Page 15 of At the Sheikh's Command
“Of course it is! What’s the English saying? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
It was true, Leonora had been with her father during their stay in Sifra, and they shared the same interest in archaeology. But that was where any similarity ended. Darrius waved a dismissive hand.
“Your Highness!” Ammar continued. “The woman accompanied her father here, traveled with him to different archaeological sites and obviously learned everything she knew from him. According to my sources, her father never allowed her out unless he was with her. She was clearly raised with his values.”
Darrius ground his teeth. His vizier was correct that Leonora had rarely been allowed out. Darrius had certainly never met her when she’d lived here with her father. Years later, when she’d returned alone to Sifra as a student and they’d met, she’d told him that most of the time she’d been confined to embassy where they’d lived. Her father had insisted she have a tutor rather than board at an English school, like other children of diplomats. Apparently, her father liked to have her close and under control. And she’d hated every minute. Darrius suspected her need for independence stemmed from her father’s claustrophobic demands.
“You’re wrong, Ammar. Dr. Cooper is nothing like her father. Her upbringing merely proves that her father was controlling. She has told me as much. His behavior turned her against him and made her wish to be the opposite to him.”
“Darrius!” Ammar exclaimed.
Darrius raised an eyebrow in surprise. Ammar rarely called him by his given name.
“Don’t you see what she’s doing?” Ammar continued. “The woman’s flirtatious ways are blinding you to what she is doing here.”
Darrius controlled his smile. His vizier’s experience of life outside the narrow confines of their own country led to some strange ideas. Because a less flirtatious woman than Leonora, Darrius couldn’t imagine.
“She’s employed by Gleave College,” Ammar continued. “The same man who raped our country centuries ago. And she’s here to do the same.” He shook his head. “You cannot allow her to do this.”
Darrius felt a tweak of conscience. When Ammar discovered Leonora’s intention of finding the diamond, he’d feel vindicated.
“I understand your concerns, Ammar. They are mine as well. Rest assured, I will make sure she doesn’t have carte blanche to wander freely over our lands.”
“And how will you do that?”
Darrius rose without responding immediately, knowing that Ammar wouldn’t like his reply.
“By making sure I’m with her every step of the way.”
The old man’s face hardened into the mask he’d acquired so long ago. “And that is exactly what I’m afraid of.”
With that, Ammar left. But his thoughts didn’t sway Darrius. After last night, nothing could. Making love to Leonora had made everything clear.
CHAPTER8
By mid-morning, Leonora had resorted to pacing her suite of rooms, trying to figure out why she’d received no response from any of the people with whom she’d requested meetings. Her academic credentials always opened doors wherever she went. But now? She got the definite impression she was being ignored. What the hell was going on?
She checked her watch. To top it all, she couldn’t get a taxi for love or money. In the end she’d been reduced to contacting the palace’s administration, because it appeared no taxi service in the city could gain access to the palace to collect her. The palace administration had said they’d organize a car for her, but she still hadn’t heard anything after an hour of waiting. The situation was becoming more and more ridiculous!
She continued to pace, casting increasingly panicked glances at her phone as she realized she was trapped in the palace with no means of escape. Images of her scaling the palace walls, or of exiting the palace in disguise, flashed through her mind, one after another, until the lonely sound of her agitated footsteps was interrupted by a loud ding from her computer, signaling an incoming message.
She pounced on her laptop eagerly. It must be the museum director. But it wasn’t. Instead, she was looking at an email direct from the king.
Her stomach performed a strange flip at the email’s preview and her hand shook slightly as she opened the message. A quick scan took her breath away and set her heart racing. She must have got it wrong. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself, and re-read the message.
No, she’d got it right the first time. His Royal Highness, Sheikh Darrius bin Hashim Al Sifra had issued her a command. She was required to accompany him on a visit to the Sifran mountains where she could continue her research. The trip would be of one week’s duration, after which her visitor’s visa would be rescinded. What the hell?
She jumped up and continued to pace the room once more—her heart pounding, her mind racing. What was he playing at? She’d told him they had no future together, but it seemed he either hadn’t listened or he refused to accept her decision. The arrogance of the man, wanting to control her every move! It only confirmed her decision that there was no way she could be with him. The first eighteen years of her life had shown her what life was like under the control of someone else. She would never let that happen to her again. Never!
But what the hell was she going to do? She needed to continue her research and locate the diamond—her future depended on it—but she didn’t want to do it withhim, because she didn’t want him around her. Not now.Correction. Shecouldn’twant him around her. He would derail everything she’d been working towards.
Suddenly the adrenaline drained out of her, and she sank back into her chair again and put her throbbing head in her hands. It had been a mistake to visit him last night. Ahugemistake, which might not only cost her the goal of finding the diamond but also threaten the future she’d mapped out for herself with her soon-to-be fiancé. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to salvage her future. More specifically, she had to resist Darrius.
With renewed determination, she re-read the email and quickly typed out a response, telling him she really didn’t want to take him away from his work and had an itinerary of her own worked out. Thanks, but no thanks. She hit the send button and jumped up and half-ran to the windows. Despite the open windows, she suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She flung open the French doors which led to her private terrace. To one side, a tower hid steps that led to the walled garden below, which she shared with the king’s suite of rooms. It was all contained within high walls, hidden by climbing plants and trees. She realized she was looking at the extent of where she was allowed. Her room, the terrace and the garden. Nothing more.
She closed her eyes and inhaled lungfuls of the fresh and fragrant mountain breeze, on which she could detect traces of the scent of grass. She’d always loved the dryness and fragrance of Sifran air. Just the thought of it and the sights and sounds of the city and mountains had made her homesick for this country, which wasn’t her own but in which she’d lived for so many years with her father. But now she took no joy from its scent. Now all it did was make her afraid—afraid she’d lose it before she’d found what she was looking for.
She returned inside and continued to pace, glancing at her computer from time to time, but there was no alert, no sign that her email had either been received, read, or answered. With a frustrated grunt, she sat down at her computer, scanning the screen for a response. There was none.
