When she was done, she folded it up and wrote his name on the outside, then propped it up on the bed.

  After packing up the few clothes she’d brought with her, she quietly stepped out of the beautiful suite without a backwards glance.

  Jahlil woke with a start. Something was wrong. Rubbing his face, he looked around, trying to figure out why he felt this intense sensation of doom. The shimmering dress that Maya had worn for their wedding was still on the floor, partially covered by his own clothes. They probably should have picked those up, but Jahlil hadn’t been able to stop touching her. She’d been softer than he’d thought possible, and more responsive than any lover he’d ever been with.

  That’s when he realized what was so wrong. Maya wasn’t in his bed. The bright, Caribbean sunshine streamed in through the huge windows of the master bedroom. The ocean continued to roll against the shoreline, there were birds chirping in the mango tree that grew up outside of his window. It was a normal day. Another day without Maya, he thought with a sigh. He would have loved to wake up with her in his arms, but she was an early riser. She was probably out on a run, he thought. He hoped that she’d remembered to tell her guards.

  Staring up at the ceiling, he thought through his schedule, wondering if there’d be time to take Maya on an excursion somewhere on the island. Unfortunately, he had yet another day filled with tedious meetings and tense negotiations. Slumping back against the pillow, he wondered if he could just tell the others that he agreed with all of their proposals just so that he could spirit Maya away, spend some private time with her.

  But he couldn’t. He knew that the negotiations were going extremely well and if he didn’t hurry, he’d be late. Blowing off the meetings simply wasn’t an option.

  Muttering curses, he stepped into the shower, wishing that Maya was still with him. He’d like to shower with her, to make sure that she wasn’t sore from the passion with which he’d made love to her last night. It seemed that every time they were together, he lost control and needed her to do the same. Was it because he needed to somehow mark her as his own?

  He smiled at the thought. Yes, he definitely wanted to claim her as his own. But the ring on her finger proved that point perfectly. She was his. She was his wife! Damn, that sounded so right! For too many years, he’d longed for her to be his, and now the reality was so much better than any of his fantasies!

  Glancing at the time, he muttered several expletives. He was going to be late if he didn’t hurry. So much for checking in with Maya, and maybe having breakfast with her. She must have gone for a long run, he thought.

  Two hours later, the group finally took a break. Jahlil stood up, turning to talk to his guards, needing to know what Maya had for breakfast and what she was up to. He felt a stab of guilt for abandoning her on what was essentially their honeymoon.

  Before he could signal one of his guards for information, Zahir came up to him, extending his hand with a warm smile. “I understand that congratulations are in order.”

  Jahlil was surprised he even knew about his wedding yesterday. Then again, he had his men watching the other two leaders, wanting to know what was going on. It made sense that Zahir and Tazir were doing the same thing.

  He smiled politely, taking the other man’s hand. “Yes. I married a woman I’ve known for about five years,” he said, and Tazir turned startled eyes towards them as well. They were walking towards the pool area now and it was just as crowded as yesterday.

  “That’s wonderful!” Zahir replied, turning to glance over his shoulder. Was he watching the delightful woman leading a line of small children through the pool area?

  “Congratulations!” Tazir said as well, balancing the coffee cup and saucer in one hand while he shook Jahlil’s hand with the other. “How did you make that happen?”

  Jahlil walked over to the coffee cart as well, pouring a cup for himself. “The resort arranged everything,” he said, adding cream. “They did an exceptional job.” When he turned back, Tazir was staring at a woman reading a book on the far side of the pool. Was that…? Jahlil once again turned to look at Zahir. Sure enough, he was rubbing his mouth while still staring at the woman with the children.

  Zahir pulled his eyes away as the adorable woman with the children disappeared around the corner, politely smiling as he came back to the present and nodded to Jahlil. “This is excellent news,” the leader replied in a tone that wasn’t mocking, as Jahlil had expected. The man was renowned for his mistresses, each more beautiful than the last. So why was he watching a beautiful resort employee? The woman was lovely but…well, Jahlil was just confused.

  “I congratulate you on your wedding,” Zahir said. “Perhaps it is time to follow in your path and do the same.” His eyes glanced quickly towards the now empty space, then back to Jahlil. “Now that we’re making our region a safer place, we should find good women to share our lives with.”

  The man turned, looking at Tazir. “Your son is a handsome and energetic boy. I hope to have such luck in the future.”

  Tazir chuckled. “Yes, my son will be a very handsome fellow,” he agreed.

  Jahlil remembered the boy who had looked startlingly similar to the ruler of Dilaar. But to admit that he had a son so openly? That was something that Jahlil craved as well. Not just one child though. No, he wanted a large family. He craved children! That was a startling thought, since he hadn’t ever really considered children before. But now that he was married, as well as the possibility that Maya was pregnant, the idea seemed to gnaw at his soul. He’d wanted Maya for so long, and now, to have her as well as a possible child?

  He shook his head as he contemplated a future with Maya. Looking around, he wondered again what she was doing. He half expected her to come down to the pool in that black bathing suit again. Well, he hoped she’d come down again.

  Pulling out his phone, he texted Ormond, asking him to check on her and make sure that she had everything she needed.

  The group came back together, tossing around ideas for the peace treaty. The conversations were significantly more productive than Jahlil had anticipated. What’s more, he was growing to respect these men. He didn’t consider them to be friends. That was a bit much and he doubted that he’d ever reach that level of trust with them. But he wasn’t as suspicious about their motives now. Trust was building with each concession.

  Still, he looked around, wondering where Maya had gone.

  At that same moment, he watched as Ormond hurried along the edge of the pool, carefully side stepping the other guests who were enjoying their vacations in the sunshine.

  Something about the way that his assistant moved, or perhaps it was the nervous expression in his eyes, warned Jahlil that something was wrong.

  Sure enough, Ormond stepped into the cabana, his eyes darting to the other two men with an anxious expression. “Your Highness, I apologize for the interruption.” He bowed before handing a note to Jahlil.

  Something warned him that he wasn’t going to like whatever was in that note. He took it anyway, noticing that the envelope only had his name on the outside. Okay, that was good, he thought. It wasn’t a military issue. If it had been a military problem, then it wouldn’t have Maya’s beautiful script on the outside.

  Tearing open the envelope, he pulled out the paper, absently noting that it was a letter written on the resort’s letterhead. Jahlil read the words written in Maya’s sweet style, but every muscle in his body tightened with dread. Before he’d gotten through the first paragraph, his mind froze and he couldn’t make sense of the words.

  Dear Jahlil, I apologize for writing instead of having the courage to tell you in person. First, let me say that the previous two nights changed my life and I will treasure them in my heart forever! But because of my feelings for you, I have to go. I’m heading back to Boston and…

  She’d left the island! Maya was in danger! Damn it, she had no idea of the danger she was in.

  “I believe there is a problem,” Zahir stated, concern in his eyes as Jahlil crumpled the letter, then immediately flattened it back out. The other two men stood up, clearly alarmed. “Go, Jahlil. Whatever it is, it must be seen to. We’ll stop here and resume at a later date.” The man turned, glancing at Tazir for confirmation. “I believe we’ve made significant progress here. I, for one, would like to continue this conversation but,” he nodded to Jahlil, “after our friend has resolved whatever problem has arisen.” He smiled slightly. “I believe that we are all struggling to keep our attention on the tedious issues here when,” he laughed softly, “we have such lovely ladies we’d rather focus on.”

  Jahlil vaguely noticed their gentle chuckles.

  “I suggest we resume next week. Does that give everyone enough time to resolve our personal issues?”

  Jahlil nodded sharply, then squeezed Zahir’s shoulder. “Thank you for understanding,” he said. Without another word, he hurried away, only slightly relieved that they wanted to focus on their women as well. For him, this was a question of national security! Maya had left the resort without her security detail! She was alone, out in the world, without protection!

  Damn it, he should have explained more carefully the need to inform her bodyguards about her actions! But he hadn’t wanted to scare her. She’d gone from being just a regular person one day to a member of the royal family the next!

  Perhaps she had been lulled into a false sense of security because Jahlil hadn’t bothered with his guards most of the time while here on the resort. Or at least, it appeared that he wasn’t informing them of his plans. What she didn’t know was that they were always there, in the background. His schedule was carefully monitored and his guards scoured the areas where Jahlil would be prior to his arrival.

  He flashed back to her time with Sandoor, wondering if…it was possible. Sandoor had been pretty lax about informing his guards about his plans. No, they hadn’t been able to protect Sandoor during the rock-climbing incident. But they’d been there. They’d gotten Sandoor to the hospital as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that hadn’t been enough to save him.

  But Maya didn’t know that. She only knew the fun-loving, spirited guy she’d fallen in…No! Correction. He smoothed out the letter, quickly skimming through Maya’s words. Yes, she’d loved Sandoor but – and his heart soared as he read the rest of the note – she had never been in love with Sandoor! Those words thrilled him.

  But the reality was Maya was his wife. That alone put her in danger! To make it worse, she also might be pregnant, and that made him feel sick as he thought about what his enemies could do with that information.

  Ormond jogged to keep up, but didn’t speak. They had worked so hard to keep this week’s negotiations a secret from the world, but who knew what could happen? The world wasn’t the friendly, wonderful place that so many people believed it to be. It was greedy, violent, and people got hurt all the time by nefarious actors trying to gain an advantage.

  As soon as he stepped into the suite, he knew that his security team was working hard to locate her. There was a low level of chatter as his team worked to find out where she’d gone.

  “I’ve found her!” someone called out, waving a hand in the air.

  Over the next half hour, the team found the flight she’d boarded, but it was flying over Georgia at the moment. Jahlil sighed with relief, his body aching after the tension of the past hour. For now, Maya was safe. But the next step, intercepting her, was going to be even more challenging.

  “She’ll head to her house,” Jahlil announced with absolute certainty. “She won’t go anywhere else.” He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to shake off the wave of anxiety that threatened to engulf him. “She doesn’t understand how important it is for her to be guarded,” he told the security lead, needing to explain so that the security team wasn’t angry with her. “This is all so new to her and she…” he sighed heavily, not sure how else to explain Maya’s disappearance.

  The head of his security team nodded brusquely, then spoke quietly into the microphone attached to his collar. The man nodded, then referred to the map, scribbling notations along the margins.

  Jahlil paced back and forth, impatiently waiting for word that they’d secured Maya, or, at least, that they had a plan.

  Chapter 14

  Maya fought off a yawn as she walked off the plane. She’d been traveling for hours, and all she wanted to do was get home and curl up on her bed and cry. She desperately missed Jahlil and wished that she’d at least taken a moment to say goodbye to him instead of leaving that stupid note and running away. After all they’d been through over the past few days, he’d deserved that much, at least.

  On the flight home, Maya made some decisions. She’d had long hours to figure things out and one thing was clear; she loved Jahlil and, she suspected that his feelings for her were stronger than she’d realized. He definitely didn’t think of her as a little sister, or the fiancé to his baby brother. No, that assumption had gone out the window the day of their wedding. No man could make love to a woman as Jahlil had and think of her as a little sister.

  So, Maya was going to fight for him. Somewhere over Tennessee or Kentucky, she’d decided that she was going to win Jahlil’s love. He obviously desired her, so she was going to try to turn that lust into love. She was going to prove to him that she could be a good wife and a wonderful mother to his children. If she wasn’t pregnant yet, she was going to ask him to keep trying.

  Running a hand over her flat stomach, Maya smiled at the prospect.

  With the question of Jahlil’s feelings somewhat resolved, Maya wanted to figure out one more mystery. And there was only one person who could answer her question.

  Since she only had one bag, Maya was able to walk out the doors of Logan Airport as soon as she landed in Boston and grab a taxi. She remembered the luxury of the town car that had driven her to the airport several days ago and sighed wistfully. Yeah, that had been pretty nice. Thankfully, there was a long line of taxis waiting for passengers. She smiled at the man who directed the line of taxis. “Just me and one bag,” she told the man who immediately whistled, gesturing the next cab driver forward.

  After stepping over the greyish sludge that was all that remained of the last snowfall, she settled into the back of the cab, rubbing her hands together in an effort to warm herself up. “Just a moment,” she said to the taxi driver. She pulled her phone out of her purse, flipping through the contacts until she found the address she wanted. “Can you take me to…” and she gave him the street and building number, then sat back as the driver maneuvered around the other cars picking up passengers. As she sat there, she scanned the parking lot, looking at the exit. That’s when she spotted the two men. These men stood at the exit where passengers hurried to waiting cars, taxis or crossing the street to reach the shuttle busses that would take them to the parking lots.

  The two men didn’t move, she thought, a feeling of unease crawling up her spine. They stood by the doors, glancing casually around as if they didn’t have a care in the world. They had no luggage, so they weren’t coming or going. And this area of the airport didn’t encourage people to park and linger. It was too busy and the airport law enforcement agents were quick to shoo lingering vehicles away from the curb.

  So, who were they? For some reason, her heart began pounding frantically against her ribs. Were they looking for her? No way! Maya told herself that the possibility was ridiculous. Jahlil was the only person who knew she was here! And he couldn’t know that her plane had landed yet. Nor could he guess which taxi she’d gotten into!

  Still, she sank lower in the back seat, not wanting the men to spot her. Maya waited anxiously as the cab driver honked, yelling at someone who cut him off.

  Holding her breath, she watched as the men looked around, obviously searching for someone.

  As soon as they passed by her, Maya scooted back up, peering out the passenger side window. They were probably looking for someone else, she told herself. This was a massive airport with thousands of people coming and going. The idea that two men were searching for her was silly!

  Thankfully, the taxi driver finally found enough space to pull away from the curb. Since it was the middle of the afternoon getting through the traffic was easier than she’d anticipated. Perhaps the cab driver just knew all the best shortcuts to avoid traffic. When they reached the small apartment building she jumped out, paying and thanking the cab driver profusely. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the number, crossing her fingers that the number was still valid.

  “Mike?” she asked as a male voice answered. “This is Maya. Maya Tisdale?” she prompted.

  There was a moment’s hesitation before he replied. “Yeah, hi Maya. How are you? How have you been?” Mike finally replied. The words were eager enough, but the tone indicated that Mike didn’t sound very happy to hear from her.

  “I was wondering if you might have a moment to talk to me.”

  “Sure,” he replied. “How about next week?”

  She laughed, thinking he was trying to put her off. “How about now? I’m outside your apartment complex. Any chance you have a minute right now?”

  There was a long silence and she could picture him closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. Exactly how Sandoor used to. Those two were like peas in a pod.

  After a heavy sigh, Mike finally replied, “Sure, Maya. Why not? Come on up.”

  His response was less than enthusiastic, but she tamped down her trepidation. She pressed the button for his apartment, and waited until he buzzed her inside.

  After walking up the three flights of narrow stairs, she found Mike leaning in the open doorway to his apartment. “Come on in, Maya,” he said, waving her inside.

  Smiling, she pulled her pashmina off and shivered. “It’s warm in here,” she said, smiling shyly.

  He took two mugs down from the shelf and poured coffee into both. “You look tan. Where have you been?”

  Maya slipped onto one of the stools set up under the breakfast bar, wrapping her cold hands around the hot mug, trying to warm them up. “I just got back from a short trip to the Caribbean,” she explained.