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‘Like your stepbrother’s.’
Okay, not concern. Accusation.
She swallowed down her disappointment. ‘So now I’m guilty, too, because I need money?’
‘No, I think you’ve been duped. Nate’s laptop has been thoroughly checked. There’s nothing on it to prove his innocence. In fact, quite the opposite. It proves he personally transferred ten million pounds from the charity funds into a private account.’
‘Tenmillion?’
Khaled stared at her. ‘I gather he didn’t share that detail with you. It’s about the same sum his father squandered. Perhaps your stepbrother was simply replacing his lost inheritance.’
‘You can’t honestly believe Nate would do something so out of character—and for money? He’d never expected to have an inheritance, and he didn’t want it. He wanted to make his own way. You know he and his father didn’t get on.’
‘Yet all the evidence points to him. He disappeared at exactly the same time as the money.’
‘But you’ve been friends for years. Is that really the man you know?’ She fixed him with an expectant look. ‘What does your gut tell you? Do you really, truly believe Nate could steal anything?’
That tell-tale muscle ticked in his jaw as he gazed back at her. Then he exhaled heavily, as if a deep tension had left him. ‘It is, as you say, out of character.’
She scooted to the edge of her seat. ‘So, what are we going to do about it?’
He raised a brow. ‘“We”?’
‘You think I’d sit and do nothing when Nate needs help?’
She jumped up and began to pace. She didn’t see his gaze follow her, darkening as the morning sun gilded her hair into a curtain of fire.
‘It’s about his schedule. Did someone hack into his diary? They seemed to know exactly where he’d be. You said the theft happened while Nate was using his bathroom.’
‘I said nothing of the kind.’
She waved a hand vaguely in his direction. ‘Must have been Nate who told me that.’
‘Did he, now? What else did he tell you?’ He sounded suspicious again.
She turned on him. ‘For heaven’s sake. You’ve just admitted it can’t be him, so start looking for other solutions. Think of a way to help him.’
He didn’t answer. Instead that intense grey gaze studied her. As if sizing her up. She forced herself not to look away, even though an annoying heat began spreading across her cheeks.
‘Actually,’ he said eventually, ‘there is a way you can help.’
Lily let out a breath. ‘Excellent. What can I do?’
He stood and ambled round his desk towards her. ‘If Nate truly is innocent, the longer we can keep the theft quiet the more time we’ll have to find out who really did it. So we need a distraction. A smokescreen, if you will. That’s something you can help provide.’
He’d stopped a pace in front of her. Close enough for her to truly appreciate the breadth of his muscled chest under that snug white shirt.
She forced her gaze back up to his face. ‘I... I can?’
‘Yes. And we must also consider that my mother’s showy greeting at the airport and your presence in the palace means that people will have certain expectations.’
She frowned. ‘What expectations?’
‘That I have serious intentions about you.’
‘Isn’t that a bit over the top? This isn’t Regency England.’
‘No, it’s Nabhan, and it’s a proud Islamic nation. Modest and conservative. Society here is very traditional. As Crown Prince I must, of course, be seen to respect those traditions.’
