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“I did not.”
    “Of course you did. This is the twenty-first century.”
    “It’s—what did you call it? It’s the fifteenth century for men like my father.”
    Kaz picked up his spoon, started to dip it into his bowl, then set it down.
    “Let me be sure I understand this. You don’t want to get engaged. Sorry. Betrothed.”
    “No.”
    “You don’t want to marry the prince.”
    “No.”
    Kaz stared at her. “Goddammit, are you telling me the truth?”
    She stared straight back, her gaze unflinching. Why was she saying all this to him? She didn’t know, but it was too late to take any of it back.
    “The absolute truth.”
    His expression was one of disbelief. She could hardly blame him.
    “Did you tell this to Zach?”
    She shook her head. “There would have been no point.”
    “But you’re telling it to me.”
    “Yes.”
    “Because?”
    Their eyes met. Held. Her heart thudded, and she broke the connection and looked down at her soup.
    “I don’t know.”
    “You don’t know.” His mouth twisted. “Could it be because you think I’m an easier mark? That I’ll turn my back and let you run?”
    “Run?”
    “Yes. Run.”
    “You don’t understand. My mother is dying. She thinks this match is perfect. How could I run?”
    “You tell me.”
    She jerked her chin up and Kaz felt the breath rush from his lungs. Her eyes were bright with tears and even a cynic like him knew damn well that the tears were real.
    A sob tore from her throat. Then she tossed her napkin on the table, shot to her feet and, just as he’d predicted, she ran.

CHAPTER FIVE
    K az cursed and took off after her.
    “Put it on my bill,” he told the startled hostess as he ran out the door… And stopped.
    Now what?
    Fifth Avenue was more crowded than the Long Island Expressway on a Friday night. Finding Katie would be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
    Fear plucked at his gut. He told himself it was because she was his responsibility, that he had taken on the assignment of delivering her safely to her bridegroom—and, goddammit, there really was something wrong with using that word—but when he suddenly spotted her standing only a few feet away, he knew his fear had nothing to do with that.
    It had nothing to do with his assignment.
    It had to do with her. With a beautiful, strong, complex woman and the sorrow he’d seen in her eyes.
    Kaz felt lightheaded, as if he were back in Afghanistan, standing on the edge of a mountain, looking down into a valley thousands of feet below. The age-old sensation that went with steep heights made his throat constrict.
    One step, and he would fall.
    Fall forever.
    “Kazimir?”
    He stared at her. Her eyes were tear-stained, her face pale. Her mouth was trembling.
    He wanted to yell at her. Tell her she was not to run from him again. Tell her that if she didn’t behave, he’d tie their wrists together…
    Liar.
    What he really wanted was to take her in his arms and comfort her.
    The realization scared the crap out of him and he dealt with it the only logical way possible: he closed the slight distance between them, grasped her by the shoulders, and hauled her to her toes.
    “Dammit,” he said, “don’t try that again!”
    She looked up at him. Despite her tears, he could see her spirit, her bravery, shining through.
    “A thousand dollars an hour,” she said. “Is that the going rate?”
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “I’m talking about money. I’ll pay you to let me go. I’ll vanish into the crowd. You can tell my father that I deceived you.”
    His hands tightened on her. “Stop it!”
    “I have jewelry. It’s worth a lot. What I have on right now—my ring, my earrings, my necklace… And I have more. All you have to do is let me go and give me a little time to get at it.”
    “Are you trying to buy me? Dammit, what kind of man do you think I am?”
    Her eyes searched his as the crowd swept past them. Somewhere in the distance, he