The Sheikh's Christmas Present (Shadid Sheikhs 2)

“Your operation was clean and smooth while you were targeting the rich. They didn’t give a damn when a few hundred-thousand went missing here and there. When you went after my friends, things changed. They went broke, and I started having you followed. I’m the new key witness, Kivi, and you’re never getting out of prison.”

His old friend’s jaw tightened, and Jarik smiled coldly. “I’ll see you inside.”

“Jarik, wait,” Kivi said desperately. “We can come to some arrangement. I’ll make sure your friends are taken care of!”

“I made sure my friends were taken care of. I don’t need a damn thing from you.” Kivi stared at him in shock, and Jarik stepped back. “What’s wrong? Worried now that you know you can’t bribe your way out of this?”

“You’re one to talk,” Kivi hissed. “You have the weight of an entire country behind you. You throw your money around like it’s nothing. You can’t imagine what it’s like for someone like me.”

He sounded like Maria. “People work for their money. You stole it, and I’m going to make sure you go to prison for it. I introduced my friends to you, and you took advantage of them. You took advantage of me, and now you’re going to pay.”

When his phone rang, he stepped away and watched as the authorities pushed Kivi inside. Glancing at the screen, he saw that it was Halil calling. “Now is not a great time.”

“This won’t take long. You allocated a lot of money to a charity called Christmas Crates.”

“Your point?” Just because he and Maria weren’t together anymore didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to follow through with his promise to help them out.

“I’ve emailed you some links. Read them.”

Halil ended the call, and Jarik quickly pulled up his email. It wasn’t like Halil to be so abrupt with him. When he clicked on the links and read the news article on Christmas Crates, he felt bile rise up in his throat.

A huge chunk of money was missing from the charity, and the press was crucifying them for it. Someone in the company was stealing the funds.

He couldn’t believe that Maria would lead him astray in order to steal money from him, but he couldn’t discount the notion just yet. First, he’d deal with Kivi.

Then, he’d deal with Maria.

13

Maria couldn’t find much joy and bliss in handing out the toys this year. Despite the laughter in the camp, she wished that there was someone else there sharing the day with her. She had kicked Sebastian out of the camp and sent Tessa with him to make sure that he upheld his end of the agreement. Christmas Crates was on shaky ground, and unless her brother went public with his mistakes, there would be nothing else for her to do.

“He’s not a bad guy,” Tessa had whispered as she hugged her. “He made some mistakes. We’re going to fix it.”

“If it looks like he’s going to back out, you need to tell me. Immediately.”

“He’s not going to. I was with him last night, and he feels awful about what he’s done and how it’s affected you.”

“You were with him last night?”

Tessa had blushed, and Maria chuckled. They left early that morning for the airport, but they had an important stop to make on the way.

Maria settled in her hotel room and turned on the television. For once, she wasn’t running to make a deadline. She’d deliberately cleared her flight schedule to give her a week off after Christmas so she could have a cool down period. She briefly thought about returning to the Gulf. It had been a long time since she had the time to work on her tan. After a few minutes, she watched the news.

Sebastian’s face filled the screen, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He’d gone through with it.

“I’m sorry to say that my gambling addiction has affected my relationship with Christmas Crates. After some misjudgments on my part, I will be stepping away from the charity until I can get some help. My sister, Maria Walken, and my good friend, Tessa, will continue to use Christmas Crates to do a great deal of good in this world. I would like to apologize for misleading the donors and the press. Thank you.”

Maria breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in the pillows. So long as Christmas Crates stayed clean, next year would go much more smoothly. She would help take care of Sebastian’s gambling debt and get him in a rehab program.

She was about to turn off the television when another familiar face filled the screen.

“Jarik,” she whispered. Quickly, she turned up the television.

“Sheikh Jarik Shadid, second in line for the crown of Al-Harmid, appeared in court today with evidence against Kivi Mahaas, the famed con man. Mahaas was arrested last year for targeting both the wealthy and the poor. It looked like he might walk after the key witness in the trial decided not to testify, but Sheikh Shadid showed up unexpectedly with enough evidence against Mahaas to assure a long prison sentence.”

“Oh, God.” Maria’s shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes. She’d been so wrong about Jarik. Here, she’d been thinking that he was trying to get to some fancy party, and all along he was making a court date.

Was Kivi the old friend he was meeting? Just what the hell was going on?