Silence fell in the backseat of the limo. She waited for him to apologize, to say he was sorry.
Instead, he said in a low voice, “Fine.”
She whirled to face him, eyes blazing. “I want your promise! Your word of honor!”
“You think I have a word of honor?” His handsome face was stark, his blue gaze oddly vulnerable as he looked down at her, his arms folded over his black vest and tie.#p#分页标题#e#
“Stop joking about this!” Her voice ended with a humiliating sob. “I mean it!”
Seeing her tears, he released his arms. He touched her gently on the shoulders.
“All right. I will never kiss you again,” he said in a low voice. His blue gaze burned through her like white fire. “I give you my word of honor.”
She swallowed, then wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. “I don’t like being used,” she whispered. Squaring her shoulders, she looked up. “Just stick to our original deal. A professional arrangement. You get your land. I get my sister back safe.”
“Yes.” Matching her tone, he said, “We’ll be at the airport in a few moments.”
She suddenly remembered. “My backpack—”
“I’ll have my housekeeper bring it to the airport.” Pulling out his phone, he dialed and gave his orders. After he hung up, he asked Josie quietly, “What is so important in the backpack, anyway?”
“Nothing much,” she said, looking down at her hands, now tightly folded over the white lace of her dress. “An old photo of my family. A sweater that used to belong to my mother. Before she—” Josie’s lip trembled “—died. Right after I was born.”
Silence fell.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I lost my own mother when I was twenty-two. I still miss her. She was the only truly good, decent woman I’ve ever known. At least until—”
His voice cut off.
“Until?”
“Never mind,” he muttered.
Josie stared at him. Then her hand reached out for his.
Kasimir looked down at her hand. “You’re trying to make me feel better?” he said slowly. He looked up. “I thought you were ready to kill me.”
“I was—I mean, I am.” She swallowed, then whispered, “But I know how it feels to lose your parents. I know what it’s like to feel orphaned and alone. And I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.” She tried to smile. “Though I guess you’ve done all right, haven’t you? Being a billionaire prince and all.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “It’s not always what it’s cracked up to be.” He looked away. “You asked me where we’re going? I’m taking you home.”
“To Alaska?”
He snorted, then shook his head. “Not even close.” He looked down at her tight white dress. “We’ll need to get you some new clothes.”
She followed his gaze. Sitting down, her body was squeezed by the white sheath like a sausage, pressing her full breasts halfway to her chin. Her nipples were barely tucked in for decency. She gulped, fighting the urge to cover herself with her bouquet of flowers. She cleared her throat. “I was planning to wash all my dirty clothes today. Does this place we’re going to happen to have a washer and dryer...?”
Her voice trailed off when she saw his gaze roaming from her breasts, to her hips, and back again. Her cheeks colored.
“I wish I’d never told you,” she said grumpily, folding her arms and turning away.
“Told me what?”
“About the underwear.”
Silence fell in the backseat of the car.
“Me, too,” he muttered.
* * *
Josie craned her neck to look right, left, then up. And up some more.
“Unreal,” she muttered.
Kasimir flashed her a grin. “I’m glad you like it.”
“This is your home?”
“No.” He smiled at her, looking sleek and shaved in a clean suit, having showered on their overnight flight. “My home is in the desert, a two-hour helicopter ride away. But this...” He shrugged. “It’s just a place to do business. I come here as little as possible. It’s a bit too...civilized.”
Too civilized?
Josie shook her head as she looked back up at the beautiful Moorish palace, two stories tall, surrounded by gently swaying palm trees and the glimmer of a blue-water pool.
It was like a honeymoon all right, she thought. If you were really, really rich.
After sleeping all night on a full-size bed in the back cabin of Kasimir’s private jet, she’d woken up refreshed. She’d looked out the jet’s small windows to see a golden land rising beyond the sparkling blue ocean, and past that, sunlight breaking over black mountains.