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“There are rules,” he said in an impatient growl.
“Break them,” she suggested wildly. “You’ve done it before.”
“And I regret it every day. This is different.”
“Here’s a thought. Stop hiding me from the world and present me to your family with pride. Show them that it’s not a sin to love me. Tell them that I am everything you need and that I’m the one you will marry.”
“That isn’t going to happen. Ever.”
Lacey looked down at her bare feet. She had gone too far. She had made an ultimatum that showed the limit of his love for her. She should have known, should have been happy with what he offered, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t going to take a smaller and demeaning role just to stay in his life. That wasn’t love. That was the first step on the path to her destruction.
She had to protect herself. She suddenly felt weak, so much so she couldn’t raise her head to meet his gaze. Lacey took a deep breath, the air hurting her raw throat and tight chest.
“And this, what we had together, isn’t going to happen again,” she said in a low rush. It took all of her strength to raise her head and meet his gaze. “I need you to leave now.”
She saw the calculating gleam in his eye just as she heard a key fumbling in the lock of the front door. Lacey turned just as her roommate rushed in.
“Lacey! Why haven’t you been answering your texts?” Priya asked as she slammed the door closed.
Priya looked flustered. Her topknot threatened to collapse, and her name tag was crookedly pinned on her black blazer. She appeared out of breath, and her face gleamed with sweat.
“Are you all right?” Lacey asked as her roommate openly studied Hafiz. “Priya, this is—”
Priya raised her hand. “Prince Hafiz, the guy who broke her heart.”
Lacey straightened her spine and clutched the lapels of her robe. “How do you know that? I never told you his name.”
“No need.” Priya swiped her finger against the screen of her phone. “It’s all right here in full color.”
“What are you talking about?” The lethal tone in Hafiz’s low voice made Priya hesitate.
“This.” She turned the phone around to show a picture of Hafiz and Lacey in a hot embrace at the party. It was a good quality picture from someone’s phone. There was no denying that Prince Hafiz was the man in the picture. Lacey’s face was partially hidden, but her identity didn’t matter. The fact that her bikini-clad body was plastered against Hafiz was damning enough.
The sharp twist of dread in Lacey’s stomach almost made her sick. She clapped a shaky hand against her mouth.
“How many pictures are there?” Hafiz asked.
Lacey’s gaze clashed with his. Her eyes widened as she remembered those stolen moments in the corridor outside the party. They hadn’t been aware of their surroundings as they made love. What if their recklessness had been caught on camera?
Oh, God. What had they done? It had been madness. Lacey watched Hafiz’s gaze harden, no doubt considering the repercussions.
“I’ve only seen this one so far.”
So far. Lacey wanted to sit down before she tumbled to the floor. Hafiz was right. She was his vice. No, she was his poison. She was going to ruin everything for him.
“Who sent it to you?” Lacey asked. “Maybe we can get them to delete it from their camera.” Maybe they would luck out. Maybe one of their friends had no idea who Hafiz was and sent it to Priya because she was in the picture.
“I don’t know,” Priya said as she pressed the screen. “One of our friends was sharing pictures of the party. But it’s only a matter of time before someone finds out Hafiz is the playboy prince. Once that happens, there’s no containing this.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HAFIZ STARED AT the image on the small screen. The picture revealed everything. He had greeted Lacey with an intensity that indicated they were more than acquaintances. The passion, the love, the desperate yearning was evident in his expression.
Why? Why hadn’t he been more careful? He knew the risks. Did he think the rules only applied when he was home?
He hadn’t been thinking. The moment he had seen Lacey’s picture in the hotel lounge he had been on the hunt for her. He should have resisted the urge. He had not contacted Lacey for a month and managed to get through each day. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t thought of her constantly.
