The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress
Elizabeth Lennox - The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress
The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress
Elizabeth Lennox
romance/billionaire
Chapter 1
Dana stared at the elderly chief of staff with growing horror. “But….I really don’t want to be promoted,” she said through stiff lips that could barely move from the fear caving in on her, the metallic taste of terror overwhelming the sandalwood and coffee scents that normally permeated this man’s office. “I’m perfectly happy in my current role.” Even the normal low hum off office noises faded as the blood pounded through her brain, blocking out everything but the panic.
This was really bad. Her current position as an office assistant was perfect, keeping her in the background and giving her the anonymity she craved, a state of being she hadn’t had in a long time and something she desperately needed.
Forget the extra pay, Dana thought anxiously. She wanted to be invisible. She needed to be just a face in the crowd that no one noticed, no one looked at twice. Her assistant’s position was challenging, interesting and, what was more important, it didn’t give her any visibility.
Being promoted to a senior assistant’s role was a much more obvious position. Because of the previous year, being noticed meant danger, something she’d traveled halfway around the world to avoid. She wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. Unfortunately, the chief of staff wasn’t a man one could argue with. He laid down the rules and the rest of the staff followed. That had been fine before but she had to really think hard to come up with a good reason to not accept that promotion.
“I’m really not qualified for this role, sir. There are so many people more deserving of this promotion that…”
Omar Suleiman, the Sheik of Odar’s Chief of Staff, interrupted her impatiently, waving his hand in front of him as if the conversation were over. He’d made his decision and he rarely allowed arguments, much less discussion from office personnel. “You’ve earned it. Your work is excellent, you’re attention to detail has been noticed not to mention your fluency in Arabic, English and French, an important asset to His Highness. The role comes with a significant increase in salary, of course, not to mention prestige and a great deal of travel.”
Her head was spinning, and not from excitement but from the overwhelming urge to run and hide. “What happened to Mr. Kingsley? He’s been doing this job for the past twenty years. I thought he was happy in the role.”
“He has done an excellent job for the kingdom. But he has requested retirement and since he is now over seventy years old, we have granted this request.” This was said as if to inform Dana that she too would be expected to remain in the role until well after her expected retirement.
Her mind swam with the various possibilities or arguments against this promotion, anything that would get her out of this role. “I really don’t think….”
Omar’s eyebrows went down in irritation at her continued resistance to his plan. “Enough,” he said emphatically. “I know this is a bit much for you, but you will take the role if His Highness agrees that you fit the requirements. And you will continue to do an excellent job because I believe it is in your nature to be meticulous in your responsibilities. If you have any questions about anything that comes up, you may come directly to me for assistance.” He stood up from behind his desk, his long, white robes flowing behind him. “Come with me,” he ordered and walked out of the well appointed office, expecting Dana to simply follow because he’d ordered it.
And of course, she followed. One simply didn’t ignore the sheik’s chief of staff.
That was, until he started to lead her into the sheik’s office. “Why would we be going in there?” she asked, her voice choked and she hesitated before entering the room where decisions were made that could change the economy of massive countries. She peered inside, half expecting to see….well, she wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t an innocuous office setup.
Since the office was empty except for Omar, she entered and looked around, amazed at how gorgeous the office was. There were tall windows that let in sunshine and bookcases along one wall that went from the floor to the ceiling with a ladder that swung along a rail so a person could select books on any shelf. The furniture was dark and heavy, very masculine but it fit