The Sheikh’s Tempted Prisoner by Holly Rayner Page 0,33
before grabbing at me and making it look like I was the one instigating something. She is a spiteful and vindictive woman, and she had her heart set on destroying you. She just happened to destroy me in the process.”
Atnan’s words poured from him in a heartfelt plea as Kaveh listened quietly.
“No. That can’t be true. Asha was many things, but I do not believe that she would stoop so low.”
“But you believe that I would—in spite of everything you know about me?”
Kaveh spun back around, his eyes dark and stormy.
“Everything I know about you? Like how you’re the golden boy our father loved best? Like how you’ve been groomed to run this country all your life while I’ve had to work my youth away, trying to carve an existence for myself outside of the being Sheikh’s half brother? You’ve been the nation’s shining favorite all your life. What do you know about life? You’re used to having everything given to you—even women! Even when they say no!”
“You have nothing to base that on outside your own petty jealousy. Admit it! Listen to your own words! You have nothing to go on save the assumption that I believe I am better than you. I do not believe that, Kaveh. I never have. You think it’s been easy waiting for my turn to run the country, to have so many lives dependent on my decisions?”
Kaveh was silent as he took in Atnan’s words. There was clearly a lifetime of resentment sizzling beneath the surface of his bravado, and Lily watched as though observing a tennis match as the two brothers expressed years of pent-up anger.
“Even still, my mother was always seen as a replacement, second best to yours. The country loved your mother and resented mine. We were always considered beneath you, even by our father.”
“Why do you believe that? Where is this coming from? Why didn’t you tell me these thoughts sooner so I could dispel them?”
Kaveh scoffed, but his anger was slowly draining. His shoulders began to lower ever so slightly.
“That’s neither here nor there. The point of all this is that you are guilty of assault and should be imprisoned.”
“I should not. Asha came on to me, and you know it!”
Kaveh stared at him silently. Atnan’s face fell as realization dawned.
“You know it. You know it because you’re the one who had her do it, aren’t you? You wanted to frame me because you wanted me to get what you believed I deserved. You wanted me to be humbled or, worse, ousted completely!”
When Kaveh gave no response, the truth of Atnan’s words hung in the air like a hot, heavy blanket, suffocating them all.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out? I spent the past six months researching and speaking with witnesses, getting the information I needed to clear my name. I stayed hidden because I didn’t want it to be true. I didn’t want to believe my own brother would stoop so low. I suppose you must be beneath me, then; half brother barely warrants the name after what you’ve done.”
Kaveh sighed, running a heavy palm over his eyes. He looked utterly defeated.
“Of course I knew you weren’t responsible. Shiva was a jealous and vindictive woman, which was why I ended things with her. When she suggested we play a trick on you, to put a tiny dent in your perfect reputation, I couldn’t refuse. A man can be told that he is worthless only so many times before he snaps.”
The brothers glared at one another, and Lily’s brain worked quickly.
As mad as she was at Kaveh for what he had done to Atnan, the truth was that any more animosity would simply end in heartbreak for all of them. She had to find a way to get them to see that there was more to life than petty competition, especially when power was wielded by those involved. Kaveh could spend the rest of his life finding ways to persecute Atnan, and Atnan could easily have him jailed or exiled given his own status. It was a path that Lily knew neither man would walk down happily, and if she had a chance to fix it, she would.
She cleared her throat, startling the two men.
“Okay, so you guys have had some royal fights, and frankly, I think what Kaveh did was horrible. Was there ever a time, though, that you two were friends—before these issues drove a wedge between you? There has to have been a