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‘Excuse me.’ She clamped her hand over her mouth and fled.
CHAPTER NINE
THE DEBILITATING WEAKNESS was back again, weighting her limbs down and fanning a dull ache throughout her body.
But it was nothing compared to the crushing weight of suspicion anchoring her heart.
No matter how much she tried to push the thought away, it kept coming back, intruding, demanding to be heard, to be acknowledged.
Perla cast a furtive glance at the man who stood beside her in the hotel lift, his hand gripping her arm. He hadn’t said a word since they left the restaurant. He’d been there when she emerged from the Ladies, pale, weak and shaky, barely able to meet his gaze when he’d enquired whether she wanted to leave.
The restaurant staff had been profusely apologetic but she hadn’t had the courage to reassure them that what was going on was most likely not the fault of their food. She’d left the soothing of ruffled feathers to Ari, simply because she hadn’t been able to think past the stark reality of what she could be facing.
They exited the lift and she followed him numbly. It wasn’t until they were inside the suite that was easily three times the size of hers that she realised they hadn’t returned to her suite but to his. He bypassed the living room, the study and the master bedroom and entered a second bedroom.
Before her stood what was easily an emperor-sized bed, complete with solid four-posters and cream silk muslin curtains. A bathroom and walk-in closet were visible through a golden-lit arch and beyond the windows Washington DC shone its powerful light over the city.
Her gaze returned from sweeping the room to find Ari standing with his hands on his hips, those mesmerising eyes fixed questioningly on hers.
‘There’s a new toothbrush through there if you need to use it?’
She nodded, dropped her clutch on the bed and darted into the bathroom. The need to escape was less to do with cleaning her mouth properly and more to do with delaying the inevitable.
Quickly, she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth. Then gripped the edge of the sink as a fresh wave of apprehension rolled through her.
Arion Pantelides wasn’t stupid. The knowledge in his eyes told her his thoughts had taken the same path as hers.
‘Perla.’
She jumped and whirled so fast, her vision blurred.
Callused hands steadied her, one curving around her waist and the other rising to cradle her cheek for a moment before he dropped his hand.
‘Come.’
The gentle gesture threatened her equilibrium and she fought not to react as he led her back to the room and sank onto the bed beside her. He’d discarded his jacket and folded back the sleeves of his shirt.
The sight of the silky hairs on his forearm made sensation scythe through her but it was the look in his eyes that stopped her breath.
His fingers trembled as they caught her chin and an emotion moved through her heart she was almost too afraid to examine. ‘How do you feel?’ he asked in a low, deep voice.
Something in his tone made her glance at him. His face had lost a few shades of vibrancy and in his eyes dark, unfathomable shadows lurked.
Whatever was ahead of them, Perla knew it wouldn’t be an easy road.
‘I...I’m...’ Her throat felt swollen and scratchy so she stopped.
‘Here, have some water.’ He passed her a glass and waited while she took a few sips. His gaze never left her and, feeling her hands begin to shake, she put the glass down.
Trepidation welled up inside her. ‘Ari...’
More colour leached from his face. ‘Before you say anything, Perla, I need you to be one hundred per cent sure.’
The depth of emotion in his voice made her heart flip over, then thunder with enough force to threaten her ribs. ‘Why?’ she asked before she could stop herself.
‘Because the ramifications would mean more than you could ever imagine.’ The roughness in his voice and the faint trembling of the hand still at her waist made her insides quake.
Incomprehensible emotions swirled around inside her. Unbidden, tears welled up in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks.
‘Theos, do not cry. Please,’ he ordered raggedly.
‘Sorry, I’m not normally a crier,’ she muttered, then cringed as more tears fell. ‘I just can’t seem to help myself.’
He gritted his teeth and brushed her cheeks with his thumbs, then stared down at her with dark eyes but said nothing as the tears continued to fall.
The knock on the door made him turn away but not before she caught another glimpse of jagged torment in his eyes. ‘The doctor’s here.’
