Page 28 of The Prince's Secret Twins

“The mandatory freshman classes are a bit…tedious, from what I remember.”

Marianna looked at Tila and grinned. “You don’t look old enough to have those fond memories.”

“Oh, I’m twenty-nine, so it wasn’t too long ago that I attended university. But it’s been long enough that I am able to reminisce about the easy-going lifestyle.”

“Yeah, that’s not something I’m going to experience.” Marianna glanced over her shoulder at the bodyguards that always hovered nearby. “You get used to them,” she told Tila.

For the next hour, Tila relaxed and chatted with Marianna, enjoying her company. They laughed at Laith and Rafi’s expressions and Tila slowly relaxed, enjoying the company of another woman. It gave her a bit of hope that the future here in this intimidating place wouldn’t be as bleak.

Chapter 23

“Whois coming to speak with me?” Khal demanded, his body tensing with anger. Immediately, Tasha put a hand on Khal’s arm and the man relaxed. Slightly.

His new assistant bowed slightly, nervous in the face of Khal’s temper. “Crown Prince Amit el Sandir of…”

“I know where the bastard lives!” Khal snapped, cutting his assistant off. “Lativa and Uftar don’t have diplomatic relations currently.”

“Maybe this is Prince el Sandir’s way of starting relations,” Tasha offered, her soft voice soothing her husband. “Sending his son here to talk to you is a pretty major deal.”

He glared thoughtfully at her for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No, someone from his embassy would have reached out to me prior to his son’s arrival if they were trying to negotiate some sort of treaty.” Khal turned back to his assistant. “What time is Prince Amit arriving?”

His assistant was noticeably trembling. “In two hours, Your Highness,” he said with another bow.

“Fine,” Khal snapped. “Reach out to the Uftar embassy and find out what he wants. His visit has to be significant.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the terrified man replied, then turned to rush out of the dining room.

Joran and Raj chuckled in the silence. “He’s not going to last,” Joran muttered, referring to the timid assistant. He turned to Tila. “Tasha used to be my brother’s assistant and she never would have put up with his foul moods.”

Raj snorted. “Tasha had been the reason for most of his foul moods for a while,” he replied, then popped a cashew intohis mouth. “And we enjoyed the spectacle,” he added, winking playfully at his sister-in-law. “It was fun watching my big, bad brother being twisted into knots.”

Joran grunted. “You’ve had a few grumpy moods lately,” he said to Raj. “Care to explain why?”

Raj froze, his normally charming smile disappearing. For a moment, everyone saw the flash of pain. But it was quickly hidden and his smile reappeared, although there was a stiffness to it now.

“Nothing to explain,” he said and took a sip of his drink. “Just working a lot lately.”

Joran glanced over at Khal and Tasha. Yep, they’d both noticed it as well. He’d have a private word with Raj later. Something was definitely wrong.

Tasha changed the subject even as she rubbed her husband’s arm, obviously trying to soothe the grumpy bear. “I’ll reach out to find out why Crown Prince Amit is coming,” she told him and started to rise.

Khal put a hand to her shoulder. “You will stay and enjoy your lunch,” he told her. “You are my wife. Not my assistant. If that idiot,” he jerked his head towards the closed door where his current assistant had just disappeared through, “can’t handle the job, then I’ll find someone who can.” He caressed her hand with his thumb. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Joran and Raj snorted at that because everyone knew that Tasha always worried. She was a worrier and a fixer.

Joran reached out, putting his hand on the back of Tila’s chair. She stiffened when she felt his hand touch her hair, but tried to pretend that his touch didn’t bother her.

“Last year, while Tasha was Khal’s assistant, we discovered that our lovely sister-in-law was running from someone.”

“Hiding from him, to be completely correct,” Raj explained.

“It’s all over and done with,” Tasha replied. “The man is in jail. Everything was resolved.”

Khal moved his hand to cover hers where it still rested on his forearm. “It was a mess that would have been resolved sooner ifsomeone,” he obviously meant his wife, “had mentioned that there was a problem and not tried to handle it all on her own.”

She looked at him with a silent message that Tila didn’t understand. “If I hadn’t tried to handle it myself,” she replied back softly, “then I wouldn’t have accidentally burst into the interview room. I wouldn’t have become your assistant and I wouldn’t be here now.”

Tila watched them, her heart aching because she could feel the love between the two of them. The way their eyes lingered, the way they silently communicated. She glanced wistfully at Joran, wondering if he could ever love her that deeply.

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