The Prince’s Forbidden Lover(2)

“Your friends?” Ramzi demanded, his hand tightening on his wife’s fingers. “What are they to you?” Since no one in the family had ever met them, he didn’t like them. His little sister talked about them all the time but this was the first time they’d ventured into the lion’s den, so to speak. Shantra had always been the one to visit them.

Shantra laughed softly and waved her hand in the air, dismissing her brother’s obvious concerns. “Nothing like what you’re thinking.” She turned to face Rais. “And if you promise to keep your hands off of Jo during this visit, I promise to keep Keith away from you.”

Startled at the idea of him trying to keep his hands off of some guy, Rais chuckled and lifted both of his hands into the air. “I doubt that will be a problem,” he replied over the muffled amusement of his older two brothers. “Why in the world would you think that would even be an issue?”

“Good!” Shantra walked over to the drink cart and poured herself a glass of scotch, shocking all three of her brothers when she didn’t choose wine. “They are arriving early tomorrow morning and I want the three of you to be on your best behavior.” Turning to Ramzi, she glared at him. “No intimidating my friends!” she told him firmly.

Ramzi rolled his eyes. “When do I ever intimidate anyone?” he asked.

“All the time!” Shantra replied.

Ramzi looked down at his wife who was nodding her head in agreement. He sighed as if he was severely put out. “Fine! I’ll be nice!”

Shantra turned to look at Turk. “And you?”

Turk shook his head, refusing to bow down to his little sister’s glare. She was the youngest and most naive. He was going to protect her even if that meant he had to protect her from herself. “I’ll reserve judgement until I meet them.”

Shantra thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. “That’s not good enough!” she told him and walked over to stand in front of him. “You’re the Minister of Defense. Their names have already gone through your security team’s crazy background checks and they came out fine. Don’t hurt my friends’ feelings, Turk!”

Rais chuckled as he watched his baby sister and his older brother face off. Shantra rarely came out of these little head-to-head confrontations a winner, but she was getting a bit more feisty lately and he wasn’t sure why. “You’re very protective of these two. Why is that?”

Shantra bristled at his condescending tone of voice. “I need your assurance that you’ll be kind as well.” She relinquished her face off with Turk and walked over to stand in front of Rais, her eyes pleading for his cooperation. “Jo is in charge of a very important business while Keith manages the social aspect of that business and runs the factories,” she explained carefully. “Neither of them are in your league. You have no idea how cruel you can be when you get into your ‘beat-every-competitor’ mode, Rais. And I don’t want you pulling it on Keith and Jo. They’re not experienced enough to take you on.”

He shrugged one massive shoulder, unconcerned with casualties when it came to business. He was the Minister of Finance for Kilar, and he was also in charge of ensuring the family’s continued prosperity. He took both roles very seriously and played to win. “People shouldn’t be in business if they don’t have the skills to handle it,” he came back.

Her eyes begged him to hold back on his win-at-all-costs attitude. “I’m asking you, as a personal favor to me, to be very nice to them.” She turned to her other brothers. “All of you.”

Ramzi and Turk lifted their hands. “We’ve already agreed.”

Rais shook his head. “I make no promises. If I think they are a threat, I will destroy them.”

Shantra shivered. “You’re a bad man,” she told him, turning away. “But I’m not concerned. Jo and Keith are both very sweet and they won’t be any threat. Just you wait and see.” She plopped down in her chair. The conversation changed at that point and the visitors were pushed out of each siblings’ mind as the dinner progressed.

The following morning, Shantra was pacing back and forth at the palace entrance, wringing her hands together as she worriedly waited for her friends to arrive.

She’d already had the servants make up the best guest rooms for her friends, warned her brothers to be kind and organized afternoon tea with Ciala as well as both of her sisters-in-law, Mia and Raven, to help ease her friends’ anxiety over staying at the palace.

This was their first trip to Kilar and she didn’t want it to be the last. She wanted everything to be perfect so they would feel comfortable here, so they would come back. It was becoming more and more difficult to get away and meet them in various cities. She worried that her brothers might get the stupid idea in their heads that she should be married off. And then what was she supposed to do?