He laughed without humour. ‘Honest? I doubt you know the meaning of the word.’
Her hands curled into fists. ‘Just because you’re some big shot property tycoon, it doesn’t give you the right to play judge, jury and executioner. I’m not on trial here.’
‘No. But you will be.’ He stared at her speculatively. ‘At a rough guess facing charges of trespass, unlawful entry, intent to rob—’
‘I didn’t come here to rob anyone,’ Daisy snapped. ‘If you must know, I came here to—’
Breaking off, she stared at him in horror. Around her the tension in the room had soared, so that suddenly she felt as though the walls and the windows might implode.
His gaze was fixed and unblinking. ‘To what?’
She stared at him mutely, frozen, horrified by how close she’d come to betraying David—and then in the beat of her heart she darted past him. But he was too quick, and before her brain had even registered him moving, his arm was curving around her waist and pulling her against the hard muscles of his chest.
It was like an electric shock. For a moment she forgot everything. Everything except the fierce, prickling heat surging through her body, warming her blood and melting her bones, so that in another second she knew her legs would buckle beneath her.
‘Let go of me.’ Angry, outraged—more by her body’s inappropriate response than his restricting grip—she started to punch his arm, but he simply ignored the blows, jerking her closer.
‘Stop it,’ he said coldly. ‘You’re not helping yourself.’
‘You’re hurting me.’
‘Then stop fighting me.’
His arm curled tighter, so that his stomach was pressing against her spine. But despite his anger, and even though she could feel his strength, she was surprised to find she wasn’t afraid of him physically.
Only there was no time to ponder why that should be the case as he said sharply, ‘What’s in your hand?’
Instantly all her efforts were concentrated on clenching her fist as tightly as possible. But it was a short, unequal fight, and she watched helplessly as, uncurling her fingers, he prised the security card from her hand.
‘Thank you,’ he said softly, and abruptly he loosened his grip and jerked her round to face him.
She gazed at him dazedly. Her pulse was racing, her blood thundering like an incoming tide. She felt her stomach tighten painfully as his eyes flickered over the card.
‘Where did you get this?’
For a moment she considered telling him the truth. But one look at his face was all it took to convince her that that course of action would not only be foolish but hazardous. He was furious. Beyond furious. He was enraged.
‘It was on the floor.’
‘Of course it was!’
The jeer in his voice sliced through her skin like a knife, so that she had to swallow against the pain. The air was thickening around her and she was finding it hard to breathe. His anger was overwhelming her. She couldn’t fight the way he did—didn’t have that desire to win whatever the consequences. Whatever the cost...
‘I...I... It must... Someone must have dropped it.’
Rollo shook his head dismissively.
He could deal with her lies. He could even understand why she was lying. But he couldn’t deal with all the other lies that were crowding into his head. Lies from the past. Conversations between his parents. His mother darting between stories, swapping truths—
Suddenly he just wanted it over. Wanted her out of his office and out of his life.
Lip curling, he glanced to where she stood, wide-eyed, the pulse in her throat jerking unevenly.
‘I know this looks bad,’ she said haltingly. ‘But I wasn’t doing anything wrong. You have to believe me—’
‘I think we both know it’s a little late for that,’ he said savagely.
He didn’t trust her, and for good reason. Life had taught him at an early age that there was nothing more disingenuous or dangerous than a cornered woman.