Bride Behind The Desert Veil (The Marchetti Dynasty 3)

‘Someone who needs to be monitored. He’s not a threat now, but if unchecked he could become one.’

Liyah felt sick as the evening took on another connotation. ‘So he’s a rival?’

Sharif said, ‘You could describe him as that.’

‘And this evening was about deflecting attention from him,’ Liyah surmised flatly.

She handed back Sharif’s phone and moved away, towards the car door. The rush of betrayal was all too familiar. Along with the sense of exposure. And self-recrimination for having thought for a second that tonight had been some kind of date.

She said, ‘I’m under no illusions that this is a real relationship, but I would appreciate it if you would inform me the next time you’re intending to use me as a pawn in your quest for world domination.’

Sharif felt the bite of his conscience. He heard the hurt in Liyah’s voice. Impossible not to. And the fact that he was so attuned to another human being, probably for the first time since his mother had died, was an uncomfortable sensation.

She said accusingly, ‘That’s my image that’s going to be plastered all over the internet tomorrow.’

‘Your image has already caused quite a stir on the internet,’ Sharif pointed out.

‘Yes, but not while wearing a sequinned zebra print catsuit.’

Sharif felt the distance between them like a physical thing. He didn’t like it. He wanted to reach for her, but knew not to.

‘You look amazing. That’s why you’re currently breaking the internet.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to break the internet.’

Sharif shook his head. ‘You have no idea how stunning you are, do you? Who taught you that you weren’t beautiful?’

He could see Liyah flinch minutely, and he wanted to curl his hand into a fist and punch someone.

‘Tell me again about that guy you were with.’

‘He wasn’t anyone important.’

‘He made you feel insignificant?’

He saw her swallow. When she spoke her voice was husky.

‘He was just a guy at my university. As you can imagine, coming from Taraq, I was less...worldly than most other girls my age. He singled me out—made me feel special. I thought he was attractive, but now I can see that I was confused by the attention he was showing me. I was used to standing out because of my height and my colouring. But he seemed to see beyond that.’

‘What happened?’ Sharif had to curb the violent urge he felt at the thought of such a man uncovering her sensual beauty and not appreciating it.

Liyah shrugged, looked down at her lap. ‘He had a bet with his friends that he could get me into bed after one date. I... I was eager to live a modern life. I wanted to lose my virginity, to feel mature, independent...’ She looked up. ‘He won the bet.’

Sharif emitted a crude Italian swear word in response. He reached for Liyah, unable to resist any longer. She was tense, but she moved closer. She was sinuous under the delicate fabric and he had to curb the urge to rip it from her body there and then. He’d already given in to the storm of lust this bodysuit had unleashed earlier.

‘He was an idiot. And he didn’t deserve the gift you gave him.’

Liyah’s heart hitched. She didn’t doubt Sharif’s sincerity.

She couldn’t believe she’d told him of her humiliation, but the hurt she’d been feeling upon discovering how he’d manipulated and orchestrated this evening was fading into insignificance next to the way he was looking at her right now.

His hands found where her hair was slicked back into the bun and he undid it, letting it unravel down her back and over her shoulders. He cupped her face in his hands.

‘Never let anyone make you feel small, Liyah,’ he said. ‘You are stunning, and you have a power that I don’t think you even recognise fully yet. You’re formidable.’

Liyah’s heart did more than hitch this time. She quickly tried to negate it. Remind herself who she was with—a man who undoubtedly was a master at complimenting needy lovers. The thought of lovers made her want to hiss and spit...

‘You don’t have to say that.’