Eep.
He had a point there, darnit.
The sheikh's golden eyes glinted as he studied her, and even though Ember should be well used to it by now, being the subject of his gaze still made her want to squirm.
Badly.
No squirm, no squirm, no squirm, no squirm!
Ember had this awful habit of talking in her mind like a two-year-old Buddhist monk wannabe
when uncontrollably nervous or excited, and she was still silently intonating 'no squirm' like the words were for an exorcism ritual when the sheikh suddenly cursed in Huznan.
What had she done now?
"Fine then."
Her royal bosshole was making it sound like she had been begging him in the past five seconds, when she actually hadn't said a peep?
I'll give you a chance to get out of this," the demon prince snarled.
Ember bit her lip hard to keep herself from smiling. She would never tell this to any living soul, but the truth was, Sheikh Ilyas usually let her have her way...as long as she was able to play her cards right.
"Tell me the real reason why you said yes to Saif," Ilyas said finally, "and if it's valid, I'll let this one go."
"I was very happy about the Crown Prince's engagement." That much was true. "And helping out was my way of expressing it?"
The sheikh's expression turned bland. "Is that so?"
"Um...yes?"
"Mm..."
Ember had a feeling she had somehow said something she wasn't supposed to. This was the sheikh, after all, and nothing slipped past the demon prince when he was out to make her life hell.
"Enlighten me, please."
Brace for it, Ember!
"Why is my secretary very happy about the Crown Prince's engagement?"
Shit!
How was she going to get out of this?
One one hand, his question was terribly easy to answer, but at the same time, it wasn't easy at all.
With the Crown Prince now engaged, Huzna's king no longer required Ilyas and his other sons to hunt for a bride, and that mattered to Ember because...she was scared if her royal bosshole did marry, his future wife might take exception to her, and she would be out of a job (and her forever home) in a flash.
And that was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help her God.
Ilyas' lips tightened. "Well?"
No squirm, no squirm, no squirm, no squirm!
Impatience flashed in the sheikh's gaze. "If you won't answer, then I'll have no choice but to—-"
"I'm, um, a hopeless romantic?"
"Bullshit."
Ember didn't know whether to feel insulted or amused. "Um...ouch?"
The demon prince glared at her. "I'm not fucking around here."
"I know that—-"
"Saif coerced you into saying yes, didn't he?"
She stared at him, stupefied. Did he just say 'coerce'? How in the world had her royal bosshole come up with that?
"I know how persuasive Saif can be."
And why was he suddenly sounding so...testy?
"You never hesitate to say 'no' to me, your own fucking boss, but don't think I haven't noticed how you're always on your best behavior around my older brother."
Okaaaay.
Was he questioning her loyalty or something?
Ember cleared her throat, but hearing this only seemed to piss her royal bosshole even more.
"Don't bother lying," the sheikh snarled. "Just show up tonight and forget about whatever help you promised Saif. I'm going to call him now and let him know you're unavailable."
Ember could feel herself starting to panic. If there was anyone more astute than Ilyas, it would be the Crown Prince, and she was painfully certain it wouldn't take Saif long to add one and one together and come up with an answer that would have Ember fleeing America - maybe even Earth itself - in acute embarrassment.
Her gaze swung back to the demon prince, and when she saw Ilyas about to hit the Call button—-
Oh, shit!
She couldn't let him call Saif, no matter what the cost.
"What the hell?"
Ember gulped.
You've really done it this time, you idiot.
She had just swiped the sheikh's iPhone out of his hold, and since she had already done something that unthinkable—-
Might as well do my worst, Ember thought as she dropped his phone in the inner pocket of her blazer.
The demon prince stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "Are you fucking serious?"
No, Ember thought. She was more desperate than serious, but since that was another sliver of truth she didn't want to say out loud—-
Ember cautiously took a step back from the sheikh. "I'll give it back if you promise me you won't call the Crown Prince."
"Goddammit, Ember!"
Oh, if only she could yell that back at him.
Goddammit, Demon Prince!
If only.
But she absolutely could not do that, since Ember also knew the sheikh wasn't paying her four thousand dollars a month to answer him back all the time. Ilyas might have said he liked her better when she stood up to him, but they both knew Ember was only allowed to show her temper when it suited him.