Page 30 of The Sheik's Embrace

Kaia’s features turned serious and she held onto Tara’s shoulders, looking deeply into her sister’s eyes “This man, your fiancé, he’s a good man? You love him?”

Tara’s jaw dropped. “You…know about Zayed?”

Kaia’s dark eyebrow flew upwards. “Seriously? You had no idea I was in the breakfast room this morning?”

Tara was stunned. “You were in the dining room?” she gasped. “For breakfast?” She blinked a moment, then continued, “That’s how you know about my possible engagement!”

“Possible? The man speaking earlier today was pretty emphatic. And that made me feel a little better. I’ve seen Elijah. His sister and mother were arrested two days ago. That’s when I saw him. They had been staying in your apartment. I saw Elijah standing on the far side of the road, hiding behind a tree, as the police led his sister and mother out of your apartment building in handcuffs.”

Tara grimaced, her shoulders tight with tension. “I know. Zayed sent the police to arrest them.”

Kaia turned contemplative, her green eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “So this Zayed man…heknows? He understands the danger you’re in?”

Tara smiled, leaning against the corner of her desk. She folded her hands on her thighs as she nodded. “Yes. I’ve told him everything. He was pretty angry when I told him I was married but-”

“You’re NOT married!” Kaia interjected emphatically.

She smiled gently, nodding. “I know that now. Zayed explained it to me.” She sighed, her back slumping with the relief that she felt every time she remembered the fact that she truly wasn’t married to Elijah. He was such a disgusting excuse of a man!

Kaia shifted, moving to lean against the desk next to Tara. She crossed her arms over her palace wait-staff uniform. “He’s right. We didn’t discuss your marital status while you were growing up because I didn’t know myself. And then I didn’t want to traumatize you by bringing up that ridiculous ‘wedding’.” She snorted, shaking her head so her dark curls danced around her shoulders. “That community isn’t a religious organization, Tara. The elders are just a bunch of pedophiles who manipulate people with religious words in order to justify their perversions.”

Tara smiled gently, reaching out to squeeze her sister’s shoulders affectionately. “I know, Kaia.” She grabbed her sister’s hands. “We’re safe here,” she whispered, tightening her grip. “Neither Elijah nor Ethan can get to us here.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Kaia replied with a grim tone. “There is a miserable virus traveling through the palace staff. While not fatal, the victims reportedly yearn for it to be during the approximately twenty-four hours they have it. Apparently, the virus is so bad, it’s taking the staff out of commission.”

“I’ve heard something along those lines, but I thought that the palace guards were keeping the staff home if there was even a hint of a problem.”

“They are,” Kaia confirmed. “But that also means that I was able to get a job with the palace fairly easily.”

“You’re…workinghere?” Tara gasped, her tension instantly on high alert. “You got into the palace legally?”

Kaia grinned, but there wasn’t much amusement to her expression. “I interviewed two days ago and I was called last night and told to report for service this morning at five o’clock.”

“That’s…!”

“Not great,” Kaia said, finishing Tara’s sentence.

Tara rushed to the door, ripping it open. For a moment, she didn’t see the bodyguards that Zayed had assigned to her protection. But then he came around the corner. “The staff…” she whispered through numb lips. Then she remembered all of the times she and Kaia had been discovered and her training kicked in. “The staff are getting sick. The man who has been after me might have gotten into the palace. I don’t know for sure, but because of the stomach virus, the serving staff are too sick to report for service. The kitchen or serving division is bringing in temporary employees.”

The guards immediately understood her worry. One of the guards was already muttering into the microphone hidden on his wrist.

“You’ll need to come with me, Ms. Treon,” the other guard stated, his arm extended as if he were trying to herd her in a specific direction.

“I’m not leaving without my sister!” Tara told the man.

The man’s eyes shuttered and he shook his head. “We are ordered to protect you and…” He stopped, then realized what she’d just said. “How did your sister get into the palace?”

“That’s what I just told you!” Tara replied impatiently, her fear of Elijah nearly overwhelming her. “Kaia is here,” she said, then pointed behind her. But when Tara looked over hershoulder, Kaia wasn’t there. There were no windows in Tara’s office. Was she behind her desk?

“Ms. Treon,” the bodyguard snapped, his voice more commanding this time. “I need you to come with me.”

“But…!”

“I will carry you if you don’t cooperate, Ms. Treon.”

Tara knew the man wasn’t bluffing. Still, she hesitated, unwilling to leave Kaia behind. How could she leave her sister when there was potential danger lurking nearby?

Before she could peer under her desk, Tara was literally lifted off her feet. She wasn’t tossed over the man’s shoulder, but close enough. Her feet just touched the floor, but there was a guard on each side of her and they carried her off down the hallway towards a more secure area of the palace. They didn’t stop until they were in the living quarters of the palace and, even then, they wanted her in the private suite where she’d slept last night.

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