Free A Bride For The Sheikh by Katheryn Lane Page B

like a dream,” Carla said as they drove through the city. “I would quite happily have a thing with a sheikh if I got one of these in return.”
    “I didn’t do it for the car,” Angelina said.
    “Carla, how could you say such a thing?” Sarah asked from the back seat. “Can’t you see that Angelina’s upset? I don’t blame her. That was a nasty thing that your friend Chrystal did.”
    “She had every right to announce her engagement. After all, it was her engagement party.”
    “Then how come Rashid wasn’t there, or her father?” Angelina asked.
    “It’s how they do things out here,” Carla replied. “In the Middle East, women all gather together in one place and the men all get together in another. The wedding will be the same. After the ceremony, all the women will go to one tent to party and all the men will go to another. Men and women don’t mix in the same way as they do back home.”
    “When they do mix together, a lot of the women have to wear a veil,” Sarah added. “If they party separately, the women can let their hair down, literally, though I can’t see Chrystal wearing a veil once she’s married.”
    “If I know Chrystal,” Carla said, “she’ll find a way round it and not everyone in the Middle East covers up. However, Chrystal would shave off all her hair to get at Rashid’s money. That woman would stop at nothing where money’s concerned.”
     

Chapter 11
     
    “Hello, love. I got your note about going to a party. Did you have a good time?” James asked as Angelina walked through the door.
    “Not really. A lot of people I didn’t know. I’m sorry, but do you mind if I go to bed? I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” Angelina didn’t want to be abrupt, but she didn’t feel like talking.
    “No problem. This heat can really get to you. I’ll just lock up and then I’ll bring you a cup of hot chocolate to help you sleep.”
    “Thanks, Dad. See you in a bit.”
    When her father came into her bedroom ten minutes later, Angelina was already in her pyjamas and lying in bed. She could smell Rashid’s heavy cologne on her bed sheets and she wondered whether it would be too suspicious to get up and change them so late at night. In the end, she decided to wash them first thing the next morning. It seemed strange to think that just the day before she and Rashid had been lying together in the very same spot, making love and enjoying each other’s presence with Angelina so innocently unaware of everything that was going on behind the scenes. If only he hadn’t spoken to her that night at the palace, if only she hadn’t given in and let him come into her bedroom, and if only he hadn’t told her again and again that he loved her.
    “Are you okay?” her father asked. “You look a bit upset.” He handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
    “Thank you.” Angelina took a sip. The warm taste of the chocolate felt comforting in her mouth.
    “One of your friends left their car in our driveway,” her father said as he sat on the edge of her bed. “It’s a very nice car. It’s the strangest thing, though; it looks like it has royal number plates. I can’t imagine any of the royals have moved in next to us. They all have massive palaces and mansions in the main part of the city. You don’t know anything about it, do you? One of your new mates nick a royal car, did she?” He laughed.
    Tears started rolling down Angelina’s face.
    “I’m sorry, love, did I say something to upset you? What’s the matter? Please tell me that one of you didn’t really steal a royal car. That’s about the worst thing you could do in a country like this.”
    “It’s worse, much worse.” Angelina sobbed. She reached out for a tissue from the box beside her bed and blew her nose. “It was a gift, a gift to me. It’s all been a huge mistake.”
    “There, there.” Her father patted her on her back. “What happened? You can tell me.”
    Through her tears, Angelina told her father