SEDUCING HIS PRINCESS Read Free Page B

divide, but to obliterate it.”
    Kamal frowned. “You deal in extractions, containments and cleanups. Why send you to offer political solutions?”
    “I’m here on my own initiative because I’m the solution.”
    His declaration was met by an empty stare.
    Then Kamal drawled, “Strange. You seem quite solid.” Mohab chuckled at Kamal’s unexpected dry-as-tinder wit, drawing a rumble from Kamal. “I have zero tolerance for wastes of time. If you prove to be one, you will spend a few nights as an honored guest in my personal dungeon.”
    “Is this a way to talk to the man who can give you Jareer?”
    Kamal clamped his arm. “ Kaffa monawaraat wa ghomood... enough evasions and ambiguity. Explain, and fast, or...”
    “Put down your threats. I am here to mend our kingdoms’ relations, and there’s nothing I want more than to accomplish that as fast as possible.”
    “ Zain. You have ten minutes.”
    “Twenty.” Before Kamal blasted him, Mohab preempted him. “ Don’t say fifteen.”
    Kamal’s gaze lengthened. “As an only child you missed out on having an older sibling kick your ass in your formative years. I’m close to rectifying your deficiency.”
    Mohab grinned. “Think you can take me on, King Kamal?”
    “Definitely.”
    And Mohab believed it. Kamal wasn’t a pampered royal depending on others’ service and protection. This man was a warrior first and foremost. That he’d chosen to fight in the boardroom and now in the world’s political arenas didn’t mean he wouldn’t be as effective on an actual battlefield.
    Before Mohab made a rejoinder, the king turned and crossed his expansive stateroom to the sitting area. Mohab suspected it was to hide a smile so as not to acknowledge this affinity that had sprung up between them.
    Kamal resumed speaking as soon as Mohab took a seat across from him. “So why do you think you can give me Jareer...when I already have it, Sheikh Prince Solution?”
    A laugh burst out of Mohab’s depths. That clinched it. He didn’t care that other people thought Kamal scary or boorish. To him, the guy was just plain rocking fun.
    Kamal’s lips twisted in response, but didn’t lift.
    “There is no law prohibiting an Aal Masood from smiling at an Aal Ghaanem, you know.”
    Kamal’s lips pursed instead. “I may issue one prohibiting just that. The way you’re going, you might end up making the dispute between Judar and Saraya even more...insoluble.”
    Mohab sighed. “So...Jareer, euphemistically referred to as our kingdoms’ contested region... ”
    “ And currently known as our kingdoms’ future war zone, ” Kamal finished.
    Not if Mohab managed to resolve this.
    Jareer used to be under Saraya’s rule. But the past few Sarayan monarchs had had no foresight. They’d centralized everything, neglecting then abandoning outlying regions. Jareer, on the border with Judar, had always been considered useless, because it lacked resources, and traitorous, because its citizens were akin to “enemy sympathizers.” So when Judar had laid claim to Jareer, with its people’s welcome, Mohab’s grandfather, King Othman, had considered it good riddance.
    But when Mohab’s uncle, King Hassan, sat on Saraya’s throne, he’d reignited old conflicts with Judar. His favorite crusade had been reclaiming Jareer. Not because he’d suspected its future importance, but to spite the region’s inhabitants—and because he wanted more reasons to fight the Aal Masoods.
    Then, two months ago, oil had been discovered in Jareer. Now the situation had evolved from an idle conflict between two monarchs to a struggle over limitless wealth and power. In a war between the two kingdoms, Saraya would be decimated for generations to come.
    Only Mohab had the power to stop this catastrophe. Theoretically. There was still the possibility that Kamal would hear his proposition and reward his audacity by throwing him in that personal dungeon before wiping Saraya off the face of the earth.
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