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4
She was gone.
The morning after Jarah left Aubrey’s flat, his father asked him to attend a meeting in Jordan in his stead. The trip took an entire week, to his disgust, and when Jarah returned, Aubrey had flown back to the US to try and talk her grandmother out of selling.
She’d gone with Hysani’s blessing and the promise that if she wanted to come back, her job would be waiting for her.
“Why?” Jarah had demanded. “Why would you leave the position unfulfilled?”
Hysani had blinked at him. “I don’t need an assistant, Jarah. I’d only hired her because Callista asked me to give her a job.”
Exasperated, he’d just stared at his friend. “Why would Callista care about whether Aubrey had a job or not?”
“Aubrey is Gwen’s friend and roommate. How do you not know this?”
Gwen. Aubrey had told him about her high school friend, but he hadn’t made the connection to Callista’s peer at the university, whom he’d met several times. He felt a rare moment of guilt about not knowing more about his sister’s life.
He and Aubrey were closely connected, and he hadn’t even realized it.
He often met at one of Hysani’s restaurants during meetings, and he wasn’t used to his one-night stands hanging around, not that he had many. And of course, he saw Gwen a handful of times when he went to one of Callista’s presentations. Would Aubrey be there as well, supporting her friend?
So it was just as well that she’d left. If things went well for her, she wouldn’t be coming back.
Yet he couldn’t get her out of his mind. The way her skin had tasted beneath his tongue. Her scent, even when she was wrapped around him and covered in sweat. Her little cries when she begged him for release. The way she’d shivered when he’d made her come again on his cock.
Frustrated, he threw himself into his work and told himself that in a month, he wouldn’t even think of Aubrey Bennet.
A month passed. Then two. When it neared three, his own mother had tell him to stop sniping at everyone.
“What is wrong with you?” Nura asked in exasperation. “A black cloud has been hovering over you for weeks now, my son.”
Mumbling his apology, he quickly exited the conversation and sought solace in his suite. Unfortunately, someone was waiting for him outside his door.
“Silaah,” Jarah greeted.
The man’s fist had been poised for a knock, and he turned and bowed his head in respect. Silaah was his father’s cousin and a close member of the family, although he lived outside the palace with his wife, Bibi. He was beloved by Jarah’s father, Cyril, and given a high post.
“Jarah, just the man that I wanted to see. Do you have a moment? I would like to have a private word with you.”
All Jarah wanted was to be alone, but he would not turn his back on his duties, even in his foul mood. “Of course.”
The older man moved aside as Jarah unlocked the door and beckoned him in. “What can I do for you?”
“I think it is what I can do for you. I am not certain if you are aware, but Mikal has security cameras installed the museum.”
Jarah nodded. “That’s good. The artifacts the excavations bring in are worth quite a bit to the university.”
He couldn’t even drive by the museum without thinking of Aubrey. How had one woman gotten so far under his skin?
“Yes, they were installed several months ago.”
The implications of what Silaah was saying punched Jarah right in the gut, but he kept his expression neutral. “Is that right?”
“Yes. There is one posted on the rooftop. No need to worry. One of my guards saw the footage and immediately deleted it, even before he told me what happened.”
Jarah allowed himself to relax just a fraction. Scandals were not allowed to touch the Ramzi family, and Jarah would not be the first to sully his family’s good name. “Please give me the guard’s name so I can thank him.”
“I do not believe that is necessary, and it is not why I have asked to see you today. The…events that occurred that evening were unusual for you, so I quietly began to look into the woman.”
