by Dees, Cindy
“Call the police!” she shouted.
One of the bystanders stepped forward and grabbed her assailant’s arm. Several other people stepped forward after the first man took the lead. And her attacker abruptly seemed to think better of taking on an entire crowd. He leaped into the doorway of the van, crouching on its metal floor as it peeled away from the curb.
She looked up in horror just before it left and glimpsed a face she’d hoped never to see again in her life. Major Moubayed.
He mouthed down at her, I’ll be back.
As the van pulled away, she wasn’t surprised to see its license plate entirely obscured by mud. Handy, that.
The same man who’d confronted her attacker helped her to her feet. He was a gray-haired businessman in a wool coat and he carried a briefcase. “Are you all right?”
She smiled gratefully at him. “Yes, thanks to you.”
He shrugged off her appreciation. “You need to call the police right away, miss, and report that mugger.”
The man helped her dust herself off as she replied, “You’re right. I will.”
Indeed, when a cab finally stopped for her, she asked the driver to take her to the nearest police station. Shaking and fear set in about halfway there. How had Moubayed found her? He couldn’t possibly know where she was…unless he’d followed her from the InterAid offices. Of course! Sharaf had to know the powers that be at InterAid would call her immediately about his report. Moubayed knew exactly where she’d be, if not this morning, sometime very soon. All he’d had to do was stake out InterAid headquarters and wait for her to show up.
By the time the cab pulled up in front of the police precinct, Katy was breathing a little more normally and her knees felt as if they’d hold her weight without buckling. But she still felt shaky all over.
The police were sympathetic and helpful, taking a detailed report and promising to look into whether or not Moubayed was, in fact, in the United States. She didn’t believe for a minute, though, that they’d be able to do a darned thing to him if they found him. Even if the police did catch up with him, she’d bet he had a diplomatic passport in his pocket.
Regardless of what the police might find, she knew he was out there. Furthermore, he was clearly under orders to snatch her. She emphatically did not want to discover what Sharaf had planned for her when and if Moubayed nabbed her.
This was exactly what she’d feared. She and the baby were in no-kidding danger. She ought to call Nick and tell him about her little encounter with Moubayed, but he’d just insist she come to wherever he was staying and hide behind fences and armed guards. While that might be a reasonable short-term solution, it was not how she planned to live her entire life.
Problem was, it looked as though their secret was already out. Or at least suspected by Sharaf. It didn’t take any great thought to figure out why Nikolas Ramsey had married a relief worker he’d just met right before he was likely to die. It probably didn’t matter to Sharaf and company whether she was already pregnant or not. She represented the possibility of an heir by the simple fact that she was married to Nick.
The whole idea of being Mrs. Nikolas Ramsey still seemed too strange to be true. Had the beautiful passion between them been real at all? Or had it all been some sort of hallucination fueled by the stress of the whole situation?
Who was Nick Ramsey really? She barely knew him at all. And the man she was dealing with now bore little resemblance in any way to Prisoner 1806.
Reluctantly she dialed Nick’s phone number. He didn’t answer. She figured he must be on the other line discussing a matter of state with his advisors, again. She left him a message describing the attack and naming her attacker and then told him she was heading to her parents’ house.
She was being forced into hiding, darn it. But at least it would be on her terms and not Nick’s. Nonetheless, she didn’t like having to hide one bit. There had to be something they could do to get rid of Sharaf.
It was probably time to fess up to her family anyway. Her brothers and father were four of the smartest human beings she’d ever met. And frankly her mother was right up there with them. If anyone could cook up a plan to restore Nick’s throne and remove Sharaf not only from power but from Katy’s and Nick’s lives, it would be the collective McMann clan.
Besides, what else was family for if not rallying in a crisis?
Chapter 13
Nick stepped into the walnut-and-leather inner sanctum of the McMann Law Firm, Katy’s oldest brother Travis’s office. Katy’s brother looked a lot like her but with hazel eyes and light-brown hair. The same great bones, though. Classic good looks. Women jurors must swoon over him. “Mr. McMann, my name is Nikolas Ramsey.”
The attorney looked up in surprise. “As in the King of Baraq?”
“That’s correct.”
Travis stood and came around his desk. “Is it proper to shake hands with you, Your Highness?”
Nick laughed. “I don’t know. My advisors are still training me in such things.” He stuck out his own hand and the two of them duly shook.
“Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee?”
“No, thanks. Your secretary already got me some.”
McMann went behind his desk and sat. “I have to say, I’m surprised to see you. I was under the impression you—” a delicate pause “—were no longer with us.”
Nick laughed. “How did Mark Twain put it? Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated?”
“Apparently. What can I do for you today?”
“I need your help. I need to depose a dictator and I think you’re just the man to help me do it.”
Travis looked startled for a moment, which in a trial lawyer of his caliber meant he must be mightily surprised.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re family.”
“I beg your pardon?” Travis showed surprise for a second time, but it was more quickly masked.
“Perhaps I had better start at the beginning.”
“Good idea.” Travis leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers just as Nick’s lawyer in London did when he went into listening mode.
Instead of talking, Nick dug out his wallet. He pulled out a one-dollar bill, laid it on the desk and pushed it across the green leather blotter toward Travis.
“What this?” Katy’s brother asked cautiously.
“A retainer fee. I’d like to hire you as my lawyer. I don’t have a lot of cash on me at the moment, but I’ve got about five billion in my bank account, if you accept checks.”
“This works just fine,” McMann said with a chuckle as he took the dollar bill and deposited it in a desk drawer. He added dryly, “I gather, then, I don’t need to go over my hourly fees with you before we begin this conversation.”
Nick replied equally as dryly, “No, you don’t.”
“So. From the beginning, then,” Travis prompted.
Nick told him everything from the moment he got the phone call from Kareem telling him his father had died. He told of coming home, the funeral, the miserable state of the government, his plans for Baraq. Then the coup and hiding in jail as a common soldier. He took a deep breath and continued on, describing meeting Katy and conceiving a plan to leave behind an heir before he died.
Travis’s jaw rippled at that part. But then, he was Katy’s big brother. He was authorized to be outraged on her behalf. Nick pressed on into how she’d agreed to marry him and how he’d arranged their wedding.
Travis interrupted him at that point, exclaiming, “Are you telling me you’re married to my sister?”
Good thing Nick had put Travis on retainer before he’d told this tale. Otherwise, he got the distinct impression Travis might’ve leaped across his desk and punched him.
Nick replied, “That’s correct. And for the record, I love Katy and intend to stay married to her if she’ll have me.”
Travis’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, but he managed to say, “Continue.”
Nick omitted any m
ention of the mind-blowing lovemaking that ensued after their wedding and skipped right to the part where George Nagheb walked into his prison cell and asked King Nikolas to go with him. He concluded with a brief summary of how his advisors faked his death and spirited him out of Baraq to Washington, D.C., so he could negotiate for intervention and recover his throne.
Nick finally fell silent. Telling the story dredged up all the failure and despair of those weeks again. He was left feeling drained even now. It seemed as if he’d imagined it all, as if that whole agonizing month had never happened. It was enticing to just forget, pretend everything was fine, to take his billions and go live a life of leisure on the Riviera. Why put himself at risk again? He’d been incredibly lucky to escape Baraq with his life the first time. Why tempt fate?
And then he pictured the filthy, frightened faces of his fellow prisoners. Men who’d been willing to die for him. He thought of the bereaved families of the men who had died for him. He remembered the horror in Katy’s voice as she’d described women being flogged in the square.
He envisioned the face of a baby. His baby. He was going to be a father—a role model to a son or daughter—and that changed everything.
“How are your negotiations going?” McMann asked.
“They’re not. The United Nations refuses to do anything unless the United States first agrees to support me. And the U.S. isn’t showing any interest in interfering in the internal politics of another nation.”
“You have a plan to break this stalemate, though, or you wouldn’t be sitting here. Correct?”
Nick nodded. “That is correct. But before I get to that, I need to tell you about one more complication to this scenario.”
“Lay it on me.”
“Your sister and I are expecting a baby.”
That brought Travis straight out of his chair. “What?”
Retainer fee be damned, this guy was a brother first and foremost and he obviously cared a great deal for his sister. That pleased Nick. Although he could really do without a big-brotherly black eye.
Nick nodded. “I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m hoping the baby gets Katy’s beautiful blue eyes and her kind heart.”
That seemed to mollify Travis a bit. He subsided into his leather chair once more. But Nick fancied he saw a thin stream of steam rising off the top of Travis’s head.
Nick gave him a moment to collect himself and then said, “And now for the last bombshell. One of Sharaf’s men tried to kidnap Katy earlier this afternoon.” When McMann really did look ready to come over the desk this time, he added hastily, “I’ve spoken with her and she’s safe and at your parents’ home.”
McMann looked as though he could use a stiff drink. Nick waited until the attorney finally nodded for him to continue.
“That brings us to the present moment. Katy believes we should say nothing to anyone about the baby or else we’ll endanger the child’s life. I happen to disagree. At this point, Sharaf obviously knows Katy and I are married, and her life is in the same amount of danger whether or not he knows she’s pregnant.”
McMann nodded. “I’d say your logic is sound. So what do you plan to do about it?”
“The most important thing is to secure my family’s safety. Secondarily I want my throne back. And I can achieve both if I can get rid of Sharaf.”
McMann nodded cautiously. He looked worried that Nick was going to ask him to arrange for a hit man.
“As a short-term measure, I want to give Katy the entire contents of my London bank accounts. If Sharaf wants Baraq’s money, which I happen to know he does—desperately—he’ll dare not kill her. He may still try to kidnap her, but hopefully his greed will prevent him from letting his assassins murder her outright.”
“And your throne?”
“I need to arrange a press conference. I want to introduce Katy to the world as my wife. I plan to declare her my queen and announce that we are expecting an heir to the throne. And then I plan to pressure the living hell out of your government to support my country and its American queen and heir.”
“Little Katy a queen? Who’d have thunk?” McMann shook his head. And then the lawyer went silent. “And you’re sure the United States will back you when they find out about Katy?”
Nick replied, “That’s where you come in. I think you would be a better negotiator for me with the State Department than my advisors. We do not know the American mind as you do. Katy thinks you are the best litigator in the entire country. Plus, you’re family. You have a vested interest in seeing Katy safe. Who better to argue my case?”
McMann challenged, “Tell me one thing—are you going to be a decent king?”
Nick answered without hesitating. “I’ll do my very best. And with Katy at my side, I’m confident we’ll do right by Baraq.”
McMann replied slowly, “That’s a hell of a gauntlet you’ve just thrown at my feet.”
Nick looked McMann squarely in the eye. “Will you pick it up?”
Katy’s parents took the news that she’d gotten married and was expecting a baby surprisingly well. She got the impression they were glad at the order the two events had occurred in. Once they got over the initial shock, her mother immediately went into raptures over the arrival of her first grandchild, while her father latched on to the threat to her life.
Despite her protests, he called the security firm her brothers used, and the company sent over a couple men right away to keep an eye on Katy. Thankfully the pair of big, silent men chose to stand watch outside her parents’ home rather than hover around her. That would’ve driven her crazy.
As it was, panic tickled just below the surface of her thoughts, ever present and so close she could reach out and touch it. She really, really didn’t want to die.
It took her a while in the familiar surroundings of her parents’ house to relax enough to identify the other insidious and even deeper source of her panic.
She was scared to death over her disagreement with Nick. What business did she have being married to him if she couldn’t wrap her brain around this obsession of his with his country? It was a noble and entirely understandable quality in a king to be so committed to his people. But she wasn’t all that sure it translated into being a good husband and father.
If only she’d had any idea of all the baggage that came with Nick when he’d first asked her to have his baby!
Would she have still said yes?
That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, wasn’t it? She sighed. Those glorious stolen moments in his arms seemed a world away and a lifetime ago. If the two of them could somehow recapture that incredible chemistry, there would be no question but that she’d do it all over again.
But doubts kept insinuating themselves into her thoughts. Was he just an incredibly skilled lover who’d pleasured her outrageously while staying emotionally detached himself? Or had that time been as magical for him, too? If only she knew where his heart lay for sure.
The phone rang and Katy’s mother glanced at its digital face. “Oh, it’s Travis calling from his office. He really should work less. Maybe then he’d find himself a nice girl and give me some grandchildren, too.”
Her mother picked up the phone. “Hello, dear.” A pause, then gasped, “Oh. My goodness, I’m so sorry. Yes, she’s right here.”
Katy looked up in surprise.
“It’s your young man, Katrina. He’d like to speak with you.”
“Nick?”
“That’s right, honey.” Her mother put her hand over the receiver as she walked the telephone handset to Katy. “And he has a very nice voice.”
Katy rolled her eyes and took the phone. “Wait till you see him. He’s got a very nice everything.”
She put the phone up to her ear. “Hi, Nick.”
“Very nice, am I? Glad to hear you think so.”
Katy laughed. “You are and you darn well know it. What can I do for you?”
“Aah, it’s nice to hear your laughter again. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” The laughter faded from her voice.
“Do you have guards at the house with you now or should I send mine over?”
“Good grief, no! Keep your own bodyguards. You need them as much as I do. A couple giant thugs in black leather jackets with suspicious bulges under their armpits are outside now.”
“Thank God,” Nick said in heavy relief.
“So what are you doing calling me from Travis’s office?”
“Your brother and I have spent a most productive afternoon together. He’s a very bright fellow.”
She groaned. “You didn’t just say that in front of him, did you? He’s insufferable for days after anyone tells him how smart he is.”
It was Nick’s turn to laugh. “I like your brother a lot. I also hired him to be my attorney. He’s helping me implement a strategy to get rid of Sharaf so the three of us can get on with our lives in peace.”
Three? It took Katy a heartbeat to figure out who Nick was referring to. And then her heart tripped and stumbled for another beat.
“Darling,” Nick continued. “I need you to do me a favor. I’m going to send someone over to pick you up in a little while. I need you to put on some nice clothes—conservative-business-suit sort of clothes—and join me.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’d rather not say over the phone,” he said apologetically.
“Does this have to do with whatever you and Travis cooked up?”
“Indeed it does.”
“I don’t know whether to be put at ease by that or scared silly.”
“Well, what we’re planning affects your future, too. It seemed right to involve you in it, as well.”
“That does it. I’m scared silly.”
He laughed lightly. “Just put on a suit and I’ll have someone come over and get you.”
“Okay.”
“And Katy?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
She melted on the spot. Who cared if he was a king and she had to share him with an entire nation? How could she not love this man?