Page 17 of Passion and Deception

The two men swallowed heavily, but the shorter one shook his head. “The pictures were merely to get your attention, Your Highness. They weren’t to blackmail you. They were a favor, actually,” he replied, glancing at his friend, then quickly looking back up at Ramit. “Yes, we sent those pictures to you as a favor. Not as blackmail. We knew that the pictures could damage Ciara’s…I mean, Princess Ciara’s,” he corrected quickly, “reputation. We’ve heard that she’s looking to marry and pictures like that could hurt her chances, right?”

Ramit didn’t bother to respond to that. “And my appreciation in your valiant efforts will be reflected by the size of my donation to the project you just mentioned,” he replied dryly. “How generous of me. My gratitude is very expensive.” He swished the scotch in his glass, not really seeing the moonlight reflected in the liquid. “Gentlemen, I arranged to meet some friends,” he emphasized the word, “to justify coming to this club tonight. I will get back to both of you on my answer.”

And with that, he walked away, ignoring the fumbling bows that the two men attempted to offer. He wasn’t going to accept their bows. Besides, as Americans, they shouldn’t be bowing to a foreign leader anyway, the imbeciles! Bowing implied that one acquiesced to the other person’s authority.

He stepped back into the clubhouse and looked around. Levi Harris, one of the owners, was standing off to the side of the main room. Levi caught his attention, but didn’t approach. Good man, Ramit thought. He was smart. Levi knew when to leave things alone and when to intercede.

Ramit considered his options for a moment, then made a decision.

Chapter 13

Maggie peered through the window, trying to watch the conversation. Unfortunately, there was no way she could go out there to better hear what was being said. Their drinks were full and even an amateur would realize that they’d gone out to the edge of the patio for privacy.

Turning back, she watched the other group of men, who were laughing and drinking, tossing gambling chips onto the table that were worth more than most of them paid their employees in a year.

That only made her desire to hear what each of these bastards were saying more intense. She saw movement from the three men outside. But a moment later, she sensed that one of them was coming back inside.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked, efficiently surveying the room as if she were simply checking in on Maggie.

“I don’t know,” Maggie replied back with a fake, professional smile. “I can’t hear them out there, but I can tell that they’re saying something that Ra…” she stopped herself from using his first name. “Sheik al Quadar doesn’t like. She knew his full name now since the other club members were all whispering about him. “He looks rather grim.”

But she should have known better than to expect Emily to miss something important. Emily noticed everything. It was one of the reasons she was such an excellent club manager. She caught issues before they became a problem.

Emily’s gentle gaze moved over Maggie’s features. Sure enough, Emily understood. “He’s your man!” she hissed. Emily’s head swiveled to look through the windows, then at Maggie, her jaw slack in the first moment of shock that Maggie had ever seen on her friend’s face. “You’re dating Sheik al Quadar?” She didn’t give Maggie time to answer. “How? How did you meet him? When? And for how long?”

Stunned, Maggie stammered for a moment. She thought about lying, but no, Maggie respected Emily too much to do that to her.

“Remember when I mentioned I was going to the art museum in downtown Philly on my day off?”

“Yeah.”

Maggie nodded. “Well, he was there as well. We discussed art and the various painters.” Her shoulders sagged and she tried to hide her hurt. But she felt…betrayed. “He’s quite knowledgeable about art in some ways.” There was a long silence, then Maggie’s lips trembled as she added, “I suppose one gets an excellent education when one has private tutors.”

“Oh Maggie,” Emily whispered, inching closer so that her shoulder touched Maggie’s. It was a sign of support amidst a wildly busy night. “Maybe he’s not one of the bad guys. Maybe…,” she thought for a moment. “Maybe he’s a good guy that…?”

Maggie waited, hoping that Emily could come up with an explanation.

But then Maggie pointed out, “He’s out there on the patio with Humphrey Todras and Barney Mathis.”

Emily couldn’t stop her grimace at the mention of the two slime balls. “Oh dear,” she sighed.

“Exactly.” Maggie straightened up and forced her sadness away. She’d have plenty of time to cry about yet another lying bastard when she got off work. Until then, she had a job to do. “I’d better get back to work,” she told Emily. “But I’m going to find out what Todras is up to. I know it has something to do with that land purchase in Annapolis. I just don’t know what.”

“Be careful,” Emily warned.

“Always am,” Maggie replied, starting to step forward. But she paused, her body trembling suddenly. “Except when it comes to my love life.” Then she moved towards a table where she noticed that several of the drinks needed to be refreshed.

The night was busy, but Maggie was able to keep an eye on Todras and Mathis. They were slimy, trust fund boys who thought that the world owed them something. If they hadn’t been born into money, the two of them might have contrived to be adequate, contributing members of the world. Unfortunately, their gambling habits, not to mention their addiction to various illegal substances, had drained a great deal of their inherited wealth. Obviously, they were not convincing Ram…Sheik al Qadar…to finance their lifestyle.

The thought of Ramit being a sheik, a man who ruled a very important and powerful country, hurt more than she wanted to admit. Apparently, he was just like all the rest. He’d gotten her into bed with lies and omissions, and Maggie had fallen for it. She’d believed he was just a regular guy.

“What a rat bastard!” she whispered, then plastered on a professional smile as she greeted the men at the table and asked if they wanted a refill.

Three hours later, the club was calming as the club members headed home for the night. The poker tables were only half filled now and Maggie was relieved that Ramit was playing pool in another room. He, Levi, and Sean were having a conversation, according to Ann. However, Ann couldn’t get close enough to hear what was being said.

Maggie was using one of the back hallways to get to the kitchen so she could pick up a food order. The quiet moment was a relief from the tension in the main rooms. She waved to the cameras, wondering if it was Hendrix watching the monitors in the security office. There were obvious cameras and not-so-obvious cameras throughout the club. She had her head bowed, wondering how she could avoid speaking to Ramit again tonight. Maggie suspected that he was going to try to talk to her, maybe explain? Or maybe not. Wealthy bastards assumed that they didn’t need to explain their actions. In her experience, the rich thought that they could just do whatever they wanted with impunity. The laws literally did not apply to them.

She, Emily, and Ann had overheard enough conversations in this place of illegal activities. She smiled faintly, thinking of the numerous times that they had arranged for an anonymous tip to be delivered to the appropriate authorities. However, there were many illegal conversations that never resulted in any punishment.

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