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He saw the blood.
Raking his fingers through his hair, he drew in a hard, frustrated breath before turning away and stalking back to the drink he had sat on the table next to the couch and tossed it back quickly. Grimacing at the burn as it traveled down his throat, Khalid wondered if he would ever erase the sins of the past from his soul.
His jaw clenched as memories and rage threatened to flood him. It had been ten years, and still he couldn't get the sight of it, the horror of it, out of his head.
He could still hear Abram's howls of rage as they echoed through their father's desert palace. He could see the woman he and Abram had pledged themselves to, spread out upon her marriage bed, naked, her gaze staring in blank horror at the ceiling above the bed, blood covering her body and the satin sheets, and pooling between her thighs.
And now, here he was, so many years later, tempting that horror to strike once again.
"The day will come, brothers," Ayid had warned them in a letter sent to both Khalid and Abram weeks later, "when you will claim a woman that is yours rather than another's. The day will come when you will cling to one heart. And when it does, we will be there. We will strike. And you will know it was your actions that took the life of the one you love. Just as your actions took ours. "
Khalid knew he must be insane, because there wasn't a chance in hell that he could endure the pain Abram had endured when he lost Lessa. Should he lose Marty to the vindictive cruelties of his half brothers, he would go on a killing rampage unlike any Ayid and Aman could imagine.
Even knowing it was more than he could endure, he couldn't stay away from her. Not anymore. But more important, she had declared herself, and Marty wasn't backing down in spite of what she had said a week ago. He knew Marty too well. Even if Khalid didn't respond, his brothers would take notice of her eventually.
And with that knowledge came the realization that to have her, he would have to protect Marty as he had never been able to protect another. And there was one man, besides Abram, who he trusted to help him do that.
Moving from the meeting room, Khalid strode down the stairs to the main bar where he found Shayne sitting in solitude, as he normally did, a newspaper raised as he lounged comfortably in one of the recliners in the corner of the large room.
The CIA agent claimed, to the members who dared question his presence, that he was on vacation, though Khalid was well aware that the man had never had a vacation in his life. Not a true one. Shayne had been the first to warn Khalid of the rumblings heard in Saudi of the Mustafa's brothers' plans to strike against him and had helped set up today's meeting with Abram. He had come to warn him. But he would stay to protect the woman he had become fond of over the years.
"Shayne. " Khalid took a seat on the sofa across from him.
The newspaper lowered slowly. The other man looked back at him, his expression curiously bland, though his light brown eyes danced with knowledge. "I will require a third. " Khalid kept his voice low but his intentions clear.
Shayne folded the paper before laying it carefully on the low table between them.
"Do you think it's the best time for this?" Shayne tilted his head questioningly as his gaze darkened with a hint of disapproval.
"I believe it is. " Khalid nodded. "Ayid and Aman are planning to strike, as we always knew they would. Marty is not going to back down, and resisting her isn't something I believe I can do for much longer. "
Explaining himself wasn't something Khalid did well, but in this case, the explanation was required. How to protect her, how to shelter and keep her safe would have to be discussed, questioned, and planned in exacting detail. That would require more than just explanations, and he would have to face others besides Shayne. He would have to face her fathers.
Looking around the nearly deserted room, Shayne slid the recliner back into its upright position before leaning forward. "They don't know about her yet. There's a very good chance we can keep her out of this," he began.
Khalid waved that suggestion away. "There's no way to keep her out of it. She will draw their attention once they decide to make their move. The question remaining is how to protect her while we're resolving the situation. "
Shayne nodded before his gaze narrowed and his expression became thoughtful, intent.
"We've always known this was a dangerous game we were playing where your half brothers are concerned. I had hoped we'd have the proof the Saudi government required by now. "
Khalid sighed wearily. "They're smart. They wouldn't have survived so long otherwise. "
"What about Abram?"
Khalid understood the question Shayne was asking, he merely preferred to ignore it.
"I do not require his permission," Khalid stated firmly.
"The two of you share a past in this," Shayne pointed out, his gaze narrowing at Khalid's deliberate attempt to avoid the subject. "I admit, I expected you'd make him the offer instead. "
"Abram has other responsibilities, and what is in the past is long buried. "
Shayne slowly nodded. "As long as that's where we stand. If you intend to introduce her to any other as a potential third, then I'll decline if it's all the same to you. "
Khalid was more amused at the other man's attempts to control some part of this relationship with Marty than angry, though anger wasn't far behind. It was rather a good thing that he had developed the patience he had over the years.
"I understand. " Khalid nodded soberly as he began to rise to his feet. "Forgive me for disturbing you. "
