One Desert Night - By Maggie Cox Page 0,48

hope? If your bruises are still sore I can apply some of that salve.'

'Don't worry about that. I'm fine.' She absently touched the chiffon scarf round her neck. 'Mind if I join you?'

The other woman moved a bit further down the bench with the briefest glimmer of a smile. 'Please do.'

Out of the corner of her eye Gina saw a palace bodyguard dressed in a dark jalabiya and traditional headgear, observing them from the mosaic tiled archway that led into a more formal garden. At the end of the hall, where her room was situated, another similarly dressed bodyguard had been stationed by the narrow window. Zahir had clearly meant business when he'd promised that she and her sister would have protection. Right then Gina didn't know whether she welcomed the idea or not. The presence of a bodyguard might act as an unwanted reminder of the incident in the marketplace. She didn't want to walk round glancing over her shoulder every five minutes.

'What's the matter, Farida? You look sad this morning.'

Her companion sighed. 'I did a wrong thing, taking you to the marketplace yesterday. Not only did you get hurt because that man mistook you for me, but now Zahir is furious with me. I fear I have alienated him, when he is the last person in the world I want to be alienated from.'

Automatically Gina reached for one of the slim small hands folded in the lap of the black dress and squeezed it gently. 'I doubt that you could ever alienate your brother, Farida. His love for you is unconditional and devoted. If he blames anyone for what happened I think it's more likely he blames himself.'

The almond-shaped dark eyes before her widened. 'How do you know this?'

A niggle of alarm fluttered through Gina's insides. She must be more careful about revealing her opinions on the man known as His Highness. Farida had no idea that they were having an intimate relationship, that they'd met before, or that her brother had revealed certain fears to her about his sister.

She wouldn't be so indelicate as to suggest that she'd received the information from him personally. It might cut her to the quick that Zahir was happy to take her as his mistress and not his wife, but that was between the two of them and as far as Gina was concerned would remain a strictly private matter.

She retrieved her hand to run it over the blush-pink dress she had donned that morning. 'I'm just guessing, that's all—though I can clearly tell that you're the most important thing in the world to him. It can't be easy being ruler of a kingdom...being responsible for so many important decisions. That's what I meant. Your brother obviously takes his duties very seriously, and it must grieve him when thing go awry.'

'It does.' The other girl's gaze was clearly examining her as she kept it trained on Gina. 'I pray I don't offend you by saying this, Gina, but I have noticed that my brother takes a particular interest in your wellbeing...not just as someone he has hired to do a professional job for him, but as someone he seems to care personally about. Yesterday, when he knew you were hurt, I could see that he was distressed—more distressed that I have seen him for a long time, I think. Am I wrong to suspect there might be something between you...something more than just a strictly professional association?'

There was nowhere to hide. As much as she wanted to be careful and diplomatic, Zahir's sister had become a friend, and Gina wanted to respond with the same open and honest approach that she had extended to her.

She grimaced a little. A small trickle of perspiration slid down between the valley of her breasts. 'I met His Highness once before...when I first come to Kabuyadir. It was three years ago, and I had been hired to make an inventory of Mrs Hussein's rare book collection. I had just heard that my mother had been taken ill and was in hospital, and I was due to fly home the next day to see her. The Husseins were having a graduation party for their nephew, and your ran into me in the garden. I was upset and he was kind to me. I had no clue at the time who he was.'

Glancing round, in case Zahir himself suddenly appeared, Gina sighed and then carried on. 'We had—we had an instant connection. The kind of once-in-a-lifetime thing