“Olivia has agreed to accompany me to Liya, for a period.” Tamir said simply, putting a hand in the small of her back and propelling her towards the door.
“Liv, no,” Jack said harshly, skirting around the table and standing before her. “What have you done? What have you agreed to?”
Tamir moved between them. He stared down his nose at the would-be thief. “She has agreed only to what she wants. And in exchange for her honesty, you are free to go. Try not to make a mistake such as this again.”
* * *
“But I don’t know what he’s saying,” she murmured to Tamir. Miles above the earth, somewhere between London and Liya, the capital of Talidar, she stared blankly at the black suited security chief Tamir had brought to her. The man had a terrifying authority, and a cruel anger in his expression. His eyes seemed to regard her as though she were little more than a germ. And yet his loyalty and deference to Tamir were unmistakable.
More than just cruelty though, there was recognition in his expression when he looked at her. He was staring at Olivia with a mix of contempt and shock. As though he’d seen a ghost.
“He is formalising our arrangement. You simply repeat his words.”
She shook her head from side to side, darting her tongue out to moisten her lip. The security chief’s small, rounded eyes followed the betraying gesture. “Is this really necessary?”
“Yes.”
“She is trouble for you, your highness,” Kalil remarked quietly to his master, using their language.
Tamir fixed his long-serving chief with a stony look of disapproval, then returned his attention to Olivia. Kalil was most likely right, but it was not his place to say so.
“Do everything I say, or our deal is off.”
“Fine.” She looked back towards the security chief, who sent shivers of terror running down her spine. “Would you mind saying that again?”
Kalil made a sound of frustration and then spoke the six or seven word sentence once more. Olivia repeated it, as best she could.
“Good.” Kalil spoke again, his shady eyes now fixed upon Tamir. Tamir repeated the sentence, his eyes heavy on Olivia’s face.
“Is that it?” Olivia asked, staring out of the window at the blanket of black sky that stretched all around the private jet of the Sultan of Talidar.
“For now. He will have papers for you to sign before we land.”
“Papers?”
“Protecting your interests as well as mine,” he said, waving a hand in the air. “As well as your mother’s.”
Olivia didn’t flinch. Her mother’s situation required her to cooperate completely with Tamir. When James Anderson had died suddenly, two years earlier, it had plunged Tabitha into a complete and total well of depression. She’d drunk and taken drugs to self-medicate, and it had been months before Olivia had even realised what was going on. In that time, Tabitha had lost her job, lost her home, and also her health.
With Olivia’s help, and constant attention, Tabitha was slowly rejoining the world, but she still had a long way to go in her recovery. “You organised a nurse for my mother?”
“I will, when you give me more information about her requirements.”
Olivia lifted her gaze, to stare at him heavily. “She needs someone to be with her.”
“Yes,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “You said as much. But why? What is the nature of her illness?”
Olivia’s stare was loaded with anger. “That’s none of your damned business.”
He admired her fighting spirit, despite the situation she found herself in. “Is it a secret illness?” He chided softly, leaning forward in the plush leather seat, so that his eyes were only inches from hers.
“No. Don’t be absurd. But you don’t need to know the ins and outs of my mother’s life to arrange a suitable carer for her.”
“I will determine what I do and do not need to know.”
Olivia pressed her lips together. “So this is part of our agreement, too? I don’t get any secrets?”
He didn’t react, but his stare was scathing. He thought her childish, and to some extents, he was right.