She suppressed a bubble of hysterical laughter. No ugly hired assassin for her. She rated the kind of man who could break hearts as well as necks.
She had to come up with an idea, and fast.
“You really had Hamilton fooled.”
Mia raised her eyebrows. “Who?”
“What did I tell you, baby? Don’t play dumb. It just ticks me off.” A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “But you didn’t fool me. I figured you, right from the start. You skipped out with a little something to sweeten the trip.”
Her heartbeat stumbled again. She’d been so careful, copying the list. Putting the original back where she’d found it. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he was fishing.
“You’re wrong,” she said, her voice so calm it amazed her. “I didn’t take anything. I—I left Douglas because—because he—he wouldn’t let me break things off.”
“Ah. Suddenly you know who old Dougie is.”
“Did you expect me to admit it right away? You broke into my room, you attacked me—”
“Mia, Mia, what am I going to do with you? You’re lying. If you’d ditched your boyfriend, you’d be in the States by now. You’d have taken the first plane home.”
Think, she told herself frantically. Think.
“He’d have had them watch the airports.”
“He’s a colonel. He isn’t God.”
She almost laughed. “Try telling that to him.”
“To tell you the truth, Mia, I don’t give a damn about your feelings for the man. I want what you stole. You going to tell me where it is?”
“Where what is?” she said calmly.
His eyes went flat. “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way. Get dressed. And be quick about it. I want to get this over with.”
She didn’t. As soon as they were alone somewhere…
“Well? I don’t have all day.”
She stepped away from the door. “I’ll get dressed. You wait outside.”
His smile curved his mouth again. “Nice try, baby, but it won’t work.”
She felt heat rise in her face. “I’m not getting dressed with you here.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice taking on that roughness again, “you are.”
He reached for her. She jerked back but the wall was behind her. Eyes locked to hers, he reached for the sash of her robe. She slapped at him. He grabbed her wrists, tugged her arms high over her head with one hand and undid the sash with the other.
Any second, she was going to scream.
Matthew knew it. The woman was like a wildcat, fighting, struggling, refusing to admit she was caught.
“You make a sound,” he growled, “you’ll regret it.”
“Let go. Let—go! Damn you, let—”
He silenced her the only way he could.
With his mouth.