Sheikh's Revenge (9 page)

Now there were stalls and stalls of gold, and she wasn’t sure what was going on. How could any of this be intended for her. She’d only been dating Zahir for two weeks. The gold here was real, and even a thin necklace had to be worth hundreds. It was all so much.

“I can’t do this,” she said, her voice an awed whisper even as Zahir took her by the hand and led her to the nearest stall.

This one specialized in necklaces but they weren’t thin by any means. They were what her mother always called statement pieces, collars almost more than necklaces, bedecked with jewels upon jewels. Even the filigree-style necklaces were stacked, with several layers twisting and curling together until one, intricate design would lay down over a whole throat and her chest as well. These were the types of necklaces worn by starlets on the red carpet or the wealthy at Monaco. She was neither of those things, and she’d done nothing to deserve it.

“You can. I want to do this for you, Addy. You’ve had so much sadness this year.”

“It’s been so much better since I met you,” she admitted. “It’s been everything I ever dreamed it could be.”

“Then pick one necklace and think nothing of it. Believe me when I say that I and my family have more money than I can spend in five lifetimes,” he said, his golden eyes brimming with honesty. “I want you to have something beautiful, something that is almost as beautiful as you are.”

“I…”

“Please. If you’re reluctant, then I’d like to tell you that in my culture, it’s considered rude to refuse a gift. It assuredly is.”

She nodded and felt her breath catch in her throat. It was almost as if she needed sunglasses to wade through all the brightness of the shimmering gold. She listened as the stall owner—a small, wizened man—and Zahir haggled a bit in Arabic. The stall owner then unlocked one necklace from his collection and brought it forth for her to try it on.

Golden teardrops
.

The intricate loops of gold swirled around each other until they fell low against, but each teardrop wasn’t just made of gold. They fell into fat green stones, the emeralds dripping from it were stunning, and to be fair, would have looked amazing with the corset dress she’d worn the first time they’d ever met.

Somehow it had that Victorian feel to it. Perhaps it was the intricacy of the design overall.

“It’s perfect for you,” he said, even as he took the necklace from the shop owner and draped it over her neck. He clasped it shut, and she couldn’t help but blush at the wealth she displayed. It wasn’t heavy, but it felt like it should be, considering how much gold and how many precious stones hung around her neck. “You look like the sheikha you could be.”

She grinned, even at the hint that Zahir might one day make all of this permanent.

Her fingers seemed to reach up of their own accord and stroke the gold around her throat. “It’s exquisite.”

“It’s perfect. Take it, please. After all, what’s the point of having a sheikh for a boyfriend if he can’t spoil you?”

She stilled, unsure she’d actually heard him. “What?”

Zahir took the necklace back off and passed it to the merchant, barking orders to him in rapid-fire Arabic. The little man rushed off to pack the necklace away safely and, she assumed, prepare a receipt.

“What? I don’t know if I understand the question.”

“I just…did you really say
boyfriend
?” she asked, her heart beating as fast as a rabbit’s. There was no way she’d heard that—that so much good was happening to her finally. “It’s okay if you didn’t mean to. It’s really alright. I understand if you didn’t mean to say it and it just slipped out. I mean, just the other day I found myself humming this annoying Beiber song in front of my brother…well on Skype. It’s really—”

Soft lips were on her own, and when they finished kissing, those familiar and amused golden eyes were regarding her as well. “Trust me, Addy, I want this to be a full relationship. You’re the girlfriend of the sheikh of Dubai, and you deserve to be festooned like the queen I see you as.”

Well, damn, how can a girl argue with that?

***

“I still feel like I have to thank you about a billion more times so I don’t feel guilty about having more emeralds than I can probably count around my neck,” she said.

He watched as she gestured to her throat as if he’d be confused by what sartorial item she meant. They’d gone back to the palace that night, and then he’d spent what felt like years making love to her with that gorgeous set of jewels around her throat. Part of him found this guilt complex of her annoying, but another part of him was amused by it. Maybe it was some Bostonian family values thing. Seriously, it was merely a trinket’s cost to him. He wanted her to be happy, to feel and look as regal as he already viewed her. Maybe soon his lovely redhead could have the confidence to see herself the way he did.

“And it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.”

“I just can’t believe the month or so I’ve had. Everything was horrible with Mr. McDermott, and now it’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven. You’re a great boss at work and you’re a caring boyfriend,” she said, stretching out the word
boyfriend
and winking at him. “I think I won the lottery. It feels that lucky.”

Zahir leaned over and ran his finger over her bare shoulders, tracing an imaginary lattice work that only he knew the true pattern to. “Maybe you deserved it.”

“Well, at least I’m not kicked in the face all the time. The further I get from what happened, the more I realize what my twin was trying to tell me all along. Mr. McDermott really was an ass. He had the whole office terrified of him, everyone stressed and popping Tums and everything else to deal with the indigestion and ulcers he was giving people. You’re kind to everyone.”

“Some people think it’s better to be feared than loved. I think it’s better to show your employees the respect you wish to have from them.” He leaned lower and trailed a tongue over the soft curve of her neck, suckling eagerly at her pulse point. He loved when he was able to mark her, to draw up the small bruises and love bites on her skin. It was hard to maneuver a clear spot around her necklace, but Zahir was determined and he managed well enough. “There’s not finite amount of kindness, and I think there’s no problem with showing it first. Clayton doesn’t see it that way.”

“He doesn’t respect anything but himself,” she said. “I…I think I helped him do some very bad things. I mean, not just me. I think that most of the secretarial pool knew that when we were taking calls and noting down orders, especially in the overseas deals, that the numbers didn’t add up.”

Zahir’s heart sped up. This was it, and it was coming at the worst time. He wanted to know and needed to get those details, but he’d hoped to coax it out of her at work in a meeting as slyly as possible. Fairuza wasn’t wrong. There was everything exploitative and dirty about doing it this way, about letting her finish the truth with her naked and exposed in his arms.

“We don’t need to talk about anything that disturbs you now, Addy,” he said, hoping she’d just drop it. Then again, protesting too much would also be suspicious.

“But it’s true. I think he was cooking the books for overseas a lot, quoting them way too high prices and then getting cheaper materials to compensate. He was especially ruthless in other deals throughout the UAE. I heard him brag about it more than once over the phone. I just…every bit of him was a real asshole, and I’m so glad that I’m not there anymore,” she said, cuddling up against his chest. “I’m glad I found you.”

Zahir stilled but finally kissed the top of her forehead. He had the answer he wanted, but he wished to Allah and all the prophets that she hadn’t told him that here, in what he wanted to keep separate from his corporate espionage. Maybe that was impossible when he’d mixed business and his heart’s desires so thoroughly. So he just renewed his promise, what he’d made both to himself and to Fairuza, but now one he was vowing most of all for his beloved Addison’s sake.

“I’m glad you found me too, Addy, and I care about you so very much.”

“Me too, Zahir, me too.”

***

“Zahir, I know you’ve been busy but I need to talk to you. You rush into my room at midnight and tell me all these details I need to look into about McDermott’s United Arab Emirates deals, but then you hole back up in your room until noon. Seriously, brother, what am I supposed to do with that?” a shrill voice called.

Addison sat up instantly and clutched the overstuffed comforter to her chest. “Who are you?”

The woman stilled and her complexion went pale. “You’re not Zahir.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Where is he?” the strange woman demanded.

Addison instinctively reached out with her left hand and found that side of the bed both empty and cold. Wherever Zahir was, he’d snuck off on both of them.

“I don’t know, and who are you?”

“I’m Fairuza Amun. I’m Zahir’s sister, and I’m so very sorry.”

“Why are you sorry and why the hell are you researching things about Mr. McDermott’s company?”

“I…” Fairuza floundered and the other woman looked like she wished she could be anywhere but right here before Addison “I can’t explain this. I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Addison shook her head and wished she’d slipped back on her pajamas. She’d feel better if she could pace and scream. But right now, she was completely naked, didn’t even have on that stupid necklace.

No, it wasn’t a gift…it was a bribe. He used me this whole time.

“Zahir was sleeping with me to get secrets about McDermott’s business dealings. The dinners, the trips, and even the necklace…all of it was like some sick down payment on the information he needed. I…has it all been a lie?” she asked, her voice seeming to crack into a thousand fractured pieces.

“I think you need to speak with my brother. I warned him not to do this, and I don’t think he meant to.”

“You knew?”

Fairuza nodded. “I told him he could have you as an employee to try and learn more about Clayton and his weaknesses or that he could date you and forget his grievances, but that he could never do both, that it would tear you apart.”

“Well, congratulations, Miss Amun, because you’re right. Now where is he?”

***

She slipped on her clothes and stormed all over the palace. That was not the best plan. The rooms seemed to be endless, and she remembered what he said about having thirty guest rooms. That was just the guest quarters. Who knew what else was out there, but she had no interest in staying with Fairuza. She and Zahir seemed to have planned all of this out extremely thoroughly no matter what the other woman had said. But as she stampeded through the endless, labyrinthine halls, she overheard a loud conversation in Arabic between Zahir and someone else. The second voice sounded flat and tinny, and she figured it had to be a conference call of some sort.

Fueled by her anger, Addison made a beeline for the door. It was shut, but if Zahir thought that a piece of wood would save him from her anger and frustration, then Zahir didn’t know her at all. She stormed into the room and shook her head at him.

“Zahir, we need to talk.”

His face visibly paled and he said something quickly in Arabic over the phone and clicked it off. Standing, he tried to walk over to her and calm her down, but she wasn’t about to have it. This wasn’t a time to be placated, not when he’d used her from the start. Everything that had happened last night hurt the most, as if the necklace were the price for her. Addison was many things, including foolish and currently very impulsive, but she was no one’s whore, and she wasn’t going to be given trinkets for stool-pigeon information either.

She was confused and in debt and definitely in a tailspin, but she knew her worth. Addison knew she was better than what both Zahir and his sister had dismissed her as.

“What’s going on?” he asked, concern seeming to color his words.

She had to hold back all her anger then because it would come out as a torrent of tears, hot and fresh on her cheeks. “You know what’s wrong. I was sleeping, and your sister comes storming in. She clearly couldn’t be happier, and can you guess what she was buzzing about.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Miss Amun tried to explain that as well, and she failed miserably,” Addison continued, her words coming out in a fearsome torrent, so fast that she was beginning to lose track of them. “You were using me this whole time, doing all of this to find the great weakness for Clayton McDermott. I told you so much, about what a jerk he’d been, and how stupid was I to think that you were any better.” She started to pace, throwing her hands up in the air and wishing she had more at her disposal to wear than her rumpled dress from last night. “You know what? It has to be true. You all think you’re masters of the universe, that you’re all so ready to move people around like chess pieces on a board. Well, guess what,
my sheikh
, I’m not playing anymore.”

Zahir moved forward and grabbed both of her shoulders. She tried to pull away, but he held her there forcefully. She knew he wasn’t trying to hurt her, just stilling her so he’d have a few more seconds to spin whatever bullshit he was going to try peddling her way today, but she could no longer deal with any of this. She’d heard every pretty lie and half-truth, one after another. Addison was just no longer interested.

“I’m serious, Addy. Just let me explain. I did hire you because of your connection to Clayton. I’m trying to arrange a merger with his company, and at first, he was backstabbing me. I needed the right…”

“Leverage?” she asked, her voice keyed up. “Is that the word you’re looking for?”

He looked away, those gold eyes burdened with sadness and regret. “At first it was business. I wanted to take you to dinner that first night just so I could get you to speak more freely, but then we connected so well in the limo.”

“Oh I’ll say!”

“And I can’t even explain it. You’re going to think it’s a line,” he said, loosening his grip on her shoulders, at least enough so that Addison could wriggle free of him again. “But I swear it’s not. After we first started kissing in the limo, it felt like I’d known you from before, like I’d even known you my whole entire life. Then I fell for you so hard, especially by the time we left Al Ain. I didn’t want to get the information from you, definitely not in bed and not like it happened.”