Page 42 of At the Sheikh's Bidding
He inhaled a deep breath and faced her. “And he was a sleazy bastard with a drug habit who decided it would be a good way to boost his income by filming sex between them and selling the videos to his friends and others. Inevitably, they landed on social media and went viral. She was devastated, humiliated and ashamed. With her upbringing…” He shook his head. “It’s bad enough for a girl raised with more freedom, but Layla?” He shook his head.
“What happened to her?”
He shook his head again, this time with greater determination. “I don’t want to talk about it. The only reason I’m mentioning what happened to her is to explain why I cannot bear social media. It reminds of…”
“A bad time.”
He nodded and cleared his throat.
“I thought it was the end.” He shook his head. “But life goes on. But I’ve never forgiven those responsible. Her ex, and the media he used to expose her to ridicule and shame. Social media can be dangerous.”
Janey nodded, understanding his concern. “Yes, but…” She wanted to say that what had happened to his cousin was different from talking about the diamond. One was personal, the other business, but she didn’t want to diminish his grief.
“Yes, but nothing! I should have protected her from all of that. But I didn’t.”
She curled her fingers around his arm, pushing them into his flesh, needing to touch him in a way her words couldn’t.
He sighed, shook his head, and placed his hand over hers. She’d got through. “It’s the past. I messed up. I just don’t want anything like that to happen again. I guess that’s why I’m so against social media of any kind. In my experience, it’s cruel, and it can have devastating consequences.”
“I understand. I really do. But all I’ve done is talk about my work. They’re always interested in anything new. Anything different.”
“So that will make it all the worse for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what do you think will happen when they discover the work isn’t new? They’ll crucify you.”
“They won’t, because itisnew.”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s not. There have been others who have been here, others who’ve entered the harem.”
She thought she’d misheard him at first. Then she re-ran his words and shook her head. “No, I’d know if they had.”
“Not if they hadn’t published anything. But they could very well.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “And you didn’t think to tell me before now?”
He had the grace to look shamefaced. “I thought about it, but decided not to.”
“Why? Why on earth would you keep something like this from me? You know how much it means to me!”
“Becauseyoumean a lot tome.”
Slowly it dawned on her what he was saying. “You kept it from me so I would stay, so you’d have time to seduce me. That’s it, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
She shook her head and backed away. “You deceived me, Amare. And to think I was changing my mind about you. Your seduction was working. And it was all a lie.”
Tears sprung into her eyes, but she refused to break down in front of him. Refused to give him the satisfaction of witnessing her break down in front of him. So she turned her back on him and took one faltering step after another away from him, feeling like she was breaking with each step. She’d been duped by this man. He’d promised her the world and given her a lie. It seemed her father had been right all along—shewasstupid.
CHAPTER19
“That, dear brother, must be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. And that’s saying something.” Zaire sat back in his chair and contemplated Amare in that irritating big-brother way which had always got on Amare’s nerves. He jumped up.
“Why the hell I’ve told you is beyond me.”
“Is it?” said Zaire thoughtfully. “It’s not beyondme. You told me because you don’t know how to handle things when you’re wrong. You know nothing about apologizing or how to make things right. You’ve come to the right person, because I’ve spent my life being a diplomat.”
