The Sheikh's Amulet (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 3) by Leslie North

Frantically, he returned the call. If Kaz told his father, Quadir would pull the whole investigation away from him. “Kaz! Kaz, why the hell didn’t you try to keep calling me!” he growled when the man finally picked up.
    “And risk interrupting your romantic weekend? No, thank you. I enjoy my head right where it is.”
    “Enjoy that head while it lasts, because if my father takes this away from me, I’ll personally remove it myself. Tell me that you’ve kept this to yourself.”
    “My loyalties lie with the crowned sheikh, but I’m not stupid, Jaymin. I would never interrupt your father with such a small matter when he’s at the embassy. Letting you know is the second best,” Kaz said easily.
    Relief washed over Jaymin. Kaz was smart. “So you think Anton is behind the shootings. The problem is that he’s a thief, Kaz. He’s not an assassin unless there is someone standing between him and what he wants.” He closed his eyes. “You think he stole the amulet.”
    “I don’t have anything linking him to the family or the amulet except for the shooting,” Kaz said quickly. “I’m not making assumptions. But I did tell you that I have some reservations about the Lewis family, and when you get back, I’d like to talk with you more about it. Maybe you’ll actually listen this time.”
    Jaymin sighed and stared at the closed door where Tamrin was still showering. She would be standing under the water, rubbing her hands all over her naked body just like he’d ran his hands all over her. Like how she’d run her hands over him. How could she be naked in his arms, vulnerable, and still be hiding secrets from him?
    “Fine,” he said softly. “I’ll listen.”
    Kaz was quiet for a few beats. “Jaymin, we don’t have to do this. We can turn everything over to the authorities. You can oversee everything that they do.”
    Jaymin could turn it all over and turn his back on the whole thing. The investigators could look into the Lewis family with an objective point of view that Jaymin no longer possessed. But the fact that he couldn’t see the situation clearly was exactly why he wasn’t going to turn anything over.
    Maybe Tamrin Lewis was innocent and this whole weekend had really been the romantic getaway that it seemed. If that were the case, he wanted to protect her. If Sean Lewis was involved, he wanted to do his best to protect Tamrin.
    But if she did know, if she was involved, then she had used this weekend to make sure that he would protect her. And if that were the case, he wanted to personally bring her down.
    “We keep the case,” he said quietly as he closed his eyes. “I need to see this through. After what the man has done to my family, I intend to put this whole situation to rest.”
    He disconnected the call and slowly lowered the phone as he stared at the closed door. She wasn’t involved. She couldn’t be.
    But when the water shut off, he couldn’t shut off his doubts.

    * * *
    O nce they’d returned to the palace, Tamrin headed to her room to unpack, and Jaymin met with Kaz in his study. The open file on his desk showed the mug shots of the two men who normally worked with Anton. “If they are freelancers, what do you have that ties them to Negatin?”
    “The only reason they aren’t still in prison is that they rolled over on Negatin. They gave several pertinent details on several items that Negatin had stolen, so they were given a lighter sentence. Of course, if you look carefully at the reports, it looks like Negatin might have set the whole thing up. He wanted his favorite men back, and he managed to stay one step ahead of the authorities. And now they’re working for him again.”
    “This is all you have?” Jaymin said as he tapped his finger on the file and stared absently at the open door.
    “Yes, sir.”
    Jaymin blew out his breath. “We need to know why, and the only way we can do that is to talk to Sean Lewis.”
    “He left a few hours ago to go home. We gave him a