‘Basim? He’s head of my close personal protection team.’
No wonder Ash—no, Ashraf—had spoken ofhis peoplescouring the land, searching for her. His protection team must have been beside themselves when he was abducted.
‘Do many people want to kill you?’ Tori’s thoughts had already veered to her tiny son and his safety.
‘Not any more. Za’daq is actually a peaceful, law-abiding country. But it’s customary and sensible to take precautions. Besides, it’s expected that a visiting head of state will bring a security detail.’
Head of state.There it was again—that horrible slam of shock to her insides, creating a whirl of anxious nausea.
‘Breathe.’
Firm hands clasped hers, anchoring them to the arms of the chair. A waft of spice and heat surrounded her, tantalising.
Tori stared up into fathomless eyes that looked like pure ebony even now as Ash... Ashraf...leaned in. Eyes so like Oliver’s, and yet their impact was completely different from the feelings evoked when she looked at her son.
‘I’m breathing. You can let me go.’
Even so it took one, two, three rapid beats of her heart before he released her. Was she crazy to think she saw regret in his expression?
‘It’s hard to believe after our abduction, I know, but you could travel in that same area unharmed today.’
‘You said he was your enemy?’ Tori murmured. ‘That man—Qadri. In Australia, even in politics, when you speak of an enemy you don’t mean someone who’d have you executed at dawn.’ Even if the backstabbing and political manoeuvring in her father’s world was violent in its own way.
Ashraf sat back and the tautness in her chest eased. When he’d leaned in, capturing her with his intense regard as much as his touch, she had felt ridiculously overwhelmed.
‘Qadri was a relic of the past. A criminal who, because his powerbase was in a remote province, was allowed to remain untouched for too long.’ Ashraf’s mouth thinned. ‘My father, the previous Sheikh, had no appetite for tackling intractable problems like ousting a vicious bandit who preyed on his own people. It was too far away from the capital and too hard when there were other, easier initiatives that would win him praise.’
So Ashraf and his father hadn’t seen eye to eye? It was there in his voice and the slight upward tilt of his chin. Tori could relate to that.
‘So you sent in your soldiers to kill Qadri?’ That would explain his violent retaliation.
Ashraf’s mouth curled in a small smile. ‘Is that how things are done in Australia? In Za’daq the Sheikh upholds the law, rather than breaks it.’
He was laughing at her naivety, making a point about Za’daq being a country as enlightened as hers.
‘But, given your experience, it’s not surprising you thought otherwise. And it’s true that centuries ago the Sheikh would have ridden in with his warriors and slaughtered such a man.’
‘So whatdidyou do?’
‘Deprived him of his powerbase. Introduced schemes to bring the province out of the Dark Ages with adequate power, water and food. Began establishing schools and employment opportunities.’ He shook his head. ‘I’d only been Sheikh for half a year when we met, and the initiatives were in their infancy, but still they’d had a powerful effect. So had enforcing the law. I had police stationed locally to arrest Qadri’s stand-over men when they tried to intimidate people. Qadri realised that soon the people wouldn’t see him as the power in the region. They’d have choices and laws they could rely on.’
‘So he had you kidnapped?’
‘Unfortunately I made it easy, riding with only Basim and a guide into a deserted location to view a new project. The guide was in Qadri’s pay.’ Another twist of the lips. ‘Clearly the security assessment was flawed, but no doubt some would say I was reckless.’
Tori frowned. That didn’t gel with the man she knew. He was strong and astute, a strategic thinker and formidably determined.
And he was here for his son.
The reminder was a crackle of frost along her stiff spine.
‘You can be assured that Za’daq is now safe to visit. As safe as your country.’
Was that code? His way of telling her that Oliver would be okay in his father’s homeland?Didhe mean to take Oliver from her?
Firming her lips, Tori beat down rising panic. She was jumping to conclusions. No one was going to take her son. There were laws about that. Hadn’t Ashraf just taken time to prove he valued the law?
She wondered what the law in Za’daq said about custody of a child. Especially a male child. Was Oliver the Sheikh’s heir?