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“Dress,” he said quickly. He put on a pair of pants, and Ariel began to silently scramble behind him, putting the white wedding dress back on that she discarded the night before. It revealed too much of her body, but nothing could be done about that.
He heard the moment the helicopter landed.
He could hear a woman’s voice. Sharp and persistent.
Brianna.
And then the tent flap opened, and a dark figure blotted out the sun.
Riyaz.
His dark hair was shoulder-length, he’d refused to cut it. His frame massive and uncompromising. He had scars on his face that twisted his formerly easy good looks into something much more challenging to behold.
And just behind him was Brianna. Her red hair scooped up into a ponytail, her eyes wide.
“And here I find you. With mine,” said Riyaz.
“My apologies,” said Cairo. “She is no longer yours. I have married her. And we have consummated it. Quite thoroughly, you will find.”
“So I see.” He looked around the tent, his gaze assessing. And it was impossible to tell what Riyaz thought about anything. It always had been. But he was yet more inscrutable after all his years of being locked away. Brianna touched his arm, and he saw his brother’s entire body react. It went stiff, and then...calm. “What is it?” he asked, looking at her.
“You don’t want to kill your brother,” she said.
He took her chin in his hand. “I know that,habibti. I don’t intend to.” Then he turned back to Cairo, and there was no softness remaining. “The dungeon might be suitable.”
“The dungeon. Is that what you think? And will you throw Ariel there as well?”
“I am the sheikh. I could marry her if I choose, regardless of whether or not she is bound to you.” It was the most words he had ever heard Riyaz use in a sentence since coming out of the dungeon. It seemed as if Brianna’s work with him had been quite accomplished.
“Or I could throw her in there with you. Or... Take two wives.”
“Two wives.”
“Yes,” he said. “For I have already decided who I will marry.”
“You said that you wanted to marry her,” Cairo said, gesturing to Ariel.
“I said for you to bring her to me. I said it was what I required. I did not say why. I had thought that I might marry her. But I have decided on another course of action.”
“What is that?”
“I’m marrying Brianna.”
Brianna’s eyes went round.
“Riyaz...”
“It will be no argument,” he said. “You are mine. Or have I not made you so these last days?” Brianna’s face turned red. And it did not take a great detective to figure out exactly what had been going on between his good friend and his brother.
“The situation is complicated, I see,” Cairo said. “How dare you burst into my wedding tent given that you already decided what you plan to do?”
“I have not said yes,” said Brianna. “I’m not yours. I don’t live here. I’m not a citizen of this country. I don’t...”
“You’re mine now,” he said. “Our bodies do not lie. You have lain with me, and you will be my wife.”
Brianna was getting redder and redder. “Can you please not announce...?”
“You have stormed into the aftermath of my wedding night,” Cairo said to Brianna. “Why should you be embarrassed to have your own activities commented upon?”
