He would wake up sweating, shouting her name. Only to realize it was the damnable dream again.
She was a beautiful, dangerous spy. He must not forget it for an instant.
Xavier lowered his eyes. Surely Neilsen guessed the truth? He looked up. “I have a small room. It it hot and airless, but what we must discuss requires absolute privacy.”
Neilsen nodded. The two men began to tum. And then Xavier saw two bedouins crossing the compound. Kadar stood at the arched entrance, where he had just allowed them to pass within, staring at them all.
Xavier could not believe his eyes.
“What is it?” Neilsen asked.
“I do believe it is Mrs. Thornton,” Xavier said tersely.
Neilsen started. “Surely you are wrong! She would not dare! My God, Jebal would kill her in the blink of an eye if he ever found her in here!”
Alexandra raced up to them, Murad on her heels. Her face was flushed beneath the kaffiyeh, but her eyes were bright. There was a challenge in her gaze.
Despite his knowledge of who and what she was, seeing her again was very much like receiving an unexpected blow in the abdomen. It was a moment before he could speak. “I cannot fathom you,” Xavier finally said softly. He was glad she was dressed as a man. It reduced, just slightly, her sensuality, which he could not seem to remain oblivious to.
“That is obvious.” She stared at Xavier while gesturing at the consul. “I did it. I brought you Neilsen. Have I proved myself? Am I redeemed?”
“Hardly.”
She was taken aback. “I have thought about this misunderstanding. We have to talk.”
“I do not want you here. I do not want to ‘talk.’ I told you before, and I am telling you again.”
“But I arranged for Neilsen to come! I have put myself at great risk in order to help you. The least you can do is to hear me out.”
“I owe you nothing but thanks, perhaps not even that. Now leave us, as we have grave matters to discuss.” Xavier turned his back on her, quite certain she was not through.
And she wasn’t. She gripped his bare arm from behind. “No! You cannot exclude me. You are wrong about me. I am a captive just like you, and I, too, wish to escape. Please!”
He whirled, shaking her off. He did not want her touching him, not even in such a simple manner. Her touch disturbed him. And she was so damnably convincing. “Have you studied on the stage?”
She flinched. “You have made up your mind against me, condemned me as guilty without a trial—that is not the American way.”
He did not answer. He found himself looking at her mouth. He was thinking about kissing her.
“I insist you take me with you when you leave,” she hissed. “At least promise me that.” She was bitter. “Or are you only a gentleman when it suits you?”
She was angry, and he was confused by her bitterness, but he wondered if she was also panicky. “When we are ready to leave, you will be alerted and told precisely what to do,” Xavier said. He had thought about it. It would be a test. “Until then, you need not know anything.”
She stared, her expression dismayed. “I can help. I am inside the palace, remember?”
“How could I forget?”
Her nostrils flared, their gazes remained locked. “Damn you!”
He shrugged. If, when he came for her and it was time for them to leave, she refused to come, then he would know that he had been right—that she was a spy.
“I cannot escape without my crew,” Xavier said quietly.
Neilsen’s eyes widened. “It is one thing to arrange the escape of two people—another to plan a mass exodus! The latter is impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible, Neilsen, but you are right, it will not be easy.”
Neilsen was fanning himself with his tricorn hat. “I assume you already have some ideas?”
