“That’s exactly what she did,” Zaid told him. His fear that she might have been hurt far worse than scratched elbows and knees kept him from admitting that he was impressed by her tenacity and refusal to accept the status quo.
“What happened?”
“She was accosted by two men who took her bag with her belongings and money in it,” Zaid answered.
“But she’s fine, correct? And what of the two men?”
“They got away. Since she was knocked to the ground, we stopped to tend to her.”
Alacabak’s eyes narrowed. Wrong answer.
“Be careful, Zaid,” Alacabak cautioned. “Her behavior smacks of activism. I will conduct a background check on her. If she’s going to cause us trouble, we need to be ahead of her.”
Zaid was uncomfortable with the idea of Alacabak looking into Rebecca’s history. He didn’t know what kind of information the advisor would find, but there was at least one piece of information he would prefer remain confidential until he had everything sorted with Calum. His father would be furious if he found out there was an illegitimate child. But before he could lay claim to him as his rightful father, he had to find out why Rebecca was so opposed to it. She was hiding something but he had yet to figure out what.
“That won’t be necessary,” he told the Sultan’s advisor.
“I’m sorry?”
“Ms. Reid would not have been allowed to come on this tour without first passing a rigorous screening process like all the other attendees.” Zaid said. “I’ve worked with her before, and I trust her.” There wasn’t much he could say about Rebecca that didn’t sound like he was admitting some of his feelings for her.
“Good. If you trust her, then you should feel confident that I won’t find anything,” Alacabak replied.
“I feel confident enough that I don’t want you wasting palace resources on doing a background on her,” Zaid argued.
A sly, dirty smile spread across Alacabak’s face. “I won’t waste any palace resources. Don’t worry. I have my own.” He stood up to leave. “I hope I don’t find any evidence of impropriety between the two of you. Because I will be forced to act on it if anything like that comes up.”
“Certainly,” Zaid said, watching the Chief Advisor leave his office. He sat back in his chair and wondered if Alacabak would even pull her background information.
Of course, he would. And it was likely he’d find out about Calum and the political family ties Rebecca had been reluctant to discuss with him in detail. If news of his illegitimate son got out before he had a chance to claim him, he could be ruined. His father, the Sultan, was still furious at his brothers for choosing Americans as their brides and it had been his fervent wish that Zaid choose a more conventional bride. Rebecca was anything but conventional.
He had learned a bit about her upbringing from what she had shared with him five years ago and his own investigator had filled in the blanks. While he had been surprised to find out her family history, he had kept it to himself hoping that Rebecca would trust him enough to share with him what he already knew. When they had parted ways, he thought he’d never see her again, but now that they had a child between them…things were very different.
What he didn’t understand was what was Alacabak’s end game? The man had served his father for years and was if anything, consistently indifferent. What changed now and why was he so obvious about his intentions?
“I have my own resources as well,” he said aloud in his empty office as his picked up his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts. He would do his own background check on the advisor with the hope that he wasn’t particularly careful about covering his tracks.
After he disconnected the call with his contact, Zaid sat back and thought about Rebecca. She’d been adamant about not staying in the palace where it was safe, and that bothered him, especially after learning that they had a son together. That knowledge made her safety his number one priority as long as she was under his watch.
There was a knock at the door. It was one of the palace staff members, peeking his head in the door. “Sheikh Zaid,” he said timidly as he entered.
“Yes, what is it?” Zaid asked, impatient for being interrupted.
“It’s Miss Reid, sir,” the staff member said.
“Yes?”
“One of the maids didn’t realize that there was anyone in your quarters when she opened the door to clean. Miss Reid requested a car and has left for the hotel,” he informed him.
Zaid shook his head. “Thank you for telling me,” Zaid said
Alone again, he paced his office. He was tempted to go to the hotel and drag her back, kicking and screaming, but he didn’t dare with Alacabak nosing around. He’d have to tread carefully.
He wasn’t going to let her get away with shrugging him off but he wasn’t sure how to make her obey him. Then, it occurred to him that it wasn’t so much about making her obey him as it was about not giving her any other option.
But eliminating her ability to make her own decisions, leaving her stuck with simply going along with whatever he had devised, didn’t seem right either. He had to find some way to convince her to go along with him that didn’t amount to forcing her to agree to his will.
She had to understand that staying in the palace was in her best interest, as a diplomat, as a personal matter between them, and as the mother of his son.