‘How old are you?’ he asked abruptly and she gave him a look of scorn.
‘Twenty-two, so you have no worries on that score.’
‘Still—’
‘I’m not your problem, Rico.’
‘But you could be—’ His words were cut off by a sudden buzzing. Lina looked at him questioningly.
‘It’s the lift,’ he explained tersely. ‘The doors lock automatically, since it opens right into the suite.’ The buzzing sounded again, insistent. Whoever was in the lift wanted to get in. Who the hell was trying to find him now?
CHAPTER FOUR
HALINA WATCHED IN misery as Rico grabbed his shirt and strode from the room. She slid from the bed, still clutching the sheet to her, and reached for her dress. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible, before her mother or Abdul missed her. Before she broke down completely and burst into tears in front of Rico, appalling him even further.
How could she have been so stupid?
Hurriedly Halina snatched her underwear and yanked it on before wriggling into her dress
. She managed to get the zip halfway up and decided that would have to do. She couldn’t find her bra, so she just left it. She had to get out of here—now.
She needed to absorb everything that had happened tonight, everything she’d let happen, because she’d been so befuddled, besotted and bewitched by Rico Falcone. Those women had been right—he was fabulous at sex.
Too bad that didn’t do much for her now, when she was facing a terrifyingly uncertain future. She looked back on the last few hours, blurred as they were, and marvelled that she’d been so reckless, with scarcely a thought for her future, her self. How could she have jeopardised everything for a single night’s pleasure?
‘What the hell are you doing?’
Halina’s head jerked up at the sound of Rico’s furious voice, and then her mouth dropped open in shock as the royal bodyguard, Abdul, strode into the bedroom. She’d thought things were bad enough but they’d just become a million times worse.
‘Come now, Your Highness,’ Abdul said in Arabic. He bowed his head so he didn’t have to look upon her near-nakedness.
‘Abdul...’ Halina licked her lips, her mouth dry, her mind whirling. ‘How did you...?’
‘Please, Your Highness. Come now. Your mother is waiting.’
The balled tights she’d been clutching in one fist fell to the floor. ‘Does my mother know...?’ she began. Abdul’s terse nod was all the confirmation she needed, and far more than she wanted. Any hope of creeping back into her hotel suite with no one the wiser crumbled to ash. Not only did she have to deal with the loss of her virginity and a possible pregnancy, but her parents’ fury and disappointment. She swayed on her feet, sick with both fear and shame.
Rico stood in the doorway, looking furious. ‘Who is this, Lina?’ he demanded. His face was flushed, his shirt unbuttoned, his eyes blazing.
‘I have to go,’ Halina said numbly. She had to go now, before she passed out, or was sick, or burst into tears. She felt close to doing all three. With trembling fingers, she struggled with the rest of the zip. Rico muttered a curse and then crossed the room to her and did it up himself.
‘Do not touch her again,’ Abdul ordered in English, his voice flat and lethal, and Rico whirled on the man as if he’d been waiting for the chance to attack.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Please, Rico, just let me go.’ Spots danced before her eyes and a pressure was building in her chest. She needed to get out of here now.
Rico glanced furiously at Abdul, who was waiting by the door, his arms crossed, his face studiously blank. ‘Who is he? What is he to you?’ he demanded.
‘No one,’ Halina answered quietly. ‘No one like that. He’s one of my guards.’
‘Guards?’
‘We must go now.’ Abdul stepped forward, six-foot-four of solid muscle, but he paled in comparison with Rico in all his glittering fury, who looked as if he was seriously contemplating throwing a punch at the bodyguard.
‘We aren’t finished here, Lina,’ Rico insisted in a voice that throbbed with angry intensity.
‘We have to be,’ Halina whispered, and she slipped by him towards the lift. As she stabbed the button she saw out of the corner of her eye Abdul block Rico’s way. Rico looked mutinous, his fists clenched, his whole body taut with rage.