staff had filed back out again, she turned her sharp green eyes to him. “You promised me an interview. You promised me a scandal. I would like to collect on that now.”
“During dinner? I do not conduct business during dinner.” That was a lie, he had conducted business during dinner plenty of times, but he did not like her dictating the terms. And he also needed to figure out how to keep her interested for the next few weeks. There was also the small matter of what he was going to tell her.
The simple fact was, he had no information on James Chatsfield he was willing to share. That was the sort of scandal she was after, and it was not one he could give. Which meant he was going to have to lead her on a journey that would not end where she expected..
He just hadn’t decided where yet.
“It is a very good dinner. But I did anticipate getting down to things. We traveled quite a lot, and I am feeling tired.”
“Do you want your story? Or not?”
“Obviously I do.”
“Then you will wait and you will hear it on my terms.”
He could read the annoyance plainly on her face, and he found it perversely enjoyable. Yet another point in his win column. Yet more evidence that he was still in command, no matter how well fitted her dress was.
“Tell me, then,” she said, looking back up at him, attempting to look friendly, but still looking like she would rather sink her teeth into his neck. Unfortunately, something about that image sent a sharp jolt of heat straight to his gut. He ignored it.
She cleared her throat. “Which topics are on the table for dinner? So that I know for future evenings.”
“We may discuss the weather, though, invariably it is hot.”
“The weather is hot, there we have covered that.”
“Very well done.” He took a bite of couscous, and let the conversation rest until he was finished. “We may also discuss issues of the day. I see no reason why we ought not to occasionally discuss politics, or even religion. Seeing as I doubt either of us are worried about offending each other.”
“True, after you take control of someone’s person and force them to come back to their country with you, you have sort of made it clear that you don’t care whether or not you offend them. But I do wonder if discussing politics might get dicey, as the fact remains that if we discuss politics in Surhaadi, we will be discussing you.”
“Then we can stick to American politics.”
She laughed, a short, one-note sound. “No, that’s something I can’t discuss while eating, for fear I will be sick,” she said, her tone dry.
“Fair enough. Perhaps I will take this opportunity to ask you about you.” He didn’t really care about his beautiful captive, neither should he. She was a liability, and she needed to be minimized. That was what one did when something was a liability. It did not matter where she came from, or who her friend was that she seemed to be intent on protecting. It did not matter if she had a lover, or if she did not.
All that mattered was protecting Leila.
“And what is it exactly you want to know about me?” she asked.
“Whatever it is you would like to tell me.”
“I’m not sure how it would make any difference to you.”
“Why wouldn’t it make a difference to me?”
“We seem to have these kind of circular conversations, and I find them quite annoying.”
“Indulge me,” he said.
“Fine. I don’t see why you would care because you’re a sheikh. Because you’re important. Because you have money and that means other people rarely matter in a sincere way.”
“Is that what you think? It seems a very cynical way to view the world.”
Her cheeks colored, her mouth pulled into a tightly drawn line. “Hey, I’ve earned my worldview, on that you can trust me. I wasn’t from a family with a name anyone recognized. That made me lesser. So you can see why I feel a little bit surprised that someone like you would care to hear about me.”
He was happy to use this moment to keep the microscope on her. To keep her in the iron sights of this conversation rather than submitting himself to an examination. “Your surprise is misplaced. Now that you’ve said all that, I find I’m even more curious.” What she was talking about was something that was far outside his experience in many ways. People had always treated him with a certain amount of deference because he was a ruler. Because he had power and, as she had mentioned before, money. However, he also knew far too well that it did not erase all of one’s problems.
“There isn’t much to be curious about. I grew up in your standard low-end neighborhood. On a small street, with smaller houses. I had a single mother who worked quite a bit, so I was left on my own a lot. But it didn’t bother me. It gave me time to study. I decided from a really early age that I wasn’t going to settle for the kind of life my mother had.”
“It sounds to me like your mother was admirable. Working to keep you fed.”
“I don’t disrespect that. But my mother had an unhealthy attachment to my father. And I watched it destroy her. I watched it kill any chance she might have had at happiness. She didn’t ever want to move because he had bought the house for us. She didn’t want to go where he could not easily come and visit. She didn’t want to get too invested in a job, because she needed to be able to drop it at a moment’s notice if he came for her. He rarely did. And as I got older he stopped coming at all. I swore I would never be that way. I swore that I would be independent. And I knew that the only way I would manage that was by getting an education, and getting a job that could support me. So here I am.”
“That is very admirable indeed.”
“You don’t have to sound so dry about it. It actually is admirable. I worked hard. I’m still working hard.”
“I didn’t mean for it to sound dry.” He knew how hard it was to change yourself, how hard it was to break patterns of behavior. He had done it with himself. Though he had not had the type of obstacles she’d had. In fact, all of his obstacles had been self-built. But in the end he knew the sort of thing she was talking about was no simple task.
“Well, then your sincerity is unexpected, and appreciated.”
“Very good.” They finished their meal, and when they were done he stood. “Would you like to accompany me to my study?”
“I assume there you will discuss business.”
“You assume correctly. You answered my questions. Now, I will answer some of yours.” He extended his arm, and she looked at it as though he was offering her a lizard. “I will not bite you. I am simply being chivalrous.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I missed it somehow. You know, considering our history together.”
“Fair enough.” But he kept his arm extended.
She took a step toward him and curled her slender
