Clearly Kalila thought so too because as she caught sight of him she dragged herself out of the arms of her lover so quickly she almost fell. ‘Oh no!’
Mal walked past Avery into the tent, his dark gaze fixed intently on the man who had been kissing Kalila. ‘And you are—?’
‘No! I won’t let you touch him!’ Her tone infused with drama and desperation, Kalila plastered herself in front of her lover—was he a lover?—and Avery braced herself. No doubt there would be a battle for masculine supremacy. Holding her breath, she waited for him to face Mal, man to man, but instead he stayed firmly behind the Princess and then prostrated himself.
‘Your Highness—’
Avery’s brows rose because she’d expected fists, not fawning. Astonished, her gaze flickered to Mal and their gazes briefly connected. She subdued a ridiculous urge to laugh and then realised that there was nothing funny about this situation. Mal was desperate for this marriage to go ahead. He would fight for Kalila, she was sure of it.
‘Get up.’ Mal issued the command through clenched teeth and the man stumbled upright, but stayed behind Kalila with his head bowed.
Avery watched in disbelief. What woman in her right mind would choose that cowering wimp over Mal? Not that she wanted to see them fight, but surely he should at least look his adversary in the eye and take control. Where was the strength? Where was courage?
Nowhere, apparently, because the man, scarlet-faced, continued to stare at the floor while Kalila sent him an adoring glance. In the end it was Kalila who braced her shoulders and faced the man she was supposed to be marrying.
‘I won’t let you lay a finger on him.’
‘I have no intention of touching him,’ Mal drawled, ‘but an introduction would be appropriate at this point, don’t you think?’
‘This is Karim.’ Kalila’s voice was a terrified squeak. ‘He’s my bodyguard.’
‘You have to be kidding.’ Avery stared at the cowering man. ‘Your bodyguard? But—’ She caught Mal’s single warning glance and broke off in mid sentence. ‘Sorry. I’m not saying anything. Nothing at all. I’m totally silent on the subject. Mute. Lips are sealed.’
‘If only,’ Mal breathed, returning his attention to the couple in front of him. ‘So your “bodyguard” appears to be taking his responsibilities extremely seriously. Presumably he was wrapped that closely around you to protect you from flying bullets?’ His biting sarcasm drew an uncomfortable glance from the other man but he didn’t speak.
The talking was left to Kalila, who was every bit as red faced as the man next to her. ‘Wh-what are you doing here, Your Highness?’
‘I was searching for my bride-to-be,’ Mal said softly, ‘to find out why she’d run away. But apparently I have my answer.’
What?
Braced to defuse serious tension, Avery stared at him. Was that it? Was that all he was going to say?
Kalila seemed equally taken aback. ‘Your Highness, I can explain—’
‘You can call me Mal. I believe I’ve told you that on more than one occasion. And the situation doesn’t merit any further explanation.’
Why wasn’t he fighting?
Avery wondered if he had heatstroke. Something had affected his brain, that was for sure.
Kalila was still clasping the bodyguard’s hand tightly. Probably to stop him running away, Avery thought. ‘I can’t believe you came looking for me. Why would you do that?’
‘Because he’s a decent person and he was worried about you,’ Avery snapped and then caught Mal’s eye again. ‘All right. It’s just that you’re not saying anything and it’s really hard to stay silent—’
‘Try,’ Mal advised silkily and Avery clamped her jaws shut. Without even realising it, she’d moved closer to him so that now all she had to do was reach out her hand and she’d be touching him. And she wanted to touch him. She wanted to touch him so badly.
‘We came looking for you because naturally we were concerned that you might be in danger. But I can see that you’re fine.’ Mal was calm and composed and Avery resisted the temptation to poke him to check he was actually still alive. Surely he should be seething with anger? Burning up with raw jealousy?
Or perhaps he was just in shock. Yes, that had to be it. Shock.
But if he wasn’t careful the moment to act would have passed. And if he wasn’t capable of taking action, then she’d do it for him. ‘What Mal is trying to say is that—’
‘I can’t marry you, Your Highness.’ Kalila blurted the words out. ‘It’s too late.’
Avery closed her eyes. ‘Of course it’s not too late! Honestly, you shouldn’t make hasty decisions, Kalila. You need some time to think about this. And when you’ve talked it through I’m sure you’ll change your mind because Mal is a fantastic catch for any girl and you’re really lucky.’
‘This is nothing to do with His Royal Highness—’ Kalila avoided Mal’s gaze ‘—I don’t want to be the Sultan’s wife. I’d be hopeless. I’m shy and I’m not an interesting person.’
Avery gave Mal a look, expecting him to contradict her and when he didn’t, she took over. ‘That is not true at all. Just because you’re shy doesn’t mean you’re not interesting.’
‘You have no idea how hard I find it in crowds. And the Prince doesn’t want to marry a mute. He gets really impatient when I don’t speak.’
‘Of course he doesn’t!’ Avery drove her elbow into Mal’s ribs to prompt him to speak but he remained ominously silent. ‘Mal loves you just the way you are.’ Her less than subtle hint went unrewarded.
‘He doesn’t love me,’ Kalila stammered, her face scarlet, ‘he loves you.’
Silence filled the tent.
Avery felt as if someone was choking her. She lifted her hand to her throat, but there was nothing there, of course. Nothing she could loosen to help her breathing. ‘That isn’t true. He loves you. He asked you to marry him!’
‘He asked you first.’
Oh, for crying out loud. ‘No, he didn’t, actually.’ Avery spoke through her teeth. ‘I don’t know what you’ve heard, but that was all a big misunderstanding. You don’t know the details.’ And why wasn’t Mal telling her the truth? Putting her right?
‘I do know the details. I was there. I heard what he said. I heard him have a row with that horrible man who runs that oil production company and thinks he’s irresistible—’
Avery frowned, confused. ‘Richard?’
‘Yes, him. He told Mal that you were planning his party and he was going to have you as a bonus. Mal was so angry he punched him. And when he dragged him out of the dirt where he’d knocked him, he told him that he was going to marry you and that you wouldn’t be able to run any parties for him, now or in the future, personal or otherwise.’
Avery discovered that her mouth was open.
Slowly, she turned her head to look at Mal, waiting for him to deny it, but still he said nothing. Apart from a faint streak of colour across his cheekbones, he made no response.
Confusion washed over her. She knew he hadn’t loved her. He’d proposed to Kalila within weeks of them parting.