Chapter 11
The next five days passed like a whirlwind. Every morning, she woke up in Zahir’s arms. Sometimes, he was kissing her awake and they would make frantic, heated love as if their very breath was at risk. And other times, he would make love to her with slow, deliberate intensity, making her scream his name.
After a shower and breakfast, Mandy would spend a few hours investigating the other agency leaders, but so far, she’d only found the four that were suspicious. The worst infractions were from the man she’d already brought to Zahir’s attention, some guy named Hasan.
And even that discovery was odd since she often saw him in the palace hallways, lingering around the administrative offices. The man was always friendly, offering her a greeting or a simple wave.
The odd part was that Mandy hadn’t noticed him walking the palace hallways before her discovery. Maybe she noticed him more often now because she regularly visited Zahir during the day. Or perhaps he was just on her mind now that she suspected him of doing something illegal with the contractors under his agency’s purview.
Either way, Mandy had done her job. She’d provided the evidence that Zahir needed.
So why was she still employed? Why wasn’t Hasan fired and in jail?
None of her business, she reminded herself as she walked back to her office.
“What’s wrong?” Raven suddenly asked, looking up from her computer. “You’ve been jumpy and…strange over the past few days. Is everything okay?”
Mandy looked up from her computer monitor, trying to hide her guilt. She desperately wanted to tell her new friend about her relationship with Zahir, but…for some reason, Mandy kept silent.
Raven was a wonderful person and, if she weren’t working for Zahir to find him a fiancée, Mandy might have confided in her.
Unfortunately, Mandy was too nervous about the budding feelings she had for Zahir. For his part, Zahir was giving her time to process what was happening between them. Raven continued to interview candidates, and Astra organized various events that allowed Zahir to meet each woman. It was odd, but Mandy actually appreciated his continued “bride search”. Every time he met a beautiful woman, he would treat her with respect, but his eyes kept moving back to her. Afterwards, he’d explain to Raven why each woman didn’t interest him.
Mandy would listen, smile, and try to suppress the warm glow of happiness she felt after each rejection.
However, she couldn’t shake the sensation that something was wrong. Why hadn’t Zahir fired that Hasan guy yet? What was he waiting for? Mandy had heard about palace politics before, but this was the first time she’d had a front row seat to the phenomenon.
Memories of conversations with the police after her father’s death haunted Mandy now. Was Zahir just going to ignore the evidence? Was he looking the other way for a political reason?
Mandy let out an unconscious hiss of frustration and slapped a file onto her desk. She needed to find the co-conspirators for Zahir and not obsess about Hasan. It was none of her business how Zahir managed his staff, she reminded herself.
“Something is obviously wrong,” Raven countered. She tilted her head slightly. “If you want someone to talk to, I’m here for ya. No matter what the issue.”
Mandy desperately wanted to share, to ask Raven’s advice. The woman understood human nature better than anyone! Raven would be the perfect person to confide in and ask advice.
She’d just opened her mouth to say something when Astra walked in, carrying a large tray. “Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I need your opinion about tomorrow’s menu.”
Astra set the tray down on Raven’s desk. “Try these and tell me what you think.” Then she handed Mandy and Raven a napkin filled with small, dark cookies.
Raven popped one into her mouth, but Mandy was a bit slower. So she had a bit of warning when Raven’s beautiful features morphed into horror.
“Ugh!” she groaned, turning her head and grabbing another napkin to spit out the cookie. “What’s in this?”
“That bad?” Astra asked, her lovely features crumpling from hope to disappointment. The events coordinator stared down at the tray with the remaining cookies, her shoulders slumped.
“What’s in them?” Raven asked, glaring at Mandy who set the cookies carefully down on her desk, as if they might explode.
“Dates,” Astra told her. She picked up the dark cookie, tilting it from side to side. “It was my first attempt at baking. Chef Henri looked horrified when he watched me, but he never said anything. Nor would he taste the cookie.”
Raven and Astra both turned expectantly to Mandy. Her first response was to laugh and shake her head. But Astra looked so hopeful. So instead of ignoring the cookie, she took a small bite.
And tried not to gag.
It really was that bad! But she struggled to swallow the vile bite of…of…ickiness!
“That bad, huh?” Astra sighed, staring down at the blackish-brown blobs. “Well, I’m not giving up. I want to learn to bake.”
“What’s wrong with sugar?” Raven asked, wiping her tongue with another napkin to get rid of the foul taste.
Astra chuckled. “I’m trying to be healthier. If I use dates to sweeten the cookies, there’s more fiber and nutrients.”
Raven laughed, shaking her head. “Honey, no one will get more nutrients from those cookies. I think you’re amazing, but those cookies are inedible.”
Astra grimaced, then lifted the tray and started to turn around. “Like I said, I’m not giving up!” she told both of them and the hope was back in her eyes. Hope and determination. “Maybe I’ll ask Henri for some tips.”
Mandy snorted. “I doubt it. He went to the top cooking school in Paris and he’s a bit of a snob about the way he cooks.”
“He might.”
Mandy shook her head. “I have a good friend who went to the Culinary Institute of America. She makes the best muffins you’ll ever taste. She loves to experiment with cooking and flavors, but just like Henri, my friend is a stickler for the science behind cooking.”
“Science?” a new voice interrupted. All three women turned to watch several large men step into the room.
“Guys!” Mandy gasped, jumping up and rushing over to hug Levi, Matteo, and Sean. When she peered around her three friends, she found two other handsome guys, along with Zahir, who was behind them.
Zahir immediately moved to put an arm around Mandy’s waist, pulling her against his side.
Mandy heard someone whisper, “I knew it!” but when she glanced over at Raven and Astra, both of her new friends were valiantly attempting to appear innocent.
Tim was next, his eyes moving from Mandy to Zahir, narrowing with a trace of anger. “Are you two…?” he asked, gesturing to the arm Zahir had around her waist.
Mandy wasn’t sure if Tim was in favor of the match between herself and Zahir. Not by any twitch of his eyes or facial muscles did he reveal an emotion.
“She wants me, but she has some concerns,” Zahir answered for her.
Tim’s dark eyes lifted to Zahir’s, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown. “Are you pressuring her in any way?” he demanded, his chest puffing up and his hands curling into fists.
“No!” Zahir emphatically replied, his tone indicating that he was offended by the question.
Another laugh sounded and this one was from Antonio. He was a tall, dark fellow with an even darker past. His father, the Marquesso del Campo, was now in prison for drug distribution. Mandy knew that Antonio was working diligently to remove all illegal activities from the family business, battling the criminals who would prefer to remain in play. She only knew this because Antonio was one of her newest clients. She was helping him weed out the bad elements that his father had allowed into the corporation.
“I believe that your friend,” Antonio began, “is in love with His Highness.”
Timothy looked at Antonio, then at Zahir and, finally, at Mandy. Of the three of them, Mandy was possibly the most shocked. But when she looked up at Zahir, Mandy suspected that he might be a close second.
“Are you in love with me?” he growled, shifting his body to shield her from the others’ view.
“I…” she stammered, trying to come up with some answer. “I…!”
Raven interrupted her pitiful attempt at a response. “You know, cookies are a bit like romance,” she began.
Everyone turned to face the dark-haired beauty with varying expressions of confusion. Raven merely smiled and tossed one of the brown blobs from her left to her right hand. “I’m serious,” she continued. “The basic ingredients in a cookie are flour, sugar, eggs, and some sort of fat, right?”
Mandy looked at the others, almost bursting with laughter at the uncomfortable expressions on the men. None of the men knew how to bake, she suspected as she unconsciously shifted closer to Zahir.
“Right!” Astra called out, crossing her arms over her chest. Obviously, Astra was just as confused as the others about the direction of Raven’s cookie analogy. But Astra was fully on board. Why was she glaring at Antonio? How did Astra know Antonio? When had that happened? Mandy turned to look at the darkly handsome man. Sure enough, he was glaring right back at Astra. Interesting!
Before Mandy could interpret the dual glowers, Raven pulled everyone’s attention back to herself.
“The difference in cookies is the flavoring. A peanut butter cookie uses eggs, flour, sugar, and butter, with the only additional ingredient of peanut butter,” Raven continued. “The same for gingersnaps. The only additional ingredient is ginger and maybe some cinnamon.”
What are you trying to say? Timothy demanded, mirroring Ravens defensive stance by crossing his arms over his chest. It was intriguing to note the intense glare he directed towards the dark haired woman.
Levi, for his part, leaned back against the wall, his hands shoved into his pockets with amusement lighting up his features. What did he understand that the rest of them were missing?
“My point,” Raven emphasized, fixing a piercing glare on Timothy, “is that cookies, at their core, share a fundamental similarity. Its the addition of a few distinct ingredients that sets them apart and gives them their uniqueness. She turned towards Astra, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. For instance, adding peanut butter can transform the cookies into a delicious treat. On the other hand... Raven walked over to Antonio and handed him one of the cookies. He immediately popped the brown blob into his mouth, only to struggle and nearly choke as the awful taste overwhelmed him. When you add dates, well, then the cookie turns out rather unpleasant.
Despite the gagging sound created by Antonio as he spit out the cookie onto the napkin, everyone was staring at Raven.
Timothy lifted a dark eyebrow. “I’m not sure that your…logic…is getting through to our male minds, ma’am.”
With a wide grin directed at him, her eyes revealed an intriguing spark. You may call me Raven, she informed Timothy, who responded with an even deeper scowl, rejecting her friendly gesture for some unexplained reason.
Heres my point, she continued, shifting her gaze to encompass both Mandy and Zahir. Humans and cookies, were all fundamentally composed of the same basic ingredients. However, its the varied spices of life that are thrown into the mix of our minds that give us each a unique flavor. When faced with adversity, if something negative happens, it can influence a person in a negative way. Her eyes briefly locked onto Mandy, then shifted to Zahir as she carried on. But if life presents a balanced blend of the good and the bad, each individual has the opportunity to develop into someone fascinating, with a complex set of problem-solving skills. And if the core ingredients are inherently good, then that person is more likely to make predominantly positive decisions.” She turned to look directly at Mandy. “You’re terrified of marrying Zahir, even though you’re madly in love with him. Something happened in your past, probably something in childhood. And you no longer trust your judgment, because you’re afraid that Zahir is made up of dates.”
Someone snorted, but Raven ignored it. She walked over to Mandy, taking the hand that was hanging by her side. “I’ve seen the way you look at him, Mandy. You love Zahir. Be honest with him,” she whispered urgently. “If you could talk to him, trust him to respect your concerns, then I know that you’ll discover him to be a very good man who makes excellent choices.”
Mandy heard the words and her heart pounded. She looked up at Zahir to discover that he was watching her, a question in his eyes.
We shall address your concerns in private, Zahir commanded, his gaze encompassing everyone in the room with a sweeping glance. Please, let us all gather for dinner tonight. With that, he took Mandys hand and guided her out of the office.
With a decisive manner, he led her into the nearest unoccupied room and firmly shut the doors, granting them privacy.
“What are your concerns, Habibi?” he asked, leading her over to an elegant settee covered with gold and cream damask fabric. The piece looked too pretty to sit on, but he ignored her lame protests and gently tugged her down next to him.
Mandy struggled for a moment, but in the end, she decided to be bluntly honest. Looking up at him, she started, “I gave you ample evidence about the extra funding that Hasan Isfara has diverted to his personal bank accounts in Switzerland. I also gave you evidence of how he is spending those extra funds.” She didn’t pull her hands out of his light grasp. Instead, she tightened her fingers around his. “Why haven’t you questioned him? Why is he hanging around the palace more often these days? I don’t understand.”
Comprehension lit up his dark eyes. “And you think that I’m ignoring his crimes, just as the executives of Dillbrook did with your father’s murder. Correct?”
“Yes,” she replied, nodding for emphasis.
“In other words, you want to love me freely, but because of your experience with the authorities in your past, you are worried that I’m the same?”
She cringed, looking down at their clasped hands. “When you put it like that, it sounds as if I don’t trust you.”
He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, and Mandy experienced a surge of relief at the tender gesture. I understand now. I should have discussed this issue with you, my dear, he admitted, sighing softly. Shifting his position, he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her gently. Now that you’ve discovered the leader of the embezzlement scheme, I need to identify the individual within my security team who is leaking information to Hasan. Thats why Ive allowed him to linger in the palace recently—feeding him false information to observe his actions. We both know Hasan is involved in deceitful schemes. However, I must uncover the full extent of those involved in his plots. Once I have that information, I will apprehend every one of them.
Mandy found his explanation to be logical and reasonable. As this realization struck her, an overwhelming surge of love erupted within her, flooding her heart and mind with unparalleled intensity. I love you, she whispered, stunned by the ferocity of her emotions. Truly, I love you! Another revelation struck her in that moment. I’m really sorry that I didn’t trust you. I should have. Raven is right. Deep down, you’re a good person. I didn’t fully understand the complexities of this situation.” She sighed and snuggled closer. “I will work on trusting you more and learn to understand that the decisions you make are multi-faceted.”
“Allaena, woman!” he growled, pulling her into his arms. “It’s about time!” And then he kissed her. Mandy was overwhelmed with happiness as she kissed him back, needing to show him how deep her feelings were for him. When he lifted his head again, Mandy laughed to find herself sitting on his lap. “So, you’re going to marry me?”
She lifted the gold chain with the diamond ring on it. “Only if I can exchange this for something smaller,” she told him, then cringed. “I’m sorry. I know that you selected this, but it’s just…so big. And I’m not comfortable wearing diamonds this large.”
Zahir threw back his head, laughing at her disdain for the ring that cost over one hundred thousand dollars. Hugging her to him, he said, “You’re probably the only woman of my acquaintance who would think that a diamond is too large, Habibi.”
“Does that bother you?”
“The complete opposite,” he told her. “It tells me that you’re not marrying me for the wealth or power that comes with marriage to me. It tells me that you love me for myself.” He chuckled. “Because I’m not made with dates, apparently.”