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Taken aback for a moment, at first Kadeem didn't know how to respond to that question. He glanced at Eliana and saw she was watching him intently.
"What do you mean?" Kadeem asked.
He heard a growl of disapproval from the other end of the line. "Don't try to tell me you don't know where she is, Kadeem. I had a call from the embassy."
Kadeem felt a tightness in his chest. "You did? Why?"
He heard another snort of indignation from his father. "I know you were at the embassy earlier this evening, Kadeem. And that the princess left with you. Is that true?"
Kadeem knew he couldn't lie. And, after what had just happened between him and Eliana, he was even more determined not to do that.
"She's with me," he admitted in a quiet voice.
He saw Eliana's eyes widen and her mouth open in shock.
"Is she safe?" Kadeem's father asked.
Kadeem controlled the impulse to make a sarcastic reply. He sighed. "She is."
"You must bring her back to the embassy. Immediately," Zaeed barked down the phone.
Kadeem wanted to argue. He wanted to tell his father that, whatever he said to Kadeem, there was no way that Kadeem was going to give her up. Not after this evening.
He glanced across at Eliana. She was staring at him, and there was clear embarrassment on her features. It was such a contrast to the way she'd looked at him only moments before.
For her benefit at least, Kadeem was determined not to create a scene. "Okay. I'll do that."
Zaeed sighed heavily. "I don't know what you thought you were doing, Kadeem. And I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the princess' father. But, I suppose I'll have to find a way."
"Fine," Kadeem said abruptly, desperate that the call be ended as quickly as possible.
Kadeem hung up the phone. Eliana leapt out of bed. For a moment, Kadeem's gaze lingered on her nakedness. Need shifted inside him. This time it was accompanied by a sharp twist of indignation. He didn't want her to go, but he knew she had to.
Kadeem slid out of bed and started to get dressed. Eliana put on her clothes and slid her feet into her flat shoes. Neither of them wanted to say anything, it seemed. The call had killed whatever passion had been lingering in the air.
Kadeem saw the concern on Eliana's features. Before she left the bedroom, she propped a hand on her waist and peered at Kadeem. "They know where I am now?" she asked.
Kadeem tilted his head. "Seems someone at the embassy put two and two together."
He saw Eliana's jaw tighten. Her eyes flashed. "I don't know what I was thinking of," she snapped.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
He started to move toward her, but she gave him a stern look which made him halt in his tracks.
"I knew this was a mistake," she exclaimed.
Shock raced through Kadeem. "Mistake?" he demanded.
Eliana drew herself up to her full height and peered at Kadeem. "I didn't mean it that way," she said.
"What way did you mean it?" he asked sharply.
Eliana turned and raced into the other room. He followed and caught up with her in the middle of the room. He took her arm and she halted. She turned and glared at him. "I have to go, Kadeem. I can't allow this to go on."
"Are you serious?" he asked. "After what happened, you think you can just leave as if it was nothing."
Her eyes narrowed. "It was a mistake, Kadeem," she said. "We both know that."
