“I suppose. I don’t like leaving when they’re angry, though.” Zadir frowned out the window as the car started to pull very slowly through the crowds. “I wish they knew our reasoning—that we don’t want more innocent women being killed like our mothers.”
Osman nodded. “I agree. But the time for that will come. Right now the rabble rousers are emotional. If we don’t feed their fuse, they’ll find something else to do. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told on reasonably good authority.”
“I hope we don’t see more attacks.” Amahd had been tense all day. “I’m hiring core staff to develop and run our oil facilities, and word is getting out that Ubar isn’t the safest place right now.”
Osman put his arm around Sam. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. I’ve probably seen more unrest than all three of you put together. And that’s just during the six months I worked for a PBS talk show.” She kissed him softly on the cheek. “Change is always hard. It’ll be for the best in the long run.”
“I’m sure of that, too. That knowledge makes it easy for me to sleep at night.”
Zadir cracked his knuckles. He hadn’t slept well last night. Ronnie had, and he’d enjoyed watching her lovely face as dreams flickered past her eyelids and possibly those intriguing drawings that she hadn’t let him look at danced in her brain.
He was racked by feelings of guilt. He’d brought her here—against her will—for his own, very personal, reasons. Now she was stuck here during a time of danger and unrest when he couldn’t even guarantee her security if she set foot outside the palace.
“Zadir, what’s eating you?” Osman punched him gently in the knee.
“I feel terrible about Ronnie missing her meeting.”
“I thought you got it all set up for teleconferencing.” Amahd stretched.
“I did, but that’s not the same as shaking the president’s hand and looking him in the eye.”
Osman shrugged. “It’s not such a big deal. I played golf with him once in California. His handshake is excessively firm.”
Sam elbowed him. “You’re terrible.”
“I’m glad that’s over. It’s a weight off my mind that the pronouncement is made and it’s now law.”
“Now we just have to wait for the flood of women requesting divorces from their awful husbands.” Sam winced.
“I doubt that will happen,” said Amahd. “The beauty of these traditional marriages where family and friends are all involved is that they’re stable and lasting. People in other countries could learn a lot from Ubar.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” said Sam with a wink. “If half the population isn’t divorced in a year’s time, I’ll admit you might be onto something. There were plenty of times I wished my own parents would get a divorce. They’re both dramatic and demonstrative people who love to yell and throw stuff, but somehow they’ve always managed to keep it together.”
“Makeup sex,” murmured Osman, with a gleam in his eye.
Sam laughed. “You’re probably right. In fact, that might be half the reason they argue in the first place. They’re crazy.”
“I thought they were charming.” Osman grinned.
“They were on their best behavior because they knew we were only going to be in L.A. for three days. Wait until they come for an extended visit—if they ever do. When are we ever going invite our friends from abroad to come celebrate our marriage?”
Osman’s expression grew serious again. “When we can make Ubar a safe place for foreign travel. I admit that I’m exasperated by our inability to stop the violence. And while Zadir has managed to extract what amounts to a confession from our new prisoner, we still don’t know his real name or who he works for.”
“Sometimes it’s a shame that we’re opposed to torture.” Amahd tilted his head.
“We’ll get it out of him eventually.” Zadir looked grim. “But until then I’ll be the first to admit that Ubar is not a safe place for visitors or even our own citizens.” Thank goodness they were finally pulling out through the gates of Nabattur. The crowd was now chanting something.
He’d selfishly wanted to keep Ronnie in his bed as long as possible, but now he couldn’t wait for her to get back to the U.S. and out of harm’s way. He was worried about her right now. Was she lonely in the palace? Nervous about the meeting he’d compromised by bringing her here? Angry with him?
He’d triumphed against the odds by bringing here here, but what had he won? He regretted his bullheaded insistence that she come here, at a time that was both inconvenient and dangerous for her.
“Don’t worry, Zadir.” Sam patted his knee. “Ronnie’s not mad at you. Not in a way that can’t be fixed anyway. She really likes you. A woman can tell these things.”
“You’re kind to say that, Sam, but I feel like an ass for dragging her here against her will. I can freely admit it was a mistake.”
“Don’t say that. It’ll all work out for the best.” For an intelligent and educated woman, Sam could say some pretty fatalistic things. Ubar must be rubbing off on her.
Back at the palace, everyone flocked around wanting details. Zadir left Osman and Amahd to handle them and went to look for Veronica—which didn’t take long as she came looking for him.
“How’d it go?” She looked happy to see him back in one piece.
“I suppose it went as well as can be expected. The streets weren’t filled with women cheering their liberation, but we hardly thought they would be.”
She smiled. “I think it’s great that you guys are giving women—and men—the ability to reclaim their lives if a marriage isn’t working out. I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like if my parents couldn’t have got divorced. My dad probably would have just cheated on her. That would have been awful.”
“Our mothers would probably be alive today—and still young and vibrant—if our father had been able to divorce them. We can’t turn back the clock, but at least we can do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Do the people know about what happened to your mothers?” They were walking along the hallway to the bedrooms.
“I’m sure there are rumors, but no one would dare say anything aloud. Our father was rather a tyrant and wouldn’t have looked kindly on those kinds of accusations. I suspect the people are suspicious of us, wondering if we’re amoral and selfish as well.”
“Perhaps you should make a speech where you all talk about the emotional reasoning behind the changes you’re making. That might win more sympathy.”
He sighed. “I suspect we have plenty of sympathy and that it’s just a noisy few trying to make trouble. Nothing happens fast in Ubar, but hopefully they’ll settle down eventually and we can all get on with our lives. How long until your meeting?”
She checked her phone and drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes sparkled with fear and excitement in a way that made his breath catch. “Fifty-two minutes. I might go out of my mind in that time.” She bit her lip, which sent a surge of heat to his groin. “Would you like to see my drawings for your house?”
“Sure.” He didn’t need to be asked twice. “As long as that won’t distract you.”
“I need distraction!” She hurried along the hallway, and he enjoyed the sight of her delicious body moving with such intention and determination. Ronnie was a woman who could accomplish anything she set out to do, he was sure of it.
She led him into her room, where some papers were spread out on the table. The sketches were in pencil and rather rough and impressionistic, but he felt a tingle of anticipation just looking at them upside down.
She giggled nervously. “You might hate them.” She swiveled one of the papers around. “I did warn you that my designs are always a bit out-there.”
“My favorite place to be.”
“Since we obviously wouldn’t want to disturb the delicate landscape in the valley….” He watched her chest rise as she sucked in a breath. “I designed the building to cantilever over it. The foundati
on would be on the south side, where you approach from the mountains, and the living area would extend over the valley with windows in the floor as well as the walls.”
He followed her graceful fingers as she pointed out the elements she was describing. “The overall shape would be very simple, crisp and clean, a quiet backdrop for nature. Perhaps we could use local rammed earth, in imitation of the traditional mud brick, but more durable, combined with reinforced concrete and foam construction for the cantilevered elements. From a distance it would be almost invisible, and from inside you’d feel as if you could step right out into the valley.”
His nerves, crackling with excitement as she spoke, jangled with urgency. This was his house. His home. His future—and he needed Ronnie to build it with him.
He cautioned himself to control his enthusiasm. “It’s perfect.” Afraid of words, which might come between them as easily as join them, he took her gently in his arms and kissed her on the mouth. Her body softened against his, and he felt the tension slip out of both of them.
When Ronnie was in his arms, the world faded into static-y background noise. Their mouths melted together and he felt his heartbeat slow as warmth suffused his limbs. He could have kissed her all afternoon, but he had no intention of screwing up anything else in her life. He pulled away from her with some difficulty. “I think you should get set up for your meeting.”
“Everything’s ready. We’ve tested the equipment, even talked to an admin on their side. It’s all ready to go.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m nervous.”
“I’ll walk over there with you.”
“Okay. I guess this is it.” Her movements grew erratic as she gathered up her phone, tablet, and some handwritten notes. “Here goes nothing.”
“You’ll knock their socks off.”
“If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. If it isn’t….”
“Exactly.” Fatalism seemed to be the order of the day. Osman went on about the role of destiny in their lives as if he’d spent every day in Ubar. He’d never wavered in his belief that he and Sam were simply meant to be together. Zadir was more a fan of personal agency, but if these smart people believed in fate, then there must be something to it.
He loved the purposeful swish of Ronnie’s hips as she strode along the tiled hallways. She looked right at home here in the palace, now that she knew her way from place to place. She even smiled and greeted the various staff members who she knew by name. She was every inch a queen….
But now he was getting ahead of himself again. He opened the door into the high-tech conference room with its bright, video-friendly lights and big bank of screens. On the largest screen he could see people moving about in a conference room on the other side of the world. A young man brought in a coffeepot and cups, and two women moved an easel into position.
“They’re getting ready.” He spoke softly, even though the mic probably wasn’t on yet.
“Yes. Let me get myself into position. Do I look like I’ve just had the living daylights kissed out of me?” She looked into his face.
“Absolutely.” He smiled. “But in the best possible way. Every hair is in place and you look gorgeous. Would you like me to stay with you for the meeting?”
“No.” She said firmly, but with a smile in her eyes. “That might distract me—or make me self-conscious. I’ll go it alone and report in full to you afterward.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” He kissed her softly on the lips, then turned and left.
Part of him wanted her to get the commission and all the glory and fame that would come with it. The other part of him wanted to keep her just for himself, here in Ubar. Perhaps Ronnie was right to worry that he didn’t have her best interests at heart.
Ronnie did not remember ever being this nervous in her entire life. She was prepared and had plenty of experience with speaking to important clients, but this was the President of the United States and some of the top architecture luminaries in America. This meeting could determine her entire future.
Her nerves crackled as she shuffled her papers, watching people enter the room at the other end. Her heart skipped a beat when the president of the United States, the last to enter, looked directly at her—or rather right into the camera. She saw the other two architects she was up against: a silver-haired luminary with decades of experience, and a young man from California that she’d read about but never met. She’d seen their preliminary designs and knew she had tough competition.
The meeting coordinator introduced her and she managed to speak calmly and greet everyone as she was introduced. Although she hated public speaking, somehow she always pulled it together when he was presenting a project. Greeting the president was weird and probably would have been less nerve-racking in person where she could be assured that he was human, just like her. Over the videoconferencing technology he looked much the same as he did on television, so it was rather intimidating.
She was up first—which was nice, as she had no faith that the technology would continue working indefinitely—and managed to talk through every aspect of design, with her assistant managing to pass around hard copies and demonstrate the three-dimensional model at the other end. Several times one of the committee interrupted with a question, which threw her off her stride a little. Especially when the head of the committee asked if she were committed to the aluminum skin. She explained her reasons for choosing it but said that she was open to other metals, like steel.
Which was weird. Usually her clients hired her because they wanted her vision. She didn’t much like design by committee, but she supposed that for this kind of project it was somewhat unavoidable.
She sat quietly while her fellow architects presented their projects. The first was much more traditional in style than hers, and the second was in some ways more outlandish in design but used more conventional materials. There weren’t as many questions about either of the others, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign.
The president joked about how he must be different from his predecessors to have inspired such cutting-edge designs, and how he was glad that his library had inspired such creativity. And then it was over.
Ronnie nodded politely when they explained that the committee would now meet to choose the winning design, and she would hear as soon as their decision was final.
Once the video conferencing software was turned off at their end, she could have collapsed back into her chair in relief, but instead she found herself on her feet and jumping. So much adrenaline running through her and nowhere to go!
After doing a few celebratory jumping jacks—she’d survived!—she gathered up her papers and tablet and headed out into the palace. The air in the hallway outside the high-tech conference room was so much warmer, and instead of cool stone, the walls and floor sparkled with decorative mosaics. It was like stepping back into a different world.
A guard outside bowed to her and immediately made a phone call, which almost instantly produced Zadir, running toward her down the hallway. “How’d it go?”
She laughed. “Were you waiting on me?”
“Every second. I’ve bitten my nails to the quick.” He grinned and showed her a big, muscular hand. The nails looked perfect, of course. Zadir probably never got nervous about anything.
“It went pretty well. They asked a lot of questions about details, which made it seem like they were pretty interested. They’re going to let me know.”
“I’m pretty confident that they’ll make the right choice.” He looked like he wanted to hug her, but her arms were full. “Would you like me to carry some of your stuff?”
“I’m fine. Let me go put them all back in my room. What’s been going on in Ubar while I’ve been hidden away in there? I lost all track of time.”
He shrugged. “Nothing disastrous has happened, but apparently there are still a lot of people making noise on the streets of Nabattur. We were hoping they’d have dispersed by now.”
“Are you going to spea
k to them again?”
“All the advisors are telling us not to, and Amahd agrees with them, but Osman and I are both leaning toward sharing our feelings with the crowd.”
“You’d tell them the truth about what you think happened to your moms?” She wasn’t sure if it was common knowledge or just speculation.
He nodded slowly. “They’ve all heard the rumors. Maybe they didn’t want to believe them. Amahd doesn’t think we should air our dirty laundry. He says it’s all in the past, but I don’t see how we can move into the future if we can’t address the past and truly leave it behind us.”
“I think you’re right. And it may help the people—who right now think of you as foreign interlopers—to see you as real people who grew up here and are as much a part of Ubar as they are.” She walked confidently through the palace hallways, which she now knew as well as the halls of the building where she rented her office. “It’s a risk, but it could really help get people on your side.”
“Which we need to do. The unrest and explosions have everyone rattled. I’m sure they’re whispering about how things were fine before we showed up.”
He opened the door when they reached her room, and she put her papers and equipment down on the table with relief. Before she could even take a breath, Zadir whisked her into his arms. “I’ve missed you today.”
He kissed her softly and with passion. When their lips parted she admitted that she missed him, too. “Even though I was somewhat preoccupied with meeting the president and all that. It wasn’t terribly intimidating since lately I’ve been hobnobbing with royalty.”
Zadir grinned. “So true. And in the nude.”
Desert Kings Boxed Set: The Complete Series Books 1-6 Page 37
