Diamond in the Desert(26)

       
           



       

'There is a problem,' he said, holding her stony gaze trapped in his.

'Oh?' She felt for the wall behind her as wasted emotions dragged her  down. She could fix her mind all she liked on being tough and  determined, and utterly sure about where she wanted this to go, but when  she saw him-when she saw those concerns she couldn't know about  furrowing his brow and drawing cruel lines down each side of his  mouth-she wanted to reach out to him.

She wanted to help him, and, even more than that, she wanted to stand  back to back with Sharif to solve every problem they came across, and  she wanted him to feel the same way she did.

'I've had to make some changes to my plans.'

'Trouble in Kareshi?' she guessed.

'A troublesome relation who was banished from the kingdom has returned  in my absence and is trying to rally support amongst the bullies who  still remain. It's a basic fight between a brighter modern future for  all and a return to the dark days of the past when a privileged few  exploited the majority. I must return. I promised my people that they  would never be at the mercy of bullies again, and it's a promise I  intend to keep.'

Sharif really did have the weight of the world on his shoulders. 'What  can I do?' Britt said. Whatever had led them to this place was  irrelevant compared to so many lives in jeopardy.

'I need your agreement to stay on here. I need you to do my job for me  while I'm away. I need you to ease the transition so that no one worries  about change unnecessarily. Will you do that for me, Britt?'

Sharif needed her. The people here needed her. And if he didn't need  her in the way she had hoped he would, she still couldn't turn her back  on him, let alone turn her back on the other people she cared about.

'I really need you to do this for me, Britt.'

Her heart hammered violently as Sharif came closer to make his point,  but he maintained some distance between them, and she respected that.  Her heart responded. Her soul responded. She could no more refuse this  man than she could turn and walk away from her duties here. But there  was one thing she did have to know. 'Am I doing this for you, or for the  consortium?'

'You're doing it for yourself, and for your people, Britt, and for what  this company means to them. Hold things together for me until I get  back and we can get this diamond project properly under way and then  you'll see the benefits for both our people.'

'How long will you be away?' The words were out before she could stop  them, and she hated herself for asking, but then reassured herself that,  as this concerned business, she had to know.

'A month, no more, I promise you that.'

The tension grew and then she said, 'I noticed a lot of new people were here when I arrived. Will you introduce me?'

Sharif visibly relaxed. 'Thank you, Britt,' he said. 'The people you  saw are people I trust. People I hope you will learn to trust. They  moved in with the approval of your lawyers and with your own financial  director alongside them to smooth the path-'

'Of your consortium's takeover of my family's company,' she said ruefully.

'Of our necessary intervention,' Sharif amended. 'I hope I can give you  cause to change your mind,' he said when he saw her expression. 'This  is going to be good for all of us, Britt-and you of all people must know  there's no time to waste. Winter in the Arctic is just around the  corner, which will make the preliminary drilling harder, if not  impossible, so I need your firm answer now.'

'I'll stay,' she said quietly. 'Of course, I'll stay.'

How ironic it seemed that Sharif was battling to keep her on. He was  right, though, she could handle anything the business threw at her, but  when it came to her personal life she was useless. She had no  self-belief, no courage, no practice in playing up to men, or making  them see her as a woman who hurt and cared and loved and worried that  she would never be good enough to deserve a family of her own to love,  and a partner with whom she shared everything

'And when you come back?' she said.

'You can stay or not, as you please. You can still have an involvement  in the company, but you could travel, if that's what you want to do. I  have business interests in Kareshi that you are welcome to look over.'

A sop for her agreement, she thought. But a welcome one-if a little  daunting for someone whose life had always revolved around Skavanga.  'I'd be like you then, always travelling.'

'And always returning home,' Sharif said with a shrug. 'What can I tell  you, Britt? If you want responsibility there is no easy way. You should  know that. You have to take everything that comes along.'                       
       
           



       

'And when Tyr comes home?'

'I'm not sure that your brother has any interest in the business-beyond saving it.'

She flushed at misjudging her brother when she should have known that Tyr would have all their best interests at heart.

'And now I've got a new contract of employment for you-'

'You anticipated my response.' But she went cold. Was she so easy to  read? If she was, Sharif must know how hopelessly entangled her heart  was with his.

Sharif gave nothing away as he uncapped his pen. 'Your lawyers have  given it the once-over,' he explained. 'You can read their letter. I've  got it here for you. I'll leave you in private for a few moments.'

She picked it up as Sharif shut the door behind him. Her nerves were  all on edge as she scanned the contents of the letter. 'This is the best  solution,' jumped out at her. So be it. She drew a steadying breath,  knowing there wasn't time for personal feelings. There never had been  time. She had consistently fooled herself about that where Sharif was  concerned.

Walking to the door, she asked the first person she saw to witness her  signature and two minutes later it was done. She issued a silent apology  to her ancestors. This was no longer a family firm. She worked for the  consortium now like everyone else at Skavanga Mining.

Sharif returned and saw her face. 'You haven't lost anything, Britt. You've only gained from this.'

That remained to be seen, she thought, remembering Sharif leaving her in Kareshi and again at the cabin.

'I left a message for you in Kareshi,' he said as if picking up on  these thoughts. 'Didn't you get it? The women? Didn't they come to find  you?' he added as she slowly shook her head.

And then she remembered the women trying to speak to her before she  left. She'd been in too much of a hurry to spare the time for them.  'They did try to speak to me,' she admitted.

'But you didn't give them chance to explain?' Sharif guessed. 'Like you  I never walk away from responsibility, Britt. You should know I would  always get a message to you somehow.'

And he was actually paying her a compliment leaving Skavanga Mining in  her care. It was a compliment she would gladly park in favour of hearing  Sharif tell her that he couldn't envisage life without her-

How far must this self-delusion go before she finally got it into her  head that whatever had happened between them in the past was over?  Sharif had clearly moved on to the next phase of his life. Why couldn't  she?

'Welcome on board, Britt.'

She stared at his outstretched hand, wondering if she dared touch it.  She was actually afraid of what she might feel. She sought refuge as  always in business. 'Is that it?' she said briskly, turning to go. 'I  really should put my sisters out of their misery.'

'They already know what's going on.'

'You told them?'

'Like you, I didn't want them to worry, so I told them what was happening and sent them home.'

'You don't take any chances, do you, Sharif?' She stared into the dark,  unreadable eyes of the man who had briefly been her lover and who was  now her boss.

'Never,' he confirmed.

A wave of emotion jolted her as she walked to the door. Sharif's voice stopped her. 'Don't leave like this,' he said.

She turned her face away from him, unwilling to meet his all-seeing  stare. The last thing she wanted now was to break down in front of him.  Sharif must be given no reason to think she wasn't tough enough to  handle the assignment he had tasked her with.

'Britt,' he ground out, his mouth so close to her ear. 'Please. Listen to me-'

She tried to make a joke of it and almost managed to huff a laugh as  she wrangled herself free. 'I think I've listened to you enough, don't  you?'

'You don't get it, do you?' he said. 'I'm doing this for you-I rushed  here for you-to save the company. This isn't just for the consortium.  Yes, of course we'll benefit from it, but I wanted to save your company  for you. Can't you see that? Why else would I leave my country when  there's trouble brewing?'

'I don't know,' she said, shaking her head. 'Everything's happened so  fast, I just don't know what to think. I only know I don't understand  you.'

'I think you do. I think you understand me very well.'

She would not succumb to Sharif's dark charm. She would not weaken now.  The urge to soften against him was overpowering, but if she did that  she was lost. She might as well pack up her job and agree to be Sharif's  mistress for as long as it amused the Black Sheikh. 'I need to go home  and see my sisters.'