Sheikh's Revenge

Zahir’s heart sped up. This was it, and it was coming at the worst time. He wanted to know and needed to get those details, but he’d hoped to coax it out of her at work in a meeting as slyly as possible. Fairuza wasn’t wrong. There was everything exploitative and dirty about doing it this way, about letting her finish the truth with her naked and exposed in his arms.

“We don’t need to talk about anything that disturbs you now, Addy,” he said, hoping she’d just drop it. Then again, protesting too much would also be suspicious.

“But it’s true. I think he was cooking the books for overseas a lot, quoting them way too high prices and then getting cheaper materials to compensate. He was especially ruthless in other deals throughout the UAE. I heard him brag about it more than once over the phone. I just…every bit of him was a real asshole, and I’m so glad that I’m not there anymore,” she said, cuddling up against his chest. “I’m glad I found you.”

Zahir stilled but finally kissed the top of her forehead. He had the answer he wanted, but he wished to Allah and all the prophets that she hadn’t told him that here, in what he wanted to keep separate from his corporate espionage. Maybe that was impossible when he’d mixed business and his heart’s desires so thoroughly. So he just renewed his promise, what he’d made both to himself and to Fairuza, but now one he was vowing most of all for his beloved Addison’s sake.

“I’m glad you found me too, Addy, and I care about you so very much.”

“Me too, Zahir, me too.”

***

“Zahir, I know you’ve been busy but I need to talk to you. You rush into my room at midnight and tell me all these details I need to look into about McDermott’s United Arab Emirates deals, but then you hole back up in your room until noon. Seriously, brother, what am I supposed to do with that?” a shrill voice called.

Addison sat up instantly and clutched the overstuffed comforter to her chest. “Who are you?”

The woman stilled and her complexion went pale. “You’re not Zahir.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Where is he?” the strange woman demanded.

Addison instinctively reached out with her left hand and found that side of the bed both empty and cold. Wherever Zahir was, he’d snuck off on both of them.

“I don’t know, and who are you?”

“I’m Fairuza Amun. I’m Zahir’s sister, and I’m so very sorry.”

“Why are you sorry and why the hell are you researching things about Mr. McDermott’s company?”

“I…” Fairuza floundered and the other woman looked like she wished she could be anywhere but right here before Addison “I can’t explain this. I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Addison shook her head and wished she’d slipped back on her pajamas. She’d feel better if she could pace and scream. But right now, she was completely naked, didn’t even have on that stupid necklace.

No, it wasn’t a gift…it was a bribe. He used me this whole time.

“Zahir was sleeping with me to get secrets about McDermott’s business dealings. The dinners, the trips, and even the necklace…all of it was like some sick down payment on the information he needed. I…has it all been a lie?” she asked, her voice seeming to crack into a thousand fractured pieces.

“I think you need to speak with my brother. I warned him not to do this, and I don’t think he meant to.”

“You knew?”

Fairuza nodded. “I told him he could have you as an employee to try and learn more about Clayton and his weakness

es or that he could date you and forget his grievances, but that he could never do both, that it would tear you apart.”

“Well, congratulations, Miss Amun, because you’re right. Now where is he?”

***

She slipped on her clothes and stormed all over the palace. That was not the best plan. The rooms seemed to be endless, and she remembered what he said about having thirty guest rooms. That was just the guest quarters. Who knew what else was out there, but she had no interest in staying with Fairuza. She and Zahir seemed to have planned all of this out extremely thoroughly no matter what the other woman had said. But as she stampeded through the endless, labyrinthine halls, she overheard a loud conversation in Arabic between Zahir and someone else. The second voice sounded flat and tinny, and she figured it had to be a conference call of some sort.

Fueled by her anger, Addison made a beeline for the door. It was shut, but if Zahir thought that a piece of wood would save him from her anger and frustration, then Zahir didn’t know her at all. She stormed into the room and shook her head at him.

“Zahir, we need to talk.”

His face visibly paled and he said something quickly in Arabic over the phone and clicked it off. Standing, he tried to walk over to her and calm her down, but she wasn’t about to have it. This wasn’t a time to be placated, not when he’d used her from the start. Everything that had happened last night hurt the most, as if the necklace were the price for her. Addison was many things, including foolish and currently very impulsive, but she was no one’s whore, and she wasn’t going to be given trinkets for stool-pigeon information either.