AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘A family thing.’
And then, before he could stop her, she’d leaned over, clasped his wrist, turned it in her hand and read the time on his watch. It was not sensual, no trace of practised flirtation, it was perfunctory and over in a matter of seconds, but those seconds had branded him like molten metal.
‘I have to get back. I need to find out what happened to His Majesty Sheikh Omar’s daughter before it closes for the day,’ and, before he could say goodbye, she’d slipped through the doorway, passed the seven large suited men, none of whom could take their eyes off her, and disappeared into the exhibition.
That night, Star returned to the hotel after discovering that Omar’s daughter had been forced to marry a Turkish prince and felt the sting of injustice of a marriage not born from love. She sighed, thinking of Catherine’s marriage to her horrible cousin, a man whose sole interest was property and diamonds.
He has always coveted them. The estate and the jewels are almost an obsession for him. And though society deems him worthy of my hand in marriage, I do not deem him worthy of them. They are the only part of the estate entailed to the female line and I will keep it that way.
She had read Summer’s translations of the coded messages over and over again since they had first found them buried within the pages of her journals. For Catherine, Omar’s daughter and even her own mother, marriage had been nothing more than a shackle. But...for her? Secretly, she’d always thought that she’d quite like to be married. To have a wedding and stand beside someone who told the world how much she was loved. To be claimed publicly, completely. And though she’d never admit it to her mother, Star couldn’t help but wonder if her life might have been different had her parents married before he’d died, whether that might have changed the minds and attitudes of her grandparents, whether they could have been a positive part of her life rather than...
Star cut off that train of thought before it could take hold, turning instead to wonder if she should call Skye in Costa Rica. She was halfway through her time in Duratra and she was beginning to lose the confidence that she’d arrived with. She had only two days left and it was getting harder and harder to ignore the inner voice wanting to know what would happen if she didn’t find the necklace, and what that could mean for her mother. But if she admitted as much to Skye, she would only tell her to go home and Star wasn’t ready to hear that. She could call Summer in Norfolk, but she didn’t want to hear her sister’s gentle voice reassuring her that it was okay, that it had always been a long shot to send her to search for the necklace.
Star drew air into her lungs to cover the hurt and turned in the bed onto her side, closing her eyes to see Kal’s staring back at her, eyes crinkled with the hint of that enigmatic smile and the light of...interest? Was that what she saw in his gaze? Was that what made her heart beat faster? What made her feel a little sick in her stomach at the thought of seeing him tomorrow, but feel even worse at the thought of not?
Two days, she reminded herself, she had two days. Though this time when she delved into what it was that made her heart beat like specks of sand dropping through an hour glass, it wasn’t thoughts of Kal, but the fear of not finding the necklace.
After lunch in the courtyard, and after thoroughly reprimanding a slightly sceptical security detail, Khalif had surprised himself by managing to make some headway in the afternoon. He’d looked for her as he’d left the palace, but Wahed had informed him that Star had already left. Yet knowing that she’d be there the following day made him feel...as if he had something to look forward to.
So it had been a shock to discover that the depth of his reaction tonotseeing her the next day was nothing short of painful. A sense of panic had risen within him. Panic that he’d never see her again, never find out what she was looking for, never see the accidental chaos that seemed to follow in her wake, never feel that sense of inexplicable peace he’d found in her company... He’d caught himself looking down corridors, purposely walking past the security suite to see if the guards were watching her again. Tempted, so very tempted to ask if they had seen her.
By the time he’d reached the afternoon of what he knew to be her last day at the exhibition, he’d convinced himself that such an extreme reaction indicated that it could only be a good thing that she was gone from his life. What did he think he could do if he saw her again anyway? Only that thought sent up a cascade of sensual imagery that he shut down before it could cut him off at the knees. He was no longer able to indulge in such whims. There was a plan. In three years, when he had proved himself the steady hand that would provide for his country until his nieces came of age, then a suitable bride would be found. And that suitable bride wouldnothave flame-coloured hair and eyes so dark blue they were almost regal.
So as he left his office that evening he was halfway through congratulating himself for having survived a temptation called Star when he came to an abrupt halt. The gods were either laughing or punishing him.
Things might have been different if he had found her anywhere else in the palace. But Star had found the one spot that was sure to pack an emotional punch. The three steps looked deeply insignificant, and probably would have been to anyone else. But to Khalif they were painfully familiar.
He had spent just over seven hundred hours waiting for his father and brother on those steps. Despite having been largely excluded from the lessons Faizan had been required to have from their father on matters ranging from governance and international policy to languages and business studies, he’d thought he could wait them out. And his stubborn streak had lasted for two hours, every day for an entire year.
In that moment he knew what he should do—and what he shouldn’t. His Highness Sheikh Khalif Al Azhar walked on, past the security suite, through the exit of the palace and towards his evening appointment with Duratra’s council.
Kal, however, stood before a beautiful woman and heaved a sigh of relief.
‘You know it all turned out okay in the end,’ he said as he stood between her and the sun, her body enshrouded by his shadow. She looked up at him with huge ocean-blue eyes. ‘That’s the problem with looking at the history of a country backwards. Really you should have started with the Umayyad period, it’s especially beautiful, given the metalwork and textiles.’
The smile that spread across her features chased the watery sparkle from her eyes. ‘Perhaps you should have been my tour guide.’
‘I would have been honoured,’ he replied, surprised by the sincerity in his tone. ‘You are leaving?’
‘Tomorrow.’
‘And you don’t want to go?’ he asked, wondering why that seemed to make her sad.
Her smile wavered. ‘I want to see my sisters, and my mother, but... I didn’t find what I was looking for.’
‘Anything I can help with?’
He would have sworn on his crown that he felt the weight of her sigh. ‘No, sadly not.’ And he would have given it away to lighten that load.
‘So, what are you going to do with your last few hours in Duratra?’
The shrug that barely moved her shoulders an inch was enough to drive him to action. He liked the tumble and roll of her words, the way they wound through his mind, treading down a path to wherever they wanted to go.
All Star could think of was the necklace. She had genuinely thought that she’d find it, and to not have found a trace or clue as to where it might be was devastating. She had let her sisters down. And, worse than that, her mother... She felt a wave of hurt crash over her anew, breaking out in a hot sweat on her neck and down her spine. She’d just got off the phone with Summer. And she’d meant to tell her, intended to explain that she would be coming home empty-handed, but Summer had been full of excitement with the news that Skye had found the map.
Star’s phone was full of the pictures Summer had forwarded with promises that she would work on the plans to find where on the map the Soames diamonds were located. And at the end she had asked, hopeful for the first time since Star had got on the plane to Duratra, whether she might have located the necklace. A hope that Star had been unable to respond to. She had proved them right—that she couldn’t be trusted to locate the necklace. How silly was she, to think that she could have done this alone?
All she wanted to do was stop for a moment. To not have to think, or fear, or worry. And although Kal had extended an offer of sorts, she’d sensed how torn he was. He probably had something to rush off to. And she certainly didn’t want another person having to look out for her.
