Page 12 of The Sheik's Vow

“Protect me?” she hissed, reaching out to run her hand over the first one’s head. At their kindness, her heart instantly melted. “No! Absolutely not!” she gasped, looking down into the dark eyes of the first one, who gave her a doggie grin. “They can’t! I won’t let anyone hurt them!”

“They are strong and intelligent,” he assured her.

“Doesn’t matter,” she replied with heart-felt emotions. “Dogs are sweet, caring creatures!” She ignored the fact that she’d thought the “wolves” were going to attack Riaz only moments before. “I won’t let them protect me!”

The guards chuckled quietly, and she didn’t understand their amusement. Besides, she was too busy staring at the dogs, willing them to not think of her as their protectee.

One of the guards stepped forward. “Your Highness, I reserved the main conference room when you called. We can talk about the issue privately.”

“Thank you,” Riaz replied, then turned to Kaia. “Are you ready?”

Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes away from the dogs, looking up at him. She stared into his eyes for a long moment, but finally, she nodded. “Yes. I’m ready.”

Chapter 8

Riaz relaxed, grateful that she was willing to trust him enough to explain the monsters from her past. He couldn’t do anything to help her if she didn’t trust him. He understood that the trust only went so far. If he let her down in any way, she would run. Even more worrisome, Kaia had been running for a long time, much longer than he’d originally suspected. He’d discovered that fact after a quick conversation with Zayed before they’d departed from Pitra. So if she were to leave him, he doubted that even his special forces teams would be able to find her.

They all sat down at the polished conference table and Dihrain, his head of security, closed the door. Now it was just Kaia, himself, and Dihrain in the room, as well as the dogs.

“Dibi! Marta!” Riaz called out and he pointed his finger towards the floor at his side. The dogs immediately moved to his feet and sat on the floor. “Mumtaz,” he told the dogs, praising their manners and adding pets for each of them. After a few tail wags, the dogs settled down, sniffing the air experimentally as they both laid their giant heads down on their outstretched paws.

“Their names are Dibi and Marta?” Kaia asked, trying to translate. She and her sister had learned French, Spanish, and Arabic while they were growing up, as well as a bit of Mandarin. But some words confused her. Tara had learned languages more easily than Kaia, but they’d both considered the skill something worthlearning.

“Yes. They are pretty spoiled most of the time, but excellent guards.”

“They roam the palace gardens at night?”

Riaz shook his head. “No, they stay with me inside.” He glanced down at the animals and scratched their heads. “Like I said, they are a bit spoiled.”

Kaia eyed their enormous heads and fluffy ears. Their brown and black fur looked rough, but she’d touched them and found they were much softer than she’d originally suspected. “They are huge.”

Dihrain shifted in his chair and clicked his pen, indicating that he was ready to start the meeting. “Ms. Treon, I understand that you might be in danger. Can you explain how and why?”

Turning away from the dogs, she straightened up and laid her hands on the polished wood table. Kaia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. This was the point when she admitted everything to Riaz and he would discover that her past was too much, even for him.

But if speaking the truth, if admitting to her humiliating past would set her free, then she’d do it.

She felt something brush against her and jumped. Pushing away from the table, she looked down to discover that one of the dogs, the one with the black spot over his forehead and pointy ear, was resting his muzzle on her knee.

“What’s he doing?” she gasped, remaining very still, wondering if the dog was going to bite her. He didn’t look as if that was his intent.

“She,” Riaz corrected. “That’s Marta. They are incredibly sensitive to my emotions. You must have impressed them when you stood in front of me, ready to protect me. They usually don’t take to strangers at all.”

“I’m…grateful?” she murmured, not sure what to do about the canine’s head on her knee.

“Don’t worry about Marta. They won’t hurt you now, but I’ll put them outside if you are too afraid of them.”

Kaia remembered the way the dogs had raced down the hallway, eager to be near Riaz. Their adoration for the man was obvious. No way would she make them leave the room just because she was nervous.

“That’s okay,” she whispered, then lifted her eyes, trying to ignore the snout resting on her leg.

Dihrain continued with his questions. “Could you explain the danger? Once I know what the problem is, I can work with my team to create a plan of action.”

“There’s no action that your team needs to develop,” Kaia replied. “First of all, I don’t think there’s much you can do.” She laid her hands flat on the table. Slowly, she took a deep breath, then looked at Riaz and Dihrain, trying to get them to understand. “And secondly, this isn’t your problem. It’s mine. I haven’t quite figured out how to stop Ethan Howell, but I’ve been accumulating data for the past several years about his illegal activities.”

“If you have evidence of his illegal activities, why haven’t you gone to the police?” Dihrain wanted to know.

She smiled gently at him. He looked like a taller, thinner version of a bulldog. His face was sort of smashed, with a bulbous nose and ears that sprouted too far out from his head. The short haircut emphasized his ears, as well as the worry lines on his forehead. But there was a sharp intelligence in his dark eyes and power in his body. He wasn’t nearly as tall as Riaz, but he looked like he could take down a tank without breaking a sweat.

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