Page 19 of The Sheik's Vow

“No!” she replied, but there was a slight hesitation and her tone wasn’t nearly as adamant.

Another chuckle and Riaz slid his hands into his pockets. A different tactic was needed. “Okay, fine. Don’t let me help you with what you’re feeling. Why don’t we sit down and eat breakfast?” He lifted a brow. “And I meanyou and Ieat our breakfast.”

Kaia’s chin went up a notch. “I don’t know what you are implying, Riaz.” She pulled the dining chair out and sat primly on the edge, her hands hidden under the linen tablecloth.

He shook his head, amused at her efforts at stealth. “For a woman who has successfully evaded a sociopath for the past fourteen-plus years, you are incredibly obvious about sneaking food to Dibi and Marta. They get more bacon each morning than you do.”

Kaia glanced down under the table at the canines that were pretending to sleep. Marta lifted her eyes, but not her head, as she waited in stealth mode for her next treat.

When Kaia looked up again, she wore a mockingly disdainful expression. “I don’t know what you mean.” She lifted the linen napkin and primly spread it over her lap. “The dogs are sweet and wonderful. And even if I was sneaking food to them, which I am not ,” she snapped, glaring right back at him, “what’s the harm?”

Her serious effort was marred by the smile lurking at the corners of her mouth.

“The harm is thatyouneed to eat more,” he replied and pressed the call button beside his plate.

Two waiters pushed through the door, their hands full. One put a plate in front of Riaz and the other delivered Kaia’s. Her plate was filled with bacon, fruit, and a bran muffin that had extra cinnamon and raisins, exactly how Kaia preferred. Riaz always ordered an egg white omelet with vegetables, no cheese, and some sort of cracker that looked like it was made up of seeds.

Kaia split her muffin open, appreciating the steam as she slathered the butter thickly. “What’s on your agenda today?” she asked.

“I have a few meetings about road construction and military issues, and then you and I are meeting with Dihrain to have a videoconference call with the teams in Kentucky. We’ll get an update on what they’ve learned. I think that Dihrain has enough evidence to hand over to the FBI. If the American authorities will investigate, then we’ll step back but continue to keep track of the investigation.”

“And what will happen if the FBI doesn’t think that the information provided is enough for a criminal investigation?”

“From what I’ve heard, there should be enough for, at least, a financial investigation. Apparently, Ethan Howell has stashed away a mass of funds, all of which come from the farming families in the community. As you mentioned, they are not given adequate payment for their crops or the sale of their livestock. The money and food is distributed based off need, not the financial value of their contributions.”

Kaia nodded, causing her curls to dance around her shoulders. “I’ve always suspected that Ethan wasn’t being honest about the amount of produce that was sold at the various markets. He required everyone in the town to bring their harvest to him. He always explained that he could get a better price by selling a large quantity than if each person brought their harvest to market individually.”

“He’s right about that,” Riaz replied, rolling his eyes when Kaia took a piece of bacon from her plate, tore it in half and then dropped her hands under the table. “You’re not even trying to hide your bacon offerings now?”

“Nope,” she replied, then took another piece and bit into the end, smiling smugly at him. “You’ve already told me I failed in being stealthy, so why bother?”

“Because Dibi and Marta will get fat,” he replied with a mock scowl.

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “The dogs race around the palace all day long. When we visit the kittens–”

“We visit the horses,” he interrupted. “The kittens are just for fun.”

“When we visit thekittens,” she reiterated, emphasizing the last word, “Dibi and Marta sprint all the way from the palace to the stables. I’m pretty sure that they burn off whatever extra calories they get from the bacon.” She reached under the table, scratching both dogs behind the ears.

“You’re spoiling them.”

She laughed. “Right.I’mspoiling the dogs?” She offered a snort. “I saw you last night throwing the ball into the pool so that they could play. Don’t even try to claim that you don’t spoil them as well.”

She had a point, Riaz thought, so he stopped arguing. But he did lower his hand and snap his fingers. Immediately, Marta came to his side and he gave her head a scratch, but frowned at Dibi, who lifted his big head to snuffle at Riaz over the top of the table.

“Traitor,” Riaz grumbled, then pushed back his chair to give Marta extra attention. “You’re my good girl, aren’t you?” he soothed, scratching Marta’s back.

Dibi whined and moved over to Riaz, ready for his attention. But Marta, the hussy, returned to Kaia, nudging her elbow as she shamelessly begged for attention.

The dining room door opened and, instantly, the dogs shifted from begging for attention to alertness, their lithe bodies swinging around to glare at the person entering the room unannounced.

“Yumsik,” Riaz commanded, ordering the dogs to “hold”. The dogs remained alert, but sat down on their haunches, watching the newcomer intently.

It was Riaz’s personal assistant. The man eyed the dogs warily, then turned to Riaz. “I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, Your Highness, but the prime minister is here for your meeting.”

Riaz sighed heavily as he lifted his napkin and wiped his mouth. “Right,” he grumbled and stood up. “Tell Hussen that I need ten minutes.”

The assistant bowed and left the room, pulling the door closedbehind him.

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