The Desert Sheikh's Innocent Queen: King of the Desert, Captive Bride. Jane Porter

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СКАЧАТЬ perfectly blank. “I was actually hoping we could go sightseeing.” She hesitated. “See the pyramids or visit the Sphinx.”

      Before Khalid could answer, the suite’s doorbell chimed and the butler emerged from a back room to go to the door. Liv could hear the door open, and then listened as he greeted someone and then the door closed again. The butler entered the living room with an older Egyptian in a dark suit following close at his heels, a large leather briefcase in one hand.

      “Your Highness,” the older Egyptian said, greeting Khalid with a deep bow. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

      “Not at all,” Khalid answered. “We were just discussing the day.”

      The man bowed again. “Is there someplace in mind you’d like to do this? Shall I join you there in the sitting area, or would you prefer to move to the dining room?”

      Khalid glanced at Liv where she sat, and then into the dark dining room. “I think the light is better here,” he answered, “and Olivia is already comfortable. Let’s just do this where we are.”

      “Excellent.” The man carried his briefcase to the low coffee table between the upholstered pieces of furniture and set his briefcase down. It wasn’t until he placed the briefcase on the table that she noticed it was handcuffed to his wrist.

      Shocked, she watched him take a tiny key from another pocket and undo the clasp on the handcuff, before turning his attention to the locked briefcase.

      Glancing at Khalid, she realized he wasn’t at all surprised by the elaborate security measures. Then when the man opened the briefcase, she understood why.

      It was filled with diamond rings. Rows and rows of diamond rings in the velvet-covered, foam-lined briefcase. There had to be at least twenty rings, maybe thirty, and the diamonds were enormous. They started in the three-or four-carat range and went all the way to three or four times that size.

      But not all the diamonds were the traditional clear stone. Parts of the rows glittered with pastel light, and a dozen rings featured the incredibly rare and costly pink and yellow diamonds.

      Each diamond was cut differently, too, and the shapes and styles dazzled her—marquise cut, emerald cut, oval, pear. The settings were all unique, too, with prongs inset with diamonds, the bezels paved, every setting glittering with fire and light.

      “I know you said you don’t enjoy shopping, but I do think you should pick the ring you’ll wear,” Khalid said.

      “It’s not just a ring,” the Egyptian jeweler said soberly, “it’s a symbol of your commitment, and you’ll want a ring that will always remind you of your love and vows—”

      “Khalid,” Liv murmured, rising to her feet. “May I please have a word with you?”

      “Of course,” he answered, “but we can speak freely here. Mr. Murai is an old friend of my family’s and has been in the jewelry business a long time. You are not the first jittery bride-to-be he has helped.”

      Liv’s frustration grew. Khalid was deliberately misunderstanding her. “I’m just overwhelmed,” she said. “I don’t think I can make this decision today. Perhaps at the end of the week …?”

      “I want my ring on your finger,” Khalid answered bluntly. “It’s important to me. It’s important to my people, and it’s important to my family.”

      “But I don’t know anything about diamonds or jewels—”

      “Which is why Mr. Murai is here. He’s not just the best in Cairo, he’s one of the best jewelers in the world. Most of the royal families use him.”

      But she didn’t want to wear a ring, especially not a ring like this. None of these was just a simple band, but a statement of wealth, a statement of style and lifestyle—all things Liv wasn’t comfortable with.

      “I understand you want me to wear a ring,” she said, swallowing with difficulty, “but these rings are too much. They’re so elaborate, and large and more than I need.”

      “Miss Morse, I understand this can be overwhelming,” Mr. Murai said kindly. “Selecting one’s ring is often a very emotional decision and it requires time and thought. Please, won’t you sit down again and tell me a little about what you’d like? There’s no hurry, no pressure. We shall take as much time as you need, we will try every ring, and if nothing pleases you, I shall go, search out more beautiful choices and bring them back to you.”

      Liv looked up at Khalid as the jeweler spoke and she stared at him hard, wanting to tell him that she still wasn’t happy even as she knew that Khalid would have his way.

      She couldn’t fight with Khalid in front of the jeweler. Khalid had said appearances mattered. He said everything they did would be scrutinized, including her wardrobe, her jewelry, and what she wore—or didn’t wear—on her ring finger.

      Slowly she sat back down on the couch. “I don’t know very much about diamonds,” she said, her voice pitched low.

      “That’s fine, I can teach you what I know.”

      She nodded, aware of Khalid standing behind the jeweler, aware that he’d hardly glanced at the case of jewels. Instead his entire focus seemed to rest on her.

      “Do you have any favorite pieces at home?” the jeweler persisted.

      She blushed shyly. “I don’t own very much jewelry, just an opal ring my brother’s former girlfriend brought me back from Australia, and a pearl necklace my father gave me when I turned eighteen.”

      “No diamonds?” the jeweler asked.

      “No diamonds.”

      “Well, then, we will make sure your first is exactly right for you.” Mr. Murai gestured to the front row of diamonds. “I don’t know if diamonds are truly a girl’s best friend, but I do know diamonds are timeless. The popularity of the cut might come and go, but the stone itself remains the most popular of all gemstones.

      “There are three very popular cuts at the moment,” he continued. “The marquise, rose and cushion. All the rings in this front row are one of those cuts. As you can see,” he said, lifting one of the rings and tilting it to catch the light, “the marquise cut is boat-shaped, pointed at both ends and one of the most popular cuts today although it dates back to the 1700s.”

      She watched him tip the ring this way and that, amazed at how the ring glowed all the way through, glinting with bits of fire and light. “It’s very pretty.”

      He glanced up at her. “But not right for you?”

      “It’s very dramatic,” she answered.

      Smiling, Mr. Murai replaced the large marquise cut diamond ring and picked up another. “This is a rose cut, and the rose cut was developed in the sixteenth century. As you can see, it’s a very glamorous, very elegant look. Some people think it’s classic Hollywood, others see it and think of the crown jewels. You’ll notice there’s a flat base and all the facets radiate from the center.”

      It was beautiful, but not her. The setting was beautiful, too, but it just felt too … old, too much like what a grandmother might wear. Not that her grandmother had ever owned a diamond СКАЧАТЬ