The Sheikh's Diamond (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 1) (7 page)

“Are you okay?” he asked in concern. He watched her like a hawk as she pulled her clothes back on.

“Fine,” she lied. “The ground wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place. What did you do with the diamond?”

He looked around absently before he spied it on the ground.

“Really?” she snorted. “All this time looking for it, and you just tossed it on the ground?”

“My mind was on other things,” he said with a small smile as he put the necklace in the pouch. “Come on. We should call everyone back to camp and pack up.”

Anxiety seized her. “Actually, maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone that we found it. Is there any way you can smuggle it some place far away? We could pretend to look for another day while we throw anyone who might be following us off the trail?”

He regarded her closely as he dressed. “Do you have any reason to believe that anyone is following us?”

She turned her head so he couldn’t see her expression. “It’s just a precaution,” she muttered.

Deafening silence fell between them. Closing her eyes, she waited for him to say something. “Fleur, I’m well aware that someone is following us,” he muttered finally, his voice tinged with anger.

“Then why didn’t you say something?” she snapped as she whirled around.

“Because I wanted to see how long you would lie to me,” he said roughly. “I wanted to trust you, Fleur.”

“I didn’t think I needed to tell you. You got what you wanted.” Her cheeks flushed when she realized that her words had a double meaning. “So I guess trust doesn’t really need to be an issue.”

He stared at her for a moment. “I suppose since you aren’t trying to steal the diamond from me that you didn’t send anyone.” Fleur wasn’t ready to throw Bruce under the bus just yet, but it was easy enough for Masoud to connect the dots. “Who did Bruce call?”

“Let’s just get out of here,” she muttered as she reached down and grabbed her bag. “We’ll get the diamond out and then we’ll worry about who is following us. You’ll need to send someone else out to get water, right?” Masoud nodded. “Fine. Send the diamond out with him. We’ll fake it for another day. Pack up the cars in the morning, and we’ll explore more of the caves, which will give me more time to take a look at this place. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll get the hell out of Dodge.”

There was nothing warm about him as he thought over her plan. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. But when this is all over, I plan to have a long talk with your stepbrother.”

A cold shudder went through her. Anton was the immediate problem, but it looked like Masoud might be an even bigger one. Now that she had figured out how to get the diamond out, she’d need to figure out how to get Bruce out.

And just moments ago, she had given Masoud absolutely everything.

Masoud let her lead them out and followed her at a close distance. He’d known she was lying to him, but it wasn’t until he heard it from her own mouth that he realized how much it hurt. Of course, she was just protecting her family. He would do the same to protect his.

He would do more.

“Can I see it while I still have the chance?” she asked without looking around. Before, her voice had been laced with desire and need. Now, it dripped with anger.

“Fine,” he agreed.

She stopped and held out her hand. He made sure his touch lingered a little longer than necessary as he held her hand to give her the pouch. Her fingers trembled under him.

“I don’t understand why you’re so angry,” he said.

“You threatened my stepbrother,” she muttered as her fist closed around the diamond. She whirled around and started marching angrily in front of him again.

“Your stepbrother is having me followed, and I have to surmise that if we were followed by a pleasant man, you wouldn’t have hidden it from me. You do realize that you’re a terrible liar, right?”

“And you’re a very good one.” The accusation hung between them, and he felt the anger well up all over again. She had absolutely no right to be pissed at him.

“I have twenty men out there to protect us.”

“Funny. I thought they were here to protect you.” She shook the diamond out in her hand and stopped as she held it up into the light. Perfectly cut. As it caught the light, it lit up like fire, reflecting light from all sides.

He watched her closely as she examined it. She had a terrible poker face. Awe and curiosity was written all over her face, and for a moment, he was captivated. She may have wanted to be a serious archaeologist, but she had too much passion for the subject. She was in love with her job.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. She put her arm down and stared out across the caves for a moment. He watched her intently. Just as he was about to ask her what she’d found, his phone rang.

It broke the spell, and she blinked and turned toward him. Masoud pulled it out and looked down. Jaymin.

“I’m in the middle of something,” he growled into the phone. “What do you want?”

“You need to come home. Father is ill,” Jaymin said tightly.

Masoud frowned. “So call a doctor. I need to stay out here at least until tomorrow.”

“I have called a doctor. Do you think that I would call you if he had a simple cold?” his older brother snapped.

“Fine. I’ll be home in a few hours.” He shoved the phone back in his pocket and reached over to grab the diamond. “Change of plans. I have to go home tonight, so I’ll take the diamond with me. You can stay here for another day and pretend to look for it. Enjoy your oasis.” He pocketed the diamond and pushed past her.

“What’s going on? Why do you need to go home?” she asked as she hurried behind him. He didn’t answer, but that didn’t stop her. She put her hand on his arm and forced him to stop. “Masoud, look at me.”

“What?” he snapped as he turned around. He had no reason to be angry with her, but he didn’t deal with fear well. Jaymin wouldn’t have called him away unless it was serious, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. “The diamond will be waiting for you once you deal with your stepbrother’s mess. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my father needs me.”

He pulled out of her grasp and kept going. It wasn’t until a few minutes passed that he realized she wasn’t following him. Pausing, he turned to look behind him, but there was nothing but sand and sun. Just a short time ago, he was inside her and opening himself to her, and now he had completely shut her out.

And that was all it took.

Everything had crashed down on him all at once, and he was seething with anger as he made his way back to camp. He had accused Fleur of lying to him, and he had yet to tell her that the diamond wasn’t going to a museum. Pot calling the kettle black.

When he finally made it to camp, everything went from bad to worse. He froze when he saw all of his security men lying unconscious on the ground. “No,” he cried out as he leaned over the first one and put a finger on his pulse.

“They’re alive, and they’ll stay that way if you hand over the diamond.”

Masoud looked up slowly and saw ten men surrounding him with guns. He didn’t recognize any of them. A small, slight man stepped forward with a smug smile and held out his hand. “The diamond. Now.”

“I don’t have it,” Masoud said evenly as he slowly stood. He put his hands out and tried to figure out what his chances were. Fleur would no doubt arrive soon, and he didn’t want her in danger. At the same time, he didn’t want to hand over the diamond. But he was vastly outnumbered. “Who the hell are you?”

The man cocked his head and shrugged. “I don’t suppose it matters. You won’t be able to prove any of this anyway unless you want admit to the world the diamond exists. And we both know how tightlipped your family has been on the matter. Don’t want professionals knocking on your door to get a look at it, hmm? I’m Anton Negatin. And I know that you have the diamond. You were watched very closely as you entered that cave. And sound travels.”

Masoud swallowed his temper. It made him ill to think that someone was listening to him as he made love to Fleur. Anton seemed to know his thoughts. “I also have a man watching your pretty redhead right now. Well, I say yours. The truth is that I had my eyes on her first. Tell me, is she a screamer? Or is she real quiet?”

Without thinking, Masoud swung. His fist connected with Anton’s jaw. The smaller man stumbled, but he held out his hand to stay any of his men from shooting. Rubbing his jaw, he stared at Masoud as he pulled out his phone. “Get ready. If I don’t have the diamond in my hand in twenty seconds, I want you to shoot her. Just the leg first. I want to hear her scream.”

“Wait.” Masoud inhaled sharply as he reached in his pocket to grab the diamond. His hands shook as he held out his family’s most precious heirloom. They might very well lose their control over the land, but he would not risk Fleur’s life.

Not for anything.

“Interesting choice. I thought you’d be a harder nut to crack,” Anton commented as he opened the pouch and peered at it. “You know; I have the Hope diamond. The real one. The one in the museum is a fake. And it still wasn’t as hard to procure as this one was. I thank you for finding it for me.”

“Give your man the order to stand down,” Masoud said tightly as he stared at the phone.

“Maybe I’ll just shoot her. She’s a thorn in my side.” Anton shrugged. “But she’s pretty, and I enjoy looking at her.” Holding the phone up to his ear, he complied. “Pack it in. We’re leaving.”

“What’s the point in having it if you can’t share it with anyone?” Masoud asked.

“It’s a challenge. And every time I look at it, I’ll know that I rose to the challenge and succeeded.” Carefully, Anton put the diamond back in the pouch and smiled at Masoud. “Now, I have to apologize for all this. I don’t want you to think that I’m not a gentleman. Unfortunately, what I’m about to do next is very ungentlemanly.”

Pain exploded in his temple, and Masoud dropped like a stone. As he lost consciousness, he could only hope that Fleur was still too angry with him to come back to camp.

“Masoud? Masoud!” Fleur’s heart was in her throat as she pressed her shirt to the wound on his head. It didn’t look deep, but he was still taking his sweet time coming around. She’d checked the bodies, and they were all alive. Unfortunately, none of them were Bruce.

Finally, Masoud’s eyes fluttered open. “Fleur,” he muttered. “Danger.”

She sighed in relief. “Yeah. I got that when I found everyone unconscious. I assume you met Anton.”

“Could’ve taken him,” he moaned as he sat up and reached for his head.

“Easy. You’re still bleeding pretty badly. And while you are bigger than he is, he’s more ruthless. Do you hear any ringing in your ears? Do you remember where you are?”

“I’m fine, Fleur.” He pushed her arm away. “He got the diamond.”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you beforehand. I should have done more to prevent this.” She leaned over him to look at his wound, and he looked straight down her tank top. He reached up and wrapped his hand around her waist and rested his head on her chest. She thought about pushing him away, but it was nice to know that he still felt a need to connect with her.

Even though she’d lied to him.

“This isn’t your fault. This is Bruce’s fault. He’s gone, by the way.”

Fleur shook her head. “Bruce wouldn’t leave me here alone. He has to be here.”

Masoud winced. “You’re not alone. You’re with me and twenty of my security detail.”

“Yup.” She scanned the area. “And to him, that’s worse than me being alone. Say what you want about Bruce, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.”

“Fleur.” He reached up, tangled his fingers through her hair and forced her to look at him. “He knows that you’re protected here. He went with the diamond. He’s not here.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she struggled to get them under control. “Come on. We need to get you to a doctor to get you checked out.” Crying wasn’t going to help anyone right now. In fact, she was beginning to see that she should have stayed as far away from this whole mess as possible.

She was better suited behind a desk.

Once the rest of his men came to, they got Masoud in the car. As soon as he was at the hospital, she signed the paperwork and watched as the doctors glared at her. Clearly, they didn’t approve of her being so close and casual with him. Once he was behind the curtain, she backed slowly out.

Masoud had plenty on his plate. He had a diamond to find and a father to look after. As Fleur caught a ride back to her hotel, she realized that she wasn’t needed here anymore. She couldn’t help Masoud go after Anton. Her job here was done. He’d probably never even think twice about her once she slipped away.

He was right about one thing. Bruce was gone. She saw immediately that his things were gone from the hotel room. Angry and betrayed, she threw her things in her bag and tried not to cry. Finally, she leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

She wasn’t cut out for this work, but she couldn’t go home. She wanted to stay and examine the oasis, but something more enticing dangled in front of her. The symbol etched on the side of the diamond was unmistakable. And if she was right, she might be able to find Solomon’s Mines.

“What are you doing, Fleur? Go home,” she whispered as she knocked her head gently against the wall. She had already proven that she wasn’t cut out for this. She really just needed to go home.

“It’s probably not a good idea to keep your door open when you’re unfamiliar with the neighborhood.”

Fleur gasped when she saw Masoud standing in the middle of the doorway. “What are you doing here?” she muttered as she wiped her face and struggled to stand up.

“Apparently witnessing a breakdown. I had half expected to miss you. After you recognized whatever you found on the diamond, I thought I’d find you at the airport.”

He knew. Of course, he knew. He seemed to be one step ahead of her this whole time. “I guess I’m trying to decide if it’s worth following.”

“So, you weren’t thinking that maybe you should wait for me?” he asked gently.

“Should you be out of the hospital?”

Masoud shrugged and sat on the bed. “I’m fine, and you’re ignoring the question. Were you trying to give me the slip?”

Fleur fidgeted nervously. “You need to see your father, and you need to get the diamond back. Besides, I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“My father is fine. I spoke to the doctor myself. His tests weren’t as bad as originally thought. He’ll be down for a few days, but he should make a full recovery. He doesn’t need me by his side. And I have people to track down the diamond. Anton apparently thinks he’s indestructible, but I have contacts. They’ll find him in no time, and they don’t need me breathing down their necks to do it.”

“Masoud….”

“Fleur, it’s a mild concussion. I’m fine. And I’m not letting you go all half-cocked to some other Middle Eastern territory alone. It’s not safe for you.”

She shrugged. “You’re right. I’ll go home. That way no one has to worry about me.” She leaned over to grab her bag, and he reached out to snag her arm.

“Fleur, we really need to discuss how often you lie to me. I know you’re going to the mines,” he said softly. “If I knew how to stop you, I would. Since I can’t, I am going with you.”

“I thought you didn’t trust me,” she said bitterly as she stared at him. What could he possibly be thinking? She wasn’t a threat to his precious diamond anymore. Why would he want to stay close to her?

“I said things that I shouldn’t have. I am constantly surrounded by conspiracy, politics and money. All of it plays a role in everything that I do. But this is not your fault. You were protecting someone you trusted, and you had no reason to trust me. I understand that. This has nothing to do with the diamond. I know you’re going after that mine, and I want to make sure you’re safe.”

What the hell did that mean? A few sexy moments together didn’t usually warrant a bodyguard. She had one-night stands all the time. Well, not all the time. A few times. One time. And the guy didn’t offer to take a trip into the unknown with her afterward. “It’s not necessary,” she said stiffly as she pulled away.

Masoud shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if it’s necessary, Fleur. It’s happening. I’ve already made arrangements to make sure that no one lets you fly out without me. There are perks to being a Sheikh.”

“That’s abuse of power,” she muttered but she was pleased that he’d made so much effort for her. The truth was that she could feel something blooming between them, and she wanted to explore it more. He softened his grip on her, and she slung her bag over her shoulder. “I hope you’re packed.”

“I’m packed, and I have a private plane at our disposal. Where are we going?”

She flashed him a smile. “I’ll tell you on the way.”