Page 16 of The Sheik's Pretend Fiancee
Suddenly, her father stood by her side and Angela felt a wave of love for her dad. “She’snotmarrying that ass!”
Khal’s expression turned stern. “I agree. There’s no way I would allow my niece to be…,” he paused and looked at Angela. “I won’t let that ass hurt you!” he growled furiously.
“Damn right!” a new voice interjected. Everyone turned to see Angela’s Uncle Joran hurry into the room. His wife, Tila, wasn’t with him, which Angela was suddenly grateful for. She had a spacious apartment, but with all of these enormous men, it was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic.
Her Uncle Khal wasn’t finished and his next words stunned everyone. “But sheisgoing to play the role of a fiancée, for a while.”
Angela suppressed the rush of excitement at the thought of seeing Tiro again. But she tamped it down and stared at her uncle, waiting for the rest of his pronouncement.
He looked at her carefully. “You’ll play the role, and will continue to be my ambassador during various events.”
Angela’s heart soared and her eyes must have revealed her relief. “You’d still trust me?”
“Absolutely!” he replied without hesitation. “You’ve done a hell of a great job so far. There’s no way I’m giving up your skills. You’ve brought people to the negotiating table that I never thought would ever talk to each other. You’re brilliant at diplomacy, Angela.” With that compliment, plus her father’s tightening of his arm around her shoulders, she felt as if she could fly with joy.
He wasn’t giving up on her! He wasn’t going toforce her to stay inLativa! She loved traveling and absolutely thrived on working with people, studyingtheir words and body language to understand the unspoken issues. She felt a rush of triumph every time she brought people together.
The fact that her uncle, a powerful man who demanded perfection, wasn’t going to yank her out of that role made her feel a thousand times better.
“Thank you,” she whispered, bowing her head so that no one could see the sudden tears that filled her eyes.
“However,” he said, waiting until Angela looked up again, “Tiro will be arriving here in three days’ time to speak with me. You’ll make a big show of being romantically involved. Then, you’ll travel to Ginisia with your parents for more role-playing. After that, we’ll figure out how to extricate both of you from the international expectations.”
That sounded reasonable. So why did Angela suddenly feel…sad?
Shaking off the sensation, she smiled and nodded to her uncle. “That sounds like a good solution. Thank you, Uncle Khal.”
Chapter 10
Tiro stormed into his security office. He met Aziz in the doorway and glowered. “I want you to find out how that video got out!”
Aziz offered a small bow and turned to the security monitors lining the wall. “We’re looking into it now, Your Highness,” he explained. “So far, the hotel security personnel have been questioned.We’re also speaking with the hotel management.”
Tiro listened carefully, watching the monitors. But after a moment, he sighed, shaking his head.“I don’t think it really matters.” He turned to his assistant who was hovering behind him. “I’ve already spoken to my council about this. They have spread the word that I’m engaged. The whole world probably knows about the engagement by now.”
“Excuse me?” Aziz snapped, which he’d never done before. “Who are you engaged to?”
Tiro turned to face the man, more curious than angry at his reaction. “Princess Angela, of course,” Tiro replied, his eyes narrowing on his security chief’s shocked expression.
“But…why?” Aziz continued. “We have no diplomatic relations with Lativa. Why the hell would you marry that…woman?”
Tiro had been staring at the monitors, but at Aziz’s horror, he swung around, glaring at the man. “You’re speaking of my future wife,” he snarled. “Watch your tone!”
Aziz had the grace to look abashed, but he was still upset. “Your Highness, why would you marry a woman who kissed you in full view of the world?”
“There were two participants in that kiss,” he replied and turned away.“I’ll be visiting Lativa in three days.” And then he walked out, angry at his head of security.Why the hell would Aziz, his long time bodyguard and good friend, be so outraged bythe idea of Angela coming here as his wife? In a political sense, the idea of marrying a member of the Lativa royal family made a lot of sense.
Tiro wondered why he hadn’t considered the idea before.
Of course, he’d never really thought much about Lativa. The neighboring country was a major pain in the ass. Especially since Sheik Khal had taken over. Now that the ass was in charge, Lativa was far more…efficient in their diplomatic efforts.
Come to think about it, Lativawas much more friendly to a lot of countries. Was that because of Princess Angela’s efforts? Was she thebreath of fresh air that had brought about such change?
He wondered about that, even considered asking Osman to dig into the possibility. He knew the engagement was only temporary, but only he and Khal knew that. Well, and Angela, he corrected silently.
On another level and thinking outside of the political ramifications of their plan, the idea of having a secret relationship with Angela seemed…enticing. Intriguing.
The possibilities were exciting. As soon as that word came to mind, he remembered how exciting it had been to kiss Angela. She’d been so soft, pressing those delicious curves against him.And her kiss had been…!
