Page 31 of The Prince's Secret Twins

Khal’s eyes narrowed on his brother and he leaned back in his oversized leather chair. “Why the hell is he early?” he asked, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t know. We don’t know much about Sheik Hamsa’s son. Crown Prince Amit is a bit of a mystery.”

Khal’s expression didn’t change. “And mysteries are bad. I suspect Prince Amit is even more dangerous than his father. The man’s young, but shrewd and not ruled by his emotions, which Hamsa occasionally is prone to do.”

“I agree,” Raj replied, sitting down in the chair in front of his brother’s desk. “However, Amit is also the reason that Uftar is doing so well economically. In fact, I’d like to work with several of the companies in Uftar.” There was a small pause, then Raj continued, “Are you ready to suggest additional economic ties with the country even if you’re not quite ready to have formal diplomatic relations?”

Khal hesitated briefly before he nodded. “Yeah, I’d like to figure out how to smooth over the tensions between our countries. Joran says there is trouble brewing on the border in several spots. If we could start to ease the tensions, maybe the troubles would ease up, and we could allocate resources elsewhere instead of having to post additional troops in those hot spots.”

“Plus, if we could ease the tensions, there could be more cross border trade and that would eventually form financial ties that would bind everyone together. Nothing unites like a mutual financial benefit,” Raj added, always one to see the financial aspects of an action. His mind worked like a calculator doinghigh powered economic deals. Some actually doubted if the man had the capability for emotion, but they would be wrong. Raj was capable of emotions, he just buried them deep inside, unwilling to show them to the world. Only his mistresses were privy to his emotions, although even he would admit that those lovely ladies only saw pleasure, mild irritation, and boredom. There was one woman that…! Raj quickly dismissed her from his mind.

“Do you think you can negotiate with Prince Amit?”

Focusing on the current conversation, Raj leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’d love to try,” he replied.

Khal nodded. “Fine. Let me know when he arrives. We’ll talk to him and feel him out. But we should figure out why he’s here first. This is an unprecedented visit. It wasn’t arranged ahead of time either, which concerns me. Usually, visits like this are arranged well in advance, all of the visual and social details worked out carefully so that the optics are beneficial to both parties.”

“Agree,” Raj replied, standing. “We’ll proceed carefully.” Then he turned and walked towards the door. But when his hand rested on the handle, he paused. “Have you spoken to Marianna after she found us having lunch together?”

“No,” he replied, frowning. “I couldn’t find her but I know she’s upset though.”

“Yeah,” Raj replied, shifting his shoulders again. “We should have asked her join us for lunch today even though we thought she was in class. When she saw us together in the dining room, she looked hurt. I suspect that she’s going to try to isolate herself again, thinking that we still don’t consider her part of our family.”

“I thought we were done with that nonsense,” Khal snapped, then sighed with frustration, tossing the report back onto his desk. “But I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been as attentive as I should be.”

“I haven’t either. I wonder if she’s feeling left out again.”

“Nonsense,” Khal argued. “I’ve repeatedly told her that she’s part of the family.”

“I have too.” Raj paused, then sighed. “Maybe I’m wrong and she’s just got a lot going on with her new classes.” He pulled the door open. “I’ll check in with her after this visit from Amit.”

“Good plan,” Khal replied, then pulled the report forward again.

Chapter 25

Marianna walked out to the stables, trying to hide the hurt welling up inside of her after she’d been omitted yet again from a family conversation. It hurt, but she knew that her brothers shared a bond that she’d never be able to achieve with them.

Walking down the long, central area of the stables, she paused to peer into the stalls of some of the magnificent horses. They were eating oats and enjoying their time away from the intense sunshine. She didn’t know how to ride the enormous beasts, but wanted to learn. There weren’t a whole lot of places to ride horses in the heart of Paris, where she’d lived with her mother before coming to Lativa.

Goodness, she missed her mother. This palace was beautiful, and Marianna would be the first to admit that she loved the sunshine in Lativa. Right now, Paris would be grey, cold, and dreary as the winter months pressed down with its heavy clouds. Here in Lativa, the temperatures were mild, and on the warm side. One needed a sweater during the evenings and a warm coat overnight, but it wasn’t anywhere as depressing as the gloom back home.

Home. That was the crux of the issue, wasn’t it? Marianna wondered how long it would take before Lativa felt like home. Back in Paris, she’s been just another high school student. But before she could finish high school, her mother had been taken from her. Her mother’s unexpected passing had ignited a chain of events that had culminated in a life that often felt lonely, confusing and miserable.

Sighing, Marianna leaned her chin on the top of the fence post, watching the more adventurous horses frolic in the pasture. They all seemed to be standing close together. Like theycouldn’t stand to be separated. What would that be like? Back in Paris, Marianna had been part of a close group of friends. Here in Lativa, she was a princess. Bodyguards surrounded her wherever she went. No one approached her before or after classes because she had strong, intimidating men following her everywhere.

Even here at the palace, everyone was busy with their jobs. For a while, her brothers and sister-in-law had gotten together for dinners, just as a family. That had been nice. But now…everyone was so busy. Raj was out saving the economy, working with struggling companies and helping them to expand. He was focused on the job growth and increasing the median income of every family in the country. Joran was always gone, traveling with the military or the border guards or meeting with foreign diplomats. His job was to ensure the safety of everyone. And Khal…well, he was in charge of everything. The man didn’t have five minutes to spare and Marianna didn’t want to become just another burden to her oldest brother.

Tasha was sweet, but even her sister-in-law had interviews and was now heading up several charities. Marianna smiled as she thought of her tiny, new nephews. Rafi and Laith were adorable and so snuggly! She could spend hours sitting with them, playing and pretending to chat with them.

Something was off with Tila though. Her future sister-in-law was…sad. Yes, that was the right word. Marianna wondered if Tila needed a friend, but every overture that she made towards the lonely, confused newcomer to the palace had been met with nothing but polite smiles.

Apparently, not even Tila needed a new friend.

After a year of living here in Lativa, she was sick of being sad and lonely. It was time to do something about it.

“You like horses?” a deep, raspy masculine voice asked, startling her.

Marianna jerked her chin away from the fence post and turned to face the intruder. He was dressed casually in a dark suit with a yellow tie, a slight shadow of stubble on his cheek and jawline. The man was tall, maybe even taller than Khal, and Marianna didn’t like the feeling of standing next to this man. There was also the sense that the man was just…raw. Powerful, yes. But her sense of the man was different. Khal, Raj and Joran were all powerful men. This man…he was more than powerful, he was… formidable.

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