He shrugged. “I didn’t see the point in wasting the opportunity.”
“You’re disgusting,” she shouted. But her anger with him was morphing into something else. She looked around, saw a white painted door and sprinted to it. She pushed it inwards, opening to a bathroom. She only just made it to the toilet before she was sick. She heaved over it, curling her hair around her palm while her body physically repelled everything she’d just heard, and what they’d just done. She purged as though it could wipe the slate clean.
It couldn’t of course.
And when she was finished, her body completely emptied, she lifted her pale face to find Tamir leaning against the doorjamb watching her. His expression was unmoved. He held a towel to her, which she snatched angrily.
“Get dressed. My security chief is waiting.”
Olivia splashed water on her face. Ice cold water. She hoped it would bring sensat
ion back to her, but she still felt numb through. She grabbed for a towel on the back of the door, only it turned out to be a robe. She shrugged it on, hating the way her stomach clenched with desire when the faint scent of Tamir assailed her nostrils.
She stormed back into his room and saw that he had dressed. He was wearing a suit, and his hands were thrust deep into his pockets as he stared out of one of the windows. He was so breathtakingly handsome that she almost forgot her rage. Almost, but not quite.
“What did you mean? About what I would wear in Talidar?”
He turned slowly, and in that brief moment, she saw emotion in his expression. It was gone again almost instantly. “That you will have to face consequences for these crimes.”
She nodded. “I understand that. I expect I’ll also get a chance to state my case.”
His laugh was a harsh bark. “State your case? There is no justification for what you and your friend attempted to do today.”
Bloody Jack, she thought angrily. What was he thinking? “Where’s Jack now?”
Tamir’s eyes flashed. “He’s with my security chief. Waiting for you.”
“Tamir,” she walked to him slowly, and put a hand on his arm. He looked down at it as though she were diseased. She tried not to care. She had to get through to him. “Tamir, please. Let me try to explain.”
“No.”
“I can’t go to Talidar.” Her voice cracked. “I have people who need me here. I have a job.”
“All things you should have considered before launching into a life of crime.”
“But I’m not! I didn’t!” She shook his arm, trying to get him to look at her. “I have to stay in London.”
“Why, Olivia? Why must you?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed. Her face was pale, and she had no idea how Tamir was staring at her. How he looked at her fine features and marvelled at her beauty, despite the way he despised her actions.
“My mother needs me,” she whispered. “I can’t leave her.”
“Your mother?” He demanded, his disbelief obvious in the scathing tone of his voice.
She nodded, without opening her eyes. She had to be honest with this man, even though he didn’t deserve to know anything about her private life. If she lied she might lose everything. “Yes. She’s sick, Tamir. And I help her. I help her with her medication and her daily tasks.”
Her eyes were still closed, so she didn’t see that his expression briefly softened. “What kind of tasks?”
“Everything.” She compressed her lips. “The lady downstairs checks on her while I’m at work, but I never leave her for more than an odd night out. I can’t abandon her.”
He forced himself to ignore her plea. “Isn’t that convenient, Olivia? A sick mother. As though that will get you out of the trouble you’re in.”
Finally, she opened her eyes. They were unknowingly bleak. “There is nothing convenient about it, believe me.”
“Believe you? I will never make that mistake again.”
Her stomach churned. “I thought you were a decent person,” she muttered, spinning away from him. “How stupid am I?”