The Sheikh's Diamond (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 1) by Leslie North Page A

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