A Golden Betrayal

In three strides, Raif was whisking it from her hands. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure how I’d get hold of Roark’s private number.” Raif pressed a key on her phone. “I trust it’s in your contact list?”

“Give that back.” She tried to snatch it away.

He held it out of her reach. “Don’t waste your effort.”

“You have no right—”

“Neither did you. I flew all the way across the country, and then all the way back again. I think you lost the moral high ground three days ago, Ann.”

“I didn’t break any laws.”

“That help you sleep better at night?”

“I sleep just fine.”

“So will I.” Raif scrolled through Ann’s contact list, finding Roark’s number. He pressed the dial button.

She frowned. “I’ve left him a dozen messages.”

“Not like this you haven’t,” Raif responded as Roark’s voice mail greeting played through.

“Roark,” said Raif. “It’s Prince Raif. I have Ann. Call me.”

Her eyes went round. “They’ll arrest you. Truly, Raif. This is really kidnapping.”

“They won’t arrest me.” To start with, he had no intention of getting caught. He wanted the statue, and from what he’d read and heard, Roark would do what he had to do to save Ann.

“You’re holding me hostage and ransoming me. How on earth do you expect this to end?”

“I expect to end with Roark bringing me my Gold Heart.”

“Along with the SWAT team. Call him back, Raif. Shut this down. Let me go.”

Raif shook his head. “You had your chance to do this the honest way.”

“This is honest to God kidnapping, Raif. They’ll throw you in jail for twenty years.”

Raif scoffed. “At worst, they’ll deport me. And since Rayas is one of the only politically stable sources of rare earth minerals, they’ll get over my indiscretions awfully quick.” He tucked her phone securely into his suit jacket pocket. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”

Her eyes narrowed in obvious confusion. “Figured out what?”

“Who I am. What I can do. I’m the crown prince of a foreign nation, Ann. I have diplomatic immunity. I can get away with anything.”

She swallowed convulsively. “Diplomatic...”

He clicked his jaw in pity. “You’re at my mercy now.”

Three

“I’m not about to play this game with you, Raif.” Ann thought seriously about sprinting for the hotel suite door, but she doubted the Rayasian sumo wrestler’s mood had improved in the past five minutes.

“Who said anything about a game?” Raif asked evenly.

He looked frustratingly calm and at ease in the opulent surroundings. His dark suit was crisp and beautifully cut. His white shirt was flawless, and his geometric burgundy and steel-gray tie gave him an air of authority. She’d never seen a picture of him anything but perfectly shaved, and she had to wonder if a barber trimmed his hair every morning. She could only imagine the price of his black wingtips.

“Come on. You don’t seriously expect me to believe you’ll keep me here.”

He shrugged. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re welcome to try.” His expression was as level as his tone.

Watching him warily, she took a sideways step to the nearest hotel phone. She lifted the receiver. Silence. She pressed the zero key. It made a tone, but nothing else happened.

“You’ve disabled the phones?” she asked in disbelief.

Raif said nothing.

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t your first kidnapping?”

“It’s the first time anyone’s tried to escape.”

“What?” she scoffed. “Your victims normally throw themselves panting at your feet?”

“It happens.”

“You live in a bubble, you know that?”

“I’m aware that I’m living a privileged life.”

“Privileged?” She smacked the receiver down into the cradle. “Privileged is a night nanny, your own bouncy castle and a Porsche for your sixteenth birthday. You’re an insufferable little potentate who desperately needs somebody to set some boundaries.”

His eyes narrowed. “And you’re a conniving little hypocrite who desperately needs somebody to hook her up to a polygraph.”

“You got one of those?” she taunted. “Because I’ll take one, right here, right now.”

“I have to admit, I didn’t think of that.” He looked regretful.

“Too bad. We could solve this whole problem right now.”

“We’ll solve the problem when Roark calls back.”

“Roark’s not going to call.”

The last thing international man of mystery Roark Black would do was enter into negotiations with a kidnapper.

“I’ve got an auction tonight,” Ann pointed out. “I have to go to work.”