Page 28 of The Sheikh's Temporary Girlfriend

“Are you Amber?” he asked in a high voice. At her nod, he handed her an envelope. “Then this is for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, accepting it with a strange feeling of foreboding.

She went to close the door when he added, “I’m to stay with you until you read the note inside.”

She arched a brow. “Okay, then. Come in.”

One of the guards looked her way with a frown. “We’re under strict instructions not to let anyone past these doors.”

She almost giggled. Basam was getting rather protective. “I think I’m safe enough. He’s all of eight years old.”

“Ten,” the boy corrected in an aggrieved voice.

The guard reluctantly nodded. “Very well.” He glanced at the boy. “Make it quick.”

The boy stepped inside, then waited as she shut door behind them and opened the letter. She pulled out a document and began reading bullet points showcasing every dark and dirty secret her family had, with some she hadn’t even been aware of.

Her hands shook as she pushed the evidence back into its envelope, trepidation and foreboding filling her even before she looked back at the boy. “Who sent you?”

He shrugged his thin shoulders. “Maram did. She said if you know what’s good for you, you’ll follow me to where she’s waiting in her suite of rooms.”

Amber was numb then, her emotions compartmentalized so that she didn’t fall apart. “Wait here then while I tidy myself up.”

Tidying her hair back into its usual bun, with Basam’s gift of jewels around her throat and in her ears, she slipped on some heeled shoes and walked back to where the boy patiently waited. “I guess I’m ready,” she said.

She followed him out of her suite of rooms and down a maze of corridors. “You seem to know your way around here very well.”

He nodded. “My mom works here in the kitchens. The palace is my playground.”

It made sense. Maram had probably bribed him to get him to give her the note. She clearly didn’t mind using children to get what—who—she wanted.

“This wing is where the guests stay,” the young boy informed her, before he turned right into yet another corridor, then knocked on the third door to the left.

As it swung open, Maram looked from Amber to the boy, then handed him another envelope, this one no doubt filled with money. “Well done, Aaben.”

He hurried off, clutching the envelope to his chest, then disappeared back to wherever in the palace he’d come from.

Maram smiled gloatingly at Amber, her eyes glinting. That she’d dressed for the confrontation was obvious. From her emerald green abaya that was drawn in tight at her waist to her dark hair that tumbled down her back, her kohl eyes and red lips, she’d clearly primped and preened for hours. “I’m so glad you knew better than to ignore my message,” she said huskily

Amber kept her face empty and her voice neutral. I’m doing what has to be done, nothing more.”

Maram looked both ways down the corridor. Satisfied no one was around, she gestured for Amber to come inside.

She glanced at the suite of rooms, the gold and pearl-blue tones of the furnishings a beautiful match to the white walls with gold trim. The only thing off-putting was the floral scent Maram must have sprayed liberally all over her body. It was sickeningly sweet.

“Please, take a seat,” Maram said regally, like she imagined she was already the sheikha of the palace.

Amber headed to the comfortable sofas and armchairs that faced one another, the handcrafted coffee table sitting between them already showcasing a tray with an intricately patterned, silver teapot called a samovar. There were also biscuits on a little plate, along with nuts and dried fruits.

She selected an armchair as Maram took the one opposite.

“Would you like some mint tea?” Maram asked.

“Thank you, but no thank you.” She wouldn’t put it past the other woman to have poisoned it.

“Suit yourself.” She sniggered, leaning forward then to pour herself a cup of the steaming tea, its mint aroma filling the air. She took a long sip, then inhaled happily and said, “It seems addiction runs in your family. Tell me…what is yours?”

Basam.He was all she wanted, all she’d ever want.

---