Sheikh's Ex-Girlfriend (Khayyam Sheikh Series #1) Read Free

her. It might be too much, or it might simply break her heart once and be done with it.
    Emmaline came to sit next to her, offering her a very welcome hug. They were a year apart in age, but they were similar enough to be twins. They were closer than many siblings; they were best friends.
    “I want you to be careful,” Emmaline said seriously.
    Ella laughed. “What should I be careful with?”
    Emmaline shrugged, but she didn't smile. “Everything, but especially your heart.”
    ***
    Emmaline's words rang in Ella's ears a week later when her plane touched down at the airport in Khayyam. She was walking past the newsstand when a certain picture caught her eye. The dark gaze, chiseled face, the slight quirk to his lips—she would recognize Nasim anywhere. It was the headline that surprised her.
    Sheikh Nasim Bakkal Returns from Trade Endeavors in Paris …
    Sheikh? She knew that there was only one man in the entire country who could lay claim to that title, and when she had left, Nasim had been that man's youngest brother. What had happened?
    She steeled herself against picking up the newspaper and walked on. If he was the sheikh, even better. That meant that there would be even less chance of the two of them meeting in the same circles.
    Her apartment was a charming little set of rooms in the Old Quarter, the most antique part of the city. It had a reputation for a bit of roughness, but she was charmed by the people selling food on the streets, the small restaurants, and of course by the little bookshop on the corner. Her office was directly below with her apartment just above it.
     As she threw the windows to her room open, she looked out over what she could see of the city. The last of her doubts melted away, and she smiled.
    “Here I am,” she murmured. “Here I am.”

Chapter 3
    The antiques fair was fascinating, and it was just the perfect antidote to her first challenging week. In addition to getting her home set up, Ella had dived into the work her publisher had assigned her. She had worked with the local stores and agents, looking to get new talent flowing. It might be a few weeks yet, but when people realized that there was a new publisher on the ground, she knew that she was going to be swamped.
    She expected to receive the general run of standard submissions, but littered throughout them would be the work from those who were truly passionate, those who were dedicated to their craft and deserved a chance to shine. Those were the people she was waiting for.
    The fair was hosted close to the city center, and it covered some four city blocks. She could wander from diamond salesmen with heavy security to women with their blankets spread out, selling old sabers and camel whips. She flipped through the bins of old books, she picked up a skewer of roasted lamb to eat as she moved, and she enjoyed the day, seeking the shade when the sun grew too hot.
    I think I'm finally finding my feet here, she thought happily, when she heard her name being called.
    For a moment, she didn't even think to turn her head. After all, who in the world knew her here yet? Then the call came again, and she turned, a heavy weight in her stomach.
    It wasn't Nasim, but it was bad enough.
    Marid was taller and slimmer than Nasim, but there was an arresting quality about him. Dressed casually in jeans and a perfect white T-shirt, Marid could have been any other fashionable young man making his way through the town, but she knew that he was a sheikh, a man of enormous wealth and power. Even more frighteningly right now, she knew that he was Nasim's best friend.
    “I thought that was you!” he exclaimed, walking up to her. “I am glad you turned around, otherwise I would be afraid that you were dead and that I had seen a ghost.”
    Ella found a smile tugging at her lips. After all, it was very hard to dislike Marid.  “Hello, Marid. I'm happy to see you.”
    “Likewise. What brings you to Dalal?”
    She hesitated, and then shrugged. It