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'Because...' Laura hesitated . 'Because this a delicate matter for nobody's ears other than your own . ' Her words were tantalising-deliberately so, he suspected .
'How intriguing, ' he murmured’. Tell me do you like to tease and play games? Are you like this in bed? Or are you going to stop being coy and tell me more'?'
Laura flushed deeply at his sexual taunt but she was in no position to flounce out-and the best way to deal with such behaviour was to ignore it.
'Certainly, Monsieur de Maistre ' she said crisply . 'I'm actually here on behalf of someone else. As a representative of Sheikh Zahir of Kharastan’.
Xavier stilled . He was rarely surprised by anything, but this woman had succeeded in doing just that and-inexplicably-his heart missed a beat. A sheikh? Yet he had no business interests in that part of the world .
‘I do not understand ' he said softly .
‘I don't expect you to. But I will attempt to explain . ' Laura took a deep breath remembering her plan for how best to broach this. 'You have heard of Kharastan perhaps'?'
‘I have heard of most countries’. He stared at her unhelpfully .
'You know that it's an extremely wealthy mountain state which borders on the ancient country of Maraban'?' She was met with an obdurate expression of pure steel .
‘I do not need a geography lesson from you,' he said in a voice which was soft with menace. 'And neither do I need you preparing the ground to cushion the effect of what it is you are about to say. You have been granted access to me and my time is precious'. So either you tell me why you are here or you get out. '
Laura had been intending to lead into the subject gradually-but she could see the impatience sizzling from him the irritation which was burning from his black eyes, and she knew that there was no time for any groundwork.
'I'm here to talk about your father ' she said quietly .
Xavier froze as if she had turned him to stone but beneath the stone his heart gave a strange and painful lurch as she strayed into forbidden territory . He took a step closer to her lowering his voice so that it was an accusatory whisper.
'How dare you bring up a matter as personal as my parentage'?' he questioned menacingly 'You who are nothing more than a stranger to me. How dare you'?' Laura didn't flinch beneath the accusation which burned from his eyes, telling herself that he had the right to be angry, that anyone wo
uld have been angry in similar circumstances.
‘I am merely carrying out orders ' she answered and prayed that she wouldn't stumble over these precious and important words. She was aware of the burden of responsibility which lay so heavily on her shoulders and suddenly realized that her boss had been economical with the truth. There was no such thing as 'easy money ' .
He took a step towards her-the silent menacing step of a predator. 'Whose orders? Dites-moi ' he hissed . 'TeII me what you know. ' Laura drew a deep breath realising that there was no way to prepare for this or cushion against its impact. He needed to hear the facts in all their stark and compelling simplicity.
'I'm here on a mission because of who you are-or who we think you are. You see, there is reason to believe that you are the son of the Sheikh of Kharastan ' she said quietly.
CHAPTER TWO
XAVIER felt a strange sensation as Laura spoke to him. He could hear a muffled roaring in his ears, and yet he felt curiously detached from his own body. It was as if he had floated up to the summit of the room and was looking down on the scene, in the way people sometimes described a near-death experience.
He was a man who had-necessarily and ruthlessly-subdued anything which came close to emotion. Had that not been the way he had been taught to survive? Yet now he was experiencing feelings which were unsettling him and threatening his equilibrium-and her words seem to echo round and round in his head.
'Here Is reason to believe yeti are the son of the Sheikh . . . ' AII he could see was the woman who had come out with such a shocking announcement, with her pale face and her thick dark red hair.
'You lie' he breathed.
'No! Why would I lie about something like that'?' Logic and reason told him that her statement was nothing but far-fetched fantasy, and yet in the back of Xavier's mind was a nagging doubt which stubbornly refused to be silenced.
For hadn't he always felt that he was different? He had grown up in poverty in the Marais, in a time before it had become one of the most fashionable places in Paris. During Xavier's youth there had simply been lots of old and dirty houses where artisans would live and work- surrounded by small restaurants, narrow streets and few shops. He and his mother had lived in a tiny garret originally meant for servants-but amid the squaller his mother had worked every hour to provide a good home for her only child .
The exterior of the house in which they'd lived might have been crumbling and depressing, but inside it had been a haven. The walls clean and bright, the curtains crisp and perfectly pressed. There had always been soup or a pot bubbling away on the stove-a jug of fresh flowers on the table.
And if his mother had been bitter-so what?-it had been easy to escape from the occasional tense atmosphere at home. If you walked south a block or So you would get a view with the dizzy, imposing height of Notre Dame and the lavish, stained glass splendour of La Sainte-chapelle.
Sometimes Xavier would go there after school and look at the soaring monuments, and vow that one day he would break free from his poverty stricken world and live surrounded by beauty and space.
His mother had forced books upon her clever son-'For only in education lies an escape from poverty', she'd used to tell him-and she had discouraged him from loitering around the streets with other boys his age.
But Xavier had not cared for the company of his peers, and they had always viewed him with a certain degree of suspicion-his lofty, ambitious attitude and his outstanding looks marking him out. The mane of raven hair, the dark, luminous skin and jewel-black eyes had branded him as someone different from the rest of them.
