Chapter 15—Sheiks IX by CJ
Something was pounding and hurting her head. And something was way too light. Claire was afraid that if she opened her eyes they’d be burned by the extra bright light. She simply remained where she was, eyes closed and praying that the horrible pounding noise would go away.
Then she felt something move on her shoulder. It felt like a…hand!
That was all it took for her eyes to blink open. What a mistake that had been! Light seared her eyes and she quickly closed them, groaned and rolled away.
Her throat was parched, her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. And then…her stomach rolled and she knew that if she didn’t move quickly, she’d have a horrible mess to clean up.
Stumbling out of the bed, nearly falling as she did, Claire made her way to the bathroom. It wasn’t her bathroom. No, this pretty marble concoction was way too nice to be her little apartment over her uncle’s bar. This place was…was…a mansion! That memory hit her quite lucidly before she tossed her cookies into the pristine white toilet.
“Claire?” a male voice asked as a gentle knock sounded off the door. “You all right?”
Claire flushed, crawled to her feet and rinsed her mouth in the sink. All the while, she was trying to remember just what in the hell had happened the night before.
Her panties were still on and her tank top. The rest of her clothes were missing. Had she and Billy….? No, she didn’t think so. He was a womanizer, but was he that kind of womanizer?
“Claire?” came his concerned voice again and slowly Claire opened the bathroom door and squinted at him.
“What?” she inquired.
“Are you all right?” he asked again.
Damn but he looked good in the morning. If Claire wasn’t sick to death from all the drinking she’d obviously done the night before, she’d wrap her arms around that bare waist, put her lips on his defined chest and have her way with him. But she was dying from this horrible hangover, embarrassed about not being able to remember much from the night before and not quite sure if Billy wanted her the way she wanted him—for more than just a night.
“Just…uh, slightly hung-over,” she mumbled after her eyes had drunk in every part of him.
He chuckled slightly. “Yeah, booze will do that do you. And last night, you had way too much.”
“Then why didn’t you stop me?” she asked and realized that the pounding that had plagued her head all morning wasn’t anything other than her own pulse.
“Because I had almost way too much to drink too,” he supplied.
Claire then gestured to their scantily clad bodies. At least all the important parts were covered.
“How did we end up like this?” she questioned, dreading the answer because she hated not being able to remember and be accountable for her actions. She drank casually, rarely did she drink in excess, and all she could say in her defense was that the booze must have been expensive and potent.
Billy frowned for a moment, then said, “I don’t know. But I doubt anything inappropriate happened.”
Claire closed her eyes in relief and was bombarded with the image of she and Billy kissing erotically and her throwing herself at him. He’d been hot for her one moment, then turning her down the next. Heat flamed her face. Is that what had happened or was Billy’s version the truth—mutual nothing?
She opened her eyes and looked him squarely in the face. His green eyes shuttered away. Oh God, he was lying to protect her ego and she had indeed thrown herself at him last night! How embarrassing! How incredibly embarrassing!
With a groan, Claire slammed the bathroom door and locked it. She heard Billy knock, calling her name and all she could say in return was, “Go away, Billy. Please. Just…go away.”
**
Billy was confused. He’d been confused all morning since Claire had slammed the door in his face and told him where to go. He didn’t know why she had done that nor why she was sitting so silently in the backseat of the SUV, arms crossed and staring out the side window without even acknowledging his presence. He’d done what was right, for once, and this was how he was to be treated? It made no sense, no sense at all.
Well, she could pout and sit there in silence. He had tried to be a gentleman and if she didn’t like him for those actions, then so be it. There were other fish in the sea, other tadpoles in the pond. He was a good-looking guy and he could have another woman in an instant.
He slanted a glance at Claire, her cute face all grim and sour and he frowned to himself. He didn’t want another woman, he wanted her. He had no idea why, but he did.
That revelation smacked him hard, much like it had last night when he’d put her to bed instead of stripping her all the way naked, and it still confused him and still made him slightly nauseous. She wasn’t anything near the kind of woman he was attracted to. She wasn’t hot, wasn’t dumb, wasn’t…she was a good person, a fun person and a very lovely woman with a mouth that made him laugh. That’s what she was and no wonder he liked her. She was the kind of woman who should be his type.
He wished suddenly for some noise in the SUV, but something was bothering Rafee this morning and the man drove in complete and utter silence, his jaw set so tight Billy was positive he’d pop a tendon. And Emir, the boy was quiet and slightly saddened. After all, Jenny had been bawling as she’d kissed and hugged him good-bye. He was leaving too soon, Billy knew, because something had happened. Something that was going to plague the Armanjani family. If it wasn’t one thing with that family, it was something else.
Rafee dropped them at the police station where Billy’s Mustang was parked. He thanked Rafee and Claire was gracious in her thanks for a lovely weekend. Rafee found a smile for her, so did Emir, and then they drove off to the airport where Emir would be put on a private jet bound for the Middle East.
But enough of the Armanjani’s problems. Billy had his own.
“Come on, I’ll drive you home,” Billy said to Claire and it was nearly the first words they’d spoken since the “bathroom scene” this morning.
“No, that’s all right. I’ll just…catch the bus,” Claire hedged and began to walk away.
Billy caught her arm and halted him. She glared at him with cold eyes.
“No, you won’t,” Billy insisted. “I never send a date home on the bus.”
“Even though you didn’t get lucky?” she taunted with venom.
Billy wrinkled his brow with confusion.
“Did I ever give you the impression that was what I was after this weekend, Claire?” he questioned.
“No and that’s the problem,” she answered. “If I was hotter or had bigger boobs or a dumb laugh then you would have wanted to, right?”
“Yes…no…I mean, not any more.”
Claire stood still and halted trying to pull her arm away from his grasp.
“But…I’m not your type,” she insisted.
“That’s right, and I’m not yours. But I learned something this weekend, princess, and that’s that I like you. I don’t care about the other things, I just care that…I like you. I had fun.”
Claire smiled shyly. “Yeah, I kinda like you too.”
“And that’s why nothing happened last night,” he added.
Claire gave a little laugh, blushed some, then shrugged. “Okay, that’s cool.”
“Cool, huh?” He smiled, throwing in one of his best smiles, and it worked for Claire moved closer and lifted her head to his.
“Yeah, cool. So why don’t we end this date right, detective?”
She pressed her lips to his. He kissed her back. And it was sweet and innocent and filled with promise of more. But they weren’t going to turn it into more. No, they were going to simply enjoy this moment.
A loud siren caused them both to jump apart as a squad car neared them, looking for the parking spot they were blocking. Then they noticed all the onlookers, men Billy knew and worked with and before people began clapping for the performance Billy had just given, he ushered Claire toward his car saying, “Come on, doll, I’ll drive you home.”
**
Rafee hated how things had gone down this weekend for both Emir and for Nikash. Just when everyone had been sure that the worst was behind them and that Nikash and Emir were going to become friends, Senator John Banes had to interfere and now problems were arising for all and Emir was flying out of the country, probably never to return. It was totally unfair, but then again, Rafee wasn’t one to dwell on fairness or unfairness, he just acted to make things right.
“I’m sorry how things worked out for you here, Emir,” Rafee said at the foot of the steps to the Armanjani jet.
“Don’t be sorry, Rafee, I made amends with your brother, Jenny and I worked some things out and I got to see a wonderfully crazy country.”
Rafee chuckled. Damn but the boy was always so positive!
He slapped Emir on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Emir. Stay in touch and give my love to Anika and my…uh, regards to your new king.”
Emir smiled. “You and Razi…not the best of friends even now, huh?”
“Never. But we’ve worked through the worst, I think. I wish him luck. Maybe one day I’ll even pay him a visit.”
“Please do, Rafee,” Emir said. “I’d love nothing more than to have my good friend visit my country in a time of peace instead of in war.”
“Then very soon, I will,” Rafee answered.
They embraced quickly, Rafee gave a brotherly pat to Emir’s shoulder once more then turned to leave.
Emir called after him. “Rafee, watch yourself with the Senator. Don’t do anything rash.”
Rafee halted, threw Emir one of his best crooked grins and replied, “Me? Do something rash to an enemy of my family? Never, Emir.”
**
He might have promised Emir not to do something rash, but when he returned from the city and found the Senator’s black Cadillac in the driveway and the man standing outside Villa Serena talking with Jenny, he certainly wanted to do just that.
He parked the SUV and slid out, pulling off his shades as he walked toward them. Jenny was nodding and saying, “Sure, I can do that,” just as Rafee halted next to them. Senator Banes glanced up at Rafee with some surprise, as if he had not been expecting to see any of the family other than Jenny, and quickly glanced around. He was alone, no one was inside the Cadillac and Rafee smiled deviously.
“Afternoon, Senator,” Rafee drawled with a hard tone that caused even Jenny to stare at him with some wonder.
“Prince Rafee,” the Senator returned and as the two men stared at each other without blinking, Jenny quickly said, “Uh, John, just give me a call when you have your press conference. I’ll be there. Bye,” and she was gone. Just what Rafee wanted.
Senator Banes turned to walk away and Rafee caught hold of his arm and ground out, “Not so fast, Senator.”
The man spun back around. He was lithe and in good shape for his age. Rafee felt tension in the muscles of the man’s arm, but knew nothing the man could do physically would challenge him.
“Don’t tell me, sir, that you have a mind to commit assault on a member of the U.S. Senate?” Banes spit out and Rafee laughed.
“Assault? Senator, if I wanted to hurt you, you’d be dead already,” Rafee said with a grin and felt the man shudder slightly. “No, I don’t want to hurt you, I want to ruin you. There is a huge difference there.”
Banes jerked his arm and Rafee allowed the man to break free. The man’s handsomely chiseled face with minimal wrinkling for being in his late fifties turned red and he snarled slightly losing his political stoicism that Rafee knew the man was famous for on televised speeches.
“Ruin me? You think you could ever affect me, Prince Rafee? Why, you’re nothing in the world of international politics. Nothing,” Banes returned.
Rafee lifted an indifferent shoulder. “Politics are not my realm, they’re my brother’s. My realm is war and you declared it yesterday against my family when you threatened my brother with his son. He may be too much of a diplomat to destroy you, but I’m not. Thank the Almighty above that I’m not, because someone in this family has to take you down.”
Banes opened his mouth to retort, but Rafee moved closer and narrowed his eyes on the man, speaking before he could.
“Now, I suggest you never step foot on this estate again, or you may just suffer a worse fate than your aide did the other night. And don’t you dare talk to my brother again or mention his son’s name,” Rafee warned lowly.
Finding some inner strength, Banes puffed out his chest, held his head high and replied, “Or what, sir? What do you possibly think you can do to me that I can’t do to you first?”
Rafee laughed. “Do to me first? There’s nothing you can do to me. Haven’t you heard, I’m immortal!” Rafee laughed again at the ridiculous legend that was now so rampant in his part of the world. He’d meant it in jest, but the man stared at him quizzically and paused as if considering that.
“And don’t even think about threatening my family the way you have Nikash’s. The last man who did…well, there is a new king in Johar now, isn’t there?” Rafee taunted deviously. “Now, run along, Senator, and don’t show your face around here again. Meanwhile, keep your head down and your mouth closed about anything you might even think about saying about our family. Understand?”
The man frowned furiously, as if never having been talked to in such a manner before. He didn’t take Rafee’s instructions literally and remained put, glaring in defiance.
“Who are you to order me around?” Banes shot out. “You petty, worthless, spoiled royal. You do realize that your country means nothing in the great scope of world affairs? Do you not?”
“Ask me if I care?” Rafee drawled with boredom, growing tired of this same droll point the Senator continued to make. Yes,
“And to even think about laying such threats to a man with my power…a man who may very well be President next year…well, its just ludicrous. Now, you listen to me…” Banes took a step forward and pointed a finger at Rafee’s chest. “You had just better feel lucky that you have diplomatic immunity or I’d add your name to our terrorist watch list and have you banned from the country. And you can tell your little Johar solider friend that if he ever attempts to return to
“He’ll never return…as long as you wield any power,” Rafee ground out, thinking about how good it would feel to flatten this man, to strangle him with his bare hands. But he couldn’t do that, Banes was too powerful and Rafee wasn’t stupid.
“Yes, power. Isn’t that such a wonderful word?” Banes taunted and Rafee threw a sharp, furious look that caused the man to back up right into his car. Rafee felt his eyes burning with hatred and no doubt the man saw it, sensed it, for he shuddered slightly and declared, “I swear, if I believed in such nonsensical things, I would think you were possessed, Prince Rafee. Dying and coming back to life has certainly turned you into a strange creature.”
“Creature? Funny you would use that word to insult me when you’re the one threatening a child…a child you cared for, a child you hid in your own home for nearly a year. No, you’re the creature, the monster, Senator. And like I said…I will ruin you. Sooner or later, you’ll be sorry you ever waged war with my family. Now, leave before I lose my temper and decide to kill you after all.”
The man got into his car and drove away, and Rafee growled under his breath, wishing with all his might that he could somehow, someway make that man disappear. But things in this country were complicated and heaven forbid if John Banes ever was elected President. Heaven forbid!
**
It was growing comical, but Rafee had expected it. As soon as he had laid down his terms and threats with Senator Banes, he knew the goon squad would arrive. He felt them watching him while he worked on his house. He saw them following him when he drove even to get groceries. And he laughed at their attempts to keep up with him on his morning runs through the hills.
He gave them a few days of easy surveillance, then he upped the stakes, taking long, fast drives and riding horses through the hills of Villa Serena instead of simply running. And when he was all alone and saw their covert movement in the fields far away, he gave them a few rude gestures to consider and would laugh.
Then they upped the stakes and ran him off the road one night. Rain had created a slick surface and the tree and his SUV didn’t mix well. Just as he was recovering from the shock of the crash and the smack of the airbag, the darkly dressed men yanked him from the car and double-teamed him. It only took one good punch to wake him up and he swiftly and surely fought back. Both men were lying in the mud, groaning in pain by the time Rafee was finished with them. Before he left, he gave them with a simple warning. Stay away, or the next time they would suffer severely.
He had been generous, he thought, and when he saw the same surveillance games played once more he began plotting their demise. He hunted them. At night, he would walk the estate, his instincts taking him to where the men were lying in wait. The fight would never take long and the men, whatever government agency they belonged to, always lost. Arms would be broken, noses smashed, but Rafee never killed them. He didn’t want to start that kind of war, despite what they had attempted with him and the SUV.
Of course, he never told Shawna what was happening. She had just assumed he’d had a bad mishap with the car and he had mumbled something about deer and she had bought it. And the other scrapes and bruises that came and went on his body…well, he and Omar were sparring quite a bit these days.
Sooner or later his wife would figure it out. She was too wise not to. And when he left at night, once in a while she would wake up and ask where he was going.
She didn’t tonight, however. He made it out of the mansion without waking anyone and thought with relish how he was going to make the lives of his latest stalkers miserable. If he wasn’t plotting against them, he was spending his time digging and digging into everything and anything that had Senator John Banes’s name on it. And so far…well, the worst he had on the man was Jenny being his illegitimate daughter and from the announcement the man had made on television the other night, it didn’t appear that he was concerned by that fact at all.
The Senator had stood on the shores of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge in the background as he had spoken to the press, declaring his bid for President. Jenny was on his left, his current wife on his right. And he had proudly announced that both his wife and his daughter were standing behind him in his political quest. He left it at that and then promptly did an exclusive interview with Time magazine to explain his past and to explain Jenny. The Sunday morning political analysts were declaring that Senator John Banes’s upfront approach to his history and tangled past regarding his daughter was refreshing and saw him as the current front-runner for the Republicans’ nomination for President. Rafee gritted his teeth and growled every time he heard that, but for now, there was nothing he could do.
Nothing, that is, except drive Banes’s men crazy with his antics until they gave up and until he found something substantial to ruin Banes’s reputation with.
He felt something different this time as he walked outside, however. There were eyes watching him, but they were different eyes. They were eyes who knew his movements almost before he made them, eyes that were keen and sharp. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and he shivered slightly. Wow, he hadn’t felt that kind of sensation in a long, long while. His stalkers had gotten smart and brought in someone who knew his business.
Carefully Rafee checked the area, searched the garage. Nothing.
He looked under his car for explosives…just in case…and looked around once more before sliding into Shawna’s new Mercedes. And just as he pushed in the key to rev the engine, a lithe figure slid into the car and he heard the click of a gun’s safety sliding off.
Damn!
“Not so fast, Rafee,” a familiar male voice insisted and Rafee hesitated before he turned his eyes and saw Agent Marcus Snow sitting in the passenger seat, shiny chrome Kimber aimed at his heart.
“Agent Snow,” Rafee drawled with surprise and deftly pulled his own gun out from under his jacket. “Long time no see.”
The man’s eyes traveled down to Rafee’s Glock and he smiled.
“I should have known you’d be prepared. You have, after all, sent several agents to the hospital in the past week. What do you say we both put the guns away,” Marcus suggested.
“Why, so you can kill me unarmed?” Rafee questioned. When Marcus said nothing, Rafee asked, “That is why you’re here, isn’t it? To kill me?”
Marcus clicked the gun back on safe and tucked it away. “I won’t kill you, Rafee. I can’t.”
“Because of Shawna?” Rafee guessed.
“Yes, because of Shawna. And because of Kess and Alexi and for the freakish reason that you won’t die. Heck, you don’t even get hit. And John had the best of the best after you.”
“Then he called in you,” Rafee said.
“Yes. But I won’t do what he wants. I won’t sink that low,” Marcus admitted.
“Why not? You’d get Shawna back,” Rafee pointed out.
“I wouldn’t want her back like that. I couldn’t bear to see her heartbroken again over you. Besides, Rafee, I like you. We’re friends. Are we not?”
Rafee gave a nod. They had fought together, Marcus had protected his family and then handed them back over without a second thought when Rafee had returned. Yes, they were friends.
“Of course we are,” Rafee admitted.
They sat in silence for a long while until Marcus finally asked. “How are they?”
“They’re well,” Rafee answered, then hated himself for suggesting it, but did just the same. “Why don’t you go inside and see for yourself? Middle door on the right at the top of the stairs. I’m going for a drive.”
It was only then that Rafee lowered his gun and Marcus’s eyes watched his movements with some surprise as if he hadn’t even realized Rafee was still wielding a weapon.
“I won’t stay long,” Marcus promised.
“Stay long, don’t stay long. It’s no matter to me. After all, you didn’t kill me tonight.” Rafee smiled and the man laughed, then exited the car. Rafee revved the engine and tore off the estate, trying not to think about Marcus visiting his family but knowing it was only fair to all.
**
Back to work. Back to the day and night constant grind that was rebuilding Johar. Funny, but Emir hadn’t missed it while he’d been away in
He sighed and set down the military restructuring proposal he was writing for General Bishr. They had to get this done quickly, but Emir didn’t feel like working quickly right now. Instead, he wanted to think about Jenny and her father the Senator and the mess that was being created in the
He scrubbed his face and moved to the window. A very scantily clad woman was lounging by the pool. Emir did a double-take, refocusing his eyes, and sure enough, she was still there. Then Anika joined her and the two women began chatting.
“Beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Razi asked as he entered the room and moved next to Emir at the window. Emir jumped slightly, startled by his king, and then answered, “Yes, very nice sight.”
Razi laughed with that deviousness he possessed and asked, “If you just returned from
“I enjoy beauty when I see it,” he answered with a light tone. “Besides, I didn’t think I would see two bikini-clad women when I looked out the window. I wasn’t ogling, just shocked.”
“Didn’t get lucky, did you?” Razi asked and Emir flushed red at his cousin’s crassness. “I figured as much. She’s just a girl.”
“She’s eighteen,” Emir argued.
“Eighteen and heavily guarded by Rafee and Nikash,” Razi pointed out.
“Rafee doesn’t seem so protective. Nikash was.”
“Was?”
“Yes, he and I came to an understanding when a tree branch knocked him off his horse.”
Razi laughed, his face filled with joy. “Oh, and I missed it? How I would have loved to have seen that. The Crown Prince Nikash flat on his ass!”
“It wasn’t so funny at the time,” Emir insisted. “But anyhow, he came to respect me after I assisted him. But…well, Jenny’s newly announced father the Senator hates me now.”
“Senator who?” Razi inquired and Emir took several moments to explain the long history and just who Senator Banes was.
“And now he hates you?” Razi inquired.
“Yes. I’m no longer allowed in
“How bloody unlucky for you,” Razi said with a scowl. “And how bloody unlucky for your sex-life.” Razi inclined his head toward the women at the pool. “Katarina is single.”
The woman in question wore a red, sparkling bikini on her dancer-thin body. Her breasts were large despite her athletic thinness and her mocha-colored skin was a shade or two darker than Anika’s. Her hair was long and curling and she carried herself like a woman with grace and manners and breeding.
“Who is she?” Emir asked.
“A friend of Anika’s from college. Comes from a rich English family. The Wellingtons of Kingston or Castlewood or something like that. Her father is British, mother is from
“Beautiful, yes. My type, no,” Emir announced.
“She’d be easy,” Razi said with a grin. “I know easy when I see it.”
“Razi…” Emir groaned and it was then that General Bishr joined them. He marched to the window, took one look outside and promptly lowered the blinds.
“Some things are better left alone,” he grumbled in his short clipped way and turned to Emir. “Let me see what you have done on your proposal.”
Razi smiled with conspiracy and said to Emir, “Good thing you have your work, otherwise you’d probably go crazy without a woman. Kind of like the General here.”
**
Shawna felt the foreign presence in her room even before she opened her eyes. Her first move was an arm over to Rafee’s side of the bed. Finding it empty, she looked around in the dark and asked, “Rafee?”
A figure emerged from the shadows. A figure she never would have thought she’d see again, and she gasped and sat up.
“Marcus?”
“Hey, baby,” he said easily as he moved closer. He looked the same as she remembered from a distance, but as he neared her and her eyes adjusted to the dark, Shawna saw the haunted, lonely expression his brown eyes held.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, then she remembered the first time Marcus had come to her and her heart accelerated. “Oh, no…Rafee…”
“Rafee is fine. Took a drive. Said I could come up and say hi to my favorite gal. So, hi.”
Shawna laughed. “Hi.”
Funny, she would have thought that meeting him again would be so strange and uncomfortable. But it wasn’t. It was normal and warm and friendly. And feeling that, Shawna moved closer and as Marcus sat on the edge of the bed, she wrapped him in a long hug.
“How have you been, Marcus?” Shawna asked, wanting to know the truth.
Marcus hesitated for a moment, then returned her embrace. He held her while they talked.
“Honestly? I’ve been better,” he told her.
“I’m so sorry,” she confessed. “I’ve been wracked with guilt over what happened to you.”
“No need to feel guilty. I love you but you love Rafee more. I understand. I may not like it, but I understand.”
She wanted to cry as she felt this man’s pain but she had cried enough over everything in the past year. Instead, she pulled back, touched his cheek and looked him over slowly.
“You never deserved to be hurt in this,” Shawna declared.
“I’m not hurt…anymore.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Fine, I won’t. I hurt every damn minute of the day, darlin’. But I would never begrudge you happiness because I’m miserable.” He hesitated. “Tell me, are you happy now? Are you happy with Rafee?”
“I am so very happy. The only part of me that isn’t, is the part that misses you. But Rafee and I…we were meant to be. That’s just the way things are.”
“And I know that. So…if you know of a woman who was meant to be for me…let me know. Okay?”
Shawna laughed at his light words, hugged him again, then stood. “Want to see the kids?”
“I don’t want to wake them.”
“No, we’ll just look in on them. I’m sure you’ve missed them.”
“More than you know.”
**
Marcus didn’t stay long. He saw the kids sleeping and his heart lurched. He accepted the ring back that he had given Shawna and shoved it in his pocket as he kissed her good-bye. He had expected the pain, but he hadn’t expected it to be tolerable. And that’s what told him he was on his way to normalcy again.
He quietly started down the long curving staircase to leave Villa Serena for good when a female figure blocked his path. She stood bravely before him, her light colored eyes contrasting with her olive skin and long black hair.
She was beautiful.
She wasn’t going to allow him to pass.
She was Rafee’s sister.
“Who are you?” she demanded and as he tried to step past her, she moved to block him.
“I asked, sir, who you were. Do not make me call my brothers,” she warned.
Marcus smiled. She had guts. He liked that.
“I’m Agent Marcus Snow. A friend of the family,” he finally answered.
She let out a relieved breath and stepped back, holding onto the wrought-iron hand-rail.
“I’ve heard your name. For a moment there, I thought I would have to hurt you,” she teased.
“Well, being related to Rafee, I’m sure you could,” Marcus returned.
She held out her hand. It was small and elegant and soft. “I’m Aria. The youngest.”
“Pleased to meet you, Aria, the youngest,” Marcus teased.
Aria laughed as she said, “I heard you possessed charm. Shawna speaks highly of you. You cared for her during the…war.” Then she sobered and a pain so deep, a pain that Marcus recognized as loss, entered her eyes and she frowned.
“Yes, I did,” he answered slowly and then guessed just what her pain might be and who she must have lost by adding, “The war hurt many people. I’m sorry about that, Aria.”
She looked at him then with wide eyes and their glance held for a long time. She looked about to say more, but the front door opened and Rafee walked inside.
“I should go,” Aria then spoke up. “It was nice meeting you, Agent Snow. I hope we’ll see you around soon. Come to dinner one night, would you?”
She didn’t wait for his answer, she just trotted up the stairs and it was only then that Marcus noticed her satin pink robe and bare feet.
“Yes, Marcus, come to dinner sometime,” Rafee taunted from below as he kicked the door closed with a thud. His voice turned cold. “And tell us how you found out about Nico.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Sheiks of Kumar IX: Family Reunion – Chapter 16