Chapter Four
Ember Hallman mightbe the girlfriend of Sheikh Ilyas Al-Masri in secret, but she was also officially employed by the royal family of Huzna, and it was the latter persona that was about to have a heart attack.
Today was supposed to be a dry run for next month's launch of The Huznan Way, a program that was months in the making and involved carefully selected individuals who would then share their specialized knowledge of Huznan culture, arts, and technology.
THW was all about showcasing everything the kingdom had to offer and proving to the world once and for all that it was not a nation of barbarians. And it truly wasn't, but how could she expect their guests to believe this when His Highness, Sheikh Rashad Al-Masri, had just sent away another woman in tears?
And that was already the sixth...in the past hour alone!
She would've expected such actions from her boss-slash-secret-boyfriend Ilyas, who had always been the hotheaded and impatient sort. Maybe even Khadem, too, whose rare but violent displays of temper often resulted in his enemies being rushed to E.R. - if they were lucky enough to be alive, that was.
But Rashad?
The way he had been acting for the past hour was not like him at all. Rashad might not be as silver-tongued as the Crown Prince, but he had never done anything that could classify as a PR nightmare for the royal family...until now.
Ember fixed a smile on her lips while resisting the urge to run as she made her way to Adam Al-Masri. The renowned surgeon was half-French, half-Huznan, and he was also the first in his field to incorporate traditional Huznan medicine in post-op care.
While Adam was attending today's luncheon as one of the representatives of THW, he also happened to be a cousin of the Huznan princes, and it was for this reason Ember urgently required the acclaimed surgeon's help.
Adam raised a brow when he saw Ember coming up to him with a dazzling smile. Not good, he thought right away, and his guess proved correct as the redhead murmured something about needing his opinion on this and that.
Ember then showed him her clipboard, and written on the first page of her notepad in big, bold letters were seven words.
GET SHEIKH RASHAD OUT OF HERE. PLEASE!
Adam nearly choked but managed to cough discreetly instead. While members of royalty generally inspired awe, his cousins mostly inspired fear because of their violent pasts. Ember, however, was a notable exception, and it was what had intrigued Adam the first time he had gotten to know her.
Ember beamed up at her boyfriend's cousin even as she grew more nervous upon seeing yet another woman approach Rashad. "What do you think, Dr. Al-Masri?"
"If I do as you ask," Adam drawled, "what do I get in return?"
"My undying gratitude?"
"I'd rather have you die another way."
Adam's smile was devilish, but while the sight would've had most women sigh, it only had the redhead looking at him in exasperation.
"Will you please just help me, Dr. Al-Masri? Please?"
"I will...on one condition."
If there weren't so many guests around them, Ember would have loved to step on Adam Al-Masri's foot as hard as she could. Couldn't he see that now was not the time to tease her like this, and all so he could piss Ilyas off?
"Fine, whatever," Ember grumbled. "What it is do you want—-"
"Beg me again."
Ember nearly rolled her eyes. These Al-Masri men were all the same. Why did they always like having their women beg? Oh, whatever. She said without hesitation, "Please Dr. Al-Masri, I'm begging you. Please—-"
Too late, she saw that Adam was recording the entire thing, and Ember could only groan. "You know Ilyas is going to hate watching that."
"Exactly, Ms. Hallman. Exactly."
Ember mentally threw her hands up. Men and their silly games. Ilyas was sure to kill her for falling for Adam's trick, but she would just have to worry about that later.
For now, however—-
"It's your turn," she said with a glower. "Can you please deal with Sheikh Rashad?"