The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress (Friends Forever) (14 page)

“Yes,” she said, fighting back the tears that formed in her eyes at the idea of anything happening to him.

“And you would become very upset if anything were to happen to me?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes.”

“Because you love me.”

Her eyes flashed up to his and she cringed, the tears streaming down her face. He knew. She could tell by the expression on his face that he knew the truth. There was no point in denying it any longer, so she nodded slowly.

“And you were going to leave here to take the hit men out of my range.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He contemplated what she had said and wondered how he could get through that stubborn brain of hers. She was so beautiful, both inside and out and she matched his passion like no other woman. She was the only person who wasn’t afraid of him either. Her frankness and openness were refreshing and sexy as hell. And she was planning to leave him. Because she loved him.

“You can’t leave me,” he said softly, but with a finality that made the tears flow more quickly. “If you leave, I’ll find you.”

“You can’t.”

“I will.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you too.”

The simple words were spoken so plainly, she wasn’t sure if she had heard them correctly. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

She shook her head. “No. I think I heard you say that you love me.”

He didn’t wait any longer. He stood up and moved around her desk, pulling her out of her chair and into his arms. “Damn you woman! I love you and you’re making me a mad man by telling me that you’re going to leave me and put yourself in danger just to keep me from being in danger. I won’t allow it!” With that, he kissed her so thoroughly, she wasn’t able to respond for several minutes.

When he finally lifted his head and looked down at her, he was satisfied with the dazed look in her eyes. “So now that we have that out of the way, why don’t you tell me the whole story and I can fix this issue for you.”

He didn’t release her but leaned back against her desk, bringing her between his legs with his hands hooked behind her back.

She shrugged and looked at his chest, her hands fluttering about on his shoulders and arms. “There isn’t much to tell. I saw a guy get murdered, now the people who did it want me out of the picture. I even promised not to testify but I guess in their line of business, they tend to be a bit less trusting. Occupational hazard I assume,” she said, trying to make a joke about it but it just came across as sad and frustrated. “It’s hard to hide from those kinds of people, I’m finding. They have tentacles in so many areas, and talk about a global business! They’re everywhere!”

“Is that why the witness protection agency wouldn’t take you into their protective custody? Because you refused to testify?”

She shook her head. “No. I was more than willing to be the star witness,” she replied, drawing in a shaky breath as the memories came flooding back. She closed her eyes, willing herself to tell him the worst of it. “The marshals I was assigned to were wonderful. They were so amazing and brave and in the end, even they couldn’t protect me.” A tear dropped from her eyes down her cheek as she remembered the man and woman who had covered her with their weapons firing as quickly as possible while she ran for safety, diving into a truck while they stayed behind. The other agents outside, keeping fire away from her. “The drug cartel guys found me in Wisconsin and there were so many bullets. The marshals, Beth and Joe, they tried to protect me. They were great, teaming up against the hit men who had been sent to get me out of the way. They shouted for me to get into the car, tossing me their keys while they kept the bad guys at a distance. I’d gotten the keys in the ignition and the car started when I looked back, waiting only for Beth and Joe to get in when I turned around. The bad guy was standing over the two of them. They were both shot….” She couldn’t go on, the scene in her mind too horrific.

“Shhhh,” he said and pressed her head down against his shoulder, patting her back and telling her it was going to be okay. But Dana knew better. It wasn’t ever going to be okay. She would be running from this for the rest of her life. There would never be a time when she wouldn’t be looking over her shoulder, worried that someone was about to get her.

“When was the trial?” he asked, his hand rubbing her back in an effort to soothe her, reassure her and give her some of his strength. She did so much for him and she’d been trying to deal with this burden all by herself. She needed his help and she’d selflessly tried to find a solution without the resources to do much of anything at all.

She sniffed and tried to get control of herself. She was making a mess of his shirt and her makeup and probably looking like a weak, useless female in the process. “There wasn’t one. I disappeared. I had a job as a waitress in Paris for a few months, then I poured drinks in a small town in Whales. I kept on going until I found the open position here with your office on the internet for your government. The rest is history,” she explained, smiling a little lopsided.

He watched her for a moment, wondering how she might take his next question. It had to be asked though. “So if you were to go back and be adequately protected, would there be a trial? Was there enough evidence to convict the murderers?”

She immediately pulled out of his arms and backed up, worried about what he might be suggesting. “I can’t go back. I can’t do that to any other marshal. They were so brave and I feel like I let them down even though I know that’s not true. They tried hard to protect me and still, everything fell through. No, I can’t do that to any of them again.”

He kissed her gently, silencing her with the small gesture. “What about as my wife?”

Dana stilled, horrified at what he’d just said. “Your wife?” she finally gasped and pulled out of his arms.

“Yes. As my wife, you’d be protected twenty-four hours a day, surrounded by body guards who are specially trained to ensure my safety, and that of my family.”

She was already shaking her head. “I can’t marry you just to stay safe.”

“How about because I want you to be with me for the rest of my life, bear my children and drive me absolutely crazy every day?”

She raised shaking fingers to his cheek, touching the roughness and wishing that kind of dream could really come true. “No. Even you can’t protect me from those men.”

“If they were already in prison, they can’t really hurt you, can they?”

She laughed. “I would have to testify before they would be convicted. And that’s not going to happen.”

He sighed and took her hands in his, ensuring that he had her full attention. “I hate drug dealers. They steal the life out of governments and try to control the people with their poisons. So if getting some of them out of circulation would help, I’m more than willing to ensure your safety in order to accomplish that. And you will be safe, rest assured of that, my love.” He put his hands on her shoulders and smiled down into her worried eyes. “I have some different resources that can be brought to bear that might help.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to believe him. He was implying that he had different resources than the US Marshals service? What could he possibly have that could beat their entire system of resources and secrecy? “What can you do that the marshals couldn’t do?”

He smiled harshly. “All these cartels have someone deep in the government that is basically ensuring their freedom to move about. As the head of my government, I can freeze oil imports to those countries to pressure their governments, I can freeze bank accounts, move my country’s money out of their government’s banks, which would have a major ripple effect on their economy, adding more pressure. I can have my security detail find the hit men who were hired to eliminate you and ensure that they are….neutralized.”

“You mean kill them?” she asked, horrified just at the idea of someone else dying in this crazy situation.

He rolled his eyes at her expression, amazed once again at how innocent she seemed to be about certain issues. How could a woman be so intelligent about politics and business, and yet be so concerned with the lives of killers who were trying to kill her first? “Dana, they were sent to kill you. Why would you be worried about their fate?”

She shrugged and swallowed painfully. “It isn’t right to kill anyone. Can’t you just….pressure them to go away?”

He chuckled. “I could make it a bit more interesting. How about putting out a contract on anyone who takes up a contract to kill you?”

“No!” she gasped and shook her head adamantly. “No more killing! That’s not what this is about!”

He actually laughed at her horrified expression. “You’re priceless. You know that the world is a harsh place and yet you’re trying to create a rosy, romantic haze.”

She bristled at his amusement at her outlook on life. She tried to treat it as just another one of those subjects on which their opinions differed but this was a bit more personal. “I’m not. I just don’t think that you should dirty your hands in that way.”

He laughed at the idea that she thought his hands were clean. If she thought so, he wasn’t going to dissuade her from that possibility, no matter how remote. “Okay, how about this. I’ll get a look alike for you to appear in public. That will lure out the hit men. Then my security team can capture them as they try and complete their contract. Would you be opposed to imprisonment for attempted murder?”

She laughed and nodded her head, delighted with that solution. “That sounds much more palatable.”

He shook his head and hugged her. “You’re going to have to toughen up. The next few months are going to be rough.”

“Aren’t I going to just hide here in the palace until the trial?”

“Yes. But you’re going to be getting ready for a wedding, which will have to be done in the next two weeks. You’re also going to have to meet with lawyers over the phone because no one will be allowed to know where you are. They can prepare you for the trial via web conferencing. You’ll show up for the trial at a time that is convenient for me.”

She cringed at his adamant tone. He didn’t realize he was dealing with the United States court systems, which worked at their pace and not someone else’s. “I don’t think you can do that. I don’t know of anyone who can dictate when a trial is going to happen. I’ve only watched the television shows but it always seems as if the defense lawyers have the ability to push out trial dates to suit their own needs.”

Hassan laughed and kissed her gently. “You have no idea what I’m capable of doing, my love. Especially knowing that you might already be carrying my child.” He let that sink in for a moment. “It occurred to me a moment ago that I haven’t used any protection over the past few days and, since you’re pretty new to this, I doubt you were prepared for the eventuality of sexual encounters either, were you?”

Dana listened to his words but it took a long time for their meaning to sink in. Yes, it was entirely possible that she was pregnant. When it finally did, her knees fell out from underneath her and she would have fallen into the floor if Hassan hadn’t been prepared to catch her.

“Yep,” he said as he swung her up into his arms, hugging her close. “It’s going to be an interesting time coming up.”

Epilogue

Dana ran a finger over the tiny figure in her arms, still amazed that she had a baby boy only ten months after their marriage. “When your daddy wants to accomplish something, everyone really needs to stay out of the way,” she whispered.

Hassan heard her whispered words as he walked into her room. “Does that include you?” he teased, stopping by her bed and looking at his new son and gorgeous wife.

“Absolutely not. I’m the exception to the rule.”

“That you are.” He bent and kissed his son on the top of his soft, down covered head and kissed his wife, making her sigh with pleasure.

“You certainly were right about bracing myself,” she mused, thinking back to the last eleven months. She was married a month after their conversation. The trial had taken place two months after that despite all attempts by the defense to stall the situation, presumably so they could locate the prosecution’s star witness and eliminate the threat, the trial still happened on time with all the indicted men ordered to appear with their lawyers. To that effect, there were three hit men who had been captured and were now in prison, serving life sentences for treason in one of Hassan’s prisons. Trying to execute the queen was a very bad thing to do in Hassan’s country. The people hadn’t appreciated anyone coming in and trying to kill the soon-to-be-born heir either so they’d rallied around their new queen and had done their best to keep her safe as well. It had been an amazing outpouring of support that Dana hadn’t anticipated.

And just twenty-four hours ago, she’d given birth to an eight pound, three ounce baby boy who had come into the world with a full head of dark, curly hair. Just like his handsome father.

Dana looked up at the man who had given her so much and tried to think of words that were adequate for what she was feeling at the moment. But all she could think about was, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hassan replied, bending down to kiss her gently while his large hand covered his son’s sweet head.