It wasn’t as if Harb could come after her if word about their true arrangement got out, but the thought of having to face everyone at the palace knowing...and everyone in the world... It threw her. “So things are strained because you married someone else?”
“Things are strained in part because I married someone else. And as a result of that, a trade deal between our two nations stalled out.”
“Well...” Laila’s cheeks burned. The world loomed large around her, and the museum visit crept farther out of reach. “I shouldn’t have anything to do with your political dealings. It’s only a visit. I could go in disguise, not on the official calendar...”
“It’s simply not politically advisable,” Zayid said, his tone hard as bedrock. “If it’s discovered that you’ve visited unofficially, it’ll be taken as an offense, a refusal of their hospitality or a sign of distrust. If we request an official visit, it gives them a bargaining chip to hold over us in our negotiations.”
“Wouldn’t it be a way to let them know there’s more to your two countries than an engagement that didn’t pan out?” countered Laila.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Zayid said flatly. “The visit won’t happen until the trade agreement is settled. And this decision—my decision—is final.”
11
Laila paced her suite, muttering under her breath. A controlling husband had been exactly what she was trying to escape when she married Zayid in the first place. There was no reason she couldn’t make an undercover visit to the museum. Who would be the wiser? If she wasn’t in an evening gown with professional makeup done, nobody would recognize her as Zayid’s wife.
Nobody would recognize her.
She snapped her fingers. What she needed now was to get out of the palace for some reason—any reason. And if she didn’t take a full security detail and a backup SUV filled with extra staff from the palace, she could do it undetected.
Laila knew the perfect place to go. The pottery school. What had Talif said? In the market, off the fountain courtyard. If she couldn’t go to the museum next week, she’d go to the school now and give in to her adventurous spirit. At least a little.
“Maha!” The woman was at the doorway instantly, as if she’d been hovering outside waiting. “I’m going to the market.”
Maha nodded. “I’ll call in to the crown prince’s office.”
“Wait.” Laila put a hand on Maha’s arm. “I want to go in a disguise.” She watched Maha’s face change into an expression of skepticism. “A veil. Something that will blend in. ” Laila said quickly. “I’ll take a bodyguard. But I don’t want to travel with fifty people from the palace. I want to make a visit as me, not Zayid’s wife.”
Maha frowned. “The crown prince may not—”
“Call him and put in the request.” Laila’s heart lifted at the thought of being out in the market without every eye turned on her. She could go to the pottery school. If the timing was right, she could attend a class. “Call him right now, Maha. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
Maha swept from the room, headed for a tiny office with a direct line to Zayid’s secretary. Laila rocked on the balls of her feet. If he said no, she might explode. The palace was a sprawling place, filled with art and antiques and luxury, but she didn’t want luxury. Not now. Zayid’s face had been so stern when she asked about the museum visit. He was probably going to say no, and then—what would she do then? Summon Talif to the palace? Ugh. That wasn’t what she wanted, either.
Maha came back wearing a cautious smile and carrying a long veil. “We have the crown prince’s permission.”
Laila clapped her hands. “Give me that veil. I can’t wait.”
Thirty minutes later, one of the palace drivers let Maha and Laila out a block down from the fountain courtyard at the market. The fountain itself was a massive sculpture of sandstone, the water glistening off the golden-brown surface. The crowd moved and shifted around it, with couples coming to sit on its lower ledge to eat and chat and exchange details about purchases. Conversation rose into the air and bounced off the low buildings on either side, each one filled with goods and customers. The aroma of roasting meat floated over all of it.
Laila’s bodyguard scanned the area for a long moment before giving them the go-ahead. “I’ll be close by, Your Highness.”
And then she was set free in the