She grasped the edge of the table with both hands and clung on tight. With an effort she forced back the strange, woozy feeling and stiffened her spine.
Tessa wasn’t up to facing this angry stranger. He wasn’t at all like her recollection of him. Had her treasured memories been a case of rose-tinted glasses?
Perhaps she should have heeded the cowardly inner voice that had urged her to forget what had happened and scurry home to Australia. To leave the past safely buried.
‘Enough!’ His hand thumped, palm down, onto the table and she jumped, eyes widening. ‘I don’t have time for these games. It’s obvious why you’re here. There’s no point prevaricating.’
His dark eyes probed as he thrust his head close to hers across the table. Animosity vibrated from him in waves, a palpable force. He was trying to intimidate her into submission.
And he was doing an excellent job!
Tessa shoved her chair back and got to her feet, thankful for the support of the table. Her knees were absurdly wobbly.
‘Where do you think you’re going? You’re not leaving until I’m finished with you.’
And when would that be? His fury seemed infinite.
‘I’m just putting myself on a more equal footing,’ she replied quietly. She’d learned through bitter experience that a calm demeanour was the safest response to hostility.
His glare didn’t diminish but he stood back a fraction from the table. Even that small distance seemed to lessen the impact of his sparking hostility and she breathed more easily.
‘So how much do you want?’ he demanded.
‘How much what?’
‘Sto Diavolo!’ He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. ‘I have no patience for this game of yours. Can’t you manage a direct answer to a simple question?’
‘I would if I knew what the question was.’ She raised her palm when he would have spoken. ‘But perhaps it will ease your mind if I tell you I didn’t come here to get anything from you. I only came to return the ring.’
She looked down at the table and the familiar ornament lying on the wood. She blinked. Stupid to feel sentimental about a chunk of jewellery. She didn’t need a good-luck charm any more.
She raised her eyes to his and strove to ignore the sizzle of heat that blasted out at her.
‘There’s one more thing,’ she said, shuffling her feet as a wave of tiredness made her unsteady.
‘Of course there is. At last we come to it.’ There was contempt on his face and a sneer curved his sensual mouth as he crossed his arms over his chest. The action emphasised the power of his body, even in a superbly tailored evening jacket. He radiated sheer masculine force.
She shook her head and then wished she hadn’t, when it took a moment to bring him back into focus.
‘I came to thank you,’ she said and held out her hand to him.
That took him aback. He stared at her as if he’d never shaken hands before.
‘If it hadn’t been for you,’ she continued, ‘I’d be dead. You saved my life.’ Her lips curved in a tentative smile. ‘I never got to thank you for that, but I wanted you to know that I didn’t forget. I owe you so much.’
‘What nonsense is this?’ His brows furrowed heavily and he ignored her gesture. His face grew dark with anger.
Disappointed, Tessa let her arm drop, her stamina seeping away at his abrupt rejection. The nervous energy that had kept her on the move for days bled away in a sudden rush, leaving her weightless and hollow.
She ought to sit, regroup and gather her strength. But his eyes held her spellbound.
‘You have the temerity to come here and spin me such a tale? Do you take me for a fool?’ He stood up straighter, stretching to his full, formidable height. ‘I’m afraid for your sake I’m not that gullible. It takes more than a pretty face to convince me.’
The muscles in Tessa’s abdomen tightened convulsively as if absorbing a physical blow—such was the repressed violence in him. She set her jaw and ignored the sudden glaze of heat behind her eyes.
‘In that case there’s no more to be said.’ Tessa dragged her gaze from his. So he didn’t accept her gratitude. That was his problem, not hers.
What sort of man could be so lacking in charity or trust or even common courtesy?
‘I’ll be on my way, then.’ His face was a blur as she turned quickly to her backpack, propped against the wall. Giddiness rocked her as he stepped close, hemming her in.
‘I said, you won’t leave until we sort this out.’ He glared down at her, nostrils flared and jaw clenched, the epitome of male displeasure.
‘And I’ve said all I intend to say.’ Tessa snapped her teeth shut against the temptation to call him a bullying lout. ‘As far as I’m concerned we’ve covered everything. You’ve got your ring and it’s time for me to leave.’