Page 17 of Hiding in the Sheik's Arms

Khal was shocked. “Do you honestly believe that?” he asked, looking at Raj. He swiveled his gaze towards Joran, noticing that he looked a little uncomfortable. “Do you feel as if I’ve ignored you?”

Raj and Joran shared a look, and Khal felt as if he’d just been left out of a joke. But then his brothers looked back at him, nodding slowly. “Yeah,” Joran replied.

“That’s not true,” Khal argued. “I discuss issues with you all the time.” He thought about that for a split second, then corrected himself. “Well, whenever you’re home.” His glower intensified. “Which is rarely lately.”

Raj waved that away. “What do you need our input about?” he prompted.

Khal paused to continue his silent reprimand, then said, “The explosion. Tasha doesn’t think it’s politically motivated.” He looked at Joran. “You’ve been to Uftar recently. What doyou think? Are the citizens of Uftar angry with Lativa for some reason I’m not aware of?”

Joran looked startled for a moment. He considered the question for a long moment before he leaned forward.

Finally, he replied, “Later, I’d love to know how you’re aware of me being inside the Uftar borders, but to answer your question, no. From all the times I’ve secretly ventured into Uftar, there has never been any animosity towards Lativa. The opposite, in fact. The people there move back and forth across the border easily. The business owners near the borders sell products back and forth. There are always trucks moving across the lines. In fact, the border agents know the people that cross over regularly and move those people and supplies through more quickly.”

Khal nodded, relieved that his instincts had been correct. He turned to Raj. “And what about you?”

Raj’s eyebrows lifted in surprise before his expression smoothed into his normal charming grin. “I haven’t been to Uftar in several years.”

Khal leaned back against the leather chair, rubbing his chin with his forefinger. “But you have your finger on the economic pulse. You know what’s happening globally.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked, looking just as startled as Joran had a moment ago.

Khal glared at his youngest brother. “You put together a group of investors for that Pacific Coast project last summer. You knew exactly who to approach to get the investors you wanted. The project started up smoothly and is ahead of schedule and under budget. The management team you’ve put together is outstanding. In fact, every financial project you’ve put together recently has been insanely profitable, which is whyyou can hand select your business partners. You can’t do that without knowingexactlywho the players are and how they’re connected internationally.”

Raj appeared…flushed with pride for a long moment. He looked down at the polished wood of the conference table for a brief moment, then he seemed to change. Khal didn’t completely understand the shift, but Raj lifted his gaze and nodded.

“You’re right. I know what’s going on internationally, but I don’t know everything that’s happening within the criminal element.” He paused for a moment. “And I think that the explosion was more along those lines. There aren’t any whispers of large criminal elements based in Lativa nor Uftar.” He continued, conveying his knowledge of the financial world and who might have problems with Lativa, but Raj didn’t stop there. He knew which elements would have the financial resources and the connections inside of Lativa to pull off something like the explosion.

“But I don’t think this is their work,” he finished.

Chapter 15

Tasha listened, fascinated by the insight of the three brothers. She knew Khal missed whatever camaraderie they shared when they were younger and more carefree. She’d heard him make comments, just a casual memory here and there about moments of mischief that he and his brothers had gotten into as kids.

Her heart pounded harder as she watched the three men converse. Their intelligence was obvious but there was a stronger, more interesting, undercurrent between them. It was almost as if all three of them wanted the same thing; to rediscover their brotherhood.

Tasha listened half-heartedly. They were brainstorming at the moment. When they came up with an agenda, she would start to take notes again.

She flipped over to the next meeting on the day’s agenda. Mentally, she was reviewing the notes for that meeting when she heard something strange.

“Tasha explained that…” and “Tasha thinks that…” And the best one, “Tasha knows how to…”

She kept her head bowed, trying not to cry. She’d offered so much analysis and guidance to Nathan and he’d taken everything from her, presenting her information and opinions as his own. Which was fine, except he never gave her credit for anything.

Here was Khal, a far more powerful man, telling his equally powerful brothers that she was the genesis for the information and idea.

It was such a small issue, and perhaps she had been petty in the past for wanting her boss to credit her efforts with the ideas he was advocating, but it meant so much to her.

She looked up and…Khal lifted his eyes at that same moment. Something passed between them and she felt a shiver, then heat. Intense, soul-drenching heat! The look his eyes conveyed was something so special, so powerful, it was impossible to look away.

“What if we…” Joran said, interrupting that moment. Tasha noticed the reluctance in Khal to refocus on the conversation. Tasha sat back in the leather chair, feeling a sense of…joy and warmth simmer inside of her. No, it wasn’t simmering. It was vibrating. Yes, her whole body felt as if she were vibrating with energy and life and happiness!

“What if it’s something more nefarious?” Raj interjected.

Tasha smiled faintly and looked down at her notes.

“What are you suggesting?” Joran asked.

Raj tilted his head thoughtfully, his eyes unfocused. “What if there’s some other purpose for the explosion? We’ve already established that the event probably wasn’t politically motivated. It won’t have a significant financial impact. From the reports you gave us,” he continued, “there isn’t even a large repair expense. So, we can rule out greedy contractors.”

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