The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress Page 0,11

she was in this position in the first place.

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Hassan looked up as two of his security forces walked into his office. He’d been expecting them as soon as he’d gotten the phone call a half hour ago telling him that Dana had been attacked in the market. “Explain,” Hassan said to Fudar, his jaw clenched and his anger simmering ever since that call. His Dana was in danger and he was furious that he hadn’t been there to protect her. Nor had these men been in a position to help her either, a further irritant that he meant to resolve as soon as he had enough information to form a plan.

The two men bowed but then straightened and looked their king in the eyes. “She was magnificent, Your Highness. Two men were coming at her from opposite sides and she knew exactly what to do. She’s trained, although not very experienced.” Fudar stood up straighter. As the more senior of the two guards, it was his duty to relay the situation and he went into details about the attack and how they’d apprehended the men who had dared to attack the woman under their care. They finished the recitation by explaining, “She had them on the ground in less than two minutes, Sire.”

“She was hesitant to hurt them, sir,” the second man said. “She’s a very gentle warrior.”

“Fudar,” Hassan said, standing up and rubbing the bridge of his nose, “Explain to me how she was even allowed to be in danger.”

“You asked that we follow her but not let her know we were there, sir. We were following her throughout the market and were busy detaining the other two men who had been following her initially. We didn’t know that there were four of them until the other two attacked her by the fruit vendors. The two we currently have in custody aren’t talking yet. But they will.”

“Fine.” He looked around, trying to calm down and hating the worry that was on him right now. He wanted to announce to the world that this woman was his, but he had no claim on her other than as an employee. Regardless of how much his body wanted to possess her, she was off limits.

And then it hit him. She’d overcome two armed men? His sweet, gentle Dana, the woman who had been crying about seeing a spider under her desk had won a fight with two men? He had to smile at the idea, not really able to imagine it happening.

“Tell me about her moves,” he commanded and glared at the two men while he listened. As they went through their descriptions, the simmering anger he had been feeling transformed slightly into pride. The anger was still there, but it was tempered by the fact that she had come out of it unharmed.

“And you say there’s not a bruise on her?”

“No, Your Highness. She was very good and kept them from even touching her in any way,” Fudar confirmed.

“You escorted her home? And there’s a guard outside her apartment?”

Fudar was already shaking his head. “She came right back to the palace, Your Highness. She didn’t veer towards her apartment in any way. It was as if she knew that the palace was safer than her apartment. She did well, thinking through the options, Your Highness.”

His chest swelled with pride. Not only was his little woman a good fighter, she was also cool under pressure and thought through a tactical retreat. “She’s here? Where is she?”

“She is in the kitchen sir. Two guards are stationed outside each doorway and one is in the kitchen itself watching her. We are still under orders to be inconspicuous, Sire.”

“Good. Don’t let her know we saw what happened in the marketplace. I don’t know why, but she doesn’t want me to be aware that she’s in trouble. Any luck on tracking the call she received the other day on her cell phone?”

“It came from New York City but the phone was a throw away, paid with cash at a small store. Untraceable.”

“No other leads?”

“We are looking into her background, trying to find a reason someone would want to hurt her. As yet, we don’t have any clues but we’ll continue to look.”

“Good. Keep at it and let me know what you find out.” He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. “In the meantime, I’m going to try and find out who this spider is that is trying to get to her. If I find