by Leslie North
After what seemed like forever, she pressed her hands to his chest and pushed him away. “Good night, Jaymin.”
Shocked by his blatant carnal reaction to her, he watched her duck into the car. “Sir?” his own driver asked. “Are you ready to go?”
Turning his head, he stared at his driver. “I suppose I am,” he murmured. Stepping into the car, he rested his head on the window and wondered what the hell had happened.
4
Thanking the driver, Tamrin stepped out of the car and stared at the hotel. She’d spent the drive reviewing the evening. Had she moved too quickly? After studying his history, she’d thought for sure that he’d never kiss her, let alone dance with her. She’d pushed for the dance, and when that went well, she’d pushed for the kiss.
The plan wasn’t to be daring, but once she was with him, she couldn’t stop. Neither would deny the attraction, but she couldn’t help but sense that there was something more. Jaymin Khalidizack was a complex man, and she itched to peel the layers away.
Starting with his clothes.
It seemed like everything had gone well. He didn’t spook. He didn’t pull away. It worked, but it wasn’t quite what she was expecting, and that had never happened to her before. She was always in control, and she never let things get out of hand. Shrugging it off, she took the elevator and made her way to her room. As soon as she walked past her father’s door, it flew open.
“Tamrin? Are you back?”
“I just got back,” she said, without looking at him. “I want to change.”
He grabbed her arm. “Hang on. I need to know what happened so we can move to the next step. You’re back earlier than I expected.”
“Were you hoping that I’d spend the night with him?” she hissed as she pulled out of his grasp. “I’m going to change, and then I will be back to discuss the evening with you. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine,” he said gruffly.
He retreated to his room, and she closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have snapped at her father like that. It was just a job, and all the jobs were the same. There was no reason that she’d treat this job or him any differently. Frustrated, she tried to gain control of herself. Closing her door gently, she quickly stripped out of the dress and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and an over-sized t-shirt. Leaving the dress and her heels on the floor, she went back to her father’s room and knocked on the door.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “That was rude, and I shouldn’t have said that to you.”
He stepped back, and she moved past him. Unlike her room, her father’s room was pristine, but it wasn’t because he was neat. It was simply because he didn’t have much with him. His role was not as visible as hers. He’d made a few appearances with the sheikhs, but it was his job to control things from the back.
“The night went well,” she said with a sigh. “We were all business in the beginning, but he was attracted to me. It made him easy to read, and I was able to get him to relax. We wined and dined and danced, and I got him to kiss me goodnight. Overall, I would call it successful.”
“Did he ask to see you again?” Sean demanded.
“See me again? He doesn’t have to. He’s going to involve me in the investigation. It’s a given that he’ll be seeing me again,” she muttered.
Her father shook his head. “That’s not good enough. We need to move this faster,” he muttered as he began to pace. “What’s your next step?”
“Don’t worry, I have this. You taught me well, so just relax. Everything is working like it should. His catering staff admitted to seeing a black-haired woman they can’t later account for, but that’s all they have. Once they realize the investigation can’t go any farther, we’ll have what we want.”
Sean stopped and stared at her. “Tamrin, are you sure this is going to work?”
“This is my plan, and it’s a good one. Relax. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go to the palace and ask for a tour. I’ll tell them that I need to look around and try to jog my memories about this mysterious black-haired woman. I’ll change tactics, and we’ll reevaluate his reactions and figure out step two. We’re doing this by the book. You know that. We don’t have time for mistakes.”
His shoulders slumped. “I know. I’m sorry. You did well, and tomorrow will be great.” Crossing the room, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “I love you, baby girl. You know that, right?”
Closing her eyes, she hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder. She loved him, too. That was the only reason she was doing this. To save him. Pulling away, she gave him a reassuring smile. “Get some sleep, Dad. Tomorrow will go perfectly.”
Stretched up on her tiptoes, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before easing out of his room. Alone, she fell back on her bed and blew out her breath. She’d been raised her whole life to do this, but there was so much at stake now. Her whole life she’d been told not to make things personal, only this time, it was personal.
This time, her father was at risk if things didn’t go according to plan and they didn’t have time to come up with a new idea.
Closing her eyes, she willed sleep to claim her, but it eluded her. She tossed and turned the remainder of the night.
The taxi sped down the road toward the palace, and Tamrin tugged at her lace top and frowned. She could feel how tense her father was. Clearly, a night of sleep hadn’t done him any good either.
“This is a friendly meeting, Dad. Get it together.”
“Tamrin,” her dad muttered warningly as he nodded his head toward the driver.
She rolled her eyes. There was no reason to believe that the driver had a connection with the Khalidizacks, but she quieted just in case. The driver looked in the rearview mirror and frowned.
“Is there something wrong?” she snapped. If he were eavesdropping, she would throw a fit.
“I don’t mean to alarm you, but I think we’re being followed, ma’am.”
She turned her head and looked out the window.
A dark car trailed behind them. “Tamrin,” her father said softly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said slowly. Turning to the front, she leaned across the car. “Are we almost there?”
“Just a few minutes, and then we have to pass security,” the driver said nervously. Leaning back, she tapped her fingers on her leg and took a deep breath. During the game, she was calm and collected, but the minutes leading up to it, she was always a wreck.
Her father knew this, so he didn’t say anything. She waited for it to pass, but the fact that they were being followed didn’t do anything to ease her nerves.
“We’re at security,” the driver announced as he pulled up to the gates. He rolled the window down, but the security guard simply waved them in. Confused, Tamrin looked behind her to see the dark car following right through the gate behind them.
“It’s his guards,” she said nervously. “He has his guards following us.”
“I guess the date went better than we thought,” her father murmured, but she could hear the unease in his voice.
Tamrin nodded. A thought formed, and she smiled. “And that’s going to work perfectly in our favor. Don’t mention it during the tour, okay?”
Sean nodded. “I’ll follow your cues. Do what you think is right.”
It was almost show time. Rolling her shoulders, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. By the time the car stopped, she was ready.
Several men jogged down the front steps and opened the door to the taxi. “Your driver will be compensated,” one said stiffly.
“Oh,” Tamrin said, hoping she sounded surprised. “Thank you.”
“Tamrin. Sean. What brings you here today?” Jaymin said as he joined his men and held out his hand to Sean. After shaking hands, he leaned over and kissed Tamrin on the cheek. She gave him a small smile.
“I gave what you said last night some thought, and I was hoping that we could have an informal tour of the palace. I feel like maybe
if I retrace my steps, I might be able to sharpen my memory. I’ve tried to go over it in my head. In fact, I was up all night, but I just can’t picture anything concrete. And I’m sorry that we didn’t call beforehand,” she said as she stepped out of his reach. “It was really important to me, and I didn’t want to give you the chance to deny me.”
Jaymin gave her a brief puzzled look before nodding. “In this investigation, I would deny you very little. I’ll personally give you the tour, but we don’t have to restrict it to the rooms that involved the event. I’d be happy to give you the full tour, if you like. For the purpose of the investigation, we’ll start with the main rooms.”
Exchanging a look with her father, she nodded. “That sounds wonderful, thank you.”
“Excellent. Right this way.” He swept his arm out, and her father took the lead. Tamrin barely looked at Jaymin as she followed behind him.
“Main reception hall is part of the original design. Through all the renovations, we’ve strived to keep the original architecture alive. We hire only the best to reweave the tapestries to keep the original design,” Jaymin said with pride in his voice.
“And the tile?” she asked in wonderment. The room looked so different when there weren’t hundreds of people milling about. The colors were vibrant and beautiful. She could see why Jaymin would take pride in the palace. Where some had attempted to modernize the country, the Khalidizacks instead tried to blend the modern with traditional.
“Unfortunately, not original. So many cracked over time and couldn’t be fixed, so we had them reproduced to match the original pattern. Does it trigger anything?”
Tamrin wrapped her arms around her body and looked around. “I’m afraid not. There were so many people in here that night. All I can think about is how different everything looks now that we’re alone.”
“Come on,” he said gently. “We have a few more rooms to look at. Maybe one of those will help us.”
She followed him and listened as he talked about the palace. From what she’d heard about him, he was all business, but she could tell that he found pleasure in his home. Seeing this side of him, she could understand how easy it would be to become attracted to him. But being attracted to him did not fit in with the plan. And unless things moved along fast enough, they would be out of time before they could secure the money. No, she needed to keep this sexy sheikh at arm’s distance. She just hoped that part of the plan would be agreeable to everyone.
At the end of the tour, she gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry. Your home is beautiful, but it doesn’t bring back any memories of a thief or my necklace.”
“Tamrin, are you okay? You seem different today.” Jaymin’s voice was laced with concern.
Frowning at him, she pulled away. “I’m not sure what you mean, Sheikh Khalidizack. I’m acting like a frustrated woman who lost something valuable. How do you think I should be acting?”
His eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just that last night…”
“Last night, you were confident that you could find my necklace,” she said sharply as she cut him off. “This morning you have nothing new to report.”
“Tamrin,” he said. “You have to give me more time.”
“I am.” She tried to force a smile. “I apologize. I’m trying to be patient, but I’m not very good at it. I’ll keep trying to recall something. Thank you for your help. If you don’t mind, we’ll leave now.” She turned and gestured to her father.
“Of course, I’ll have a car return you to your hotel,” Jaymin agreed.
She merely nodded as they walked out of the palace.
“Everything okay?” her father asked softly as the driver pulled up and walked around to open the door. Tamrin and her father slipped inside before she responded.
“Everything is fine. It went perfectly,” she said quickly before the driver got back in. They fell silent as the car started up and began moving. But once they were outside the gate, the driver started checking the rearview mirror too frequently. Tamrin was about to harshly remind him to keep his eyes on the road, but a bad feeling settled in her gut. Turning her head, she saw a car following them.
Too closely. The car accelerated and bumped them from behind, and Tamrin’s eyes widened when she thought she saw the flash of a gun.
“Get down!” she shouted. The glass behind them shattered, and her father immediately grabbed her and pulled her down.
The car began to careen and Tamrin screamed, clutching at the armrest to keep from being thrown off the seat.
“Are you hit?” her father asked, but before she could answer, the car ran off the road and hit a tree. Tamrin’s seatbelt tightened around her, but she still flew forward and hit her head on the seat in front of her.
“Dad? Why is someone shooting at us?” Tamrin cried as she struggled with her seatbelt. Her heart hammered against her chest, and she tried to stay in control but her fingers were shaking and she couldn’t find the release.
Sean reached over and unsnapped her belt. “Stay calm,” he ordered quietly. “Get out on my side of the car, and keep the car between you and the road.” He opened the door and crawled out. After a moment, he gestured for her to follow.
“The driver?” she croaked. As she glanced back, she saw blood smeared along the seat. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel.
Her father reached in and pressed his fingers against the man’s throat. “He’s alive. Keep an eye on the road and let me know if the car comes back.” He freed the driver and started to drag him out.
“Okay,” she breathed. “We’re all alive. We’re going to stay alive. Why are people shooting at us?” She tried to focus on the facts, but when a dark car began to creep down the road toward them, she felt the panic set in again.
“Dad? Another car is coming. If we’re going to hide, we need to do it now.”
“Duck into the trees,” her father ordered.
“What about you?” she cried out as the car got closer and closer.
“I’m coming. I can’t just leave this man behind,” her father said as he struggled to pull the man around the car. Unwilling to leave her father behind, Tamrin went to help him.
Her father glared at her, but he didn’t order her away again. When the car stopped, three men got out. “Mr. and Ms. Lewis? We’re the Khalidizack guards. You’re safe. Come with us.”
Immediately, her father began to pull the driver toward the guards.
“Can we trust them?” she asked as she held her ground. She looked past the car, but the road was still empty.
“They weren’t the ones shooting at us,” her father said grimly. “Come on.”
For a moment, Tamrin only stared at her father. In the whole mess, she had not once looked out the window to see who was shooting at them. And neither did he. So if he knew that the guards weren’t the ones who shot at them, then he already knew who did.
What the hell was going on?
5
Jaymin watched anxiously as his guards returned with Tamrin and her father. Blood stained both of their hands. “Were you shot? They didn’t say you were hurt. I’ll call the doctor.”
“It’s not our blood, but we do still need a doctor,” Tamrin said without even looking at him. “Your driver hit his head pretty bad when we crashed, but he hasn’t been shot.”
For a moment, he just stared. Then he remembered that he was in charge, and he pushed his concern for Tamrin aside. Now was not the time to wonder about the beautiful woman’s sudden personality change. He didn’t have time for that.
“Take the driver into the lounge and call for the doctor. I want security doubled at the gates and two men on each of my brothers and my father. And I want to know who was shooting at my guests. Now,” he ordered. Immediately, his men scrambled. Jaymin focused on Tamrin and her father. He knew that he didn’t have to worry about his guards. They were trained to perform easily under all kinds of pressure. A shooter wouldn’t shake them.
Tam
rin, on the other hand, was still shaking. He yearned to take her in his arms and reassure her that he would protect them, but he knew she would shrug it off. Even in the wake of her panic, he could see the coldness in her eyes. Something was wrong.
“I’m afraid that this time, I must insist that you stay here. Since I have to assume that whoever shot at you is connected to the missing necklace, this is on me, and you will remain here for your safety.”
Sean shook his head. “It’s not on you, son.”
“We’ll stay,” Tamrin said abruptly. “Someone shot at you, Dad.” She glared at Jaymin, and for a moment, he could have sworn that she blamed him. It was just as well. He also blamed himself.
“If that will make you feel better,” Sean said softly.
“I’m going to coordinate with the guards,” Jaymin muttered. “I’ll have someone go to the hotel to collect your things.” Reaching over to the intercom on the wall, he summoned two members of the household staff. “If you’ll follow these ladies, they’ll show you to your rooms. I’ll see you again for lunch.”
Unable to help himself, he reached over to brush his hand over Tamrin’s arm. “I’ll take care of you.”
“I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself,” she said without inflection as she pulled away. Taking her father’s arm, she left Jaymin alone in the foyer.
“What the hell?” Jaymin muttered as he left the house and jogged down the front steps. At no point had he thought a theft would turn into a shooting, and he couldn’t even begin to figure out Tamrin. But right now, his main focus was protecting his father and his family. That meant trying to figure out the identity of the shooter and who they were after.
The guard at the gate saw Jaymin coming and already had the door unlocked for him. “Sheikh Khalidizack. How can I help you?”
“I want the video from the last hour sent to the head of security. The shooter had to follow them from the palace, and I want images of that car. How far out do the cameras scan?”