Marriage Behind the Fa?ade Read Online Free PDF Page B

temple.
    An instant later, he released her and took a step backward. “Of course,” he said, his voice thicker than it had been only a moment ago. “As you wish.”
    Sydney put a shaking hand to her throat, dropping it again when she realized how frightened and helpless it made her seem. She was neither of those things, though she was most definitely nervous. She’d loved him. She’d been through hell because of him. This situation was strange, unnatural.
    For them both, she thought. He would probably prefer to be with his current mistress instead of her, the wife he’d thought he was rid of.
    “I think it’s best if we don’t … touch,” she said.
    He arched an elegant brow. “You are afraid of a little touch, Sydney? And here I thought I was resistible.”
    He was mocking her. Naturally. She lifted her head. “There is no purpose to our touching, Malik. We aren’t happily married. We are nothing to each other. Not anymore. I realize I’m an inconvenience to you, but I just want to get this over with. You don’t have to pretend otherwise to make me feel more comfortable.”
    His dark eyes flashed with emotion. “I see. How wise you have grown, Sydney. How very jaded.”
    “I always thought you liked jaded women,” she retorted—and felt instantly contrite. If she were trying to make him believe they could behave with cool civility for forty days, she’d just failed abominably.
    He leaned against the door frame, but she didn’t make the mistake of thinking him relaxed. No, he was carefully—and tightly—controlled. It had been one of the things that had driven her the most insane about him, that ability to shut down his emotions and rein them in so hard that he was nearly inhuman.
    “I did not realize you cared,” he said softly. Mockingly, still.
    Sydney flicked her hand as if brushing away a fly. “I don’t.”
    He straightened to his full height. “Let us not descend into games, habibti. You have had a long night of travel. Bathe, rest. I will see you when you are prepared to be reasonable.”
    Her temper spiked at the condescension in his tone. “I’m not playing games, Malik. I came, didn’t I? I’m here because I want this over with. Because I want to be free of you forever.” She flung the last at him, unable to stop herself from saying the words.
    His jaw hardened, his eyes flashing hot once more. “You will get your wish,” he growled. “But first I will get mine.”
    Her stomach flipped. “Wh-what do you mean?”
    He looked so menacing. “Scared, Sydney? Afraid of what I will exact from you now that you are here?”
    She swallowed, her throat thick with emotion. “Of course not.”
    His gaze slid down her body, back up, his eyes hot on hers. His voice came out as a sensual drawl that made heat flare in her core. “Then perhaps you should be.”

 

     
     

    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    MALIK was in a bad mood. He sat in his study, working on minute details that were mind-numbing and boring and meant to distract him. They did not.
    He shoved back from the computer and turned his head until he could see the sparkle of the sea beyond the windows.
    She was here. His errant wife. The one woman he’d thought might be different, might make him happy—but who, instead, had run away from him. He was not accustomed to women running away from him.
    It had been a singular moment when he’d realized she’d truly gone.
    He’d raged. He’d made plans. He’d sworn to go after her and drag her back by force if necessary.
    And then he’d thought, no.
    She’d walked out. Let her be the one to come back. Instead, she’d started divorce proceedings.
    Yet he still wanted her. His body desired hers, regardless of his wishing otherwise. From the moment she’d opened the door to the house in Malibu, he’d wanted her with a fierceness that surprised him after so much time.
    Especially considering how very angry he still was with her.
    But she’d looked so virginal, so pure, in her white jacket and