Page 45 of Her Irresistible Sheik
“I’m sure,” he said with quiet confidence.
She took a sip of wine and wandered slowly around the room.“I’m guessing the internet connection isn’t great here?”
“There’s internet,” he assured her.“And running water, electricity, and all the comforts of home.”He looked around with a faint smile.“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but that’s part of the point.If there’s a serious threat, this is where I go.”
“Have you used it before?”
“I’ve been here, but never for a prolonged period of time.”
“Until now,” she said flatly.“What’s going on?”She watched his face, catching the hesitation in his eyes.“All of it,” she pressed.“I want to know everything that brought us here.”
Mikail exhaled and gestured to a sofa in the corner.“You’re going to want to sit down for this.”
She frowned, then sighed and walked over, perching on the edge.Resting the base of her wine glass on her knees, she braced herself.“That means you’ve been hiding something from me.Okay.I’m sitting.Tell me what you know.”
He sat down next to her, but with a foot of space between them.“There was some blood and a tooth found in the kitchen after the day you made the…uh…scones.”He rubbed a hand across his mouth, and Nahla was pretty sure he was trying not to smile at the memory of her failed baking attempt.“Then we discovered a bottle of your perfume knocked over in your suite the night you slept in the library.”
Nahla’s head tilted at that comment.“I noticed that.Why is that a concern?”
“Because none of the cleaning staff broke it.Plus, your bodyguards heard a noise that night and went in to investigate.The bottle was knocked over around three thirty in the morning.The cleaning crew doesn’t come through at that time of night.”
She stared at him, her mouth falling open.“So… someone got into my suite and was…?”
“Hiding under your makeup table, is the current assumption.”
Nahla pressed a hand to her forehead, suddenly unable to appreciate the beautiful antiques around her.Her thoughts raced back to that night—the misery of being kissed and the aching sadness after Mikail had walked away.And then the sweet, gentle way he’d woken her the next morning.
She looked at Mikail, ready to speak, but his expression warned her there was more.
“What else?”
He hesitated, and for a moment, Nahla suspected he didn’t want to tell her.
“Mikail, I have to assume whatever you’re holding back is why we’re here.So please don’t hide anything from me.I’m not a child.I don’t need to be shielded from the dangers in the world.”She stood, setting her wine glass on a nearby low table.Crossing her arms, she paced a few steps away.“I need to know what’s happening.”She turned to face him again, her glare direct and unwavering.“What’s going on, Mikail?”she asked, her voice soft but firm.
“The man who is trying to hurt you was in the courtyard while you were practicing archery this morning.”
Silence.
She stood still, lips pressed together, replaying the morning in her head.Then, in a shaky voice, she asked, “How do you know?”
“There was a bloody arrow.And we captured the man on several security tapes.”
She stiffened, stunned that anyone had gotten that close.“I shot him with my arrow?The famous assassin, Clyde?I actually hit him?”
“Apparently,” he said, voice grim.
Her expression brightened with disbelief and pride.“I shot an infamous assassin?”she whispered in awe.
Mikail leaned back against the sofa, finally relaxing as her glow of triumph lit up the room.He chuckled.“Apparently.”
“Where?”she asked, eyes wide.
“In the courtyard?”he asked, puzzled.
“No,” she said, waving that off.“Where on his body did I hit him?”
“Ah.”He nodded, pursing his lips for a moment.“We think he was shot in the butt.The security cameras caught him limping down the hallway with a bloodstain on the back of his pants, but we won’t know for sure until we capture him.”
