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‘No. I am only here because he had to ask me for help. He should have been able to come to you, his oldest friend. But you’ve sunk so low as to abandon him.’
Khaled’s face hardened. ‘Let me make things perfectly clear for you. You are here because I want it and you will stay here as long as I wish. As you have pointed out, your stepbrother and I are old friends, and for that reason alone I haven’t yet involved the authorities. But one way or another Nate will be caught. Until then you will be staying in Nabhan, and while you are here you will obey me.’
‘Obey you?’ Lily shot to her feet. ‘I will not. You have no power over me.’
She headed for the exit, determined to leave, only to find an apologetic but nevertheless unmoving Rais in her way.
‘As you see,’ that annoyingly cool voice said from behind her, ‘you will remain here until I decide you may leave—and that includes right now. Sit down.’
By the door stood a marble-topped table bearing a small bronze of a Roman warrior. His lips were pulled back in a snarl and his arm was raised, brandishing a lethal-looking sword, ready to mete out damage to anyone in his way. Had it not been so finely wrought, and probably valuable, Lily might have scooped it up and launched it at Khaled’s pompous head.
But, having no choice she returned to her seat, dropping into it as petulant as a scolded teenager.
Khaled calmly brushed an invisible speck from his trousers. ‘My family are expecting us to join them for dinner. They believe you’re here to explore Nabhan with your stepbrother. I’ve told them Nate has been delayed on charity business but will be joining you soon. Remember, they also think you arrived without luggage because it was ruined when the sprinkler system malfunctioned at your hotel.’
‘You mother didn’t believe that nonsense for a second.’
A muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘Then it’s your job to convince her it’s true.’
‘I won’t do it.’ She sprang from her seat again, faced him with her hands fisted at her hips. ‘Youinvented that ridiculous story.Youconvince her it’s true.’
She stalked away to wait at the door. It would have been a most satisfying finale to their conversation had she not forgotten her sandals.
Khaled rose from his seat and bent to gather them up. He strolled over to her, placing them in her hands. ‘At least they’re a better fit than the shoes you tried to steal from me.’
She stared ahead, ignoring his jibe.
He caught her chin in his hand, turning her face to him. ‘I will remind you, Lily, of the precarious position you are in, and I absolutely will not allow you to upset my family or compromise my integrity in any way.’
Despising herself for the way his touch sent shivers through her, she snapped back. ‘You should have thought of that before you kidnapped me.’
She was gratified to see a flicker of alarm in the depths of those clear, grey eyes.
He released her. ‘There is still the option to involve the authorities,’ he said, his voice silky and menacing. ‘We have police cells in Nabhan every bit as accommodating as those in England. I suggest you keep that in mind.’
And he nodded for Rais to open the door and let them pass.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘GOODMORNING,’SAIDthe solitary occupant of the breakfast room. ‘You must be Miss Marchant.’
Lily had been directed here by a servant. She’d hoped to find the twins or the Queen. Even the King himself. They’d made feel her welcome last night. Unlike the scowling, monosyllabic Prince, who’d brooded in a corner for pretty much the duration of the evening.
There’d been no repeat of that heated moment in the hall yesterday, and she’d almost convinced herself she’d imagined the whole thing.
‘Forgive me,’ the stranger said, smiling, ‘but as the family is elsewhere I’m obliged to introduce myself. I hope you will excuse the lapse in manners?’
His manners appeared to be as impeccable as the immaculate greydishdashaand white head-covering he wore.
‘I’m George Hyde-Wallace,’ he said, inclining his head, ‘cousin to the Queen and her children and Leader of the Council of Families.’
Lily knew of him. Who didn’t? The passionate Arabist who, four decades ago, had settled in the region, embraced all things Nabhani and risen to the top of its society. Weather-beaten, sinewy and straight-backed, there was a restless energy about him that belied his seventy-four years.
‘I’m delighted to meet the person who has so captivated the twins. They would talk of nothing else this morning.’
He smiled again, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Instead they were watchful, assessing. Lily had the curious feeling that George Hyde-Wallace had been waiting for her.
She offered a restrained smile of her own. ‘I’m pleased to meet you.’ She stretched out her hand. Did she imagine the pause before he took it? Perhaps, because now he’d clasped it firmly in both his own.
