When she was back in the limo, the car turned toward the outskirts of the city and the airport. The executive lounge had a good selection of English newspapers, but Olivia found that the business pages no longer held any interest for her. Instead, she wandered through the glamorous selection of shops that she normally ignored.
She sprayed perfume on her wrists, which made her slightly nauseous. The wildly expensive chocolate truffles had a similar effect. Her system was demanding a detox, and apparently chocolate and roses weren’t on the menu. Her attention turned to a lingerie boutique that had a ridiculous concoction of silk and lace in the window. It looked extremely uncomfortable and it would surely show through any normal clothes.
Olivia studied it for a few moments. Perhaps she should switch all her functional underwear for something more alluring, like the lacy set she’d worn last night. Khaled had never objected to her plain bras or panties. He wasn’t nearly so interested in them as in the body underneath. He’d seduced her in her kilt! Well, he’d seduced her out of it, she thought, with a little smile at the memory.
The lingerie was frivolous, but the shop also had a selection of swimwear, which was much more interesting. She selected half a dozen new bikinis in bright, cheerful colors. She had no real idea what she was going to do once she returned to Aberdeen, but if she wasn’t going to wear her suits any more, she might as well wear outrageously expensive bikinis. Not in Scotland, obviously.
She’d need to go somewhere warm where she could show them off. Somewhere a long way from the Persian Gulf. Somewhere that men married women when they loved them and didn’t get all hung up on stupid ideas of duty. Somewhere that women married the men they loved, instead of sacrificing everything for the sake of their principles. If only Khaled weren’t that sort of man. If only she weren’t that sort of woman.
Buying a few bikinis wasn’t enough to satisfy the mood she was in. She needed to do something new. Something outrageous. Something Khaled would never approve of. A tattoo and piercing parlor caught her eye. Just the thing.
It would go brilliantly with the new bikinis.
…
Khaled looked around the room. His father sat at the end of the table, but he had remained quiet, allowing his son to outline his plans. The councillors could not be rushed. Khaled was acutely aware of the urgency increasing with every second.
“Gentlemen, are we agreed?”
A few of the ministers began to shuffle their papers again, and Khaled had to bite back the urge to shout at them. Instead, he caught his father’s eye in a desperate plea for help.
The emir smiled slightly and nodded. He rose shakily to his feet, and the room fell silent.
“There will be details to be discussed at a later date, but the plan is sound. Well done, my son.”
Khaled let out a long breath. Somehow, he had done it. He had found the way through the impossible conundrum. Now he just had to fit the final piece into the puzzle.
“In that case, please excuse me. I have somewhere I need to be. Immediately.”
He didn’t quite run from the council room, but once out of it, he leaped down the golden staircase three steps at a time, and hurtled into the car that he had waiting for him in the main courtyard.
“To the airport,” he said to his driver. “As fast as you can. Break every speed limit.”
The chauffeur stared at the sheikh for half a second, then remembered his duty. “Yes, sir!”
Khaled kept looking at his watch, willing the seconds to slow down and the car to speed up. He had hoped that by calling the council early he would have secured their agreement in time to talk to Olivia before she left the palace. His stomach twisted at the thought she had left without even saying good-bye. She must think he was a total bastard not to have escorted her to the airport this morning.
He had to get to her now. He needed to explain, to tell her everything. She needed to know what the council had agreed, what he had to offer her, but more than that, she needed to know what was in his heart and what he hoped would be possible. He needed to see her before she left for good.
Before it really was too late.
The car pulled to a screeching halt outside the departure terminal, but Khaled was already out and running into the building. His eyes lifted to the departure boards, scanning for the Edinburgh flight. Damn, it was already flashing “Now Boarding.” An announcer’s voice rang out, telling him that this was the last call for passengers for Flight EB760 to Edinburgh.
Khaled ran straight to the airline desk, smiling apologetically at the customers waiting to check in.
“Please. Now. I need you to hold Flight EB760 at the gate.”
“I’m sorry, sir, I can’t do that.” The check-in girl looked up at Khaled. He watched as recognition spread across her face. “Your Highness, of course.”
“Yes. Now, I need you to hold Flight EB760 at the gate.” Khaled looked pointedly at the telephone on her desk. “By royal command.”
“Yes, sir.”