Olive tried to push the door closed but she was no match for his strength. He pushed her back inside and she lost her balance. The carpet was plush and thick and cushioned her fall when she landed square on her ass.
Fear gripped her throat. The scream she felt in her chest didn’t materialize and she sat there with her mouth open.
He stood over her and her mind flashed to Anubis standing over her with the bleeding heart.
“Listen very carefully, Tia. Your presence in Mr. Wells’s room is requested immediately. You will come quietly with me if you value your safety.”
Tia? “What did you call me? I think you’ve made a mistake. I’m not Tia.”
He lifted his chin. “I don’t make mistakes.” His jaw was square and his nose straight. “Now get up.”
Olive scrambled to her feet. Going with him was not an option. She was alone in a foreign country. She could go missing for days before anyone realized it. He could take her anywhere and then what? He might kill her. He’d just threatened her safety if she didn’t comply.
Adrenaline flooded her system. Olive was breathing hard and that damned scarab in her bra was heating up again. Being trapped alone with this man in her room was probably more dangerous than going with him.
“Okay.” She rubbed her sweating palms on her jeans. “I’ll go with you. Where is Mr. Wells?”
“I will take you to him.”
Once they were in the hallway, he gripped her elbow firmly, his thumb pressed against her funny bone. If she tried to get away, it wouldn’t take much pressure on that spot to force her into compliance. It was still early in the morning and they didn’t run into any other people as they approached the bank of elevators.
He turned to exit the hallway and Olive pulled free of his grasp and made a run for the green exit light at the other end of the corridor. Her legs felt heavy, as if she was running in sand, but she made it to the door and pulled it open. The stairwell was dimly lit and concrete stairs went both up and down. Her foot hit the first step going down when a strong arm caught her around the waist and a hand covered her mouth.
“Do not scream or I will hurt you.” He lifted her off her feet and half carried, half dragged her up the stairs. Her struggling didn’t seem to affect him at all. After going up several floors, he pulled her into a hallway where the doors were spaced farther apart than on her floor. He stopped at the second one and knocked. The door opened immediately.
Xavier backed away to allow them entrance to the living area of the suite. He smiled. “I’m glad you could join us, Miss Prentiss.” He walked toward the bar and picked up a bottle of Maker’s Mark. “Would you like a drink?”
Fear and disbelief gave way to anger. She yanked her arm away from the driver and charged toward him. “You had me fucking kidnapped? Are you insane?”
“Kidnap is a strong word.”
“When you take someone against their will, that’s god-damned kidnapping.” Her heart beat a tattoo and she pulled the relic from her bra. She rubbed her thumb over the smooth bottom then threw it at Xavier. It bounced off his chest and landed on the ivory carpet. “There. Happy? Can I be left alone now?”
Xavier bent down to pick up the scarab. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Are you diabolical?”
His calm demeanor reminded her of that crazy dude in American Psycho. “I needed your undivided attention, Miss Prentiss, and you didn’t seem inclined to give it to me.”
“You’ve got the heart. What more could you possibly want?”
He tilted his head. “You haven’t guessed?”
“Please don’t tell me that you thought you could dazzle your way into my pants with your money and parties and eloquent speeches.”
He sat on the edge of the table and swung his leg back and forth. “I assure you that was not my plan.”
Weirdly, she was a little disappointed that he didn’t want her. He’d just had her forcibly brought to his room. She should be terrified of him, but she wasn’t. Her body betrayed her and tightened in places it shouldn’t. Being sexually attracted to the likes of Xavier Wells was definitely not okay.
The suite was eerily quiet; the driver had disappeared.
“I’m leaving. I don’t want to be here.” The words left her lips but her feet remained anchored in place.
That maddening smile again. “I don’t believe you when you say that. No one is guarding the door or trying to stop you. If you must go, go.”
“You...you make me so mad.”
“Better than feeling nothing. I’ve had a millennium of that.”
“What did you say?” A millennium?
“Never mind.”
“You wanted to see me. So here I am. I’ve given you the amulet. Are we done?”
“Do you want us to be done?” Xavier stood. He seemed taller, more imposing than he had in the ballroom the night before.
“There’s no us.” Olive stepped back only to bump into the corner of the sofa.