LITMIR.BIZ

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she saw him nod.

      “Because of our … relationship … you are protected for the time being.”

      Liv’s mouth opened but she couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Instead shock washed over her in gigantic mind-numbing waves, and before she could think of anything to say, the butler materialized with a tray of small sandwiches, pastries and a large pot of tea. He placed the tray on the low table in the living room and served them both sandwiches, pastries and tea, before departing.

      Liv stared at one of the small open-faced sandwiches on her plate. “We’re not really engaged,” she said at last, finally finding her voice.

      “I gave them my word,” he said bluntly.

      “Yes, but that was to get me out. That was to free me—”

      “And I did, but we had complications on the way out of Jabal. Remember that police stop earlier today? They’d come for you. They’d learned that you’d been released from Ozr and they’d been given instructions to seize you. The only way I could protect you was by claiming you. And once I claimed you, they couldn’t touch you.”

      “But you will still send me home, right? You are going to put me on a plane first thing in the morning….” Her voice trailed off as she stared at his face, his expression hard and unyielding.

      She tried again. “If you were going to send me home earlier, what has changed?”

      “Everything. It has been announced by the Jabal government that we are engaged. They cannot be faulted. It is what I told them, and my honor is based on my word. My word is central to who I am, and to who my family is. I … we Fehrs … do not break our word.”

      “We’re not really going to get married.”

      “Today at Ozr you said you wanted out, you begged me to get you out, and I did what you asked me to do.”

      It was just beginning to hit her that she’d celebrated her release from the Ozr prison far too soon.

      Her panicked gaze searched the fierce lines of his face, the high brow, the long aquiline nose, the generous but unsmiling mouth, as tremors of fear coursed through her. “There must be another way. There must be some other way….”

      He didn’t answer and his silence terrified her. “Sheikh Fehr,” she pleaded. “Don’t tell me we have no other options. I can’t believe there aren’t any other options.”

      “There is another option,” he said flatly. “And you’re right. It’s not a done deal yet. You can choose to return to Ozr—”

      “To Ozr?” she interrupted, stunned. It’d been hell, sheer hell, locked up there. No sunlight, no bathroom facilities, no running water to speak of. “People die there all the time!”

      “It isn’t a good place,” he agreed.

      She bolted up from her chair, nearly upending her plate. “So why would you think I’d want to go back there?”

      “Because as of now, those are your only two options. Marriage to me or a return to Jabal.”

      She sank back down, her legs suddenly impossibly weak. Her gaze clung to his, trying to see, trying to understand if he was absolutely serious. “But you don’t want to marry me. There can’t be any possible benefit for you!”

      His upper lip curled. “None that come to mind.”

      “So why?”

      His features hardened, his dark eyes almost glittering with silent anger. “What would you have me do? Let you rot in prison for the rest of your life? Tell your brother to be glad you’re in prison because you’re at least not dead?”

      She dropped her gaze, her cheeks flaming. Jake would have been desperate, too. He’d always been so protective of her, the quintessential big brother. “You don’t have to do this. You didn’t ask for any of this—”

      “Did you smuggle the drugs?” he demanded harshly, abruptly.

      Her head jerked up. “No.”

      His shoulders twisted. “Then I have to do it. If you are innocent, how do I stand by and do nothing? How do I explain to your brother that your life has no value? That his love for you means nothing here? How do I live with myself knowing that all your lives have been laid to waste over someone else’s mistake?”

      “You’re one of those men with a hero complex,” she said, feeling desperation hit. “I’ve read about people like you. Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things—”

      “I’m not a hero,” he interrupted roughly. “But I did go to Jabal and you are here now, and we’ve got to get through this.”

      “But marry …” Her voice faded and she stared at him with disbelief. “It seems so extreme, so … impossible.”

      His dark head, with his crisp, short black hair inclined. “It’s not what you’d choose, or what I’d choose, but it was the only way. Is the only way.”

      “For now,” she said.

      He said nothing, just stared at her.

      She raised her chin, silently defiant. For now, she repeated, making a vow to herself that she’d never be forced into marriage, nor marry a man she didn’t love.

      There was another way out of this. There had to be.

      Turning her head away, Liv looked out the window again. The sun was beginning to drop in the sky and long gold rays of light haloed the Great Pyramid.

      “Finish your tea,” Khalid said, his voice flat, authoritative. “Then we’ll go shop. We’re entertaining tonight and you’ll need proper clothes to impress our distinguished guests.”

      She reluctantly tore her gaze from the window and glanced back at Khalid. “Who are we entertaining?”

      “Friends from Jabal and Egypt who come to celebrate our engagement tonight.”

      Liv’s blood froze, her insides turning to ice. “Jabal officials will be here tonight?”

      “You don’t need to be afraid,” he answered. “They will see you, but they won’t speak to you, not without permission from me, and I won’t give them permission.”

      She nodded once.

      “But you will have to look happier than that tonight. Tonight’s a party, so finish your tea, and then we’ll go shopping.”

      She stared at him in horror. A party tonight to celebrate their engagement? Jabal officials coming here, to their hotel? “I have to pretend we’re engaged?”

      “Don’t worry. I’ll see you properly clothed, and I realize you can’t shop in your prison-issued robe. Dr. Hassan was kind enough to pick up something from an Egyptian designer we both know. She brought it with her, and it’s hanging in the hall closet now. I don’t know how well it’ll fit, but there’s a dress, coat, some undergarments and even a pair of shoes.”

      “The point isn’t the clothes—”

      “But it is,” he interrupted. “We’re having a small party here tonight and you have to be properly attired, so finish your tea and then get dressed as I’ve arranged to have a stylist meet us in an hour and traffic is going to be ugly.”

      CHAPTER FOUR

      HAVING finished her tea, Liv studied herself in her bedroom mirror. The wheat-colored linen dress and matching coat hung on her slim frame, but the fabric was gorgeous, as was the warm color that reminded her of the pyramid outside.

      She’d lost a lot of weight in the past month, her body more angular than attractive. She frowned and combed the brush through her hair, leaving the unruly white-gold strands tumbling loose past her shoulders.

      Downstairs

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