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She sent him what she hoped was a nasty little smile "Am I a little common for your tastes?"

His eyes flared "Not at all You misunderstand me I am corandfather did, he did for love He gave up his crown for randmother because they were the only two people in the world whoout that all the women he has vetted before now have been royal or very wealthy But I’m afraid Rafiq and Kadir have always shot them down"

"How many women?" She knew the answer to that question The internet had been a treasure trove of pictures of her men with various beauties She hated the fact that she was one in a long line of willing wo time" He leaned forward, his eyes soft "Are you ready for this?"

No Absolutely not Nope But she wasn’t going to say that to hi that brain of hers She wasn’t exactly sure why Khalil was here, but she knew darn straight it wasn’t for her benefit She oing to sell theht, of course I didn’t groith a ton of money, but I understand this economy in a way all those pretty debutantes can’t I believe the sheikh was si for his version of perfect He’s a picky man, aive up If she hadn’t decided to go hoame, and that included a little deception

"You understand that Talib was ready to marry any one of those wohtly cruel Finally she was seeing a bit of the real man

"I understand that he didn’t marry them He’s chosen to marry me" He just hadn’t bothered to tell her But then Khalil knew that Khalil had been the one to contact the press, and most likely he had many spies in the palace And that made her a little mad "And you should refer tocold "You are just a concubine at this point Nothing is settled until the e is celebrated in public four weeks from today You will learn a lot in those weeks You will learn that you are not capable of being a sheikh’s wife My country doesn’t need more American influence"

As her daddy would have said, that man was co "The people in the square didn’t sound unhappy this " She stood up, ready to be done with this unctuous s She’d stood up to scrutiny before The ide press couldn’t possibly have a thing on Miss Adeline Hawkins of the First Baptist Church She’d survived a bunch of old wo more than to destroy her "They were quite happy that the sheikh and his brothers have decided on a bride"

She gave him her most polite sle wo proper care of little Mindy Most of them had called her Cindy because they didn’t really care about anything but causing trouble "I appreciate your coood to meet my husbands’ family"

Piper was deeply pleased to see the way Khalil’s cheeks flushed, and he stood, his fists at his sides "We’ll see about that, Miss Glen"

He strode out of the room

"That’s shaykhah to you, sir"

A burst of applause caused her to turn, her heart nearly stopping

Kade watched Piper turn, his whole body filled with pride for her Rafe stood at his side, silent, but Kade could feel his emotion

She’d stood up to that fucker She’d been a queen, so ined It wasn’t that he’d believed her to be weak He’d just thought she would need more time Not his Piper She’d risen to the occasion

"Where did you co tone she’d used the moment before to coed on, every hour purea fake smile on his face as he talked about their courtship and how happy he was, all the while praying she didn’t simply flee

"There is a separate stairway It leads from the rooms below They’re usually used as nursery roo her cheeks "Oh"

Rafe stepped forward He’d been Kade’s partner inWe did not wish to disturb you"

She frowned "Your cousin disturbedto run irl We can be stubborn"

Thank god for Texas pride "He’s wrong about Talib Tal was never serious about the other wo this off for many years because no woman moved him"

Her arms crossed over her breasts "I don’t know about that KhalilThisa duty"

Kade wanted to hold her The early evening light brought out the gold and reds in her hair "It was not a duty to love you last night You can’t iine that No man could have performed as we did for siht, Piper There was nothing of duty in that"

"It’s too fast," she said, her head shaking

Frustration welled "Do you have a ti should I wait to love you? How many more days or weeks before you’ll believe htened her with his harsh comments But she didn’tive you a ti him as easily as she’d dis She thought she could dis her and disappearing into the hall What the hell was he doing? Kade prayed he wasn’t getting Talib because this was his fight