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‘So you often share a bed with men you have no relationship with?’
‘Not often, no...’
He didn’t get her nervous humour—the vague joke that had shot out, because Maggie had never shared a bed with a man in her life.
‘When these sex tapes surface...’
She laughed.
Possibly it was the shock of being stranded in the desert that made it such a nervous laugh. Or perhaps it was the irony that she, a twenty-four-year-old virgin, was being accused of taking part in some salacious scandal with a royal prince.
‘You find this funny?’ he checked.
‘A little,’ Maggie said. ‘Well, I find it bizarre—although possibly it’s a nervous reaction—but, yes, the thought of me appearing in a sex tape is laughable.’
He frowned and Maggie guessed this foreboding man had no idea what being nervous felt like, and neither would he laugh easily. She spoke on, eager to clear up the mistake. ‘I can assure you there are no sex tapes—at least, none with me in them.’
He said nothing.
‘I had sunstroke,’ Maggie explained. ‘I just went to lie down.’
‘You’ve recovered quickly,’ he mused. ‘Given that you were well enough to go on your little tour.’ He seemed to tire of her then. ‘We will speak later.’ He called out in Arabic and there was the sound of small bells and two women dressed in black came in. ‘Go and make yourself presentable.’
‘Presentable?’ Her voice was incredulous, but then nerves flooded in as she was terribly aware he had seen photos of her with very little on and perhaps that was his reason for bringing her here. ‘If you think for one moment—’
‘Go and clean up,’ Ilyas interrupted.
‘The only thing that needs cleaning up is your mistake,’ Maggie said. ‘You can’t keep me here. I’m due to fly home on Monday.’
‘What time?’
‘In the morning.’
‘How convenient,’ he said, ‘when the tapes are due to be released at midday.’ He shook his head. ‘You aren’t going anywhere yet, but we shall speak later. There are still a couple of hours till sunlight and you should get some sleep. I would prefer to speak when you are properly rested. Your laughter in the face of something so serious is concerning. That sunstroke you mentioned perhaps?’
‘I didn’t have sunstroke,’ she finally admitted.
‘I know.’
‘I think my drink might have been spiked.’
He said nothing.
‘And I’m not tired,’ Maggie said. ‘Far from it.’
‘But you have had such a long day,’ he said, ‘out on the yacht, entertaining my brother, and then your star-gazing trip...’
His words dripped sarcasm but that didn’t faze Maggie in the least.
‘You forgot to add being kidnapped,’ Maggie said, as if he’d missed adding milk to the shopping list!
He didn’t smile.
Ilyas didn’t evenalmostsmile.
There was no move to his features, at least none that she could see. ‘What did you expect to happen?’ he asked. ‘You are blackmailing the house of al-Razim. Did you think we would merely transfer the funds?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
