Read Online Hostage of the Hawk by Sandra Marton - Free Book Online

robe, folded it in half, and ripped it into pieces that floated into her lap like a paper sandstorm. For the first time, she permitted herself to admit that he might have kidnapped her for some darker, more devious reason.
    â€˜Then—then if it’s not for the money...’ She touched the tip of her tongue to her lips. ‘I see. You want to hurt my father.’
    Khalil’s mouth narrowed. ‘Is that what I want? It must be, if you say it is. After all, you know everything there is to know about me and my motives.’
    â€˜But you won’t hurt him,’ she said, leaning forward towards him. ‘You’ll just make him angry. And—’
    â€˜I don’t give a damn what he is!’ Khalil reached out quickly and caught her by the shoulders. ‘He can be angry, hurt, he can slash his clothing and weep for all I care!’
    â€˜Then why—if you don’t want money, if you don’t care how my father takes the news of my kidn—of my abduction, what’s the point? Why have you done this?’
    A quick smile angled across his mouth.
    â€˜Ah, Joanna,’ he said, very softly, ‘I’m disappointed. You seem to know so much about the kind of man I am—surely you must have some idea.’
    She stared at him, at those fathomless dark blue eyes. A tremor began deep in her muscles and she tensed her body against it, hating herself not only for her fear but for this show of weakness she must not let him see.
    Before she’d left New York, the same people who’d teased her about her chances of running into the ghost of Humphrey Bogart had teased her with breathless rumours of a still-flourishing white slave trade, of harems hidden deep within the uncharted heart of the desert and the mountains that enclosed it.
    â€˜And what a prize you’d be,’ a man at a charity ball had purred, ‘with that pale skin, those green eyes, and all that gorgeous red hair!’
    Everyone had laughed, even her—but now it didn’t seem funny at all. Now, with Khalil’s fingers imprinting themselves in her skin, she knew it was time to finally come face to face with the fear that had haunted her from the moment she’d found herself in this plane.
    â€˜My father won’t let you get away with this,’ she said in a low, taut voice.
    â€˜Your father will have no choice.’
    â€˜You underestimate him. He’s a powerful man, Khalil. He’ll find where you’ve taken me and—’
    â€˜He will know where I’ve taken you, Joanna. It will not be a secret.’
    â€˜He’ll come after me,’ she said, her voice rising, becoming just a little unsteady. ‘And when he rescues me, he’ll kill you!’
    Khalil laughed, a soft, husky sound that made the hair rise on the nape of her neck.
    â€˜I am not so easy to kill. Abu Al Zouad will surely tell your father that.’
    â€˜How about my government? Do you think you can make a fool of it, too?’
    â€˜Your government?’ His dark brows drew together. ‘What part has it in this?’
    She smiled piteously. ‘I’m a US citizen. Perhaps, in your country, women are—are like cattle, to be bought and sold and—and disposed of at will, but in my country—’
    â€˜I know all about your country, enough to know your government won’t give a damn about one headstrong woman who runs off—’
    â€˜I didn’t run off! You—’
    â€˜â€”who runs off with a man on a romantic adventure.’
    â€˜Me, run off with you on a romantic adventure?’ She laughed. ‘No one would accept that! Anyway, my father will tell them the truth.’
    â€˜He’ll tell them exactly what I authorise him to tell them,’ Khalil said coldly.
    â€˜Don’t be ridiculous! Why would he lie?’
    â€˜This thing is between your father, Abu Al Zouad, and me. No one else will be