“You forget, Olivia, that I know your objections are only for form. I have felt you fall apart in my arms. You will come to Talidar, and you will come to my bed whenever I wish it. And you will enjoy it.”
She shook her head from side to side. “No.”
He leaned forward, and flicked his tongue against the sensitive flesh of her neck. “I will be happy to demonstrate your body’s willingness at any time you need a reminder.”
She trembled as pleasure assailed her. But still, she shook her head.
“It is this or prison.”
“Then I choose prison,” she said darkly. Proudly.
“And what then of your mother?”
“She’ll… I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
He moved away from her, his smile perfunctory. “You will certainly not. Any asset you own will be needed for your defence. You will be without money, and you will still end up in a Talidarian prison for the rest of your days. Jack likewise, and that’s only if I intervene to save him from the firing squad.”
She swore, revulsion and despair making her body sag.
“We’ll leave within an hour,” he repeated. And finally, Olivia felt the fight deflate her body. She stared at him moodily, her eyes enormous in her face.
“Fine. But I want to see Jack first.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“What the hell were you thinking, Jack?”
Jack looked around the staid white room with a grimace. His hands were bound on the tabletop, a cable tie forcing his wrists together. “I wasn’t thinking, obviously.”
“You’re an idiot,” she muttered, scraping back the chair across from him and sitting down. She reached out and captured his hands in hers. “Seriously, Jack. A big one.”
His smile was haunted. “I just wanted to see if I could do it. Eleni wasn’t watching. I thought I’d got away with it.”
Olivia reclined with a sigh, and stared across at her friend. “In the Talidarian Embassy? Come on, Jack. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to realise there are cameras everywhere.”
“Yeah, I guess in the heat of the moment I didn’t think it through.”
Olivia compressed her lips. “This isn’t a joke.”
“I know. But sometimes you just have to see the funny side.”
“What funny side?” She demanded fiercely. “You’re subject to their laws. Your crime is enormous. Don’t you understand what you’ve done?”
His face was pale, but his features were set like stone. “I guess I do now. I’m sorry, Liv. I didn’t mean to embarrass you like this.”
“Embarrass me?” She hissed. “I don’t care about being embarrassed. This is way worse than that.”
“Yeah, that mean security guy looked like he wanted to kill me right here and now.”
She winced, hating the thought of her friend Jack feeling fear or worry. “Listen, Tamir is prepared to be reasonable,”
she said, finally. What choice did she have? Seeing her friend bound and scared for his life got through to her as nothing else could. “It’s going to be okay.” She blinked back her own tears. “It’s really going to be fine.”
“What?” He jerked his head up, his eyes instantly brightening.
The door opened inwards without a knock. Tamir had changed into a dark suit, and he breezed into the small space, instantly charging it with a kind of electricity. His eyes fell to Jack, and his look was unmistakably loaded with derision. Then, he turned to Olivia. “We must go now.”
“Go?” Jack stood, his hands still bound before him. “Where are you going?”