One Desert Night - By Maggie Cox Page 0,46

thoughts of something bad happening to your sister. Just believe in the good things.'

Zahir shook his head as though amazed. 'And where did you acquire this great wisdom, I would like to know?' Heaving a sigh, he looked thoughtful. 'I extracted a promise from the rebel leader last night that there would be no more violence in retaliation for his imprisonment,' he confided. 'Some of my guards will go into the hills to make sure that promise is kept. They will see that his men go home to their wives and families. I told him things would go better for him if he lets it be known that he wants this, too, and he agreed. But be assured I will be taking no more chances. The fact of the matter is that being ruler of a kingdom means that you sometimes have to make difficult decisions in the name of the greater good. In light of recent disturbing events both you and my sister will have a regular guard. No more will I trust that I can reason with men who see violence as the only way to keep their families fed and clothed. Now, as much as I desire to stay here with you for the rest of the day, my tempting, beautiful Gina, I have my work to do, and you must return to your room and rest. I will give orders for breakfast to be brought up to you.'

'But I don't want to stay in my room and rest, Zahir. I want to get on with the inventory.'

'And what if you feel unwell or faint again?' he challenged, a flare of irritation in his glance.

'I won't feel unwell.'

'So you are a seer now? You can foretell the future, perhaps?'

That made Gina smile. 'Of course I can't. But I do know my own constitution, and I'm more resilient that I look.'

'Resilient and determined, I'd say...and clearly extremely stubborn!'

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. 'I'd rather be occupied doing something that interests me than having time on my hands to frighten myself with thoughts of what happened yesterday.'

'Hmm...' Zahir tipped his head to the side. 'Maybe, in that case, it would be better if you occupied yourself with the inventory. All right, then, I will not stop you from carrying on with it if you want to do it—but only on the proviso that you are sensible and do not overtax yourself.'

Giving her a hard warm kiss on the mouth that could have turned lingeringly seductive if he'd willed it, he ruffled her hair with a rueful grin, then got out of their makeshift bed to dress.

CHAPTER NINE

JAKE RIVER'S door was open as Gina passed by on the way to the terrace for breakfast. It was the first morning since she'd been at the palace that her hunger was really sharp. Lovemaking with Zahir had certainly given her an appetite. But that changed when she saw Jake's packed suitcase, lying open on his bed.

She rapped her knuckles lightly on the door, and he called out to her to 'Come in!' in a tone that was agitated and impatient.

"Jake? What's happening? You look like you're leaving.'

He adjusted his glasses on his nose, and his glance was preoccupied as he dropped a couple of folded Hawaiian shirts on top of the already packed clothing. 'You've got it in one. That's exactly what I'm doing Gina...leaving!'

'Why?'

'Do you even have to ask after what happened to you yesterday?' He jerked his head towards her disparagingly, clearly indicating the light pink chiffon scarf she'd looped and fastened gently round her neck to hide the bruising. 'First the Sheikh gets wounded by a gunshot, then you get half strangled by some maniac in the marketplace! I'm sorry, but I value my own neck far more than any kudos I might get researching the history of that blasted jewel—a jewel which, by the way, His Highness hasn't even had the decency to show us yet, after all our hard work!'

'The man who shot His Highness and the one who dragged me from my chair in the marketplace yesterday are both in a high-security prison now. It was just a localised skirmish, and the rebels are being helped to disband now that their leader has been imprisoned—no doubt they're probably worried about being thrown into jail themselves. Presumably they've all got families to feed. So there's no need for you to abandon your work and run away.'

'And how do you know these guys are in prison?'

Feeling