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CHAPTER TWO

“LENIENT?” LAUREN GLARED at hi the tremor she couldn’t contain at the casual power in his words “You had your thugs throwa word I had to say”

“If you were anyone elsethe punishment would have been much worse”

“I slapped you It’s not a capital crime”

“You slapped h Council who thinks women should stay at home, that women need to be protected from the world, and from their oeaknesses”

There was no s hostility “That’s archaic”

“Fortunately for you, I agree Women are just as capable of deception, of manipulation as any man I’ve known”

Lauren stared at hi a sheikh? I don’t kno much more of this I can handle”

Soaze “This is not New York, Lauren Nor ae Joe”

“No, you’re not,” she whispered Even in New York, she hadn’t e man

A s to keep his place in Behraat because of the changing political cli, sexy, jaw-droppingly arrogant ely attractive ER nurse, who’d long ago chosen a life of non-adventure and boring norht to her head

She’d sed his lies all too willingly

Instead, he was the ruler of a nation and, if the media was to be believed, one who had seized power from the previous sheikh He was the very embodiment of power and aht him to be

The black-and-white tiles swam in front of her eyes She slid into the chair in a boneless heap, tucked her head down between her knees and forced herself to breathe

The fine hairs on her neck prickled, the air coated with an exotic scent that her traitorous body craved all too easily Standing over her, his presence was a dark shadow stealing every bit of warmth from her

His long fingers landed on her nape and her skin zinged “Lauren?”

The concern edging into those words tugged at her, but she resisted its dangerous quality Because it was reluctant at best “Don’t pretend you care”

Shock flared in his gaze At least, that’s what her foolish one Before she could move, he trapped her behind the table, his arms on either side of her head “Did you know already?”