to step out. “We received word that Tariq was missing, and came looking for the child.”
She moved with effort, her enormous belly slowing her down. Wary of a trap, she didn’t dare feel relief, but kept her son close.
“We will return you to your rooms, Sheika. It is careless of you to roam the palace this time of the night.”
She nodded, noting how his eyes narrowed with displeasure, the disappointment of an interrupted hunt.
She didn’t take an easy breath until she was inside her quarters, where no man was allowed but her husband, the sheik. She closed the door behind her, locked it, although she knew it mattered little. She wouldn’t let Tariq’s hand go as she walked around and checked on her daughters, who were sleeping peacefully.
“You sleep with me,” she told Tariq.
For once, he didn’t argue that he was a big boy and too old for that.
They slipped into bed, and she held him against her, as close as her giant belly allowed. She had to get him out of the palace to save him, she knew.
At the birth of each of her previous sons, the sheik had gifted her with a boon, allowed her a request he’d promised he would not deny. The new babes would come soon. If they were healthy and pleasing to the sheik’s eyes…
Tariq had to go far, far away. If even the guards were hunting him now… None of them were safe, perhaps not even the sheik. His successor, a son by the first wife, was impatient for the throne.
But the old man wouldn’t see it that way. He had a favorite wife, and also a favorite son. And he was blind to the young sheik’s faults.
Little Tariq’s body gave a shudder in his sleep. His mother smoothed a hand over his thick, dark hair, hoping he would feel her presence and be calmed even in his dreams.
“Shh.” She placed a light kiss on the top of his head. “Whatever I have to do, whatever I have to give, you will be safe.”
Chapter One
Thirty years later
She’d been brought here to fail. It was expected of her. Hoped for.
Sara Reeves exited the conference room last, following the men, as was the custom in the region.Jeff had drilled that into her head. Whatever you do, commit no offense. He’d made it clear it was the most important thing he expected of her on this trip, the only thing.
“Let us go see the new well,” Ahmad Maluk, one of the three directors who represented MMPOIL at today’s meeting, said, gesturing toward the bank of elevators. “It’ll be a twenty-minute helicopter ride. Miss Reeves is welcome to stay at the hotel and rest if she so wishes.”
She wished they could meet the sheik. But they’d already been told that was not going to happen. “I’d love to see the well,” she said with respect, talking to no one in particular, not wanting to offend the men by addressing them directly.
“You rest,” Jeff said, solicitous as ever. “I can handle it.”
He could always handle everything—except the actual work. At schmoozing he was king. Hard to believe there’d been a time when she’d been in love with the man.
“Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow,” Husam, the man on Ahmad’s left, suggested. He was the youngest of the three Beharrainians, around thirty if that, with a sharp chin and nose, and even sharper eyes that he’d kept on Sara for most of the meeting.
She glanced away, hating the submissive gesture, but knowing that in this culture it was expected of women. One of the slew of oddities that made it difficult for her to stand on even ground for the negotiations.
They should have seen the well and been back by now, but Jeff had had stomach problems that morning and they’d had to delay their meetings. He had used her as an excuse, told everyone she’d been sick. The Arabs put a lot of stock in the strength of a man. If Jeff appeared weak for any reason it would be detrimental to their negotiations. And she could appear a little weaker, so as not to challenge their ideas of women and give offense. The world according to Jeff.
The best thing Sara had ever done for herself was to break their engagement. Unfortunately, untangling their business interests proved more difficult.
Jeff flashed her one of those smiles she had fallen for four years ago, before she’d realized that they, along with most things about him, were fake. “You could go shopping,” he said.
With admirable restraint, she kept herself from voicing the response forming on her tongue. “I’d prefer to see the well.”
Jeff shrugged with annoyance, but didn’t push further. Perhaps he’d given up on trying to manipulate her for the time being.
She zeroed in on the hallway to the left, where she’d seen a sign for a restroom on their way in. Since she knew they would be spending several hours in the desert today, she’d doubled her water intake. “Why don’t you go up? I’ll be with you in a second.” She nodded toward her destination.
Jeff scowled, as if her basic necessities were nothing but feminine whims he was forced to put up with.
She hurried down the hall, trying not to be too paranoid and obsess over what he would say this time to undermine her in her absence. Of course, with this potential customer, the fact that she was a woman was probably enough.
Glancing into the mirror as she exited the restroom two minutes later, she made sure her insecurities didn’t show. B. T. Reeves Studio, a public relations firm specializing in the oil industry, was as much her company as Jeff’s—more so, in her opinion. No matter how hard he pushed her, she was not going to relinquish her heritage. She wanted more than anything to regain control of the company and make it a success, a tribute to her father, who had started it.
Husam’s dark shape ahead caught her eye, his back half-turned to her. Was he waiting for her? She hadn’t liked the way he’d stared at her all through the meeting. She didn’t want to be stuck in the close quarters of an elevator with him. He was talking on his cell phone in Arabic, sounding nervous and angry at the same time.
Grateful for the soft carpet, which allowed her to remain undetected, she walked in the other direction. MMPOIL’s headquarters was a giant building. There had to be more than one bank of elevators.
She turned the corner and was relieved to see she’d been right. She pushed the call button and held her breath until the bell dinged and the doors opened. They were just starting to close behind her when a man stepped through. For a moment, all she registered was relief that he wasn’t Husam.
Oh, my. Definitely not. Wasn’t even in the same category.
This guy was close to forty and a good head taller than Husam. He brought a strong sense of presence with him as he stepped inside, so strong his body almost vibrated with intensity. The space in the elevator seemed to shrink, the air thinning all of a sudden.
There was a stark wildness to his masculine features, his tanned face and dark hair. Sara’s first impression had been of a hard-set, square jaw and wide shoulders stiff with displeasure, but that seemed to disappear as he watched her. His dark eyes held her gaze.
“Hello.” His deeply
