Khalid's lips tightened furiously. "I'd rather go hunting."
Abdul shook his head again before nodding toward Marty. "Seduce your woman. Love her. Use this time to tie her to you, so that once your deceptions are revealed she will not run from you. She is a delicate female, Khalid, and one deserving of your time and your care." There was a hint of censure in his voice then. "She is also strong. She is a woman of truth and honor, my friend. The day will come that this may be all that holds her to you. Then, when your brothers move, you will meet them in strength, not in weakness. This is my advice to you."
And it was advice he should heed. Khalid watched as Marty and Shayne worked together. He acknowledged that the other agent was carefully covering her back, on guard, and watching everyone closely.
Shayne was a man of strength; Khalid had chosen him as his third for this reason. He would be there when Marty was in danger. And Khalid would be by her side as the man who held her heart.
Sharing her was something he couldn't pull back on. The danger that would always surround her would always weigh too heavily on his soul. Should she be harmed or, God forbid, should she be killed, then could he survive the loss?
He couldn't. He knew this. Sharing her life with another man, one he chose, one who he may not control but was in agreement with, was the only alternative. And thankfully it was an alternative he would be pleased to live with.
"Contact Abram," he told Abdul. "Let him know the situation as it stands. He should add to his own protection as well."
Abdul nodded. "They will attempt to destroy Abram, but only after they have destroyed you. Azir protects Abram for now, for Abram is the chosen heir."
That was what they suspected, it wasn't what they were certain of.
"Doesn't matter." Khalid shook his head. "They'll do what they can as opportunity presents itself. Abram needs to know what could be happening to protect himself against them. Make sure that he has the information he needs, and we'll work on our end to ensure our own protection."
Khalid wasn't a murderer. He had tried to distance himself from the politics and bloody infighting of his father's world for most of his life. Khalid had disowned the entire family after the horrors he witnessed ten years ago. And still, it wasn't enough for the half brothers determined to take over the minor throne their father held.
Watching Marty, he was reminded of that life of so long ago, and what he had lost there. He was reminded how easily someone could be taken from him and of the rage that could consume him. He wouldn't allow that again. He wouldn't allow the evil that infected his father's and his half brothers' lives to further disease his own.
It was a vow he had made to himself ten years ago, and it was a vow he wouldn't break now.
Chapter 8
Something was changing inside her.
Marty sat on the side of her bed after a rigorous and grueling checkup by Khalid's doctor, as Khalid, Shayne, and her fathers waited just outside the room.
In Shayne's eyes she had seen not just his concern, but his affection. She didn't know what had happened, she had no idea why she had been targeted.
Now, if she just knew the rest of the story, the bits and pieces that both and Khalid and Shayne were hiding from her in regards to Khalid's past with his half brothers. Until she had those answers, she had other things to deal with. Not just her own protection, but also Khalid's. She needed to get with a few of her contacts and see what she could find out about Ayid and Aman Mustafa. She hadn't investigated them any further than what was in the file the bureau had given her. That had been a mistake on her part. Perhaps she would have known more about the vendetta they had against Khalid.
She kept her questions, as well as her suspicions, to herself as she assured her fathers that she was well. She listened to them rant and rave, then pretended a weariness she didn't truly feel to convince them to leave.
She loved them dearly, but their overprotective anger was about to smother her.
She had known for most of her life that where a relationship was concerned she would most likely end up involved as her mother was: with two men, rather than the socially acceptable one. Most of the men she knew were members of the club that her fathers were a part of. It was a legacy, a centuries-long tradition for the males of some families.
For Marty it helped knowing that her mother was one of the happiest women she had ever met in her life. Her fathers were just as satisfied and played roles in her and her mother's lives that had kept Marty as well as her mother secure and loved.
She had never considered who would play that role of a third in her relationship. She had certainly never expected it to be Shayne.
But she wanted them both. Admittedly, she wanted Khalid more; he was her center, the cause of a hunger she realized she wasn't going to escape. She had realized that the moment she knew Khalid had chosen Shayne as a third. And now, only hours after escaping death, she found herself needing it, aching for it.
She could have died. She could have lost so many precious moments in his arms.
As she rose to her feet she drew the pale gray silk of her robe tighter around her body and paced to the wide window that had been heavily shuttered. A dark privacy screen had been drawn over the window, blocking sight from the outside. It also blocked infrared and heat imaging. An amazing little invention created by one of the small companies that Khalid had acquired over the years.
The man didn't work a day in his life that she could see, but he had fingers in so many pies it was really amazing.
"You're restless."
His voice had her swinging around to the open doorway. She hadn't heard him open the door, hadn't heard him and Shayne enter, but there they were.
"Restless?" She almost snorted at the description. "That's an understatement."
Her gaze flickered between the two men and the hunger on their faces.
Khalid nodded gently, his expression, especially the dark depths of his eyes, filled also with sympathy and concern. But was there love? Was it even possible that they could fill with love?
She was focusing on that emotion when she had promised herself that she wouldn't take that path. She had promised herself that she wouldn't ask for anything more than to be his lover. If it was meant to be, then the love would come. If it wasn't, she would deal with that, too.
Her heart wasn't following that directive, though. It was aching, demanding that she do more, and, at this point, she had no idea what that more could be.