The Sheikh's Pregnant Wife - Leslie North Page 0,38

only to pull back. Kara thought the worst of him now. Rightfully so—he’d behaved horribly. But he’d win her back. He’d show her he’d had a change of heart. And that she had his heart. No matter what.

Four days later, Yaseen paced his office at the palace in Raihan. The situation in France hadn’t taken long to resolve—mostly because he pushed for a hasty resolution every step of the way. Now he was back where he belonged.

Time to make things right.

He looked through the paperwork in his hand, triple-checking that he hadn’t signed off on the final version. His official response to the proposal from Community Connections hadn’t been filed. He’d delayed it and was glad for it. He had things to fix.

A knock at the door broke into his thoughts, but it wasn’t the brother he expected.

“Nadim, what are you doing here?” His older brother, Zayid, followed a beat later.

“Don’t you wish I was at all your meetings?” said Nadim, hands over his heart.

Zayid nudged Nadim with an elbow. “Our parents have begun to bring the hammer down on Nadim’s directionless ways. They’ve assigned him to shadow me until he finds a suitable assignment.

Nadim rolled his eyes. “My ways aren’t directionless. I’m looking for my passion, not the first available routine.” His expression turned serious. “I’d gladly accept a hunt for something meaningful over being married off like the two of you have been. That would be easier than all the wedding fuss, and it would have the benefit of distracting them from my single status.” He leaned against Yaseen’s desk. “How are things with you and Kara, by the way? Is it the same as with Zayid?” He jerked his head in Zayid’s direction. “This man has never been happier.”

“I have never been happier,” agreed Zayid, but Yaseen saw the way his eldest brother looked at him. “What about you, Yaseen? This meeting sounded urgent.”

“Things are complicated at the moment.” That was all he was willing to reveal. “But that’s on me, not Kara.”

“Oh, no,” said Nadim. “I know that look. That’s the same look Zayid gets on his face when he talks about Laila.” He let his head fall forward with a groan. “When our parents learn about this, that even the second brother has fallen in love, they’ll be in full matchmaker mode.”

“Focus on something other than yourself, Nadim,” said Yaseen, tossing the papers back onto his desk. “Listen to me. I have a situation, and I have a plan.”

As Yaseen sat in a council meeting with his brothers and the councilmen, he could hardly stay still in his seat. The head council member read an endless list of facts and figures. Nadim gave up trying to appear interested ten minutes in.

“You’re failing miserably at this,” Yaseen whispered to him. His brother glared at him. “Don’t worry.” Yaseen patted his arm. “I’m about to make things interesting.”

“Thank you, Mahmoud,” he said, cutting the man off when he paused to take a breath. “It’s time to discuss a new policy I’m putting in place, effective today. Here are the details.” He passed around packets to everyone at the table. “I’ll sum them up for you. As head of Finance and Commerce, I’ve determined that we need to reorganize the way we handle our profits.” Silence reigned at the table. “From now on, twenty percent of the profit brought in by any government investments or government-owned or operated business—which will, of course, include all of our oil profits, profits from other natural resources, and profits from government-owned companies—must be invested in community-building projects in partnership with community organizations and local investors.”

Nadim did his level best to look surprised. Zayid looked up at Yaseen with a furrowed brow. “Is this policy retroactive?”

“Yes.” They’d discussed this in Yaseen’s office, and now each brother was playing his part. “First on the list is the money I salvaged during my emergency trip to Germany. Thanks to me, the government of Raihan has an extra five million dollars in the treasury. That means that one million dollars will be earmarked for the community and sports center in Mennah.”

He could see the Mahmoud preparing to interject, but Zayid steamrolled him. “I agree with this.” He put his packet down in front of him and tapped it with his knuckles. “It makes perfect sense.”

“And I wouldn’t mind having a project of my own,” Nadim said under his breath.

None of the councilmembers dared to challenge the crown prince on this. How could they argue against benefitting