Читать книгу The Dreaming Of... Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 33

CHAPTER FIVE

JASMINE’S BREATH SNAGGED in her throat. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘I mean your situation is precarious. Once I apprise the ambassador and my council members of your crimes, your destiny will be sealed.’

‘But you haven’t done it yet. And you...you said earlier that the matter between us was personal.’

‘I only meant I have more important matters to attend to.’ His mouth compressed in a grim smile. ‘You will get what’s coming to you. My intention was to deal with you at a later date. I didn’t think you would be foolish enough to cross my radar of your own accord just yet. So perhaps I’ll watch you suffer for a long time.’ His gaze went to the tray of cold food and his jaw clenched. ‘You’ll be brought another tray. Eat.’

He stepped towards the door.

‘Wait. Please.’

‘What?’

She cleared her throat. ‘Will you join me for lunch? That is, if you haven’t eaten yet? I can tell you why I came here while you eat? Please.’

The icy incredulity in his eyes didn’t recede as he shook his head. ‘You’re brazen and audacious, I’ll give you that. But your offer is declined, Miss Nichols,’ he replied sarcastically. ‘Was there anything else?’

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. ‘Please tell me what I can do to make things right. I’ll do anything.’

He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘I don’t trust a single word out of your mouth. So I suggest you save your breath.’

She licked her lower lip and tried anyway. ‘You can’t leave me here for ever.’

‘Can’t I?’ The smile that curved his lips could not in any way be described as affectionate, warm, or even cordial. The starkness of it struck pure terror in Jasmine’s heart.

‘I...I guess you can. But, please don’t.’ Her nausea was rising again. She didn’t think she could stand being cooped up in here for another minute, let alone hours on end.

His shark-like smile widened, the growth of beard emphasising the feral whiteness of his teeth. A dark shiver swept over her.

‘Never fear, querida, your sins will be addressed in due course. This subject is closed. For now.’

She’d been dismissed. Just like that. Jasmine wasn’t sure which emotion—despair or trepidation—churned greater in her stomach as she watched Reyes leave. She couldn’t force him to listen to the apology she’d practised for a month now. From his blatant hatred of her, she’d have to abandon any hope of asking for his forgiveness.

For now she had no recourse but to stay a prisoner.

Despair cloying through her, she paced for another hour before exhaustion deadened her limbs.

Kicking off her shoes, she sank onto the sofa. Despite the creature comforts, there were no windows in the basement. The remote for the TV had been removed. She had no idea exactly how much time had passed because her bag and phone had been taken away. The second tray Reyes had ordered delivered had also gone cold, its arrival coinciding with another case of severe nausea.

That, coupled with the exhaustion, convinced Jasmine she’d definitely picked up a bug of some sort.

Stretching out, she shivered and tried to tuck her skirt down to cover her legs as much as possible. Then, closing her eyes, she succumbed to the darkness tugging at her consciousness.

* * *

‘Jasmine, wake up!’

‘Mnnnh.’ Her tongue felt too thick to convey the no she’d been attempting. She tried to burrow into the blanket someone had draped on her, but a sharp shake of her shoulder stopped her.

‘Wake up!’

She groaned at the effort it took to pry her eyes open. ‘What?’

A man, presumably a doctor from the stethoscope clinging to his neck, hovered above her. She squirmed and started to raise her hand as he shone a light in her eyes.

Sharp pain shot up her arm. ‘Ouch.’

‘Lie still. You have an intravenous needle in your arm.’

Reyes’s deep voice was unmistakeable. Her attention swung to him as he barked at whoever else was in the room. When the volley of Spanish ceased, he was holding out a glass of water with a straw to her lips, and someone was pressing a soft pillow beneath her head.

Questions swirled in her fuzzy brain. ‘Reyes...what...?’

‘Don’t try and speak,’ he said, his eyes narrowed on her face as he addressed the doctor in Spanish.

The doctor nodded repeatedly and patted Jasmine’s shoulder.

‘What’s he saying? What happened to me? And why do I have a needle in my arm?’

Reyes glared at her, but she saw shadows lurking in his eyes. ‘You fell asleep but you didn’t respond when I tried to wake you.’

The doctor spoke to Reyes. Reyes turned to her. ‘Are you on any medication?’

Frowning, she shook her head. Then noticed her new surroundings for the first time. ‘Where am I?’

‘You’re in my suite in the guest wing of the ambassador’s residence.’

About to ask why she’d been relocated, she paused as the doctor addressed Reyes again. After a few minutes, the thin man bowed and left the room.

‘Should I be worried that the doctor didn’t want to speak to me, his patient?’

‘You don’t speak Spanish. And you’re not a patient. You’re a prisoner.’

Jasmine’s temper twitched despite the knowledge that she deserved his caustic tone. She glanced at the pole next to the bed holding the IV bag. ‘I know. But I’d still like to know what’s wrong with me, if it’s not too much trouble?’ she muttered.

Reyes’s mouth firmed. ‘You’re severely dehydrated and a touch malnourished. The fluids should do the trick. And I’ve ordered more food to be prepared for you. When was the last time you had a healthy meal?’ he asked with a dark frown.

Her eyelids dragged heavily as she blinked. ‘You mean the last time before I was incarcerated in your basement?’

‘Answer the question, Jasmine.’

Her heart shouldn’t have jumped at the sound of her name on his lips. But it did. ‘I don’t know. Yesterday afternoon, I think. I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.’

Her eyes met his. Stayed. A piercing awareness lanced between them.

Reyes lunged to his feet and uttered a sharp command in Spanish. A bodyguard entered, glanced her way and nodded. She didn’t need a translator to know she was the subject of the discussion. Feelings of vulnerability rose along with the hairs on her nape. ‘What’s going on now?’

Reyes didn’t answer. He merely turned on his heel and walked through a door to a connecting room.

‘His Highness requires me to attend your home...bring you a few things before we leave,’ the bodyguard delivered in halting English.

Surprise froze Jasmine for all of ten seconds before her head swivelled towards the door Reyes had just walked out of. ‘Leave? I’m not going anywhere.’

‘You misunderstand. This is not a request from His Highness. It is a summons.’

‘A what?’ she asked dumbly, unable to immediately compute the words.

‘You are required to pack a bag, señorita. We leave tomorrow.’

‘You have your orders, I understand. But perhaps I can talk about it with His Highness when he has a minute?’ Her words were delivered loud in the hope that Reyes would hear her from wherever he’d disappeared to. She didn’t want to create any more waves, but neither could she let Reyes take over her life.

Silence descended in the room, the bodyguard eyeing her as if she’d gone insane.

Reyes re-entered the room. With a nod, he dismissed the security detail, waiting until they’d shut the door behind them before addressing her.

‘I think during your exchange with my men something may have become lost in translation. My request was actually a command. There was nothing of a suggestion about it. When I leave here in the morning, you’re coming with me.’

Despite her hammering pulse and the exhaustion sapping at her, she found the strength to speak. ‘I understand that I’m your prisoner, but even prisoners get advance warning of their fate,’ she implored.

One dark eyebrow rose. ‘You forget you have no rights here. I hold all the cards. You go where I wish you to go.’

Jasmine’s mouth dried up. The back of her hand itched and she yearned to rip the needle out, grab her shoes and handbag and run as fast as her legs could carry her. But she knew, even if her conscience allowed her, she wouldn’t make it to the door.

Desperation made her blurt out, ‘I have a life, a job to return to.’

‘You will resign tomorrow.’

A death knell sounded somewhere in her head. ‘Please, don’t do this, Reyes.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Resign. Or I’ll take pleasure in informing your superiors of the true depths of your character. After I hand you over to the authorities.’

‘Are you saying that if I resign you won’t tell them I’m—’ She stopped, unable to speak the hated word that sealed her guilt. But he already knew she was guilty. His eyes narrowed scornfully.

‘Afraid to say it out loud? A thief, Jasmine Nichols, that’s what you are,’ he condemned through clenched teeth. ‘You not only stole from me, you stole from my people. You single-handedly set back years of trade negotiations.’ His eyes blazed at her, grey fire that stripped her to the bone.

Her heart lurched as her sins were laid bare in front of her. The heat of shame burned through her, from the soles of her feet up through her body until the acrid taste of it flooded her mouth.

‘Rey—I’m sorry. What happened wasn’t supposed to happen.’

His laughter mocked her. ‘You mean the sex was supposed to addle my brain so much I’d suspect someone else of the theft?’ he snarled.

‘No. I mean I shouldn’t have taken the treaty in the first place.’ Jasmine couldn’t contain the sob that rose in her throat. Tears flooded her eyes. To hide it, she turned away and plugged a fist to her mouth.

But he heard it. Of course he heard it. ‘Tears, Miss Nichols?’ he taunted. ‘How original. Almost as original as your pick-up line in Rio.’

Her sob emerged, thick and broken. Desperately, she tried to gulp it down.

His scorn reached her from across the room. ‘Spare me the histrionics. You cry as if your heart is breaking. Which cannot be because you don’t have a heart.’

Her head whipped round at the cruel assertion. He stood against the window, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. She deserved every accusation he threw at her, but she needed him to see she wasn’t all bad.

‘What I did was wrong, I know that. And I have a heart, or I wouldn’t be here, trying to make amends.’

A cruel smile curved his lips. ‘Well, that’s a shame and a curse for you. Because I aim to make you pay for your betrayal. And by the time I’m finished with you, you’ll feel that heart you claim to possess ripped from your chest!’

* * *

Reyes watched her eyes widen. The same eyes had gazed adoringly up at him that night on his yacht, then darkened as passion had gripped them both. Eyes he’d drowned in as he’d sunk deep inside her.

Deceptive, duplicitous eyes that had taken his lust and turned it against him. Played him as a virtuoso plucked at willing strings. Deep down in a place he rarely liked to visit, it still burned him that he’d never seen it coming. That he’d been so completely and utterly duped for the second time in his life.

Duped by a woman who’d proclaimed to be one thing and turned out to be another.

And this time, the consequences threatened to be worse.

Anaïs had ruined one life, devastated one family. Jasmine’s actions threatened thousands.

He’d been willing to bide his time. But he’d never been one to miss an opportunity. And while he hadn’t expected the opportunity to arise so soon, he was perfectly willing to take his revenge now.

Jasmine Nichols had walked into his life, brazen and unrepentant. He had every intention of making her pay for her sins. Seeing the tears on her face only strengthened his resolve.

Reyes didn’t doubt they were genuine, but he knew they were born of self-preservation rather than a show of repentance. He’d witnessed it many times before. From Anaïs. From his mother.

One hand came up and scrubbed at her face. In the blink of an eye her tears were wiped clean. As if they’d never been there. Just like in Rio. She’d charmed her way into his bed for long enough to get her hands on what she’d wanted. Then she’d vanished like a spent tornado, leaving devastation behind.

His jaw tightened. ‘Who hired you to steal the treaty?’ He hadn’t meant to question her here, like this. But the need to know burned fiercely inside him. ‘Was it Mendez?’

‘No. I didn’t...no one hired me.’

‘So it was merely an opportunistic theft? The moment presented itself and you thought, why not? To what end, though? Blackmail?’

He caught her wince and felt a sliver of satisfaction. At least it showed she wasn’t as unfeeling as he’d thought. Or maybe she didn’t like her flaws pointed out to her. Tough. Before he was done, her every flaw would be exposed to the light of day.

She lifted a hand, as if to beseech him. ‘No... Yes, it was blackmail, but you don’t understand—’

He snorted. ‘Theft is theft, Miss Nichols. It can’t be explained away.’

The knock on the door made her jump. Reyes barked out an order and a member of staff walked in with a tray.

He took it and walked to the bed. Waiting until Jasmine sat up against the pillows, he set it down across her lap.

‘I will force-feed you if necessary, but you will eat this meal, understood?’ He didn’t want to look at her, see how pale she was. Or remember his gut-churning anxiety when he’d been unable to wake her earlier.

Her head bowed as she looked down at the tray. ‘No force-feeding necessary. I seem to have my appetite back.’ Her stomach rumbled and one corner of her lush mouth lifted.

Reyes looked away and stepped back.

‘Your things are being collected from your home. My plane will be ready to leave in the morning. Make sure you’re packed and ready to leave.’

He headed for the door before he was tempted to do something idiotic. Like watch her eat.