He smothered his reaction of surprise. “You are not staying here.”
“This is my home,” she spoke with cold determination. “Not that it’s any of your concern. We’re done. All over.”
“No way.” He walked back into the bedroom and began methodically unhooking her clothes from the coat rack.
She followed and stared at him, completely dumbfounded. “What are you doing?”
“I presume you want to wear something other than that dress at some point?” He didn’t look at her, but he could see the dress in his mind that she’d insisted on wearing even as he insisted they leave the farmhouse.
“Stop.” Her temper sparked again. She knocked the clothes out of his hands, forcing him to look at her. “Stop this.”
“You will not stay here. This area is a haven for drugs and crime. Your apartment is an invitation. I cannot believe you have not already been broken into.”
“Actually,” she said without thinking; but the look of incredulity on his features promptly encouraged her to close her mouth.
“Actually?” He demanded, putting a finger beneath her chin to angle her head to face his.
Now he swore, sharply, in his native tongue, and his cheeks were slashed with colour. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Why are you acting like this? It wasn’t a big thing. I wasn’t even here.”
“Someone broke into your flat?”
Kate was the last person on earth to be cavalier about safety, but she knew the threat had been minimal. “I know. It’s not ideal. But they just took some money I had onthe fridge and a few phone chargers and that kind of thing. Nothing I couldn’t live without.”
His voice had a dangerous silkiness to it. “And if you’d been here,cara? What do you think this person, or people, might have done to you?”
She squared her shoulders. “I would have handled it.”
His laugh was darkly condemnatory. “Merda. You are a tiny woman, and you think you could handle some drug-addled, out-of-his-mind piece of crap in the middle of the night?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I do actually.”
He expelled an angry breath. “You are being completely simplistic. Do you have a bag?”
His rapid fire change of conversation sent her mind spinning. “No. I mean, of course. But I’m not coming with you.”
“Nor are you staying here,” he said seriously, compressing his lips.
“How the hell do you think you have any say in where I live? A minute ago you were getting ready to deposit me at my door and walk away without so much as a goodbye, and now you’re acting like I’m somehow your responsibility. Which I’m not, by the way.” She swallowed, her throat knotted. Emotions were piling on top of her. The apartment, closed up for days, was absolutely freezing and she wanted to pull a sweater on and curl up in her chair with a steaming cup of tea.
“Are you going to walk out of here or do I need to carry you?”
She glared at him. “Just … stop it. I’m staying here.”
Their eyes were locked in a silent battle of the wills. “Fine. We’ll stay here,” he said with a nonchalant shrug, tossing her clothes carelessly onto the bed.
“Um, there’s nowhere for you to sleep.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive,” he rejoined sardonically.
“But I won’t.” She swallowed. “I need you to go. There are more dangers to me than windows which don’t lock.” She put a hand on his chest and felt the now-familiar spark of adrenalin course through her veins.
“Such as?”
“You.” Her smile was weak. She didn’t meet his eyes. “I can’t be with you anymore.” She fidgeted her fingers in front of her, not even bothering to try to curb the habit.
He sighed. “Kate …”
