Page 50 of At the Sheikh's Command
His smile vanished. “No. No, you weren’t.”
She frowned and shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Leonora, that you would never find it.”
“Why not? I don’t understand.”
“Because the diamond would never be at Qasr Jabal. It’s not conceivable.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
He shrugged, as if what he was saying wasn’t of any importance. “It would never be there.”
“But all the documentary evidence points to it being a very strong possibility.”
“I’m not talking about documentary evidence. My grandfather told me what his grandfather had told him. It was taken from our country. It’s not here in the palace, and it’s certainly not in the mountain palace.”
“And yet you took me there? Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged again. “Because I wanted to be alone with you, and the mountain palace seemed as good a place as any.”
She took a step back. “I can’t believe you! You lied to me, Darrius. You lied to me all along and yet you somehow expect me to marry you. You’re unbelievable.”
“You weren’t exactly generous with the truth either, were you, Leonora? Besides, such details are irrelevant when it’s clear we’re meant to be together.”
“The truth isneverirrelevant! And the fact that you can say that shows that we’re most definitelynotmeant to be together!” She was mad now. Mad that he’d tricked her, lied to her, and all the time expected her to fall into his arms. “You are the most controlling, arrogant man I’ve ever met!”
“I may be most of those things, but you’re wrong about one thing. Wearemeant to be together. And you cannot deny it.”
She stepped up close, so he didn’t miss what she was about to say. “Icandeny it, and Ido.” She moved away as she felt a wave of grief begin low in her gut and threaten to destroy her. “You’ve thrown away your throne for nothing because there’s no way I want to marry a man who puts his own needs above my own. Someone who treats me like a fool.”
She turned away before he could see the tears which had sprung into her eyes. She didn’t look back. There was no point.
CHAPTER23
Darrius paced the room, trying to figure out where his plans had gone so spectacularly wrong. They loved each other, they were meant for each other, so why couldn’t Leonora ignore the details and see the bigger picture? What had he done so wrong?
He turned around as he heard the door open, prepared to give the intruder who hadn’t knocked a piece of his mind. But it was his brother. Still, he wasn’t prepared to be conciliatory.
“Haven’t you heard of knocking?”
“I did. Three times. And you ignored me.”
Darrius’s shoulders dropped and he heaved a deep sigh. “I didn’t hear you.”
“No,” said Zaire, thrusting his hands in the pockets of his western suit. “I dare say you didn’t. Got other things on your mind, according to palace gossip.”
“You shouldn’t listen to palace gossip.”
“And how else am I going to find out what’s going on if my own brother won’t tell me?”
Darrius walked away and looked out the window, willing his brother to leave. But there was no sound of retreating footsteps, no opening and closing of a door. He sighed again. Looked like his brother wasn’t going anywhere soon.
“Darrius,” growled Zaire. “Is it true that Leonora knew nothing about your plans? That you haven’t even proposed to her?”
Darrius pressed his lips together obstinately.
“Darrius!” The growl was louder. “For God’s sake, I’ve agreed to take over as king. You might at least have the decency to talk to me.”
