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Lauren watched Tahir slide into the pilot’s seat, her last shred of hope plummeting to the marble terrace beneath her feet. When the whirring rotors began to spin faster, she blinked back tears. She was mentally preparing telling her parents she’d failed when the aide approached her.
A nod at the bodyguards had them stepping back, but she didn’t fool herself into thinking they wouldn’t react if she so much as moved a muscle.
Her gaze met the dark eyes of Tahir’s aide as he stopped in front of her. ‘If you wish to continue this meeting with His Majesty, you should get on the aircraft, Miss Winchester,’ he said in a carefully neutral voice.
Her mouth gaped. ‘What?’
He tilted his head almost regally towards the chopper. ‘I suggest you do so now, before he takes off.’
Lauren’s gaze darted to Tahir, who was cycling through his pre-departure procedure, eyes glued to the controls, competent fingers flicking switches. Completely and utterly ignoring her. ‘I...where is he going?’ she enquired around a desert-dry throat.
The aide regarded her steadily. ‘Does it matter?’
Three pertinent, terrifying words.
She swallowed again, desperately suppressing her anxiety as she clung to that last seedling of hope. Clutching her purse tighter, as if it would save her from the unknown, she sucked in a breath and sprinted past the aide.
The evicted pilot stood by the rear door. When she reached him, he stepped aside to let her enter the rear compartment.
Lauren boarded. He slid in beside her and slammed the door shut.
And between one breath and the next, the helicopter was airborne.
CHAPTER TWO
LAURENCOULDN’TSEETahir because the compartment was cut off from the cockpit. It was deliberate, she knew. He’d switched places with his pilot because he hadn’t wanted to share the space with her.
Lauren tried not to let the knowledge burn or take anything personally. The sole reason she was here was to plead for Matt. Nothing else.
At least she had a sliver of a shot remaining.
The pilot’s rigidly neutral look suggested he wouldn’t be forthcoming to any questions from her, so she contented herself with staring out of the window.
Yanira, Jukrat’s capital city, was spread out in a wondrous splendour of shiny ultra-modern and traditional: spectacular ancient mosques with large golden domes juxtaposed with soaring skyscrapers, and the sparkling, sandy white beaches that bordered the realm to the south.
Nestled snugly between its larger neighbours of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the Kingdom of Riyaal, the oil-rich Kingdom of Jukrat, while small in geographic size, enjoyed the same opulent status as its compatriots.
Had she been here under different auspices, she would’ve taken time to explore; delighted in taking her first holiday for over five years. Escaping her father’s stranglehold on every corner of her life and the increasing pressure of fitting into the mould he was determined to push her into alone would’ve been worth it.
But she couldn’t. Somewhere in the city below her, her brother was in dire straits. Despite her father’s warning, and despite the fact that she’d never got her younger brother to warm to her, to forge the type of sibling bond she’d yearned for as a child, she couldn’t turn her back on Matt.
Her eyes burned, from the long flight from England, lack of sleep and the emotions churning within her. Her last phone call to her parents yesterday hadn’t gone well. They’d been disappointed at her lack of progress.
Lauren had felt an unfamiliar sprig of anger. No, that wasn’t quite accurate. Lately, offshoots of frustration-laced anger had taken her unawares, the calm poise she’d practised for years around her parents developing hairline fractures.
Certainly, their cavalier assumption that Tahir, the man they’d forced her to shun, would hear her out had knotted fury inside her. Anger she struggled to shake off. Except she had to. She couldn’t fail.
The aircraft banked sharply. Her stomach dropped for terrifying seconds before the chopper adjusted. And she saw where they were headed. Lauren swallowed the apprehension rising once more, her gaze glued to the mesmerising expanse of dark gold sand.
The connotations of their destination didn’t let her dwell on one of nature’s most beautiful creations.
Tahir was taking her into the desert.
A shiver danced up her spine, bringing with it rising despair.
She wasn’t a damsel in distress. Never had been. But the sense of utter helplessness, of being completely at Tahir’s mercy, sank into her like a rock in a pond. She had to cling onto the belief that the man she’d known twelve years ago hadn’t completely changed.
Despite what you did?
