‘A contract will be drawn up that allows us both a probationary period in which to assess the consequences of what might seem to be a too-hasty decision. I have no desire to keep you in my country against your will. An unwilling worker is of no benefit to Dhurahn. As co-rulers of Dhurahn, both my brother and I are well aware of that. Neither of us would ever tolerate anything that prejudices the progress or the reputation of our country. And, just for the record, I have no desire to keep you in my bed unwillingly, where the same principle applies. I see no pleasure to be gained in a woman who is not there of her own free will and her own desire.’
Sadie was struggling to get her head around not just what Drax was saying but also the whole Arabian Nights fantasy of being told by the ruler of a Gulf State that he wanted to whisk her off to his kingdom.
However, his purpose in taking her there was not because he wanted her to give him one thousand and one nights of pleasure, as Scheherazade had given her Caliph master with her fabulous stories, but—far more mun danely—so that he could use her expertise to help build a world-class knowledge economy with a world-class financial exchange to rival those of London, New York and Hong Kong. If what she was being told was the truth…
Surely rulers travelled in cavalcades of cars, surrounded by courtiers and security men? They did not drive themselves around in ordinary, if up-market, saloon cars. The ease with which Monika had deceived her still stung. This man—Drax, as she recalled hearing the Professor call him—might physically possess the kind of arrogance that went with high estate, but that did not mean he actually was what he claimed to be.
‘I…it all sounds so far-fetched,’ she told him doubt fully.
The green eyes glittered a look over her that was a combustible mixture of savage fury and arrogant disbelief.
‘You dare to persist in trying to accuse me of being a liar?’
‘I have a right to protect myself from being tricked into another situation in which I end up being out of pocket,’ Sadie defended herself. ‘There is a saying—“If a man makes a fool of me once, shame on him. If twice, shame on me.” You say you are a co-ruler of Dhurahn.’
‘I say it because that is what I am,’ he retorted. ‘I am not Monika al Sawar. I am co-Ruler of Dhurahn, with a moral responsibility towards my brother to act in a way that cannot possibly leave any stain on his honour, just as he has that responsibility to me.’
So much had happened in such a short space of time, the changes in her circumstances had been so seismic, that Sadie suspected she wasn’t in any fit state to make any kind of decision—never mind one as potentially reckless as agreeing to accept the job she was being offered.
And yet what alternative did she really have? She had no money, no family in the true sense to love and support her in England, should she choose to return, no job to return to there, and no passport to return there with, thanks to the man seated next to her, she reminded herself grimly. And what kind of message did that give her—the fact that he was prepared to use such an under-hand method to force her to do as he wished?
‘What if I choose not to accept your offer?’ she demanded.
Drax could hear the uncertainty in her voice. As though he could see into her head, he could imagine her thoughts. She had come to the Gulf in order to change her life in some way; that desire would still exist, despite Monika al Sawar’s behaviour towards her.
‘Why would you do that?’ he asked her coolly. Dhurahn can match everything that Zuran can offer you and exceed it. You would be a fool not to accept. And since I have offered you a job, and I do not offer jobs to fools, you cannot be one.’
Such arrogance. It was breathtaking. And exciting? Was she excited by it? By him? Thoughts she had never imagined were whirling through her head like grains of sand being whipped up by the desert wind, to create a mesmerizing, whirling force that changed the known to the unknown.
This man—powerful sheikh or lying braggart—possessed that same power as the dessert wind, and for better or for worse she was being swept into the maelstrom of excitement and uncertainty he was creating within her.
If he was speaking the truth then surely she would be a fool to turn down this kind of opportunity? Especially now, with no earnings to show for her time in Monika’s employ and the burden of her student loan still hanging over her.
‘If I take this job you are offering me, there will be two conditions,’ she told him firmly.
She was attempting to bargain with him? A woman? Powerless, jobless, trapped in his car, and wholly at his mercy? She was either very foolish or very brave. Vere would appreciate neither of those qualities. He was a fair man, but very autocratic. Whereas he…
He, Drax admitted to himself, was not always fair and autocratic—only when it suited him. Vere often teased him that he was Machiavellian. Drax preferred to think that he understood people and their weaknesses.
‘And those conditions are?’
Sadie took a deep breath.
‘That you return my passport to me and that you pay me—before we leave for Dhurahn—an advance on my salary sufficient to pay for a return ticket to the UK.’
So she had learned something from working for Monika after all.
‘Certainly.’
Sadie looked at him uncertainly, wondering if she had misheard his prompt and affirmative response.
‘You agree?’ she questioned him.
‘I’m beginning to see why Monika found it so easy to manipulate you,’ Drax told her. ‘A good negotiator behaves as though he or she believes themselves to be in an unassailably strong position even if they know that they are not.’
His instincts about her had been right. There was a softness, a vulnerability about her, that would make her perfect for his plans. The fact that in asking for an advance of her salary all she had asked for was the price of her air ticket home added to his confidence in his own intuition.
‘Yes, I agree—but with a condition of my own. And that is that while I am prepared to advance you the money you require before we leave Zuran, I am not prepared to return your passport to you until we reach Dhurahn. Still, you have at least shown some initiative—and I must say that I am impressed that you believe you are in a position to make conditions,’ Drax told Sadie smoothly.