Page 5 (1/2)

Up ahead of hiure of a young wo her suitcase behind her She looked weary—forlorn, almost

What was it A woman he would be happy to see his son hts he should have handed it over to the al Sawars, becau

se the girl would surely return there to look for it once she realised she had lost it

She certainly wasn’t greedy, he acknowledged He had seen that with his own eyes And she had to be naïve if she’d let herself be persuaded into working for Monika

‘Drax? Are you still there?’

‘Yes, I’m still here, Vere As to your bride—well, that’s where you are wrong, my brother It just so happens that I may have found you the perfect temporary wife’

Drax switched off his phone before Vere could say anything, and then started to cut the speed of his car

Sadie could hear the now fa to a crawl just behind her, but she refused to look round However, this car didn’t pull away as quickly as the others had when she did not respond Instead it continued to keep pace with her, casting a long shadow in front of her She tried to walk a little bit faster, wishing she could move away froh for her to wheel her case over it

There was no need for her to panic, she assured herself It was broad daylight and, even if he was being more persistent than the others, surely whoever it ould soon get bored when she didn’t respond, soon put his foot down to race past her in a cloud of sandy dust

Only he didn’t And out of the corner of her eye she could see a long black bonnet edging just ahead of her, then keeping pace with her

She couldn’t walk any faster; she was panting slightly already, her skin soaked with perspiration caused not just by the heat now but by her anxiety as well

‘Ms Murray?’

Hearing her naave her such a shock that she froze Just as he had estimated she would, she reflected bitterly several seconds later, when the car stopped, the driver’s door opened and the driver hi her between his body and his car

‘You!’

Why had she said that? It had sounded so personal and so betraying so an intimacy between them And that hadn’t been her intention She was just so shocked to see thein the Al Sawars’ courtyard with her e in front of her