Page 51 of At the Sheikh's Bidding
“Janey?” Amare called from downstairs. “Did you find everything you needed? We should leave.”
She walked to the mezzanine and looked down at him. “Yes, and I found things I didn’t need, too.”
His face creased with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Do I really have to spell it out?” She was working hard to stop her voice from quaking. Her mouth was dry and her stomach so tied in knots she thought she might vomit.
“Yes, you do.”
She glanced behind her. “Then why don’t you come up here and I’ll spell it out.” What better way than to open the door to the evidence?
He looked uncomfortable and glanced at his watch. “We don’t have time. We have to leave.”
“I’m not leaving until this is sorted.”
“What are you talking about? Until what is sorted?”
“Come up here and I’ll show you.”
“Did you find something of interest?”
“You could say that.”
He frowned again, shook his head, and then ran up the stairs. He was about to enter the office when she stopped him.
“Not in there. In here,” she said, pointing to the bedroom door.
His face whitened, and he shook his head.
The queasy feeling was overtaken by sudden anger. “What the hell, Amare?” she said, opening the door wide and pointing inside. “I can see why you didn’t want to come here! I can see that you have a whole other life you don’t want to tell me about.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I took everything you said at face value—that I believed you. That I believedinyou.” The anger evaporated as she thought of everything she was about to lose with this discovery. “I can’t…” She walked out of the room and headed for the stairs.
“Stop! You don’t understand!”
CHAPTER22
All Janey knew was that Amare had kept a secret from her—a secret about a woman which threatened her belief in everything he’d ever told her. All the time he’d been flirting with her, making love to her, he’d had a woman living with him? And, judging by the things left lying around, it wasn’t an affair which was in the past.
Maybe the phone call he’d made was to check that she wasn’t around? But why, if she was his lover, was he living in the townhouse? Or maybe that wasn’t the truth, either? She didn’t know what to believe. All she knew, when she heard Amare calling after her, was that she had to get away.
She had her hand on the door handle when he repeated. “You don’t understand.” When she froze, he continued. “You can run, Janey, of course you can. But maybe this time you’ll hear me out.”
She turned to him, her hand still firmly around the handle. “How can I be sure you’ll tell me the truth?” She blinked back the tears.
“Maybe because I’ve never lied to you?”
“But you haven’t told me the whole truth, have you?”
“No,” he breathed. “But I will now. If you’ll listen.”
It could all turn in a heartbeat. She could go out that door, leave, just as she’d always done, just as she’d done before on that Australian beach, and leave Amare and his world behind. Or she could stay and deal with the heartache which his confession might create. This time she didn’t have a choice, because she knew if she left, her heartache would be greater.
She released her grip on the door. “So who is she?”
“Layla,” said Amare softly. “It’s Layla’s bedroom,” he said. “I haven’t had the heart to enter it, to take anything away. I haven’t had the heart to stay here since…”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she realized that her two plus two had made entirely the wrong number. All the shiftiness had been because, for once in his life, Amare had been terrified to return to his apartment.
He pointed to the overhead beam in a corner. “It was there…
