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became that it would be a wise move. The details could come later. Now it was enough that the
decision had been made. He drew Lang to one side while Brianna was with her brother. "You must
make haste to solve this thing," he told Lang. "I can waste no more time waiting for assassins to do
their deadly business." Lang's eyebrows rose. "Are you and Brianna at each other's throat again?" "It
is not that at all," he said. "I wish to go home and be married." Lang was shocked and trying not to
show it. "Isn't this a bit sudden?" he asked. Ahmed waved his hand expressively. "I have waited most of
my life. Now this assassination plot has made me aware of my own vulnerability, of the risk to my
people if I die without issue. I tell you, I believe my brother-in-law is mixed up in this," he added
solemnly, his dark eyes unblinking on the other man's face. "He is the only one who could move
against me with such ease and with cooperation from bribed officials. No doubt be has made many
promises." "You mentioned that once before. We've acted on it. We have operatives making every
effort to wrap it up quickly." Ahmed nodded. "I hope that it will not take much longer. Now that I have
made the decision, I wish to implement it as soon as possible." "I suppose congratulations are in
order, then," Lang said, thinking how hard this was going to hit poor Brianna, who was so obviously
infatuated with Ahmed. The man didn't even seem to notice that! "Yes. Another thing, we must have a
larger apartment for the duration of this charade," he said. "If Tad comes home with us, and I assume
that he will, the apartment she now occupies will not be large enough for the three of us/' "We have a
safe house nearby―" "Unwise," Ahmed said at once. "Even if Brianna did not find it
suspicious, the boy might." "You're right. An apartment, then, in a building where we have a floor
under surveillance. Will that do?" Ahmed smiled. "Yes. Thank you." "Where do you plan to be
married, in Saudi Mahara?" Lang asked. "It must be there, obviously," the other replied impatiently.
"The duties of state," he added sadly. "I myself would prefer something quiet and simple, but it would
be unthinkable not to have all the trappings." "I understand. Well, I'll get the ball rolling," Lang
replied. Ahmed's dark eyes twinkled. "You look sad. You are a bachelor, too. One day, perhaps you
will find a woman who can make you happy." "I already did," Lang said ruefully. "But being the
brilliant fellow I am, I kicked her out of my life and sent her running." He laughed curtly at the joke
he made and went in search of a telephone. Brianna was so excited about Tad that she hardly noticed
the passing of time, But Ahmed's curiously tense attitude disturbed her and when she could manage it,
she maneuvered Lang into an alcove to question him. "Ahmed is very quiet," she told him. "Has
something happened that I should know about?" He ground his teeth together. "Sure you want to hear
it?" he asked. "I've got Tad back," she replied simply. "I think I can take anything now." "I hope so.
He―" he nodded toward Ahmed, who was reading a magazine in the waiting room beyond the
hall "―is impatient to go home and get married." Get married. Get married. Brianna heard the
words with every heartbeat. She hadn't realized until that moment how much Ahmed meant to her.
Now it dawned on her that he would certainly need to marry a woman from his own country. He was a
high cabinet official. Of course! How would it look if he married a foreigner? How could she have
been so stupidly blind! "I see," she managed to say through a tight throat. She even smiled at a
concerned Lang. "I've been living in dreams, haven't I, Lang?" He grimaced. "Brianna, I wish..." "It's
all right," she assured him numbly. "I've been expecting it. Good heavens―" she laughed
"―he couldn't very well get involved with an American woman, could he?" Lang's eyes were
sympathetic. "I didn't want to tell you." She took another steadying breath. Fate has given me a trade,
she thought. It's traded me Tad for what I might have had with Ahmed. She wanted to laugh
hysterically, but it would not change the situation. She'd been a minor amusement for Ahmed. She'd
been falling in love, but he'd been teasing, playing, while he planned all along to marry some woman
back home. She felt like a fool. "I need to go and see about Tad." "Time does heal things, somewhat,"
he remarked, his hands deep in his pockets and a sudden, pained look in his eyes. "I know." She
touched his arm gently and then walked back toward the intensive care unit. She didn't look in
Ahmed's direction at all. She didn't change her attitude toward Ahmed noticeably. She was polite and
courteous. But the distance between them grew, and he noticed her reticence without understanding
what was wrong. Lang hadn't told him that he'd mentioned Ahmed's upcoming marriage. But Lang
had told him that they had an agent pretending to be Ahmed installed in a classy downtown hotel being
very obviously guarded in his hotel suite. And there had just been an attempt on the man's life. Ahmed
was concerned now for Brianna's safety, and Tad's. If he was discovered, all the red herrings in the
world weren't going to stop the terrorists from striking at him; nor would they care if they happened
to kill some innocent person who simply got in the way. Ahmed, and Lang, went with Brianna every
time she went to the hospital now. But Ahmed, sensing her withdrawal, didn't come any closer. He was
protective and tender, but not amorous. Not at all. She wasn't sure if she should be hurt or grateful.
After all, he had somebody else, and he hadn't even been honest enough to tell her. Tad's animated
presence almost made up for Ahmed's reticence. She delighted in his company, spent every available
minute with him. And when the doctor said she could, finally, take him back to the apartment, she all
but danced around the room with joy. "I have already told Lang that we must have a larger apartment [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]