Sheikh’s False Fiancée: Sheikhs Pact, #1

By Leslie North

When it comes to royal affairs, deception always leads to temptation…

 

When a rival prince tries to force travel vlogger Nadia into marriage, the handsome and gallant Sheikh Amare Nazar is compelled to intervene. It's clear this beautiful American is in way over her head. If they can just pretend they're engaged, Amare can protect her and avoid angering his powerful rival. But there's no avoiding the attraction he feels towards Nadia.

 

Nadia is a bit freaked out by the fake engagement, but she trusts Amare, and knows he would never force her to do anything she didn't want to. And it doesn't hurt that he's the sexiest man she's ever laid eyes on. She'll be his fiancée for as long as it takes—and it gives her time to write her travel book. With Amare as her personal tour guide, their relationship quickly becomes more personal than either planned.

 

But when a mistake from her past threatens the bond between them, Nadia is left wondering... Is their attraction real? Or is it all just another deception...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Relay Publishing
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201075651

Book preview

1

Nadia was going to lose her mind.

The room she paced was nice enough. Dark paneled walls surrounded a cozy sitting area with two antique chairs and a sofa in rose-colored fabric. The furniture was quite comfortable, if a person had time to sit down, which Nadia had. She had been locked in this room for four hours. Maybe five. She’d watched the sunset through a set of tall windows. Both of them were nailed shut. Nadia had no hope of climbing down, and her heart climbed up and up as her nerves stretched thin.

It had obviously been a mistake to hand over her cell phone. She’d come to the palace in Larasan for a few reasons. First, it was a palace, and the three hundred thousand subscribers to her YouTube channel loved palaces. Second, Sheikh Haatim was hosting a summit of the regional leaders. And third, he’d agreed to be interviewed. Her plan had been perfect on paper: content for her channel and an in-depth interview for her book.

In reality, she had become a prisoner. Hopefully a temporary one.

Her phone had been taken by a security guard when she’d entered the palace. For security reasons, he’d said. She could conduct her interview with pen and paper, and her phone would be returned when she left.

All perfectly reasonable.

And then a maid had given her a tour of the palace. The tour itself had been perfunctory, but she’d caught a glimpse of Haatim crossing a hallway ahead of them. He’d given her a look. One that said, She’s pretty. I’ll keep her.

Which would have only been mildly creepy, except then another maid had pulled her tour guide aside and whispered in her ear. The tour abruptly changed directions and had ended here, in this room.

With the door locked from the outside.

All in all, it wasn’t great.

A different maid had taken pity on her and let her use her phone to send an SOS message to Samira, Nadia’s one royal friend in the world. Her older brother was the sheikh of Kirisil, basically a king. Samira wasn’t at the summit, but she’d have more sway with Haatim, hopefully.

That had been hours ago.

Nadia did one last loop around the room and weighed her options for the hundredth time. She could get herself out, or—

No. Or nothing. She had to get out.

First things first. Nadia went to her purse on the sofa and dumped it out. There—two bobby pins. It had been, what, ten years since she’d picked a lock? Didn’t matter. She knew how, and she was so grateful that her grandfather had taught her a few things on her first trip to Ukraine. Nadia swept the contents of her purse back into the bag and slung it over her shoulder. Best to have it with her if she managed to get the door open.

She knelt by the door with her bobby pins and jiggled them in the lock. Two soft clicks, but no dice. Her heart thumped faster. One big, deep breath couldn’t steady her trembling hands. Nadia went back in with the pins anyway.

This time, the lock did what it was supposed to do. The tumblers opened. Her panicked breath whooshed out of her. Nadia scrambled up from the carpet and shoved the bobby pins deep into her purse. What had she been thinking, giving up her phone? She should have turned around and walked out when the security guard held out his hand for it. She should never have let the promise of an interview lull her into a false sense of security. That was rule number one for traveling alone—never put yourself at a disadvantage. She’d broken that rule today.

Nadia straightened her back and reached for the doorknob. She pulled the door open, swift and clean, no hesitation. In the hall she made a right, then another one. A few more turns, and she’d be at the front entrance. Her pace quickened as she approached another corner, went around, and—

Oof. Ran headlong into the muscled torso of a tall, trim man in an impeccably fitting suit. Nadia swallowed a shout, her pulse drumming in her ears. She was caught. He put out a hand to steady her, and disappointment trickled down her back like cold water.

But the man in the hallway smiled. Moonlight cut through one of the palace windows and slashed across his face. He was gorgeous, this man. Nadia had a thing for neatly trimmed beards, and this man had one…plus his build, which made her hungry to touch him. The way he stood, all power and grace and control...

Nadia. He increased the pressure on her arm, drawing her closer to the wall. The hallway remained empty. Her path had brought her to a less-traveled wing, clearly. The handsome man put a hand to his chest. I’m Amare. My sister Samira sent me a message asking me to see if I could find you.

Oh. Oh. Her brother, the sheikh. Who had taken over just two years ago, when their father had died.

He looked over his shoulder. I was just coming to find you. I have a plan to take you with me when I leave the summit in the morning. I’ll explain while I walk you back to your bedroom.

Relief swept over her, but she didn’t have a bedroom. She wasn’t technically a guest in the palace, unless Haatim had made other plans. In which case, he shouldn’t have locked her in that sitting room all afternoon.

Nadia opened her mouth to tell him, but Amare propelled her into motion alongside him. They rounded one corner.

Wait, I—

Her hipbone collided with something hard. Nadia yelped at the spike of pain and caught a glimpse of a moving shadow.

No. Not a shadow. A vase, tumbling off the table she’d just run into. It crashed to the floor, the echo chasing her yelp down the hall.

They both froze, and Nadia bit back a frustrated sound. Why hadn’t she been looking? Why hadn’t she memorized the location of every table in this palace? That would have been the smartest thing to do, second only to not coming here in the first place.

Lights flickered on at the far end of the hall. Someone had heard.

Trust me. Okay? Amare met her gaze, his question repeated in his dark eyes.

Nadia barely had time to nod before Sheikh Haatim and an entourage of staff poured into the hall, practically surrounding them. She hadn’t seen Haatim up close before, just that glimpse from earlier. He was handsome enough. Unlike Amare, he had a full beard, and his eyes glinted in a way that made her think run.

Amare, he boomed. What are you doing alone with my wife-to-be?

Those three words hit her like three rocks through glass windows. Wife. To. Be. She couldn’t breathe. Wife? Is that why he’d her locked in a room in his palace? So he could convince the world that he’d taken her as a wife?

Barbarian, Amare muttered, his voice so low that only she could hear it. Her heart settled into a recognizable rhythm. If Amare wasn’t taking Haatim seriously, then this could still turn out for the best. Her rescuer lifted his chin. There’s been a mistake.

Haatim’s expression darkened. His hands fisted. Was he going to punch Amare? Sheikhs didn’t brawl. Not as far as she knew, anyway.

There hasn’t been any mistake in my house. I don’t make mistakes. His jaw worked. Kirisil will pay for this insult. Trade sanctions to begin with. He stabbed two fingers in Nadia’s direction. "And the girl—jailed. For her betrayal and for indecency. Being alone with you—I’m shocked, Amare, that you would disregard our laws and—"

Of course I did not mean to offend. Amare’s words were appeasing but his tone was forceful, and it cut directly across Haatim’s speech. A prickling sensation ran down Nadia’s spine. Amare seemed so regal. She should have expected it. He was the sheikh, after all. But up until this moment she’d only thought of him in vague terms, as Samira’s older brother. "But you’ve mistaken my fiancée for an available woman."

Fiancée?

Nadia kept her lips pressed close together, though the question threatened to burst out of her. Two other men pushed their way to the front of the crowd, each one as gorgeous as Amare.

The one who stood closest had sharp green eyes that stood out in the lamplight. He chuckled. "She’s not available. He stood at Amare’s side. Not since his proposal."

Amare, it was on a yacht in the Persian Gulf, correct? The other man cut in easily, as if this were a story they’d rehearsed many times. They had to be friends of Amare. He gave her a diamond the size of her fist, and—

Amare cut him off with a disapproving hiss. My apologies, Haatim, for the misunderstanding. Nadia’s chaperone should have kept a closer eye. She’ll be receiving an official reprimand, I can assure you.

Haatim looked between Nadia and Amare with narrowed eyes. No announcement?

There hasn’t been time. A whirlwind romance. Amare waved a hand as if he were brushing the whole business aside. My fiancée hasn’t had much time to adjust to her new role. There will be consequences for her misbehavior.

Haatim nodded, his face giving up some of its tension...but not all of it. What an unfortunate misunderstanding, he offered. And at the end of such a productive day.

Amare agreed, and the two men backed away from the standoff. Haatim took his entourage and left. Amare gave his friends a pointed look, and they followed with the rest. As soon as the others were out of sight, Amare put his hand back on Nadia’s arm. And now we make our exit.

The summit’s not over until tomorrow. Thank God for that. If it had ended any earlier, Amare wouldn’t have been in a position to help her. She might actually have been caught by Haatim’s people in the hallway. You don’t have to leave just because—

A man in a dark suit came around the corner at a fast clip, and Amare put up a hand in greeting.

My bodyguard, he told Nadia, taking out his phone. He tapped out a text message, then pocketed the phone again. Let’s get our things, and we can leave.

Nadia gripped her purse strap. This is all I have. It pained her to leave her phone behind, but she wasn’t willing to delay her escape or risk further antagonizing Haatim by asking for it back.

They moved quickly through the halls of the palace. Dark paneling was made darker by the night. Nadia