The Sheik’s Embrace (The Billionaire’s Club #12)

Chapter 6

“Where is she?” Zayed demanded, hurrying briskly down the hallway.

“In her office, Your Highness,” Chaid, his head of security replied, keeping pace by his side. “She hasn’t left the palace grounds.”

Zayed muttered a curse as he stepped into his office. “I knew I should have pushed for more information last night over dinner.” He muttered several expletives. “If we’d been alone, I could have gotten the truth out of her.”

His security guard didn’t reply, but they all knew that the palace security monitored the comings and goings of everyone who worked in the palace. That’s how he knew that Tara hadn’t left last night.

“I tracked the messages from the phone number you gave me, Your Highness.”

Zayed stopped abruptly, but his guard’s reactions were swift and Chaid, thankfully, didn’t run into Zayed’s back.

“Messages?” he growled. “I thought there was only one message.”

“Ms. Treon sent a reply while you were in a meeting about Bidar’s troop movements.”

Zayed muttered more expletives, thinking about his enemy’s provocative actions. “Any news on what Traine is doing?” he demanded, referring to the country’s leader on their western border.

Chaid shook his head. “General Mosten is waiting to brief you later this morning.”

“Fine,” Zayed sighed. Normally, he accepted that this was his life. Every moment of his day, and many of his nights, were absorbed with details that he had to resolve.

However, Tara was in trouble so the interruptions to his time and his ability to protect her were irritating. Someone was threatening Tara. He didn’t know why or who, but he was going to find out!

“Who sent the original message?”

Chaid hesitated and Zayed stopped, looking at the man. “The message was sent by a Ms. Kaia Treon. Her sister, Your Highness.”

Zayed fixed his gaze on the man before him, the weight of the revelation settling heavily on his shoulders. The news that a message from Tara's sibling had triggered such distress, prompting Tara to hastily abandon a meeting and seek refuge, sent ripples of tension through the air. His typically unflustered personal assistant, skilled in navigating the chaos of the business and diplomatic world, had been so shaken that she felt the need to literally hide.

The gravity of the situation hung heavily in the silence, and Zayed grappled with the ominous implications of the disturbing message that had sent Tara into a state of palpable fear.

He thought about that for a moment. Her instinct yesterday afternoon had been to hide! The message had warned her of danger. Which meant that she’d received messages like this before. And she’d hidden those messages as well.

Zayed turned and faced the man. “Send a team to Tara’s home town. I know that you did a background check on her, but I want more. I want details on her family and her past. I want pictures of the home she grew up in. Hell, I want you to speak with the doctor who helped birth her!” he told the head of his security forces. “I want to know everything there is to know about Tara.”

The man nodded sharply, but hesitated. “Your Highness, is this…uh…personal?”

Zayed thought about Tara and her adorable nose and those sexy freckles. He considered how drably she dressed, as if…as if hiding, he suddenly realized.

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “This is very personal.” He looked at the man again. “It’s about as personal as it gets.” Now that he was no longer betrothed, he was going to pursue the lovely, mysterious Tara!

Chaid was stunned for a brief moment, but then he nodded. “I understand,” he replied, bowing slightly. “And should I organize a team of bodyguards for her as well?”

Zayed thought for a moment, then nodded again. “Yes, but…” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “…don’t let her know that she’s being protected. That will only make her more nervous.”

The man’s eyes sharpened with understanding. “I suspect that it could also warn her of your intentions.”

Zayed’s mouth tilted into a grim smile. “So be it.”

He turned and headed for Tara’s office, determined to find out what had happened last night. Stepping into her small office, he looked around.

“Your Highness!” Tara gasped, standing up so abruptly that her desk chair nearly toppled. “What…what are you doing in my office?” She glanced at the clock in the corner of her computer screen. “And why are you here so early?” She smoothed a nervous hand down over her dress.

Zayed noticed only one chair in the office. And it was piled with neatly stacked boxes. “What’s in those files?” he asked.

She looked at the boxes, then back up at him. Damn, he loved her eyes. She had no idea how much she revealed in those green depths. Worry, intelligence, curiosity, and a host of other emotions continuously flashed through those orbs.

Tara walked over to the first box, touching the top gently. “This one contains the briefings and contracts for today’s meetings. At least, the ones that are currently on your calendar. It also includes some of the notes from previous meetings with answers to the questions that you asked in those meetings.” She laid her hand on the second box. “This box contains the information for tomorrow’s meetings that I’ll review during my spare time today, so that you have all the information you need for tomorrow’s meetings.”

He stared at the boxes, then walked over to one and lifted the lid. Pulling out a file, he flipped through the pages. Sure enough, it was filled with the usual details that she normally provided to him prior to every meeting. She even color coded the pages so that he could flip to whatever question he might have.

Looking over at her, he asked, “Tara, when do you eat?”

She seemed startled by the question. She gestured to her desk and, for the first time, he noticed a large cup of coffee and a half eaten bowl of something that looked like gruel. “What is that?” he asked, laying the file down on the box and moving closer to her desk so that he could peer down at the gloopy mess.

“It’s oatmeal, Your Highness,” she replied, hiding her hands behind her back.

He bent closer, his nose wrinkling. “What are those dark blobs?”

He heard a muffled laugh and looked over at her. There were dark circles under her eyes, but her green irises were sparkling with amusement.

“Those are raisins, Your Highness.” She waved her hand towards her breakfast. “It’s a very healthy meal. Good for the heart.”

Zayed pulled back, but still stared in disgust at the bowl of…black blobs and grey mush. “Why the hell do you put raisins in your…” he almost gagged, “…oatmeal? Doesn’t that just make it worse?”

She laughed, then caught herself and slapped a hand over her mouth as if laughter wasn’t allowed. “It’s healthy.”

He groaned, shaking his head as he stepped back, fisting his hands on his lean hips. “I had some eggs and fruit this morning. Where’s the protein in your meal?”

She shook her head. “I’ll have some protein for lunch, Your Highness.”

His lips compressed as his irritation sparked.

“Stop saying that,” he grumbled.

Her eyes widened. He knew that he was being an ass, but he also suspected that she said, “Your Highness” to maintain a mental distance from him. And since he didn’t want any distance, or obstacles, between them, he wanted her to use his first name.

“Stop saying…what?”

He sighed and looked around. “Never mind,” he grumbled. Then he remembered why he was in her office. “Why did you sleep here?” he asked her, moving closer. “Were you afraid to go home last night?”

There was a stunned silence, then he heard a small gasp before Tara took a step backwards, but there wasn’t enough space for her to move. Her hands clutched the sides of her mauve dress and her green eyes darkened. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Your Highness.”

“My security team noticed that you didn’t check out last night.” He watched her carefully. “They investigated and discovered you sleeping in here. On two chairs.” He reached out and took one of her hands, uncurling the fingers from her dress. “So I’m asking again. Why didn’t you go home last night?”

Her mouth opened and closed, her eyes staring up at him. “I just…I was…I worked late,” she finally replied, although he could hear the desperation in her voice. “I worked very late and knew that you had several important meetings first thing this morning. Meetings that I hadn’t finished prepping for so I stayed late and just…kept working.” She was lying. He could tell by the way she hid her free hand behind her ugly dress. “I got tired and meant to only lay my head down for a moment. I didn’t mean to stay overnight, Your Highness. I promise it won’t happen again.”

He lifted her hand out from behind her back, wanting to kiss her tightly clenched fist. Instead, he merely patted her hand. “Tara, you can stay here any night. I don’t care if you are just tired or if you are too nervous to go home. If you need to sleep here, then do so. There are plenty of rooms where you can sleep in a proper bed. Don’t ever hesitate. Your safety and mental health are…very important to me.”