Diamond in the Desert(14)

As she had used men in the past.

Her heart lurched as their eyes met. Mistake. Now he could see how badly she didn't want him to go.

'I have to report back to the consortium, Britt,' he said, confirming this assumption.

'Of course.' She cleared her throat and arranged her features in a  composed mask. She had never been at such a disadvantage where a man was  concerned. But that was because she had never known anyone like Emir  before and had always prided herself on being able to read people. She  had not read him. They were like two strangers, out of sync, out of  context, out of time.                       
       
           



       

She stood in embarrassed silence. With no small talk to delay him, let  alone some siren song with which to change his mind, she could only wait  for him to leave.

'Thank you for your hospitality, Britt,' he said, shouldering the bag.

Her hospitality? Did that include the sex? Her face was composed, but as Emir moved to shake her hand she stood back.

Emir didn't react one way or the other to this snub. 'I'll wait for  test results on the samples, and if all goes well you will hear from my  lawyers in the next few weeks.'

'Your lawyers?' Her head was reeling by now, with business and personal thoughts hopelessly mixed.

'Forgive me, Britt.' Emir paused with his hand on the door. 'I meant,  of course, the lawyers acting for the consortium will be in touch with  you.'

Suddenly all the anger and hurt inside her exploded into fury, which  manifested itself in an icy question. 'And what if I get a better offer  in the meantime?'

'Then you must consider it and we will meet again. I should tell you  that the consortium has been in touch with your sisters, and they have  already agreed-'

'You've spoken to Eva and Leila?' she cut in. He'd done that without  speaking to her? She couldn't take any more in than she already had-and  she certainly couldn't believe that her sisters would do a deal without  speaking to her first.

'My people have spoken to your sisters,' Emir explained.

'And you didn't think to tell me?' They didn't think to tell me? She was flooded with hurt and pain.

'I just have.' A muscle flicked in his jaw.

'So all the time we've been here-' Outrage boiled in her eyes. 'I think  you'd better go,' she managed tensely. Suddenly, all that mattered was  speaking to her sisters so she could find out what the hell was going  on.

Meanwhile, Emir was checking round the room, just to be sure he hadn't  forgotten anything, presumably. He didn't care a jot about her, she  realised with a cold rush of certainty. This had only ever been about  the deal. How convenient to keep her distracted here while the  consortium's lackeys acted behind her back. How very clever of Emir. And  how irredeemably stupid of her.

'If you've left anything I'll send it on,' she said coldly, just wanting him to go.

How could her heart still betray her when Emir's brooding stare switched to her face?

'I knew I could count on you,' he said as her stupid heart performed the customary leap.

Emir's impassive stare turned her own eyes glacial. 'Well, you've got  what you wanted from me, so you might as well go. You'll get nothing  else here.'

The inky brows rose, but Emir remained silent. She just hoped her barb had stabbed home. But no.

'This is business, Britt, and there is no emotion in business. I wish I could tell you more, but-'

'Please-spare me.' She drew herself up. 'Goodbye, Emir.'

She didn't follow him out. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She  listened to him jog down the stairs, while registering the tenderness of  a body that had been very well used, and heard him stride across the  main room downstairs where they had been so briefly close. It was as if  Emir were stripping the joy out of the cabin she loved with every step  he took, and each of those departing steps served as a reminder that she  had wasted her feelings on someone who cared for nothing in this world  apart from business.

Apart from her sisters and Tyr, that had been how she was not so very  long ago, Britt conceded as the front door closed behind Emir.

She hadn't even realised she had stopped breathing until she heard a  car door slam and she drew in a desperate, shuddering breath.

* * *

There were times when he would gladly exchange places with the grooms  who worked in his stables and this was one of them, but harsh decisions  had to be made. He thought he could feel Britt's anguished stare on his  back as he held up his hand to hail the black Jeep that had come to  collect him. His men would take him back to the airport and his private  jet. His mind was still full of her when he climbed into the passenger  seat and they drove him away. It was better to leave now before things  became really complicated.

* * *

Her sense of betrayal by Emir-and, yes, even more so by her sisters-was  indescribable. And for once both Eva and Leila were out of touch by  phone. She had tried them constantly since Emir had left, prowling  around the cabin like a wounded animal, unable to settle or do anything  until she had spoken to them. Even her beloved cabin had let her down.  It failed to soothe her this time. She should never have brought Emir  here. He had tainted her precious memories.                       
       
           



       

Not wanting to face the fact that she had been less than focused, she  turned on every light in the cabin, but it still felt empty. There was  no reply from her sisters, so all she could do was dwell on what she'd  seen through the window when he'd left-Emir climbing into a Jeep and  being driven away. She'd got the sense of other big men in the vehicle,  shadowy, and no doubt armed. Where there were such vast resources up for  grabs, no one took any chances. She had been kidding herself if she had  thought that bringing investors in would be easy to handle. She was up  against a powerful and well-oiled machine. She should have known when  each man in the consortium was a power in his own right, and she was on  her own-

So? Get used to it! There was no time for self-pity. This was all about  protecting her sisters, whatever they'd done. They weren't to blame.  They had no idea what it took to survive in the cut-throat world of  business-she didn't want them to know. She would protect them as she  always had.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang, and she rushed  to pick it up. Mixed feelings when she did so, because it was Eva, her  middle and least flexible sister, calling. 'Eva-'

'You rang?' Eva intoned. 'Seven missed calls, Britt? What's going on?'

Where to begin? Suddenly, Britt was at a loss, but then her mind  cleared and became as unemotional as it usually was where business was  concerned. 'The man from the consortium just left the cabin. He said you  and Leila signed something?' Britt waited tensely for her sister to  respond, guessing Eva would be doing ten things at once. 'So, what have  you signed?' Britt pressed, controlling her impatience.

'All we did was give permission for the consortium's people to enter the offices to start their preliminary investigations.'

'Why didn't you speak to me first?'

'Because we couldn't get hold of you.'

And now she could only rue the day she had left Skavanga to show Emir the mine.

'We thought we were helping you move things on.'

Britt could accept that. The sooner the consortium's accountants had  completed their investigations, the sooner she could bring some  investment into Skavanga Mining and save the company. 'So you haven't  agreed to sell your shares?'

'Of course not. What do you take me for?'

'I don't want to argue with you, Eva. I'm just worried-'

'You know I don't know the first thing about the business,' Eva  countered. 'And I'm sorry you got landed with it when our parents died. I  do know there are a thousand things you'd rather do.'

'Never mind that now-I need to help people at home. I'm coming back-'

'Before you go, how did you get on with him?"

'Who?' Britt said defensively.

'You know-the man who was at the mine with you-the sheikh's man.'

'Oh, you mean Emir.'

'What?'

'Emir,' Britt repeated.

'Well, that's original,' Eva murmured with a smile in her voice. 'Did  the Black Sheikh come up with any more titles to fool you, or just the  one?'

Britt started to say something and then stopped. 'Sorry?'

'Oh, come on,' Eva exclaimed impatiently. 'I guess he was quite a man,  but I can't believe your brain has taken up permanent residence below  your belt. You know your thesaurus as well as anyone: emir, potentate,  person of rank. Have I rung any bells yet?'

'But he said his name was-' Hot waves of shame washed over her. She was  every bit as stupid as she had thought herself when Emir left, only  more so.

'Since when have you believed everything you're told, Britt?' Eva demanded.

Since she met a man who told her that his name was Emir.

She had to speak to him. She would speak to him, Britt determined  icily, just as soon as she had finished this call to her sister.