automatically. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs.
What had she been thinking?
This wasn’t meaningless sex. It wasn’t meaningless anything. And it wasn’t just her and Layth who were in this sordid little arrangement.
She lifted a hand to her mouth as the realisations kept exploding into her brain like dangerous little fireworks.
Should she see him again? Or walk away and save her sanity? Could she leave now, knowing she was gambling the last few days they could spend together?
She had come to this relationship wanting fun, and she’d ended up feeling more miserable than ever in her entire life. And that was saying something.
She bit down on her lip, indecision making her mind hurt.
“Ma’am,” Agent Two addressed her again. “Are you well?”
Cassie blinked. She couldn’t run away. No matter how hard it was to see Layth now, she needed to do it.
When the lift opened into the suite she’d been sharing with Layth Cassie felt almost calm.
He looked so regal and imposing that butterflies began to form a kaleidoscope in her tummy. He took in her pink cheeks and sweat-soaked outfit and frowned. “You’ve run the length of England.”
She didn’t want to talk about her fitness regime. “I usually do ten miles.”
“Crazy,” he laughed softly, relieved to be back in the same room as this beautiful, free-spirited angel.
“How did your meeting go?” She sounded confusingly calm. How had she managed that when her insides were churning with acid?
A flicker of something passed over his expression. “Not something I wish to discuss,” he intoned flatly. He was even angrier than he had been earlier!
Again, doubt ravaged Cassie. To stay or go? To accept the limitations of what he could give her, or rail against them, even though that meant leaving him?
She toyed with the ring, still hovering just inside the suite.
“But you’ve decided? It’s her?”
He prowled closer to Cassie. There was something pink on his cheek. She looked at it distractedly at first, and then with the abhorrent realisation that it was lipstick. And not hers.
“Oh, God.” The nausea she’d been fighting for days began to c
hurn in her gut. She pushed past him and ran to the bathroom, only just making it in time. She heaved until she felt like she had nothing left in her, and collapsed onto the tiled floor.
“Cassie,” he crouched behind her and slid his hands beneath her arms. The worry in his voice wrapped around her, but she rejected it crossly.
Mortified, she reached for a towel and buried her face in it. “I can’t do this anymore, Layth.”
He was very silent, for a long time. Only the gentle pressure of his hand on her arm reassured her that he was still there.
