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PROLOGUE

‘SO THE negotiations ell, then?’

Drax frowned, his dark, arrogantly slanted eyebrows snapping together over an equally arrogant aquiline nose Although his brother had welcoether with his usual war on his elder twin’s mind that Vere had not yet revealed to him

‘The talks in London went very well,’ he confirether now for al co the death of their parents in a car accident during a state visit

Despite their closeness, they had never talked about the horror of that ti father and their beautiful Irish mother There had been no need As twins they in stinctively understood each other’s feelings Physically they were identical, but when it came to their personalities sometimes it see the sa a desire to follow their shared life path in different ways

Drax had coht to his brother’s private audience rooo to his own quarters first to change So, while Vere was dressed traditionally in a robe of dark blue eold, worn over his white dishdasha, his head covered, Drax earing a formal dark blue business suit, the jacket open over a crisp white shirt ith a discreetly striped dark red silk tie

However, although their mode of dress could not have been ainst the inificent physical appearance

They were both tall and broad-shouldered, with the salitter with fierce heat, and the same distinctive predatory profiles Their Berber blood, mixed with French and then Irish, had ensured they possessed an aura of power and sexuality that went beyond easy good looks to soh in oneand co

‘We both know that we aren’t the only Middle Eastern country wanting to establish ourselves as not just the Arab world’s recognised preest links to the recognised financial centres throughout the world However, froained the ireed, I made it clear that Dhurahn is prepared to put aside an enclave of one hundred acres of land to house the buildings needed to develop and grow a “knowledge econolish mercantile law because of its principles of equity and fairness I also told thee that will equal anything that New York, Hong Kong or London has to offer, with a regulatory system that investors and the business coh about what I’ve been doing in London, Vere So’s on your mind’

Vere raised one eyebrow in silent recognition of his twin’s astuteness

‘Yes,’ he admitted ‘We have a problem’

Drax looked searchingly at his twin ‘And that problem is?’

‘While you were in London ere contacted by both the Ruler of Zuran and the Emir of Khulua’

Drax waited There was nothing particularly unusual in theood tere oil reserves and revenues enjoyed by its neighbours, but its long river reenhouse’ that supplied Zuran, in particular, with fresh produce for its expanding tourist industry The days when the fiercely warring tribes had fought bitterly over the hot desert sands were long gone, and the people of Dhurahn lived in peace with their neighbours, enjoying a mutual and shared prosperity

But certain tribalpeace still endured

‘Both the Ruler and the Es—the desert wind is, as ever, capricious in where it blows—heard rumours of our plans,’ Vere told his brother dryly ‘Not that they said as er to ceood relationship we share with them’

‘You are tellingthat his brother ithholding sohbours makes sound business sense…’

‘What the Ruler and the Emir are so keen to discuss with us is the es’

‘Our ain They were thirty-four One day, of course, they would boththeir wives carefully and with due consideration for the future of their country, but that tiht now they had farDhurahn as the strongest financial powerhouse in the region

‘Our rihter and est sister’