“I am emir.”
“Exactly.”
“You do not think a ruler can be kind?”
“Kind isn’t the same as nice and you’re not ruler yet, are you?”
“As emir I have many ruling responsibilities.” Which were supposed to increase tenfold when he became melech after his wedding to Tahira.
A wedding that wasn’t going to take place now, not after she’d eloped with a man a year her junior and significant levels beneath her in status.
“Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“I’m not sure.” She looked at him like he was supposed to explain the conversation to her.
“You’re smashed.”
“And you want to be.”
“You’re guessing.”
“My brain may be fuzzy, but it’s still working.”
“Yes?”
“You guessed I wanted a private place to drink because you do, too.”
“That’s succinct reasoning for a woman who probably couldn’t walk a straight line.”
“I’d prefer not to try walking at all right now, thanks.” She waved a surprisingly elegant hand.
“I’ll get my own drink, then.”
She made a sound like a snort, putting a serious dent in any semblance to elegance. “You were expecting me to do it?”
“Naturally.” He failed to see why that should cause her so much amusement.
But his response was met with tipsy laughter. “You really have the entitlement thing down, don’t you?”
“Is it not your job to serve me?” He dropped ice in a glass and poured a shot’s worth of ouzo over it.
“You wanted to make this official?”
“What? No, of course not.” He found himself taking a seat beside her on the sofa rather than settling into one of the armchairs. “You will tell no one of this.”
She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. “What is it with rich, powerful men assuming I have to be told that? Believe it or not, I don’t need anyone knowing I was caught getting sloshed in a guest’s room.”
The mental eye roll was as palpable as if she’d done it with her glittery green gaze.
“Tahira won’t need it.” Not the room and not the liquor she’d ordered for her rooms. The words came out more pragmatic than bitter, surprising him.
Sayed might be undeniably enraged at Tahira’s lack of commitment to duty, her deceptions and her timing, but it was equally undeniable that he felt no emotional reaction to her elopement with another man.
“That worked out conveniently for both of us.”
That was drunken logic for you. “I would not be here if she had kept her promises,” he pointed out.