To Tame a Sheikh by Olivia Gates

him from destroying his and his family’s credibility and weakening their power.
    Most of all, she had to keep her secret intact.
    A secret that, if discovered, might cost the Aal Shalaans their throne.



Seven
    A fter coming to his decision, Shaheen had ambushed his father as he’d prepared to sleep.
    He’d told King Atef he’d changed his mind. He was relieving him of the burden of choosing his bride. But he wanted more choices. Or more reason to choose one of the existing candidates over the others. Surely the families didn’t think a prettier dress or a more practiced smile would sway him? Didn’t they have more…incentives? For him, personally? He was not just the king’s son, a body with the required genes. He was a force to be reckoned with throughout the world. It was his life they were bartering away, after all, and they’d better make it worth his while.
    His father had only closed his eyes then risen from his bed and walked out of his room without looking at Shaheen.
    Shaheen shut his own eyes now. He hated to add to his father’s strife. But he couldn’t include him in his plan. Not yet.
    His plan was simple. Kick up a controversy, drag in all those involved in his dilemma and stand back and watch. People showed their true colors in conflicts.
    And that was what had been missing so far. After they’d agreed that Shaheen would pick a family through its representative bride, the tribes had fallen into a peaceful coexistence, thinking that, with Shaheen’s reputation for being completely incorruptible, there was nothing they could do beyond parading their daughters before him to influence his decision.
    Now he’d as good as told them he wasn’t just acting the king’s obedient son in this matter and they should indeed fight dirty for said favor.
    The reactions to this new development—and most important, the nonreactions—would expose who among their so-called allies who had access inside the palace were after new treaties within the current ruling regimen, and who was planning a coup.
    He’d thrown his bomb and retreated, gone to his villa on the waters of the Arabian Sea, a hundred miles from the palace. He’d be inaccessible yet still be able to monitor the developments as the reactions of those involved reached him one way or another. Most important, he’d see Johara away from the scrutiny of the court.
    She was coming to him now.
    His heart expanded at the thought of her. It had taken every iota of his negotiating skills to secure her agreement. And she’d amazed him all over again.
    She hadn’t resisted because she was feeling jealous or slighted or even heartbroken that he was seeking her out even as he went ahead with his marriage plans. She’d done so because she didn’t want to stir up trouble for him.
    But though making everyone believe he was still in the game was paramount for his plan’s success, none of that mattered. Not when weighed against protecting her from hurt.
    He couldn’t leave her in the dark about his feelings and about what he had planned.
    She’d agreed to come only when he’d told her he’d come to her publicly if she didn’t. She’d believed he was desperate enough to do it. But she’d insisted on making her own way. She’d said no one would think anything of her driving away from the palace on her own, but if she left in his chauffeured car, it would probably be on the national news within the hour. She’d even asked him to send his entourage away while she visited him. Since there was nothing he wanted more than to be alone with her, he’d emptied the immediate two-mile radius.
    He was now standing on his second-floor bedroom suite’s veranda, awaiting her arrival. He cast his impatience across the tranquil emerald waters, followed the curve of the bay that hugged them and the villa, untouched by human hands except for the road that arced along its edge and that would bring her to him.
    The sea winked diamonds in the pre-sunset rays as it lapped