Was it something he’d done?
It couldn’t have been the kiss in the gym, because she’d already been on edge before that.
Someone knocked at the door. His head of security, a frown on his face.
“Abdel. What is it?”
The man stepped carefully through the door, his dark suit flawlessly pressed. “I wanted to give you an update on a recent security breach.” Abdel’s tone was as careful as his suit. “Yesterday, one of the new guards allowed an unauthorized entry into the palace.”
Anger flared, along with adrenaline, but Raed didn’t let himself react to it. Things happened at the palace. He had never required guards to run after him whenever the slightest thing happened.
“The guard has been reprimanded and reassigned,” continued Abdel. “The young man logged the visit but didn’t hand off the information according to our procedures. The visitor claimed to have been trying to visit you, but he was never officially cleared for entry. While he was here, he encountered Ms. Danbury.” Abdel cleared his throat. “We’re confident it won’t happen again.”
“What was the person’s name?”
“Bradley Taylor.”
Raed snapped his papers back into place in front of him. “Thank you, Abdel.”
The head of security correctly interpreted this as his dismissal and left with a bow. Raed wanted to crumple all the pages, then light them on fire one by one. This Bradley Taylor wasn’t going to be a thorn in his side for long. And he wasn’t going to be a thorn in Lise’s. He’d been the cause of her bad mood, of course. He’d weaseled his way past palace security, and he’d upset Lise.
Raed called out to his secretary, who found Bradley’s local address in a matter of minutes, and then Raed stalked out of his office, hands in his pockets, arguments on his mind. He’d go to this guy’s hotel, let him know exactly what he thought, and then—
“Where are you going in such a temper?” His mother appeared from a side hallway, her cats at her feet, watching Raed with a curious gaze. “You’re a storm cloud, son of mine.”
“I’m going to speak with a man who upset Lise yesterday and set him right.”
Nenet cocked her head to the side. “Are you sure you should be doing that?”
I’m sure I would punch him if the entire country weren’t constantly watching what I did. “Yes. Absolutely.”
“I don’t know.” His mother picked up one of her cats. She gave it a quick pet and set it back down. “Should you be fighting Lise’s battles for her when you should be fighting for her?”
“Nonsense,” he scoffed. “There’s nothing between us like that. I’m concerned for her, that’s all.” He explained what Abdel had told him, then swept past Nenet, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he went. “It’ll be taken care of within the hour.”
Lie, whispered the voice in his head. There’s a lot more than nothing between the two of you. A son, for one thing. And your heart—
Ten minutes later, his driver pulled up in front of Bradley’s hotel. A member of the staff met him at the door with the room number. Standing in for Hamid did have its advantages—no one refused him any information. But Raed wished this man, Bradley, had managed to mind his own business. At the hotel room door, Raed knocked louder than was strictly necessary.
“One moment.” There was a rustling inside, and then Bradley—patting at his rust-colored hair—pulled open the door. His eyes went wide. “Sheikh Al-Qasha. To what do I owe the pleasure? I—I tried to make an appointment with you. Several times, actually, to firm up the details of the project, and it was never possible. I have to say, I’m surprised to see you here. Delighted, of course.”
“You tried to make an appointment and you couldn’t, so you...found a way in?” Raed kept his voice deadly calm, his eyes admiring, as if he were impressed with Bradley’s tenacity.
Bradley shrugged, a sheepish smile playing on his face. “I thought there might be alternate ways to make a connection.”
“Ah.” Raed nodded. “Ms. Danbury.”
“I let her know where things stand with the university.” Bradley took his hand off the door and stepped forward, almost out into the hall, just like they were two men who knew each other well and were just chatting. “It seemed important that she be aware of the way her project could affect us.”
No doubt the slimeball had pressured her. No doubt. “How could her work possibly affect the university’s plans?”
“Only—the appearance of it.” Bradley crossed his arms over his chest and peered at Raed. “The way you’ve been working so closely with her lends a different...air to things. And the university deserves preference, I would think, as your alma mater. The university should have the honor of being your pilot project.”
The appearance of it. This man was insinuating—again—that Raed had chosen Lise for the pilot out of base attraction. How dare he? Raed slipped his phone from his pocket and brought up a contact on his screen.
“It’s very fortunate,” he mused. “Very fortunate that I came to see you today.”
“Is it?” Bradley’s smile brightened. He leaned forward, trying not subtly at all to see who Bradley was calling. “I thought you might agree, if we could get a meeting together. It’s obviously not any kind of judgment against you, Sheikh Al-Qasha, it’s only that—”
The phone was ringing. Raed’s heart slammed against his ribs even as he kept his expression neutral. “Yes. Hello, Marcus. It’s Raed. Do you have a moment?”
“For you, of course. No problem at all. We could schedule a video conference, if you’d like, or I can meet you anywhere—” The chairman of the university board seemed more than happy to take his call.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m calling to make an assurance.”
Bradley’s eyes practically glowed now. Oh, he thought he’d won. He thought his little stunt had paid off. He was waiting for Raed to say that of course the university’s project would be first no matter what, that he needed the association with his alma mater to kick off his foundation.
“I’m listening,” said the chairman.
“I wanted to assure you that absolutely nothing—and I mean nothing, Marcus—will go forward between the university and my foundation until Bradley Taylor is removed from the board of directors.”
The smile disappeared from Bradley’s face. He took a sharp step back into the hotel room.
“That means no scholarships,” said Raed. “No learning center. All meetings are canceled until I have my own assurances.”
“Raed—” The chairman’s voice had gone tight. “I’ll need a few minutes to—”
“Take all the time you need. I’ll fill you in on the situation in private later,” assured Raed, and then he ended the call and turned on his heel and left. No need to stand there looking at that snake of a man any longer. He was halfway down the hall when he heard Bradley’s door shut behind him. Very, very cautiously. Bradley didn’t want anything to draw Raed’s attention. It was probably the first smart decision he’d ever made.