Page 13 of The Sheik's Embrace

“I’m not married?” she whispered again, just to taste the words in her mouth as her knees gave out on her. She fell onto the leather sofa, too stunned at the moment to truly process this information.

He knelt down by her, looking into her eyes. “I don’t think so, love.” He ran a thumb over the back of her hand. “I’ve sent a couple of my men to your home town to investigate further. They were going to get more details on your background, but I’ll have them dive into the–”

“You what?” she yelped. “Please…tell me you didn’t send anyone to Tobra, Kentucky. Tell me you didn’t!”

“I did,” he replied, confused. “Is that a problem?”

“Yes,” she gasped and leapt to her feet. She stepped around Zayed and looked at Chaid, pleading with him. “You need to contact your people and tell them to get out of there. Now!” she snapped. “They are in danger! They will be shot at without question.”

“I’m sorry?” he replied, looking confused.

Tara wiped at her cheeks again, impatient with the useless tears. “Your people are in danger, Chaid. Call them back. The people who live in that town are…dangerous. They don’t live like the rest of the country. They don’t follow the same rules!” She looked down, trying to find the words that would explain precisely how dangerous Ethan Howell and his minions were. “Their entire lives revolve around their form of a church and the leader of that church. Ethan Howell is a tyrant with a team of armed enforcers.” She rubbed her forehead, pushing her fingers through her hair. “They appear to be just small town people, but they aren’t. Mr. Howell is the leader. He is their minister and their dictator. If he were to tell everyone to drink the koolaid they would smile as they reached for a glass.”

“So, this is a cult?” Chaid asked.

Tara stopped for a moment, considering the term. Finally, she nodded. “In so far as everyone in the town is brainwashed into thinking that Howell is their leader and everything he says is the gospel truth, handed down to him by divine telepathy, then yes. It’s a cult. They would never defy him. If he told the congregation to attack your people, then they would wholeheartedly go after your men with pitchforks andrifles. And they would show no mercy, assuming that they were abiding by divine rules set forth by Ethan.”

She looked up at Zayed, reaching out to touch his chest, something she’d never done before. “Please, “ she whispered, “youhaveto get them out of there! They aren’t safe!”

He put a hand over hers where it lay against his chest. “I need to know more to keep you safe, Tara,” he explained.

Shaking her head adamantly, she said, “I’m not important. I don’t mean anything to anyone. Please, you have to get them out of there!”

Zayed’s eyes narrowed at her comment, but she couldn’t think about his anger at that moment. She sighed with relief when he turned his head slightly, not losing eye contact with her. “Call your men, Chaid, tell them to treat the investigation as hostile, and get information about Tara and…” he paused, his finger coming up to catch another tear before he finished, “…her sister.”

Tara froze at those last two words, her stomach clenching to the point that she thought that she might be sick.

“No!” she hissed, wanting to step back, to get out of this office. She needed to run away, to find a hiding place that was safe. And to warn her sister that someone else knew about Kaia’s existence.

“Yes,” he replied in a silky, smooth voice. “Why are you so afraid of your sister, Tara?:

She swallowed past the panic, not sure what to say. Zayed…he knew her secrets! He knew about her past! Jerking her hand away, she stepped back, looking around frantically.

“There’s no place to hide,” he warned her, moving closer. “Please don’t try to run away from me.” He reached out and tookher hand and Tara wished that her fingers weren’t trembling so violently. It was such a dead giveaway to her feelings.

Dead? No! Not dead. No one was dead!

At least, she prayed that no one had died.

Zayed led her over to the leather sofa, the same place she’d slept last night. Thankfully, he didn’t know about that. If he ever found out that she’d slept on his sofa, she would…what? What would she do?

“You’re going to have to trust me, Tara,” Zayed commanded in that stern, sexy voice that had always intrigued her. In this moment though, she couldn’t stop the tremor of awareness that hit her with his voice. And his words.

Trust him? She’d only ever trusted one person in this entire world!

“Why are you afraid of your sister?”

Tara’s mouth fell open. She looked around, but Chaid was already walking out of Zayed’s office, muttering into his microphone. She heard the words, “warn of hostiles” and sighed with relief. His guards were well trained, probably better trained than the horrible men that Ethan employed.

Goodness, she hated and despised that man! His sermons were always filled with warnings of death and dismemberment at the hands of his divine power. All of the punishments were because his “servants” had disobeyed “the word”. And most of the disobedience was caused by, or perpetrated by, women. The man absolutely loved talking about how women needed to be especially watchful of their actions or they would lead the world to death and horrible, bloody, miserable punishments.

It was also the reason why he “disciplined” the women in the town so often and with such unfeeling brutality.

Also because he enjoyed hurting women.

Tara had thought of that possibility before, but she’d never uttered the words out loud, terrified that Ethan might somehow hear her even when she was thousands of miles away.

“I need more information, Tara,” Zayed insisted, interrupting her thoughts. “What hold does your sister have on you?”

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