CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘MYAPOLOGIES,YOURMAJESTY. It won’t happen again.’
Salim shook his head. ‘One apology was enough, Taqi, and please, stop using my title.’ They usually worked informally when alone. ‘I’ve had enough of it for one day.’
The Minister for Finance had been at his most obsequious and had left Salim fuming with frustration. He’d have enjoyed kicking the man out, except his niece, Zarah, didn’t deserve such rough treatment. No matter how foul a mood her sheikh was in.
Salim had to give the man credit. He’d known enough to wait until Taqi was away from the office before persuading a less experienced staff member to admit him. Presented with afait accompliit had been easier for Salim to see the pair.
After all, Zarah was one of the candidates Rosanna had selected for him to consider. It made sense to meet her.
Yet it had felt wrong. Even now Salim’s gut roiled with distaste. Not at Zarah, who it transpired was a lovely woman, but at the notion of considering a bride.
Because he was still fixated on Rosanna.
He’d avoided seeing her since her return from the Queen’s Palace because he needed time to shore up his defences. He’d had his time with her and now it had to be over. Though it didn’t feel like it.
It felt... No, ithadto be over. He had a duty to find the most suitable queen for Dhalkur. He wouldn’t dishonour Rosanna by continuing their affair while he shopped for a wife.
‘There’s something else you need to know,’ Taqi said. ‘The reason I was out of the office so long.’
Salim looked at his aide and friend and read the worried furrow on his brow. ‘Take a seat and tell me.’
‘It’s about Ms MacIain. Rumours are circulating at court about her.’
Silently Salim berated himself. He’d tried to ensure their affair wouldn’t become public but it seemed he hadn’t been able to protect Rosanna as planned.
‘It’s said she’s a criminal. That she and her ex-fiancé stole huge amounts of money from unsuspecting investors. Some elderly people lost their life savings.’
‘What?’ Salim braced his hands on his chair. ‘That’s nonsense.’
‘She told you the truth then?’
‘No. This is the first I’ve heard of it. But I know Rosanna. She’s no thief.’
Taqi gave him a speculative look which he ignored. Salim knew Rosanna and this simply wasn’t true. ‘Who’s spreading the rumours and what are they using as evidence?’
His staff had checked her references and qualifications but that was all. He hadn’t ordered a full investigation and didn’t know all her past.
Yet he knew her in the ways that mattered.
Anger seethed through him that people were maligning her.
‘That’s what took me a while. I put someone onto digging into Ms MacIain’s past—’ Taqi glanced at Salim as if expecting a protest ‘—while I followed up the source of the rumours. They originated with the Minister for Finance’s staff.’
Salim sat back, pondering. The man was a nuisance. Good at his job but always looking to increase his power. His current focus was promoting his niece as a royal bride, not knowing Zarah was already on the list of candidates.
‘The rumours began with Ms MacIain’s return to the palace. From something a staff member let slip, I suspect the Minister guessed where she spent last week.’
Salim nodded. No doubt he’d made it his business to know. Had he assumed, as Salim had, that theirs would be a short affair, soon over? Rosanna’s return to the palace would make him see her as a serious threat to his niece’s prospects. That must have prompted his smear campaign.
‘What are they saying?’
‘That millions of dollars were stolen from investors. That she and her fiancé were in it together. He went to prison and she only escaped sentencing because of an unscrupulous lawyer and a legal loophole.’
Pain clamped Salim’s skull as he ground his teeth. ‘I knew her ex had misled her but not like that.’ He’d imagined infidelity.
‘He channelled the funds through a joint account they’d set up, which is why she was investigated. But she was cleared of involvement. There was never any question of charges being laid against her. She lost money too, and though I still need to check this, it seems she tried to pay back some money to a couple of elderly victims, even though she wasn’t to blame.’