The Prince’s Forbidden Lover(34)

“She’s flying to London tomorrow,” Rais corrected.

Shantra blinked but she shouldn’t be so surprised that her brother knew the whereabouts of Joline. When Rais set his mind to something, he didn’t let anything get in his way. That didn’t negate the fact that she was more than a little jealous that Rais knew more about what Joline was doing than she did. For years, Shantra, Joline and Keith had been inseparable, confiding in each other about everything. If Rais and Joline really did have a strong connection with each other, it was only right that Joline would start confiding to Rais now.

That didn’t make it easier to take though.

Looking up at her big, huge brother, she knew that he rarely concerned himself with other people’s feelings outside of his family. He went through the business world as if he owned it. And in most cases, he did!

But he didn’t own Joline. She was courageous and defiant when it came to authority. Not to mention, there was that issue with her mother that Shantra had never fully understood. Joline hadn’t really had a mother growing up and, no matter how much Joline said her mother’s actions didn’t bother her, Shantra suspected that simply wasn’t true. Joline wanted a mother figure, she wanted that loving-no-matter-what kind of relationship. “You’ll be gentle with her, right?” she asked of her brother, standing right in front of him, so that she could tell if he was being sincere or callous about one of her best friends.”

Rais could tell that this was very important to his little sister. They might be several years apart in age, and even further apart in temperament, but she was his sister and he loved her. “I’ll be very careful not to hurt her in any way. Will that suffice?” he asked her.

Shantra grimaced. “The thing is, I’ve seen the way Ramzi and Turk fell in love with Mia and Raven.”

“And?” he asked, remembering those stressful periods in his brothers’ lives with fondness. Not so much now that he was in their position though. “What do you think will happen to your friend?”

Shantra hesitated with her next question, but she had to ask it anyway. “Do you love her?” she asked quietly so that the others wouldn’t hear.

Rais was stumped by that question. Did he love Joline? He wanted her, definitely. With an intensity that he’d never experienced before. And he wanted her in his life. Forever. He wanted the right to protect her and give her his name. But was that love? He had no idea what love was with someone outside of his immediately family. “I have very strong feelings for her,” he finally said.

Shantra waited, wishing that he would admit more. But she also knew that her brothers weren’t very open about their feelings. She suspected that Rais admitting even that much was hugely significant. “I’ll take it,” she told him and wrapped her arms around him with a big hug.

Rais hugged his little sister back, astounded by her ability to show her affection. She was so open about everything. If Shantra was happy, she bounced around, excited and eager for everyone around her to be happy as well. If she was sad, she hid away from the world but didn’t hesitate to try and fix her world. And if she was angry…get out of her way.

He suspected that Joline was similar, although not nearly as blatant about her emotions. He also suspected that she was holding back for some reason. He wanted to know all about her and understand her. He wanted all of her, her emotions, her feelings, her happiness and her anger. He was determined to figure her out. “Does this mean you’ll explain Joline to me?”

Shantra pulled back and smoothed her red and green dress down over her hips. It fell like an artistic waterfall over her body. “Absolutely not.”

Rais recognized the dress as one that had been hanging in Joline’s store. “Why?”

Shantra laughed. “Because I know Joline. I know that, once she trusts you enough to tell you about…herself…well, then you’ve won her trust and so much more. But you’re going to have to work for it. Joline doesn’t trust many people. I’m one that she does trust and I’d never break her confidence and betray her by telling anyone…anything.”

Rais watched his baby sister walk away, more intrigued than ever. Just as he suspected that Joline had hidden depths to her, which had just been confirmed by his little sister, he also suspected that Shantra had a bit more to her personality than the flighty woman that spent most of her time shopping so that she could wear a different outfit every day.

He told himself to discuss Shantra and Ciala with Ramzi and Turk at the first opportunity. He was wondering if letting them drift through life as they had been for the past several years was possibly not the best course of action.