‘Who else?’ Through the pain anger erupted. ‘You put Carissa through hell. And I—’
‘You what? You can’t tell me this last week has been your idea of hell.’ He leaned in and Mina inhaled the cedar-and-citrus scent that always made her senses tingle. To her horror she felt a softening between her thighs, as if, even facing Alexei’s scorn, she wanted him.
She drew herself up, slowly reciting in her head the names of her five favourite sculptors, then another five, till she trusted her voice.
‘I did what I did for my friend. You threatened to kidnap her.’
‘I did no such thing. Her father offered her to me and I simply invited her here to—’
‘Rubbish!’ Mina’s control frayed and she prodded her fingers into the solid muscle of his shoulder. ‘Youstarted this when you decided to use Carissa for your own ends. Have you any idea how scared she was when she got your call?’
‘Because she was in cahoots with her father.’ If possible he looked even grimmer than before.
Mina shook her head. ‘If you knew Carissa you’d know that was impossible. She can’t tell a lie to save herself. She couldn’t even think of an excuse to fob you off when you sent your goons to collect her.’
‘But it wasn’t Carissa who came, was it? It was you, lying through your teeth.’
‘You expect me to apologise for that?’ The nerve of the man stupefied her. ‘I’ve known some manipulative men. Men who’d use a woman as a convenience as if she weren’t a real person. But I thought they were dying out. Until I met you.’
Mina refused to think about the man she’d fallen for this past week. He’d either been a mirage invented by her yearning soul or a cruel joke.
‘You brought this on yourself. Poor Carissa was beside herself, thinking her father would lose his job unless she agreed to come.’
Mina stepped back, not in retreat but so she could turn and march across the kitchen. She couldn’t stay still, couldn’t pretend to be calm. Not when everything had gone up in flames.
‘Don’t you walk away from me!’ The growl came from just behind her and the hairs at her nape stood to attention.
‘Or what?’ She spun round and fixed her tormentor with a furious stare, barely able to believe how this confrontation had exploded. ‘You’ll lock me up? Hold me to ransom?’
‘You’re so sure your royal status exempts you from the consequences of your actions.’
‘This has nothing to do with being royal.’
Alexei’s eyes blazed. ‘You deliberately connived to keep me from finding Carter. The man’s a thief.’
‘AllI did—’ she jammed her hands on her hips ‘—was buy time so my friend wouldn’t be railroaded into marrying an arrogant jerk who treats people like disposable toys.’ Mina drew a deep breath. ‘Did you ever, once, stop to consider the collateral damage to other people from your actions?’
‘Like you, I presume? You’re claiming to be an injured party?’ His contemptuous stare incinerated her last, frail hope. ‘I’m no expert on Jeirut but I know it’s very traditional. A royal princess who has casual flings would be frowned on. What’s your plan? To claim I forced you into my bed when it comes out we’ve been alone for days?’ His voice was a snarl, ripping through her stupid fantasies.
‘How can you think such a thing?’ Tears of indignation and pain needled the backs of her eyes.
His eyebrows lifted, the only sign of animation in a face turned mask-like.
‘Then what? A kiss-and-tell story for the media? You’d get a small fortune for that, and revenge for your friend. But you’d wreck your reputation at home if it came out you had an affair.’ He paused, his mouth tightening. ‘Or am I to expect a demand from the King of Jeirut that I pay for the privilege of having despoiled your supposed virginal status?’
Mina flinched at his brutal accusations. How could hethinksuch things? A yawning pit of hurt opened up inside.
‘I see.’ Abruptly Alexei’s fury vanished, replaced by a look of weariness and bitter disillusionment. His voice turned flat. ‘So that’s it. You have your bit of fun and expect someone else to pay the price.’
Mina opened her mouth and shut it again. She was without words. How had she given her heart to a man who thought so little of her? For it was her heart she’d lost to Alexei, not just her innocence.
She pressed her hand to her middle, trying to hold in the lacerating anguish that felt as if her insides had crystallised to glass and shattered. She’d gone from heady delight to the depths of humiliation and pain so fast her head spun.
She needed to find words to make him understand. But what was the point? This wasn’t her Alexei. This was a man who could believe the absolute worst of her. Her Alexei was nothing but a phantom.
‘I’d like to leave the island now.’ Her voice was stilted but she was beyond caring. ‘I assume you can arrange that?’
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure.’
Mina turned to the door, unable to face his disdain any longer. ‘Excellent. At least that’s one thing we agree on.’