Stifling any sign of the abject relief she felt, she couldn’t help probing. “I thought you owned a chalet you used when doing business here.”
“It’s been sold as have most of our business interests here in Germany.” He looked at her as if challenging her to ask further.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to. “Oh.”
Either she trusted him, or she didn’t. She chose to.
“We couldn’t cut all ties—it wasn’t what was best for Zohra, but they have been minimized,” he added in the silence that followed.
She felt she should respond to that in some way, but wasn’t sure how. She finally settled on a quiet, “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed.” His words were more forceful, as if trying to impart a message he did not want to come right out and say.
And apparently, that was that, because he didn’t say anything further and answered his phone when it buzzed in his pocket. However, she felt a lightness in her heart that could not be denied.
Their connecting hotel suites were both luxurious and comfortable. His comment that she could use the bedroom in hers as a dressing room put paid to any doubt she might have about where she would be sleeping over the next three days.
Despite the fact that she now traveled with a security entourage, Angele found no difficulty in getting last minute VIP seating for the main runway shows. It was past midnight when she made it back to the hotel that night. She was tired, but wired.
“You really love the world of fashion, don’t you?” Zahir asked.
She shrugged as she kicked off her pumps. “What can I say? It’s in my genes.”
“Fashion is a lucrative industry.”
“It is.”
“Considering how little you like to plan events, I do not suppose you would consider coordinating a fashion week in our capital?”
Excitement made her heart rate increase. A fashion week, or even a single runway show was nowhere near as boring an event as a State dinner. “That depends. Can I hire a team to help me? Can we designate a charity to couple with and make the event about more than just fashion?”
“Of course.”
“Then, yes, absolutely. I would love to.”
“Good.”
“It’s no longer seen as quite the thing for a political wife to be without some interests of her own,” she acknowledged.
The British weren’t the only country that pushed a princess to be more than her title.
“Just so.”
She smiled, enjoying the fact he had thought about what sort of interest would make her happy. Because she knew Zahir was not a spontaneous guy. “You’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
“Years.”
Wow. Just, wow. “I thought so. I could have continued writing freelance fashion articles, you know. We don’t have to invent an industry for me.”
“I’m sure you will continue the writing. You are very good, but it is time Zohra joined the rest of the world in showcasing modern fashion.”
“Right, like you really care if there is a runway show in Zohra’s capital.”
“What is important to you, is important to me.”
She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I just love you so much, right now.”
He laughed, his eyes going hot with an expression she was coming to know very well. “That is good to hear.”