‘But what about Sassania? And the Sassanians?’
‘It’ll be fine. They’ll be fine.’ A muscle began to hammer in his jaw. ‘I’ll leave it in the best state possible. I’m very good at what I do.’
‘I don’t doubt it. But this is a country. Not a business.’
‘Same principles. CEO… King… They’re just titles.’
Laura frowned. ‘Surely it’s more than that.’
‘Not really.’
‘But what about the people? Don’t you feel some sort of duty towards them? Some sort of loyalty?’
Matt stiffened. ‘I’m here to do a job. Nothing more, nothing less.’
‘It’s just a job?’
Matt glowered at her. ‘What else would it be? A hundred years ago, the Sassanians executed my great-great-grandfather and sent my family into exile. I’ve never been here. Why would I have any sense of loyalty?’
Laura blinked. ‘Well, I suppose I don’t really know. I just assumed you would. Why else would you put such a lot of effort into the role?’
‘I’m a perfectionist. Sassania has a smaller population than the workforce of some of the companies I’ve worked with, and an infinitely smaller budget. It’s no big deal. Once the country’s back on its feet the people can decide how they want to continue and who they want to take over.’
‘And they know this is your vision, do they?’
‘I’ve made no secret of the fact that I intend to return to my company. I’ve spent years building it up. Years of hard work and sacrifice. I’m not just going to give it all up because of some ancestral thing I had no influence over.’
‘Well, I think that’s awful.’
Matt’s jaw tightened. ‘I don’t care what you think and I don’t need to have my decisions questioned.’
‘Well, you should.’
Matt’s eyebrows shot up. ‘What?’
‘You’re good at the king thing. I’ve heard people talking about you. They have high hopes of you and like it or not if you leave you’ll be letting them down and leaving them far worse off than any dictator. And you know, you say you don’t care about duty and loyalty and the people of this country, but you do. Why else would you have spent so much time working for it over the past fortnight?’
‘To avoid precisely this kind of conversation,’ Matt snapped.
Laura felt as if someone had thumped her in the solar plexus. Her breath shot from her lungs and her head went fuzzy.
He’d immersed himself in his work specifically so he wouldn’t have to spend time getting to know her? Something inside her began to shake. Did he really think all she was good for was evening entertainment?
Oh, God. How could she have got it so wrong? Hadn’t she secretly been hoping that that wishful thinking wouldn’t be quite so wishful? That he’d listen to her and give her that thoughtful little look he often gave her when he was tossing something around in his head, and agree? That he’d lean over, tell her she was right, give her a long slow kiss and suggest they give it a shot?
Laura’s heart began to ache. She was such an idiot. Would she never learn? ‘Oh,’ she said eventually. ‘I see.’
Matt frowned. ‘Have I ever given you the impression I was interested in anything else?’
‘No.’ He hadn’t. She’d got it wrong all on her own. Complete and utter fool. Why had she ever embarked on this conversation? Why couldn’t she have stayed happy to carry on until their fling ended? Why had she ever been on that assertiveness course?
‘So why can’t you give me anything more?’
And why was she such a masochist?
Matt rubbed a hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I just can’t.’
He vibrated with tension and Laura suddenly felt as if she were skating on very thin ice miles from the safety of the shore. But she had to know.