Page 31

Rafi stared at the empty doorway, wondering how Carys would react if he caught up with her. They needed to hash this out. He’d been so worried about her this morning, then so relieved that she was at work, apparently safe and sound, that he hadn’t remembered to ask her about her possible pregnancy.

Was she? Pregnant, that is? Was his precious, if furious, Carys pregnant with their first child? And yes, he knew that there would be more. Carys was too sweet and loveable to stop at one. He was so relieved that Carys was safe and unharmed that he couldn’t hold onto his anger, which melted away.

But, he did need get to the bottom of her absence this weekend. What had she said? She was angry that someone had broken into her apartment?

Rafi rubbed the back of his neck. He’d done that. He’d ordered his bodyguards to slip into her apartment to make sure that she wasn’t alone and hurt, needing help and unable to call for it.

Then what had she said? To be honest, after that comment, she’d turned and walked away.

Rafi had allowed his eyes to stray down over her delectably curvy figure and…

he’d noticed that she wore his favorite leather boots.

They were the same boots she’d been wearing the first time he’d seen her and his mind had blanked.

If he’d been more on his game, Rafi would have listened more intently. But the boots…

Thefts!

Yeah, that’s what she’d said. Something about thefts in her apartment.

She’d accused his bodyguards of stealing from her apartment?

Why? His bodyguards were extremely well paid.

They worked long hours in difficult situations, were highly trained, and were loyal to a fault. He appreciated every damn one of them.

They wouldn’t steal. And they definitely wouldn’t steal minor items from Carys’s apartment. So what the hell had she meant by that statement?

“Amir!” he called out.

His head of security immediately stepped into Rafi’s office.

The guard didn’t respond with the usual “Yes, Your Highness” because he’d forbidden the use of his title when they weren’t on official business outside of Lativa.

It wasn’t a secret that he and his brother were princes.

It’s just that he and his family didn’t advertise the fact that they were members of the royal family when it wasn’t necessary.

“Yes, sir?” Amir inquired, his body language alert and ready for anything.

“You put a guard on Carys during the work day, correct?” Rafi asked, which was the question at the top of his mind.

“Yes, sir,” Amir replied. “She’s currently in her cubicle, working on the computer.” The man’s features softened. “She’s pretty angry, apparently.”

Rafi grunted acknowledgement. He didn’t care that Carys was angry. He was just so relieved that she was safe. However, the mystery of the thefts was an interesting question.

“Carys mentioned that someone had been in her apartment this weekend.”

“Yes, sir,” Amir replied with a slight nod of his head. “We picked the locks and took a look around, just as you requested. She wasn’t home, sir.”

Rafi fisted his hands on his hips. “She told me to stop stealing from her.”

The bodyguard tensed. “We took nothing from her apartment, sir.”

“I know,” Rafi replied, waving his hand in the air. “But Carys seemed certain that someone had stolen from her.”

The man’s eyes sharpened. “The only item of any value in her apartment is a television. But even that isn’t particularly valuable. It’s small and old.”

Rafi’s eyes narrowed as he considered that.

“She mentioned that the stolen items weren’t important but whatever had been taken was irritating.

Or annoying.” He sighed and sliced his hand through the air.

“I can’t remember her exact words.” Because he’d noticed her damn leather boots.

He pushed her leather boots, and how sexy they made her appear, out of his mind.

“Can you look into that? I can’t quite put my finger on why, but her comment worries me. ”

The man was nodding before Rafi even finished. “I’m on it, sir,” he agreed, and spun around on his heel. Rafi heard him muttering into a microphone in Arabic. His voice was low but demanding and Rafi turned, looking out the window again. Amir would get to the bottom of the odd thefts.

Then his mind returned to his favorite subject. What was Carys doing right now?