‘It doesn’t matter. We both know that the Sultan cannot break the contract that exists between us.’
‘I’m sure the Sultan will find your eagerness to wed him most flattering.’
‘There’s no need for sarcasm. We’ve already established that I’m not pretending to be in love with him, and from what I’ve read that should be a pleasant change for the man,’ she muttered, crunching the gears as she slowed fractionally to take a corner. ‘He seems to spend his life fending off over-eager women. It must be very frustrating for him.’
‘You needn’t waste sympathy on the Sultan,’ Karim drawled. ‘He has vast experience with women, and is well able to protect himself.’
‘Well, he won’t need to protect himself from me. I’m honest.’ She trod hard on the accelerator. ‘And I certainly won’t be pretending to be in love with him. We’re going to get along just fine.’
‘I’m sure the Sultan will be overwhelmed by your romantic nature,’ Karim said dryly, wondering whether greed was any less distasteful when it was practised openly.
‘From what I’ve heard, the Sultan doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.’
‘You’re very sure about that. What if marriage to you is preventing him from marrying someone else?’
‘Oh, come on, Karim! You yourself said that the Sultan has avoided marriage all his life. He’s thirty-four years old, and he’s dated every beautiful woman in the western hemisphere.’ She changed gears viciously. ‘If there was someone he wanted to marry, he would have done it by now.’
‘And you have reached this conclusion on what basis?’
‘He’s the Sultan. The absolute ruler. He can marry anyone he pleases.’
‘Evidently not, since it seems that he will be marrying you. I’m afraid life is nowhere near as simple as you describe, even for the Sultan.’
‘We’re here.’ Ignoring his last remark, she turned the wheel sharply and drove the car through a gap in a fence and into an open field. Then she flashed the headlights three times. From across the field came an answering flash, and she nodded and switched off the engine. ‘We need to be quick.’
She was already out of the vehicle, the collar of her black jacket pulled up and a hat pulled low over her eyes. ‘Hurry. I don’t know how much time we have.’
Seriously questioning his decision to go along with her, Karim followed her, and then reached out a hand and hauled her against him. ‘Enough,’ he growled. ‘Enough, Your Highness. No one is following us.’’
‘Maybe not yet, but they will be. We need to get on that plane. Now.’ Her voice was urgent. ‘They’re coming, Karim. They’re already on their way. I can feel it.’
Karim felt her shiver in his arms, and his own body stirred in response as he stared down into her beautiful face. Why was she so desperate to go through with this marriage? Was this really all about money?
And what had happened to his judgement? Was he seriously going to board a strange aircraft with a woman who he didn’t trust, like or even admire?
‘You’re making no sense. Give me one good reason why I should do as you say.’
Her breath was coming in rapid pants, and then she jerked away from him and pointed a gun—his gun—straight at his chest. ‘Because if you don’t then I’m just going to have to shoot you. I will not allow anyone to stop this marriage, and that includes you. We’ve already wasted far too much time. Make your choice, Karim, but make it fast.’
Her hands shaking, Alexa held the gun as she’d seen it held in the movies, hoping that she looked suitably threatening. ‘Well?’
Karim stood still, remarkably calm, given that he was staring down the barrel of his own gun. And then he reached out and gently prised the gun from her shaking fingers with a hand that was entirely steady.
‘It’s dangerous to play with weapons that you know nothing about,’ he said softly, and she made a desperate grab for the gun but he slid it back into the holster under his jacket. ‘Next time you want to threaten someone, choose a weapon you’re familiar with.’ He watched her for a moment, his eyes searching. ‘Given that our prompt departure is obviously a matter of great importance to you, we’d better leave.’
‘Thank you.’ She should have felt relief, but instead she found herself wishing that he’d opted to stay behind. He was the most disturbing man she’d ever met, and she didn’t want him in her life. Especially not at this particular moment when concentration was crucial to her very survival. Alexa took a phone out of her pocket and made a quick call. Immediately a set of landing lights illuminated a runway, and she saw the small plane waiting. ‘They’re ready. Quickly.’
Checking over her shoulder for any glimmer of approaching headlights, Alexa pulled away from him and sprinted towards the plane, not really caring whether Karim followed or not.
She didn’t understand why he was asking so many questions.
He was a bodyguard. His brief should have been to follow orders, not to give them.
Arriving at the plane, she climbed the few steps and then sank down on the nearest seat, her insides churning so badly that she could barely breath. Karim sat down next to her and she felt the brush of his arm against hers.
Even without turning her head she knew he was watching her. She could feel him watching her.
And then he gave an impatient sigh, leaned across and fastened her seat belt in a decisive movement. Wishing he’d selected a seat across the aisle, Alexa’s mouth dried.
‘Thank you.’
She didn’t look at him. She didn’t dare.
She had to stay focused, and looking at Karim just blurred her mind.
A man walked out of the cockpit and nodded to her. ‘You are ready, Your Highness?’
‘Yes. Just go, David. Quickly.’ Knowing the risk he was taking, she looked at him doubtfully. ‘You’re sure you want to do this?’
‘How can you doubt it?’ The man’s expression was fierce. ‘We owe it to your father’s memory. We owe it to Rovina.’
Karim lounged in the leather seat, studying the woman next to him through half-shuttered eyes.
The moment the plane had taken off, she’d fallen deeply asleep, and now she lay without moving, her thick, dark lashes forming a crescent against her ashen cheeks.
He still hadn’t quite recovered from the shock of seeing her standing there, pointing his gun at him. But the incident had taught him two important things.
Firstly, that the Princess Alexandra was determined to marry the Sultan, and, secondly that she was not such a tough, independent soul as she would have liked him to believe. The slender hands holding his gun had been shaking so badly that, had she actually succeeded in firing the thing, the first shot would have hit his head and the second his toes. Clearly she didn’t have a clue how to use a gun.
Still, he’d underestimated her, and he wouldn’t be doing that again in a hurry.
Her extreme behaviour had surprised even him.
But it shouldn’t have done, should it? He gave a cynical laugh. His wealth of experience with her sex had long since taught him that nothing focused a woman’s mind more than a serious threat to her spending power, and the princess appeared to be facing that threat in the form of her uncle.
What would she say, he wondered, if she knew that he, too, was determined to prevent the wedding?