Page 36 of Hiding in the Sheik's Arms

“Sorry to disturb you. I know that Sheik Al-Sintra has a very tight schedule.” He walked over to her, then flipped his tablet screen around, handing it to her. “However, I just received an odd phone call from a US Senator. He wanted to arrange a visit to Sheik Al-Sintra for…some sort of diplomatic purpose.”

Tasha took the tablet and read through the details, her stomach tightening with dread. But she hid her nervous expression carefully before returning the tablet.

Somehow, she generated a professional, if tight, smile. “Why don’t you forward the details to me and I’ll speak with His Highness about the proposed visit?” Tasha licked her lips, trying to calm her racing heart. “Usually, these visits take months to arrange. But Senator King is in the midst of his re-election campaign. A visit here would be a diplomatic coup.” She smiled tightly. “A visit at this point in his campaign would be the equivalent of an endorsement by Sheik al-Sintra and I’m not sure that His Highness is willing to endorse the senator. But I’ll bring it to his attention and ask him how he wants to handle the proposed visit.”

The man bowed and left Tasha’s office. Tasha waited until she was completely alone before she looked down at the email message. It started with a pleasant greeting and continued on to describe a possible agenda for a meeting with Khal.

Tasha thought about the message for a moment, trying to determine the motives behind it. What was Nathan up to? This message, completely out of the blue, just didn’t make sense.

Unless Nathan was preparing for a presidential campaign!

The thought of Nathan King becoming president made her stomach tighten with dread. The man already had too much power! A power that he abused on a regular basis, she thought. And Tasha had the evidence to…!

Gasping, she leapt to her feet and looked around, feeling lost for a long moment. One of Khal’s guards heard the sounds of her frantic movements and poked his head in to check on her. “Everything okay, Ms. O’Connor?” he asked.

Tasha blanked for a long moment, then shook her head. “No,” she replied honestly. “No.”

She checked the time on her tablet, then hurried out the door. “I need to speak with Khal.” She paused, almost laughing because she wanted to pull Khal out of his meeting because of a personal crisis, but she was the one who determined if the issue was critical enough to disturb him.

And this problem didn’t reach the level of a crisis. She stopped and took a slow, deep breath. For a moment, she closed her eyes and focused on something other than Nathan’s message. That helped and she remembered that her strength was analyzing political issues from different angles.

So, what did this message actuallymean? A trip to a foreign country by a group of representatives or senators was usually a code for a raucous, sex-heavy party with lots of alcohol and women who were paid to sexually satisfy the senators. Politicians often visited foreign countries where the laws weren’tas strict and reporters weren’t allowed, so the men’s scandalous behavior wouldn’t get back to the voters.

However, when a senator or representative traveled to foreign countries alone, that meant that they were trying to introduce themselves to foreign leaders, explain their policies, and how their candidacy could benefit a particular country.

Tapping her finger thoughtfully against her chin, Tasha paced along the hallway, trying to examine the issue from various angles and motives. Nathan King was in the middle of his re-election campaign. If he won again, that would mean he’d have six more years of breathing space before his next campaign. Nathan was malicious and power hungry, but he was also lazy. Most of the senators were the same. Nathan and most of the other senators spent their time golfing during the day and attending social events in the evening, drinking scotch and bourbon while promising their donors, the billionaires who funded their campaigns, legislation to help them make another billion dollars. Other than that, the interns and office staff did the real grunt work.

In the years she’d worked for Nathan, there had been no mention of running for president. Nor had he released an “autobiography” outlining his life and future plans. The “autobiography”, written by a ghostwriter, was almost a pre-requisite to running for president these days.

Tasha didn’t think that Nathan was preparing a run for the oval office. So if the presidency was out, what were his true intentions? Why would he come here to Lativa for a meeting with a powerful world leader, if not to…?

“Tasha?” Khal called out, walking down the hallway towards her. “What’s wrong?”

He came up to her, putting a hand to the small of her back as he led her into his office.

She waited until they were in his office and the door closed before she announced, “Nathan King wants to meet with you.” Tasha flipped the tablet around, showing him the message.

Khal’s eyes narrowed as he watched her, ignoring the message for the moment. “Why would he want to meet with me?”

Tasha started pacing around his office, tapping her finger against her outer thigh. “I don’t know. Yet,” she clarified.

Chapter 32

Khal leaned against his desk, watching Tasha pace. He knew she was in a deep state of concentration because of her tapping fingers. That was one of her “tells”, indicating that she was concentrating deeply on an issue. She only tapped her fingers when she was intent on trying to unravel a mystery.

But in his mind, he already knew why King wanted to visit. The predator had finally found his prey.

The old bastard had somehow discovered that Tasha was working in the palace. He’d located a major vulnerability and wanted to bring his “fiancée” home so that he could control her. He would demand a fast marriage, which would eliminate the possibility of Tasha testifying in court about any activities she’d overheard or witnessed.

“Remember my question yesterday?” he asked, breaking into her concentration.

Before Tasha could answer, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Khal called out. Raj and Joran stepped into the room, tugging a reluctant Marianna behind them.

“I shouldn’t be here!” the teen hissed, jerking her hand out of Joran’s grip.

“You’re family and this is a family crisis,” Raj countered. “We need you to help us figure out a solution.”

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