Page 28

"But you believe one of her guards was involved?

" Darius asked, incredulously. He hadn't been fully debriefed yet, so he hadn't heard what had been reported by Tahira's cousins, Diallo, and the other guards yet.

He also hadn't read the witnesses' accounts of what they saw at the park where the abduction had occurred—a fact he planned to remedy later today.

Amar shrugged. "Honestly, I don't believe any of them were, Darius. To ensure there was no coverup, I've asked Brody and Nathan to do a complete check into the finance, computer, and phone records of the five guards assigned to the princess on the cruise. They've uncovered nothing suspicious."

“We also have to deal with the possibility someone on the ship was involved and had the women followed from the ship to the park," Ian added.

"With the amount of tourist traffic on the roads from the port to the park, it wouldn't have been difficult to blend in and go unnoticed by the guards.

But we're talking about just over twenty-four-hundred passengers and eleven-hundred crew members.

It's going to take weeks, if ever, to narrow down that list to something reasonable for us to investigate. "

"Also, according to Nala, Lahana, Farid, and Daillo, the women had only decided that morning at breakfast where they wanted to visit once they went ashore,” Amar said.

“There were three attractions they'd been considering.

They played 'Rock, Paper, Scissors,' and Princess Tahira won. She decided on the waterfalls."

The corners of Darius's mouth ticked upward as he remembered her challenging him to the hand game that morning while they’d been waiting for her to be discharged. The winner got to choose which news program to watch. Darius preferred CNN, while Tahira—who’d won again—liked BBC.

From his right, Devon chimed in. "After all that, there's still the possibility it was a random kidnapping and Diaz just happened to recognize Princess Tahira.

You said the women were there for about an hour before you went down to the cell area.

Diaz could have been down there prior to that and figured out who she was or one of the kidnappers could have recognized her during the flight and let Diaz know.

There's a helluva lot of questions with too many probables to answer them right now.

With Diaz, Secada, and the rest of the lieutenants dead, we're left with interviewing a few low-level peons who were left behind.

Some friends of ours are locating and interrogating anyone still alive who'd been there in the days leading up to the raid.

We just might have to face the fact we'll never find out all the details behind the abduction. "

Darius knew his bosses were right. There were far too many unknowns, and they might not ever be cleared up. The friends Devon mentioned were probably members of Deimos. If they'd been any of the Trident operatives, he would have said so.

"Please keep me and Amar updated on your investigation, and he will provide you with any new information his men uncover as well.

" The king's gaze fell on Darius, but his next words were for everyone else.

"Gentlemen, again, I thank you for all your help in bringing my daughter and nieces home, but I would like to spend some time alone with Mr. Knight if you do not mind. "

It was a good thing Darius had been trained how to not give away what he was thinking or Rajeemh would have known how nervous he'd suddenly become. What the hell? He’d known the man would want to talk with him—after all Darius was going to be his son-in-law soon.

Holy.

Shit.

How had he not been hit over the head by that fact before? Regardless that it was a sham marriage, Darius was going to be the son-in-law of a fucking king!

Holy.

Shit!

If only Donna Ellsbury, who’d turned him down for their senior prom, could see him now.

Darius had only been the second-string quarterback in high school, and that hadn’t been good enough for her.

He’d gotten a sick sense of satisfaction when the star quarterback had turned her down the following day.

When she then tried to suck up to Darius, suddenly agreeing to go with him, he’d told her she’d had her chance and blown it.

He’d ended up taking his friend’s sister, who’d been a junior, and they’d had a blast—just as friends.

He hadn’t gotten laid that night, like some of his friends had, but he’d never regretted his decision one bit.

Ian, Devon, and Amar all stood, and the Sawyer brothers bid the king goodbye. Since Darius had his own vehicle sitting in the estate’s driveway, they didn't need to wait around for him.

Once they were alone, King Rajeemh got to his feet and stepped over to the bar that had been built into one of the bookcases lining the wall next to the door.

Without saying a word, he picked up a decanter of amber liquor and poured it into two small, delicate-looking glasses.

Returning to the seating area, he handed one to Darius before sitting in the recliner again.

Darius was a little surprised at the gesture since it was still well before noon.

"This brand of anisette originates from Timasur and has become quite popular in other countries over the past few years. I don't often partake this early in the day, but today, I'll make an exception."

He took a sip of the liqueur, and Darius followed suit, letting the licorice flavor assault his taste buds. It was quite smooth and enjoyable.

Rajeemh leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "So, Darius, tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know, Your Majesty?"

"Anything that is not in the file Amar and Ian put together for me after my daughter announced you two shall marry.

Convince me to ignore the fact you bypassed several of my country's traditions, one being it is proper to ask a father for his daughter's hand in marriage, whether the union has been arranged or not.”

Oh, boy. It didn’t surprise him at all that Amar and Ian had given the king a detailed file on him.

Any man in Rajeemh’s position would have demanded the same.

This wasn’t an ordinary, blue-collar man having a conversation with the guy who wanted to marry his daughter.

This was a man who ruled an entire country and had his image on its damn currency for Christ’s sake.

Nope, nothing ordinary about him at all.

Darius let out a long breath as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

He looked the older man in the eye. "I apologize for not speaking to you first, Sir. Asking for a woman’s hand in marriage is a tradition that many still follow in the States as well.

My only excuse is that, due to the circumstances, contacting you at the time was impossible.

Yes, I should’ve waited until I had time to ask your permission, but the words had come out before it was too late for me to consider traditions.

” At least that was a full truth. “Tahira is a beautiful, strong, and courageous woman, and I care for her very much, Your Majesty.

I'll provide for her and protect her from harm. I would lay down my life for her."

He wasn't lying to the man. Protecting innocents was an instinct he'd been born with, and it had been cultivated and strengthened during his time in the military.

He treated women the way they were supposed to be treated—with respect and honor.

And he did care for Tahira—that wasn't a lie either—but he hoped King Rajeemh had missed how the word love had been purposely omitted.

"My marriage proposal to Tahira may have been on the spur of the moment and a product of the situation we found ourselves in, but it is one I plan to follow through—that is, with your permission, sir." It suddenly occurred to him that the king could throw a huge monkey wrench into Darius’s plan.

Rajeemh nodded as he paused the conversation for a moment.

Darius waited patiently. He couldn't screw this up.

Tahira would be shunned by many of her countrymen and women if the news of her rape got out.

No, it wasn't fair to blame the victim, but even in the US, that's often what happened.

In a country where women were still fighting for equality, despite new laws declaring they deserved the same treatment as men, there were still far too many traditionalists who would ostracize Tahira.

Her royal title would not make her an exception to their rules—they would say because of it, she should have set a better example, as if she'd had a decision in losing her virginity in such a brutal manner.

Darius knew her family, especially her parents, would support her, but unless she was willing to brave releasing the news of her assault, he was willing to provide her with an alibi.

"You do realize this union may cause problems with your career with a company that relies on its operatives remaining anonymous in many ways, correct?"

Darius took another sip of the anisette.

The king's question was a valid one. Tahira was in the public eye, and as a result, the media would be trying to uncover every detail about her intended husband once the engagement was announced. "I spoke to Ian and Devon about that earlier, Sir. As we speak, Nathan Cook is at the Trident compound making sure there will be no links between me and any of the black-ops missions I’ve been on, either with the Navy or Trident, that can be found on the internet or the Dark Web. As far as the media is concerned, I’m a veteran who now works as a bodyguard and private investigator for a security firm—we are keeping it as close to the truth as possible.

With the public side of Trident that’s been cultivated throughout the years, they’ve done a very good job of hiding the black-ops side of things.

” Before the palace had hired Trident Security, the company and its employees had been vetted at great lengths.

The king was aware of the fact they held numerous government contracts—including ones from several allies of the United States.

“I have great faith in Nathan's abilities to cover all the bases and make sure the media only finds what we want them to find. Anyone who knows me, outside of my SEAL team and Trident, has no idea what missions I’ve been involved in—that includes my family. All they know is that I can’t talk about the stuff I did with the SEALs and I now work in private security.

And on that matter, we’ll be using the fact I’ve been on Tahira’s detail several times while she was visiting as the story of how we met and got engaged, as we can't say I was part of her rescue and what I was doing in Argentina in the first place. Again, it’s best to go with something that’s as close to the truth as possible. ”

"Good." The man stood and held out his hand, causing Darius to jump to his feet as well.

"I believe this is where I am supposed to say something along the lines of if you hurt my daughter, they will never find your body.

" His easy grin didn't hide the certainty that he would probably do everything in his power to make Darius disappear if he needed to.

Darius shook the king's hand. "Understood, Your Majesty."

"Then welcome to the family. Over the next several days, you'll need to meet with a member of my staff to be schooled in proper protocol and traditions that will be part of the wedding.

I'm sure Azira will want to have a date set for the nuptials for when the engagement announcement is made, but I will leave that up to you and Tahira to discuss with my wife.

I would like to make arrangements to have your immediate family join us in Timasur soon, so we can all get to know one another before the wedding. "

Oh, shit. Another thing Darius had failed to think about.

While his mother had died a few years ago, his father was still alive.

Since Ian and Amar had put together his dossier, the king would know those facts, but how much had they told him about Darius’s father? “I’ll see what can be arranged, sir."

"Good. Then if you will excuse me, I have a meeting online with my staff in Timasur to make certain the arrangements for the state dinner are complete."

"Of course. I have things I need to do at the office as well.

I'll check in later to see how Tahira is doing.

" He shook the man's hand again, bowed his head, and waited for him to turn away.

Darius then strode toward the door. He had some phone calls to make that he wasn't looking forward to—the first one being to his father. On second thought, maybe he should put that off for another day or so, because he knew it wasn’t going to go over well.

Most conversations with his dad these days never went well.

Face it, Darius, you stepped in a heap of shit this time.