A Diamond For The Sheikh's Mistress. Эбби Грин

heart sped up with a mixture of terror and illicit excitement—if she said yes, then she could use it as an exercise to prove to herself just how ill-suited she and Zafir had always been, in spite of the insane chemistry between them. Never more evident than now. She was no longer a wide-eyed virgin being initiated into a world that had moved at a terrifying pace—too fast for her to shout, ‘Stop!’ and get off.

      She was strong enough to take on Zafir and walk away with her head high.

      Are you really, though?

      Kat assured herself that, yes, she was.

      This would be purely a professional transaction. Zafir would never touch her emotions again—or her body. He was the kind of man who relished the conquest, who relished making a woman acquiesce to him of her own volition, and she had no intention of acquiescing to an affair.

      The walls Kat had had to build just to survive since the accident were impenetrable. He wouldn’t break through. She could do this.

      She picked up her mobile from the table near the bed before she lost her nerve, focusing on anything but the terror she felt at the thought of what she was about to do. And how it would affect her life.

      This wasn’t just about her. Not when she now knew she could put that money to good use. Vital use.

      Zafir had made it clear that he would walk away, and if Kat knew anything about him it was that he meant what he said. He was a proud man. He wouldn’t ask again and he certainly wouldn’t beg.

      As Kat dialled her friend’s number and waited for her to answer, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror again. She scowled at her flushed face and the too-bright eyes that whispered that her decision had a lot less to do with altruism and more to do with something much darker and far more ambiguous deep inside her.

      And then Julie answered and Kat had a split second to decide whether to take a step into a dangerous future or remain safe in the past.