The Sheik's Gentle Triumph Read online

  Just like Danielle, he thought. There was strength in her demeanor. But hidden in the dark corners of her mind, he suspected that there was more. Again, that flash in her eyes came to his mind. What was it? What was she afraid of? No, it wasn’t fear but…something else. Something intriguing.

  Just more mystery for me to discover, he thought. He was here in town on business, training with his bodyguards for the next few weeks. Too many of his guards had gotten hurt over the past year. They needed better training. Extensive, intense training that would protect both him and them. There was an inherent threat to his life at all times and that put his men in danger. That meant that his body guards needed the best training in the world so that no one got hurt in any way. And there was no one better than Oz Cole to provide that kind of training.

  Although, after today, Mika realized that his friend’s brother, Jayce, and the other brute of a man, Ryker Thune, were just as impressive. He knew that Oz was an ex-special forces. One of them was a Navy SEAL, although he wasn’t sure which team. The other two were former Delta Force members. Their military training had been extensive, but they’d left the military and become even more powerful and impressive, training themselves as well as their teams in even more advanced training styles. The three of them had built a remarkable empire based around their training and skills. They charged an enormous amount for their training, but Mika knew that ever dollar was well spent if it kept his men safer, more vigilant, and better able to handle whatever might come their way.

  He knew that the lovely Carly Cole was in charge of everything else and she was a delight to work with. She was brutal at negotiating contracts, but once that was finished, he was confident that the details would be taken care of by the extremely efficient manager.

  “They were a good group,” he said out loud to no one in particular. They’d done a great job. “And they have excellent taste in accountants,” he added, sipping the scotch from his glass.

  Chapter 4

  Danielle stared at the elegant box, unsure what to do with it. “I’m sorry, but…what did you say?” She’d heard the delivery guy clearly, but his words didn’t make sense.

  “You need to sign for this,” the messenger repeated patiently, holding out the famous, blue box, a clipboard, and a pen.

  That blue box meant something expensive was inside the box! “Uh…what if I don’t want the delivery?” she asked, eyeing the box as if it contained a bomb.

  The messenger frowned at Danielle with confusion.

  “You…don’t want the delivery?” he repeated, sounding as if no one had ever declined a delivery from this particular store before.

  Danielle stared at the box, then up at the delivery person, cringing inside as she considered the possibilities of what might be inside it. “Correct. I don’t think I want the delivery.”

  The man stared down at the clipboard, the pen and…the box. “It’s already bought and paid for, ma’am,” he explained, still shocked and not sure what to do. “I can’t take it back. Someone will just try to deliver it to you again tomorrow.”

  Danielle blew out a frustrated puff of air, which caused her bangs to flutter. “Fine! Just give it to me,” she muttered, then took the pen and electronic clip board. Quickly, she scrawled her name, then handed both back.

  The messenger then extended the blue box. When Danielle didn’t take it, the man just set it down on her desk. “Have a good day,” he said and rushed out of the office.

  Danielle glared at the box, not wanting to open it. She knew who it was from. There was only one person who could afford to buy something at that store. Then she corrected herself, staring at the computer screen. Okay, so Oz, Ryker, and Jayce could definitely afford anything in that store as well, but those three treated her like a little sister. She felt like they were more than her employers. They were overly protective, like big brothers. Huge brothers! And she was fairly certain that they hadn’t sent her anything from the store with the blue boxes!

  Nope, there was only one man outrageous enough to send her something from that store.

  With trembling fingers, she released the elaborate closure on the box and pushed the top open. But even as she admired the necklace, she couldn’t absorb the outrageous gesture.

  The diamonds nestled against the black velvet were… spectacular! Absolutely gorgeous! The intricate, delicate setting was the perfect foil. It was possibly the most beautiful necklace she’d ever seen!

  The diamonds and necklace were so… mind-blowing …she couldn’t even calculate how much it must have cost. This kind of jewelry was outside of her realm of experience! Good grief, she shopped for jewelry at Target or, if she needed something more elaborate, she searched online for something unique! And to date, the cheap, cubic zirconia stuff she’d worn in the past had been perfectly acceptable. No one in her world wore real diamonds, except for engagement rings or maybe diamond earrings. Just simple studs though! Nothing extravagant! Nothing like this!

  Snapping the lid shut, she looked around to see if anyone had caught her looking, ogling. She felt guilty for even holding the box!

  With a groan, she re-locked the box and stuffed it into her desk drawer and turned back to her computer. For the rest of the day, she tried to focus on work issues. But the blue box was like Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”. The diamond necklace may not have made actual noise, but it called to her. Taunted her. It was a throbbing pinging noise in her head, the box ordering her to take it out and look at the diamonds again, just to see if they were truly as brilliant as she remembered.

  Danielle resisted, but she was also terrified of leaving her office that day. Sure, no one in this office would steal anything. Everyone who worked here had to go through a painful, in-depth background check. Plus, everyone here focused on maintaining the law. Not breaking it by stealing something out of another person’s desk drawer.

  And yet, she was petrified of leaving the necklace unsupervised.

  “What’s wrong?” Carly asked later that morning, stepping into Danielle’s office with a stack of papers.

  “Nothing!” she replied quickly. Too quickly, she realized when Carly’s eyes widened in surprise then narrowed in suspicion.

  “Right. Nothing is wrong, and yet, you’re jumpy and obviously worried about something.” Carly leaned a hip against the edge of Danielle’s desk, watching her friend carefully.

  Danielle dropped her head, resting her forehead on her hands. “I’m just…I have a problem and I’m not sure how to handle it.”

  That seemed to perk Carly up because Carly was a problem solver! She straightened, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “No problem. I’ll give Deni a call and we’ll grab some lunch, you can tell us what the problem is and we’ll figure out a solution.” Deni Stenson was their friend who worked in a bank down in the financial district in Louisville, about twenty minutes away. She was a brown haired, green-eyed beauty with a sunny, cheerful personality and the most positive outlook on life Danielle had ever encountered. With Carly’s no-nonsense, attack-the-world attitude and Deni’s sunny optimism, they might be the perfect pair to give her advice. But for some reason, she didn’t want to tell her best friends about the box or the man who had asked her out to dinner. It was…well, it was a secret!

  A secret she couldn’t leave unattended.

  Leave the box here? Alone? No way! “I can’t!” she gasped, her spine straightening as she shook her head. “No, I can’t leave today.”

  “Why not?”

  Why not! Why not? That was an excellent question, she thought. Her mind was muddled, but she managed her usual response. “Too much work.”

  Carly looked around at Danielle’s immaculately organized desk, then back at Danielle with raised eyebrows. “I thought you finished the month-end reporting three days ahead of schedule. Weren’t you suggesting…”

  Darn it! Carly had even complimented Danielle about that! “Nope. No lunch today. How about tomorrow?” she offered hopefully, trying to stall Carly. />
  As soon as the words left her mouth, Danielle knew that she’d made a mistake. Carly’s eyes narrowed and she stood up. “Fine. I’ll call Deni and we’ll set something up for tomorrow.” Carly leaned forward, a twinkle in her eye. “Are you sure you want to wait that long? I know that something is bothering you.” Carly grinned, a mischievous glint to her pretty eyes. “And you’re not that good at keeping secrets.”

  Danielle’s mouth fell open, but she closed it firmly, her stomach clenching at the idea of hiding something this huge from her friend. But she grasped onto the offer of a delay. “Tomorrow. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  And hopefully, she’d figure out what to tell her friends. Something they’d believe. Because there’s no way they’d believe that a freaking sheik had sent her a crazy-huge, outrageously expensive diamond necklace!

  Chapter 5

  Danielle pressed her purse against her stomach, glancing left and right to make sure that no one was following her. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as worry over the stupid diamond necklace haunted her. All afternoon, she’d worried about the stupid thing, wanting to get rid of it. But it wasn’t like she could just toss it into the trash!

  She’d found out where Mika…or Sheik What’s His Name…was staying by doing a bit of digging. She doubted that his guards would allow her to actually see the man, especially since she had no way of contacting him to make an appointment. Oh, she probably could have found his contact information in the financial information at work, but she wouldn’t violate client confidentiality for any reason. So here she was, walking through the lobby of one of the most expensive hotels in the city, wearing clothes that obviously didn’t fit in with the glamorous jet-set types that were milling about, and carrying a box containing a diamond necklace probably worth at least a year’s salary in her purse. She must look suspicious, but Danielle didn’t know what else to do. This situation was so completely outside of her normal world that she was winging it.

  Which was a bit ironic, considering that she worked for a firm that provided security, among other things, to people, governments, and corporations all over the world. She should have absorbed some of the knowledge, at least from osmosis! But nope! She didn’t know how to prevent someone from stealing her purse, which is why she currently clutched it against her chest, which basically announced to anyone looking at her that she had something valuable in the bag! But…what else was she supposed to do?

  Okay, so she was here in the hotel. Sheik…Mika Whatever was here too. So…how did she find out which room he was in? Danielle doubted that she could walk up to the front desk and ask for the guy’s room number! They’d probably deny that he was staying here! Yes, Danielle suspected that the uber-efficient hotel staff members would definitely protect the rich guy’s privacy.

  So…how did she get to his room? Maybe she could just leave the box at the front desk and ask them to deliver it to Mika’s room? That would be the easiest solution. But…were the hotel employees trustworthy enough to trust with such an expensive necklace?

  Danielle sighed, not sure what to do. Turning, she considered her limited options and…!

  There! She noticed two guards standing at attention by one of the elevators. This elevator door wasn’t with the rest of the elevators, so she assumed it was a private elevator. Mika What’s His Name was arrogant enough and, by the looks of the diamond necklace in her purse, wealthy enough to require a hotel room with a private elevator.

  Walking over to the two men, she smiled at them as politely as she could. “Are you guys body guards for Sheik…uh…Sheik Mika?” she asked, cringing as she completely flubbed the man’s title.

  Obviously, she’d missed the mark, if their amused expressions were any indication. But she didn’t care. Not even a little! She just wanted this necklace out of her possession so she could be on her way. There was a “Dancing With the Stars” show tonight and she would be much more comfortable in her small house, watching her silly show, than standing here in this elegant hotel lobby in her shabby clothes and practical shoes.

  “This way, Ms. Conyers,” the guard stepped back and pressed a button for the elevator.

  Okay, that was creepy! “Wait, how do you know my name?” she demanded, still clutching her purse with the stupid necklace inside.

  The man ignored her question. “His Highness is waiting for you.” The elevator doors slid open and one of them put his arm inside, indicating that she should step in.

  Oh no! Danielle wasn’t stupid. She’d seen way too many crime shows. Just last week, she, Carly, and Deni had watched a Criminal Minds episode where the woman went into the house, knowing…seriously knowing…that something was wrong. This particular elevator wasn’t a broken-down, wooden shed in the middle of the woods with rusty iron manacles bolted to the wall, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

  “I don’t need to see…His Highness,” she stated firmly, pulling her gaze away from the strategically lit elevator. “I just…” she looked around again, praying no one was watching her. “Are you one of his guards?” she asked again, more of a whisper this time.

  The men were startled, and glanced at each other, baffled. “We protect His Highness,” one confirmed. “He is waiting for you upstairs.”

  Danielle breathed a sigh of relief. “Good! Thank goodness!” She pulled the blue box out of her purse and tried to hand it to him. “I don’t need to see him. Just…give him this and tell him…thank you,” she explained, extending the box to the guard. The man was also bigger and meaner looking than the average Joe, so Danielle doubted that anyone would try and mess with him, much less steal from him.

  The guards looked at the box, surprised and confused. When they continued to stare at the box, or her, she shook the box slightly, encouraging one of them to take it.

  Finally, the left guard shook his head. “This is something you should deliver to His Highness yourself, Ms. Conyers.”

  Personally deliver the necklace? Oh no! Not a good idea, she thought, thinking about how the dark-haired, dark-eyed Adonis had affected her yesterday. Danielle shook her head. “No. I don’t need to see him. I just need to return this to him.”

  The man chuckled, still shaking his head. “This is something you’re going to have to explain to him, ma’am. He’s not going to believe us if we just bring him the necklace.”

  Danielle could tell by their stubborn expressions that they weren’t going to back down. But there was no way she could walk away with this stupid, annoying necklace still in her purse. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if she kept it in her house and she didn’t own a safe deposit box at a nice, secure bank. So Plan B…ride up in the scary elevator, dump the stupid thing on the first table she saw, and make a run for it. As long as it was inside the man’s hotel room, it was no longer in her possession, and therefore, no longer her responsibility.

  “Fine!” she huffed and stepped into the elevator. “I don’t know why you men are so stubborn.”

  She kept muttering to herself as the bigger man pressed the one button on the control panel, then stepped backwards as the doors silently slid closed. The whole way up, her heart raced and she practiced what she would tell Mika, or whatever she should be calling him. There was most likely a protocol, but she didn’t often run into sheiks or kings or…well, good grief, not even a lowly prince or any kind of royalty! Her life was focused on grocery shopping and accounting procedures. She liked to cook and bake and balance numbers and reduce a company’s tax burden. That’s what she liked!

  Diamond necklaces and royalty were…scary! No, not scary. Danielle didn’t like using that term. Royal personages were intimidating. She didn’t like intimidating. She liked routines. She liked leisurely sipping her coffee in the morning while she pretended she didn’t have time to work out. She liked making cookies and watching The Hallmark movie of the week!

  “This is ridiculous!” she snapped as the elevator doors slid open.

  “Danielle!” Mika called, walking towards her. He wasn’t
wearing a suit, or workout clothes today. This time, he had on a dark, tailored shirt and dark slacks. The shirt was open at the neck, showing more tanned skin. Enticingly tanned skin. It took her several heartbeats to rip her eyes away from the fascinating skin revealed.

  Danielle swallowed, her heart racing for an entirely different reason now.

  Since she was still standing in the elevator, her mouth hanging open as if she were some sort of idiot, Mika took her hands, gently leading her out into the stunning penthouse suite.

  When she stayed in a hotel, there was a bed, maybe a desk and a television. It was exciting when the room contained a small fridge where she could put the sandwiches she’d prepared ahead of time and bagged for the trip, so she didn’t have to spend money on dining out.

  This suite was beyond anything she’d ever seen in her entire life. The two story wall of windows revealed the lights of the city and the mountains in the distance. In addition to the amazing view, there was a sitting area bigger than her entire house, a fireplace, a dining room table large enough to seat twenty people and even a grand piano! Good grief, the man had a freaking piano in his hotel room!

  “Would you like a glass of wine?” he asked, leading her over to a fully stocked bar.

  “I think I need something stronger,” she muttered, wide-eyed as she looked around.

  A moment later, a glass of something clear and mysterious was placed next to her hand. Glancing down, she realized that he’d poured her…a shot of vodka? “What’s this?”

  “Something stronger,” he teased with an amused look. “How about some wine?” he offered again, moving to stand close.