tened on the chair. She regretted standing up. ‘What?’
‘I tracked down the photographer—or rather my team did. That’s how I found out about my father’s involvement.’
He paced again and then stopped. He’d never reminded Kat more of a caged animal than right now.
His face was all stark lines and hard jaw. ‘You should have told me everything, Kat. You should have told me that the photographer was blackmailing you.’
She blanched. ‘He told you...?’
Zafir nodded. ‘I wanted to make sure that he had no more images of you, and I made sure that the ones that did get leaked to the press were destroyed. They’ll never surface again. He was still very bitter about having had his payday taken away from him when the pictures were leaked and published. You could have told me, Kat,’ Zafir said now, with an almost bewildered tone in his voice. ‘Was I such an ogre?’
Her weak heart clenched. ‘No, of course not. I didn’t tell you because I was ashamed. You weren’t an ogre, but you were a Crown Prince, Zafir. You didn’t suffer fools lightly. And I felt like a fool for allowing myself to get into that situation. So many times I wanted to tell you what had happened, but at the last second I couldn’t... I never wanted you to find out. Not even now.’
Zafir’s jaw clenched. ‘No, you would have preferred to go into marriage bringing your baggage with you—bleeding us both dry.’
Kat’s blood drained south. This was proof, if she’d ever needed it, that nothing had changed between them. She was still in disgrace.
Kat lifted her chin and said, as coolly as she could, belying her profound hurt, ‘That would never have been my intention, Zafir.’
Zafir cursed and ran a hand through his hair again. ‘I’m sorry... You didn’t deserve that...’
Kat refused to let his apology impact on her and forced herself to say, ‘Even if you’d known the truth it wouldn’t have changed anything. I still would have been deemed unsuitable. I broke your trust, Zafir. I know that.’
His mouth tightened into a grim line. The pain cut deeper when he didn’t contradict her. As she watched she could see him retreat somewhere, become stiff, expressionless.
‘You don’t need to go out there this evening if you don’t want to, Kat. I know it must terrify you, in spite of what you said earlier. I hired you and put you in front of the world’s media again, and it was through your involvement with me that you had to endure your career and reputation being ruined in the first place. It’s my fault you’re under this renewed scrutiny.’
He sounded like a stranger. A civil stranger. Not the man who had taken her into a magical pool last night and made love to her as if his life depended on it. But then she hardly needed reminding of where this had been headed all along.
Kat stepped out from behind the chair. She said, ‘No. I committed to doing a job and I’m not going to renege on that.’
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Rahul’s voice saying, ‘Sire, they’re ready for you and Miss Winters.’
* * *
Zafir looked at Kat. His insides felt as if they were being corroded by acid. He felt tainted by his father’s machinations.
He was still reeling from the revelations of the previous few hours, but now he felt something similar to the way he’d felt much earlier that day, when he’d watched Kat with that bird of prey on her arm, clearly scared but determined not to show it. Proud. She’d looked regal, and it had impacted on him like a punch to his gut.
She stepped forward now, and she was a vision in gold with the red diamond glowing at her throat.
He said, ‘Are you sure, Kat? You really don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I’ve asked enough of you.’
An inner voice mocked him. You asked for nothing less than her unconditional surrender and you got it.
‘I’m sure.’
And then she walked to the door, straight-backed and proud. Zafir battled an almost feral urge to grab her and shut the door—as if he knew that as soon as she walked through it she would be lost to him in a way he’d never really appreciated before.
But he couldn’t stop her.
He followed her out to the corridor, where Noor and Rahul were waiting. Kat was staring straight ahead and he took her arm, leading her towards the ceremonial room. She didn’t resist his touch but he could feel her tension.
Just before the doors to the ceremonial room opened Zafir gripped her arm hard and willed her to look at him. After a few seconds she did—with clear reluctance. He couldn’t read anything in those golden eyes. Could see nothing but a distance he’d never seen before.
His bleakness intensified. For the first time in his life he was floundering. The big doors were slowly opening, and with a heavy weight in his chest he said, ‘I’m sorry, Kat.’
* * *