Sheikhs of Al-Dashalid: The Complete Series Read online

  “I would never,” Issam said quickly. “He’s head over heels for her. There’s no doubt in my mind. And little Inan is the perfect combination of them both.” He laughed, kindly this time. “He’s going to give Kyril a run for his money.” Kyril was their eldest brother and shouldered the burden of ruling Al-Dashalid in the wake of their father’s retirement. He’d had a whirlwind romance with a woman named Hannah, who had quickly become a treasured member of the family.

  “Maybe too much of a run,” mused Rami.

  “What does that mean?”

  “You don’t think he’s a little too—” He motioned vaguely in the air. “In over his head with all this fatherhood and marriage business?” Rami had no doubt that Kyril loved Hannah as deeply as he’d ever loved anything, but he wondered if the domestic life was really that enchanting. It was equally possible that Kyril had been so swept up in the romance of it all that he didn’t know what he was getting into. What if he woke up one day and realized it had all been a mistake?

  “No,” said Issam slowly. “Anyway, we’re talking about your big wedding celebration, not Kyril’s. You’d never make it with an American woman.”

  “Oh, so you’re trying to insult me. Why don’t you go find something else to do? Maybe a trip around all the borders.”

  “I’m not.” Issam’s tone softened. “You’re the most serious one of us all, Rami. American women—they’re spitfires. They’re not interested in men who hardly ever smile, who hardly ever have a good time.”

  “I resent that.”

  “Look at your face right now.”

  “I can’t. It’s my own face.”

  “If I took a picture, all you’d see is your frown.”

  Rami shrugged it off. “I have fun. I can’t help it if it’s not your idea of a good time.” They both silently looked at the monitor again. The American TMZ homepage wasn’t viewable by the general public in Al-Dashalid, but the palace Internet wasn’t restricted. “How did you find this, anyway?”

  “A Google alert.”

  “You have a Google alert for me?” Rami looked at Issam out of the corner of his eye. “Why?”

  “I have them for everyone in the family. Our security isn’t only a physical matter.” Now an edge crept into Issam’s voice. He took his work seriously, even as he laughed at Rami for doing the same.

  “No,” Rami agreed. “It would be nice to have some more business security than I currently do.”

  “Did a deal fall through?” The two brothers angled themselves away from the computer, facing each other now.

  “Not yet.”

  “That doesn’t sound encouraging.” Issam was looking for more information, and Rami found himself wanting to get it off his chest.

  “I got an invitation to another weekend of negotiations with Morris International in Texas.”

  Issam cocked his head to the side. “That sounds like a positive.”

  “I thought it was. But a man I met at the last party, a friend of Lydia Morris, sent me a private message. Apparently she didn’t think we were friendly enough.”

  “That’s…odd.”

  “It’s her way of doing business,” Rami offered. “Her friend did me a favor by warning me. I need a better connection.”

  The idea hit him like a bolt of lightning.

  “A…closer connection.”

  Lydia Morris might not be Rami’s biggest fan, but she loved Catelyn. She’d badly wanted her to stay at the party, and it made Rami think there was a history between the two women. A friendship at least, and maybe a stronger bond than that.

  The wedding between Rami and Catelyn hadn’t been real. But if it were…

  “What’s that look on your face?” Issam said suspiciously. “You look like you’re plotting.”

  “Maybe I am,” Rami was being cryptic, and he knew it. But Issam had spent long enough laughing at him today. He’d let him in on the plan when it was fully formed. Or…when it was a fantasy turned reality. “Don’t you have work to do?”

  Issam raised both hands in the air. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

  “See you at dinner.” Rami wanted his plan set in stone before then. Issam left him to his own devices, and he went back to the computer.

  It didn’t take long to discover why Catelyn had done what she’d done. Her wedding planning business—Elite Occasions—was in need of clients, if their blog was any indication. She wanted to use those fake photos to give them “a royal reputation.” He chuckled to himself. She’d probably thought he’d never see these photos.

  It made perfect sense.

  And honestly, so did the wedding.

  If he were married to Catelyn, he’d become—he sensed it—a close contact of Lydia’s. The next Google search revealed that Lydia had mentored Catelyn, confirming his hunch. Catelyn had only left Morris International to start her own business. On top of it all, ancient laws in Rami’s country required him to marry by the age of thirty in order to wield his power as a member of the royal family. He was twenty-nine.

  Best of all, Catelyn needed him, too.

  The wedding was out in the open, being reported by the tabloids. The news that Rami was married to a gorgeous, well-connected American woman would be marred if people found out it wasn’t real.

  There was a simple solution to that: make it real.

  He’d turn Catelyn’s fantasy into a reality.

  He’d get a negotiation partner to win over Lydia Morris.

  And she’d get a real royal wedding.

  4

  “It’s not right.” Laura twisted her red hair behind her, looping it into a bun that tumbled down her back the moment she let it go. “Accepting all this coverage for content that’s not entirely truthful? It doesn’t seem right.”

  “I don’t know.” Daisy looked down at the notepad in front of her. She hadn’t written down anything. What was there to take notes about? This entire meeting had been about the TMZ coverage. Tipsy Catelyn’s blog had gotten a lot more attention than she’d bargained for.

  Out in the main office, the phone rang again. Catelyn studied her friends gathered around the little round table in their conference room. She didn’t like the looks on their faces.

  “I’ll get that.” She jogged out to the front office. It had been like this for four days solid. Three days after the blog post, TMZ had discovered that Sheikh Rami of Al-Dashalid had had a secret wedding in New Jersey to a wedding planner named Catelyn Wolf. Since then, the phones had been ringing off the hook. They’d booked more weddings in the past four days than the past four months combined. Catelyn snatched the phone out of the cradle on the third ring.

  “Catelyn Wolf at Elite Occasions,” she said smoothly into the phone.

  “Oh, my goodness, Catelyn, I’m so mortified.” Catelyn recognized the voice on the other end of the line. It was Marissa Keller, and she’d been the first to book with Elite Occasions after the news broke. And it was a big account. As in—a multimillion-dollar wedding.

  “What about?” Catelyn asked, her voice level. It was early in the process for a bridal meltdown, but Catelyn was prepared nonetheless.

  “I’m almost certain I forgot to congratulate you on your wedding.” Marissa had a gentle Southern accent, not unlike Catelyn’s mother.

  “Don’t be silly!” Catelyn chuckled. “I’m sure you did. You’re so sweet for thinking of me.” This wasn’t why Marissa was calling, though. She knew it like she knew when the groom was going to get cold feet. “Was there anything else you wanted me to check on while you have me on the phone?” Marissa’s wedding was still in the venue selection phase. There was no new news on that front.

  “I only—” Marissa cleared her throat. “Maybe I’m crossing a line,” she said delicately. “But I only saw photos of your wedding. Do you—do you have honeymoon plans?”

  Catelyn laughed. “Not at the moment. And Marissa, let me assure you—even if I was called away unexpectedly, my team is the best in the business. We’re all working to make
sure your event is perfect. And if one of us can’t make it, the other two are more than capable of covering. You’ll never be on your own.”

  Marissa huffed out a breath. “Oh, thank goodness. Not—” Catelyn could practically hear her blushing over the phone. “Not that you shouldn’t have a honeymoon. Everyone should have a wonderful honeymoon. I just got into a little bit of a panic—”

  “That I might not be there every step of the way. Put that thought right out of your head. We’re here for you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. You know,” Marissa said, her tone thoughtful. “The moment I saw those photos, I knew you were the planner for me. I mean—if you can handle a royal family, no wedding is beyond you.”

  “That’s right. Just sit back, relax, and we’ll meet next week to choose a venue.”

  “I’m so excited. Oh! I’m sure you’re busy,” Marissa said quickly. “I’ll let you get back to it.”

  “Talk soon,” Catelyn said, and hung up the phone.

  She went back into the conference room and dropped into her seat. “That was Marissa Keller.”

  Laura straightened up. “Is she…backing out?”

  “No.” Catelyn flicked her eyes between her friends. “She said the reason she wanted to hire us is because she knows I can handle anything. ‘If you can handle a royal family, no wedding is beyond you.’ Those were her exact words.”

  Daisy and Laura exchanged a look, and Catelyn held her breath. She didn’t feel awesome about the photoshop job, but how could they delete it now? It was a lie, yes—but it was the lie that launched a thousand weddings. And three careers. The paycheck from Marissa Keller alone was going to keep Elite Occasions afloat for a year.

  “We’ll keep it up for now.” Daisy sounded firm. “We can’t delete it without fessing up, and I—” She looked the other women in the eye. “I’ve got loans.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We can take it down later, when everything has…died down.”

  “Meeting adjourned,” Catelyn declared.

  The three women stood up from the table as the phone in the outer office rang again. “My turn,” said Daisy, and she rushed for it.

  Catelyn went back to her office and sat heavily in her chair. Ugh. This was not how she’d wanted to launch their business to the next level. Even if Daisy and Laura disagreed, wasn’t it best just to delete it now? She brought up the blog on her screen. If she left the blog post up, she was going to have to go to sleep every night knowing that it was there. It was enough, really. The contracts they’d signed in the past four days would keep them going for long enough. Especially the Keller account.

  Her gut churned. “Laura?” That was it. She was going to tell them and then delete it.

  Laura’s footsteps came fast. Too fast. She appeared at the door of Catelyn’s office, breathless. “Cate—”

  “I have to talk to you. I changed my mind. I—”

  “The sheikh is here.”

  The words took several heartbeats to register. “What?”

  “Your new husband.” Laura’s lips turned up at the corners, but she pressed them back into a thin line. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t an appropriate joke for the moment, but honest to god—”

  Daisy skidded to a stop next to Laura. “Should I offer him a drink? Catelyn, brush your hair.”

  “Brush my—guys, stop.” Catelyn held up a hand. “This isn’t funny.”

  Laura’s eyes went wide. “We are dead serious. Sheikh Rami is here. In the office. Right now. I came to warn you, and Daisy left him alone out in the—”

  “I hope I’m not intruding,” said a rich, smooth male voice from outside the door, and then he appeared behind her friends.

  Rami.

  Tall and dark, his eyes sparkling. Oh, god, he was delicious. Gray slacks, a white shirt—he was every inch a prince. Gorgeously muscled. He was hotter than she’d remembered. Catelyn pressed her thighs together under the desk, then remembered herself and stood up.

  “Welcome to Elite Occasions,” she said, too fast. Her lips felt numb. “How—how can we help you?”

  Rami gave her a little smile. “I came to talk about some…interesting news coverage I recently became aware of.”

  “We’re so sorry,” Daisy burst out. “We’ll take the blog post down right away—”

  “That’s what I came to discuss.”

  “Taking the blog post down?” Laura sounded professional, but her face was pink. Rami had that effect on people. “It’s easy. A couple of clicks, and then it’s deleted. You know what? We should—we should sit down.” She motioned for Rami to come into Catelyn’s office. He was too tall for it, filling the room with a scent like citrus and sunshine. Catelyn gripped the edge of her desk.

  “Let’s discuss.” Rami motioned to all of them, and how could they do anything but obey? Catelyn sank back into her desk chair. Daisy and Laura perched on a small sofa she kept next to a coffee table filled with decor samples. “But…I’d like to take the opposite tack.”

  “You…want to leave the post up?” Laura looked at him like he’d descended from the moon.

  “It would be beneficial for a number of reasons.” Catelyn remembered this brisk tone from Lydia’s party. “The information already exists, and deleting it would be embarrassing for my family.” Rami ticked off the reasons on his fingers. “I’m legally required to take a wife by the age of thirty, and that time is very near. The reputation of your business depends on the truthfulness of your blog, to be frank. And finally, I’ve learned a few things about you.” His dark eyes searched Catelyn’s face, and she felt short of breath. She squashed the wild desire to straddle his lap, put her arms around his neck, and kiss him. It would have the happy side effect of shutting him up.

  “Like what?”

  “You’re connected to someone who I very much want to make a business deal with.”

  Catelyn didn’t follow—and then it was clear. “Lydia?”

  “Yes.”

  Her head spun. “So…you want to leave the blog post up…to get close to Lydia?”

  Rami laughed, a low chuckle. “I want to do more than that. I want to make it absolutely real. And soon. I’m invited to negotiations with her in three weeks.”

  Daisy gasped, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

  Laura was not so speechless. “Are you kidding? You want to marry her for a business deal?”

  “And a number of other reasons, which I’ve outlined,” Rami said, not taking his eyes from Catelyn. A heat burned in his gaze that made her desperate to be alone with him—but this? A wedding? It was all too absurd.

  Panic rose, choking her. He was sitting right there, but that wouldn’t stop her from—

  Catelyn grabbed at her mouse, knocking it off the desk in the process. She scrambled for it, but by the time she had it back up on the desk, Rami was at her side, leaning over. She tried to hit the Delete button on the post, but Rami put his hand over hers. “Wait.”

  He took the mouse from her hand as if he owned it and everything else in the world and scrolled up.

  He stopped on Catelyn’s favorite picture. The one of her, looking down into her bouquet, the perfect blushing bride. And him, looking at her, his face full of love. It was a punch to the gut.

  “You can have this,” he said softly, and she could almost believe they were the only people in the room. “It can be a true fantasy. A real wedding. We can spend a year dividing our time between here, Al-Dashalid, and traveling the world, and then divorce once I’ve achieved my goals.”

  “Don’t you—have to be married?” she squeaked.

  “Someone more suitable can be found by then.” Rami, apparently, had thought of everything. “In the meantime, we’ll avoid great embarrassment. And your business will flourish. As will mine. No one ever has to know.” He took his hand off the mouse and pushed it back toward hers. “Of course, the decision is yours.”

  Catelyn hovered her hand over the mouse. One click, and all this would be over. She wouldn’t breathe in Rami’s sce
nt anymore. She wouldn’t have the chance to stand close to him, even if it was under false pretenses. And…she supposed that the content would remain on TMZ…

  She glanced at her friends. Their faces were pale, and they sat frozen on the sofa, waiting. The business hung in the balance.

  “Guys…” Catelyn cleared her throat. “I need a few minutes alone with Rami.”

  5

  Catelyn’s friends leaped up from the couch and dashed into the hallway, shutting the door of the office behind them.

  She stared after them, then took a breath in and let it out.

  “Perhaps we should sit somewhere more comfortable.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Catelyn. “This is a little awkward.”

  “That’s an accurate description.” Rami offered Catelyn a hand. She looked at it, then looked into his eyes, having to crane her neck to do it. Then, so tentatively it made his heart squeeze, she put her small hand in his and stood up. He wondered how easily he could lift her into his arms. She was short—very short—and he guessed it would take no effort at all.

  They went to the middle of the office, and Catelyn sat down on the sofa. Rami took the seat he’d used before, and they faced each other. Catelyn darted her eyes to the door; Rami followed her gaze. There were four shadows in the crack underneath the door. He cleared his throat, loudly.

  The shadows disappeared with a near-silent shuffle, and they were alone.

  Catelyn looked at him, her blue eyes so striking it took his breath away. “I think we should start over.”

  “How?” She’d been the one to post the blog, so—

  “With your…explanation.” She folded her hands on top of her knee, and he knew instinctively that this must be how she sat with clients, seemingly at ease but taking in every detail. “Why, exactly, do you think that getting married would be better than deleting the blog post?”

  He felt more vulnerable, somehow, without additional people staring him down. “The biggest reason is family honor.” He didn’t relish the memory of Issam laughing at him. “My brothers would understand deleting it and moving on, but my parents—they would be mortified. We’re the royal family of Al-Dashalid. This kind of…joke…is not acceptable.”