The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress Page 0,17
“You were in my kitchen because it was inside the palace walls and you knew you were safer here than anywhere else. Which was brilliant of you, by the way. If I’d found out you’d done anything else, I might just paddle you.” She started to say something but he stopped her with a hand in front her. “And you were in the kitchen cooking because that activity makes you feel better. It makes you feel in control and it soothes you so don’t even try and tell me that yesterday’s attacks didn’t frighten you because I know you better now and I won’t permit you to deny it.”
She shook her head, her hands fisted at her sides as her mind worked frantically to come up with a reason he might accept for yesterday’s attacks. Something that wouldn’t make him angrier, or keep her inside the palace walls for her protection. “They were just trying to get my wallet.”
He was livid that she was trying to lie to him, but tempered that emotion by trying to figure out why she was lying. Dana was too kind and generous to be malicious in anything she did. “What were the other two men doing?”
She looked back up at him. “What other two men?”
“I told you there were four of them. Only two thugs reached you and tried to attack you by the fruit stands. The other two brutes that my security detail caught just as they were about to enter the fight were out of your line of sight, but no less dangerous if they hadn’t been stopped in time. Do you honestly think you could have fought off four armed men yesterday?”
The idea sent shivers down her back but she resisted the fear that started to invade her mind. “I sure could have tried.”
Her comment infuriated him because it was so ridiculous. She could have been hurt, captured, kidnapped or raped and she was still thinking she could take on a gang of men trying to take her down? “Think so, huh? Okay, come with me,” he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her office and down a long hallway.
She released her purse, quickly letting it fall back into her desk drawer. “Where are we going?” she asked, almost out of breath since his legs were much longer than hers and she could tell he was extremely angry. In fact, she didn’t think she had ever seen him this furious before. Hassan had always been the epitome of control and self-discipline.
“We’re going to my gym.” He pushed through a large door and dragged her into the middle of the padded floor. “Okay. Show me what you’ve got.”
“Excuse me?” She stood there, her heels sinking into the blue padding and the bright lights shining down onto his furious façade.
He shook his head. “Don’t be polite. I’m about to attack you. Show me what you did to those men yesterday.”
She backed up a step and clasped her hands in front of her. “Hassan, I’m not going to attack you.”
“You’re not leaving the palace tonight then. Or any night until you can prove to me that you can fight off four men. I’m only one man. If you can pin me down, we’ll talk.” He was so furious that she was going to put herself in danger that he had to do something, to show her that she wasn’t as invincible as she thought she was.
“I’m not going to fight you,” she whispered. Just the idea of putting her hands on him made her stomach flutter wildly.
“Then prepare to spend a lot of nights here,” he said, circling around her.
She’d had enough. She flipped off her shoes and picked them up, heading towards the door of the gym. “I’m going home.”
He quickly stepped in front of her and she stopped immediately. “Only if you can get around me.”
She shivered and backed up again. “Hassan, this is silly.”
He leaned down and shook his head, trying to emphasize to her what kind of danger she might be facing. He knew since he’d been in those situations before. And the thought of her beautiful skin being marred even slightly by someone out to hurt her made him just a bit crazy with worry and anger. “No, what’s silly is you trying to take on two burly men intent on killing you. And ridiculous is you not telling me about it as soon as you’d returned to the palace last night. I even asked you