The Sheikh's Crown (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

earlier than he normally would. He had a slight hangover from the night before, but dealing with the hangover and the lack of sleep was better than running into Jaymin and listening to the blasted man’s lecture on family responsibility. Massaging his temples, he grabbed a muffin and some coffee from the kitchen before heading down to the vaults. First and foremost, he needed to see that the collection was ready for the shipment next week, and second, he wanted to get another good look at the beautiful Samine.
    Instead, he found Bruce muttering over his computer.
    “You’re a hard worker for a thief,” Adil said casually as he watched the man.
    Bruce looked up sharply with a dark expression and scowled. “And you’re up early for a playboy,” he snapped. “Shouldn’t you be in bed with a woman or two? It’s not even noon.”
    “Touché,” Adil said mildly. “As I mentioned last night, I’m in charge of making sure the collection is shipped successfully, and Jaymin has made it quite clear that I won’t like the consequences if I fail. So that means that you are not allowed to fail. How long before the shipment is ready?”
    “Three weeks,” Bruce said. “You have some amazing stuff down here, but only a few of the pieces have been inspected, and none of it has been catalogued. It’s grouped from three different sites, which makes it a little easier to study, but it has to be dated for authenticity. Plus, there are the pieces your family has had in the vaults for years.”
    “Well, the whole collection isn’t going; it’s just certain handpicked pieces that the Louvre wants. All these priceless pieces and someone else gets to choose which is more beautiful.” Adil shook his head as he looked around at his family’s legacy. “Work on the pieces for the Louvre and worry about the rest later.” Adil lifted himself onto the table and stared at Bruce. The man didn’t move. “Well? Get to work.”
    Bruce cocked his head. “Are you going to help, or are you going to sit there and be in the way?”
    “I’m supervising. That means delegating. And I’m delegating everything to you,” Adil said as he bit into his muffin. The man didn’t actually think he was going to work, did he?
    “And by supervising, you mean hiring a woman with no experience to help? You do realize how much time we’re going to lose with me teaching her how to catalogue things into the system, right? If you really want this done on time, you’ll do more than just sit on your privileged ass. You’ll do something to help me,” Bruce snapped.
    Adil bristled. No one talked to him like that except family. He wasn’t about to share the importance of having the shipment go out on time with a thief. Part of him thought Jaymin would never go through with cutting him off, but part of him feared that his brother was serious. Begrudgingly, he shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth and hopped off the table. “Fine. Tell me what you want me to do.”
    Bruce handed him a stack of tags. “Make sure each of the items on that table there has one of these tied to it. Once I inspect it, I’ll mark everything down, and your reporter can catalogue it into the system. Where is she, by the way?”
    “I’m right here!” The feminine voice floated from the stairwell as the woman waved. Her hair was still pulled back, but she was in jeans and a brightly colored teal blouse. Huge earrings adorned her ears, and Adil frowned. The woman’s fashion sense seemed to run to the exotic. “Sorry, I got a little lost. The palace is so large, and I ended up on the wrong side of the building. Thankfully, security was around to show me the way.”
    After she bounded down the stairs, she turned in a full circle to view everything. “My God, this is amazing,” she said in a husky breath.
    Yes. Yes, it was. Adil eyed her as she turned, and his body immediately responded to her. She filled out those jeans perfectly, and her blouse showed just a hint of