Sweet Revenge

her, and the betrayal when you took it away and usurped her. She didn’t care about the necklace, about the cut, the color, the carats. It mattered only that you’d given it in love and taken it in hate.”
    He hated having the portrait there, staring at him, reminding him. “I was mad when I gave it, sane when I took it back. If you want to live, you will bring it to me.”
    “Another death on your hands?” She moved her shoulders as if it mattered no more to her than to him. “If I die, it dies with me.” She waited until she was certain he believed her. “Yes, you see I mean what I say. I’ve been prepared to die for this. If I do, I’ll still have revenge. But I’d prefer to avoid that. You can take it back to Jaquir, but not without a price.”
    “I will take it back, and the price will be yours to pay.”
    She turned to him. This was her father, yet she felt nothing. Thank God this time she felt nothing. “I’ve spent most of my life hating you.” She said it calmly, flatly, her voice a mirror of her emotions. “You know how she suffered, how she died.” She waited, watching his eyes. “Yes, you would know. Pain, torment, grief, confusion. I watched her die a little year by year. Knowing that you should understand there’s nothing you can do to me that could matter.”
    “Perhaps not, but you are not alone.”
    She went pale, pleasing him. “If you harm Philip, I’ll see you dead. I swear it, and The Sun and the Moon’s only home will be in the bottom of the sea.”
    “So he matters to you.”
    “More than you’re capable of understanding.” With her throat tight, she played her final card. “But even he doesn’t know where the necklace is. Only I know. You deal with me, and only me, Abdu. I promise you the value I put on your honor will be far below the value of my mother’s life.”
    He raised his fist this time. Adrianne braced just as the door slammed shut. “You lay a hand on her again, and I’ll kill you.” Even as Adrianne stumbled back, Philip had Abdu by the lapels.
    “No, don’t.” Panicked, she grabbed Philip’s arm and pulled. “Don’t. He didn’t hit me.”
    He spared her a brief glance. “There’s blood on your lip.”
    “It’s nothing. I—”
    “Not this time, Addy.” He said it very calmly an instant before he rammed his fist into Abdu’s jaw. The king went down, taking a Queen Anne table with him. The sting in Philip’s knuckles gave him more satisfaction than holding a hundred rare stones. “That was for the bruise you put on her face.” He waited until Abdu had pulled himself onto the torn couch. “For the rest you owe her, I’d have to kill you, but she doesn’t want you dead. So I’ll say this, there are ways to maim a man. I’m sure you’re aware. Think of them and think of them carefully before you raise your hand to her again.”
    Abdu wiped the blood from his mouth. He was breathing heavily, not from pain but from humiliation. Not since the day he’d become king had he been struck, or touched unless he had granted permission. “You are a dead man.”
    “I think not. Your two goons outside are already answeringa few questions of my associate as to why they’re carrying concealed weapons. That’s Captain Stuart Spencer of Interpol I neglected to mention I worked for Interpol, didn’t I?” He glanced around. “We’d better fire that housekeeper, Adrianne. I could do with a brandy. Would you mind hunting some up?”
    She’d never seen him look like this. She’d never heard his voice carry this edge. She hadn’t been afraid of Abdu, but she was afraid of Philip at this moment. And afraid for him. “Philip—”
    “Please.” He touched a hand to her cheek. “Do this for me.”
    “All right. I’ll just be a minute.”
    He waited until she was out of the room, then sat on the arm of a chair.
    “In Jaquir you would not live to see the sun set, and you would praise God when you died.”
    “You’re a bastard, Abdu. The fact that your blood’s blue doesn’t make you less of one.” He let out a long breath. “Now that the pleasantries are over, I want to start off saying that I don’t give a damn about your ways, not here. What I feel for or about you at the moment doesn’t matter either. This is business. Before we get down to it, I’d like to explain the rules to you.”
    “I have no business with you, Chamberlain.”
    “Whatever else you are, you’re not a stupid man. I don’t have to detail the reasons for