The Sheik's Jealous Princess(46)

And even worse, Shantra noticed that Laithir was leaning his shoulder against the wall as well, his strong fingers petting Janus as if they were old friends.

Linda and Julia glanced down at the shredded portrait, then up at Shantra who was still holding the knife. “What did you do?” Before Shantra could explain, she screeched with fury. “You stupid, ignorant idiot! You have no idea what you’ve just done!”

Shantra’s anger had dissipated with the knowledge that Laithir had witnessed her temper tantrum. She’d been wrong, she thought with horror. She’d let these women get under her skin to the point that she’d violently destroyed personal property.

Glancing behind Linda who looked like she was going to lose her mind as she bent down and picked up the shredded pieces of the painting, Shantra tried to figure out how disgusted and furious Laithir was at her actions. But as usual, his expression was completely blank. She had no idea what he was feeling or thinking.

When he pushed away from the wall, Shantra swallowed, knowing that this was probably the end. She’d lost her temper, she’d done something horribly rude and destructive, and she’d destroyed a precious memory.

“She slashed the painting,” Laithir told the nearly hysterical woman with a tone that said Shantra’s actions should be obvious.

Linda looked up from the painting, her eyes shooting daggers at Shantra. “You idiot!” Linda screamed. “You stupid, ridiculous, jealous idiot! You slashed the only painting of my precious Angela that existed!”

Laithir walked into the room and handed Janus back to the guard. He moved over to crouch lower so that Linda could see his eyes. “First of all, don’t ever speak to my wife with that tone of voice again, or I’ll have you thrown into prison for insulting a member of the royal family. What you say to Shantra, you say to me. And I will never allow anyone to speak to me with that tone of voice. Understand?” he said, with a tone that didn’t imply that there was any room to argue.

Linda’s mouth opened and closed, making her look a bit like a fish trying to gasp for water. “But she destroyed the painting of your beloved wife!” Her incensed gaze slashed back up to Shantra. “She knew that she could never measure up to Angela’s perfection,” she cried, those furious words practically spitting from her mouth.

Laithir’s shoulders tensed, obviously disgusted with the crazed woman. With his hands on his hips, he moved to stand in front of Shantra, protecting her from the vile words. “Angela was a drug addict and alcoholic who made life here in the palace miserable for everyone.”

Linda and Julia both gasped. Linda immediately shook her head. “She only took drugs because she was a sensitive person! She needed the crutch because the world was hard to deal with!”

Laithir rolled his eyes, not accepting that excuse. He’d heard it several times when he’d confronted Angela about her drug use, and he wasn’t going to allow Angela’s mother or sister to believe such a stupid idea. “She abused drugs to such an extent that she overdosed on them, killing herself, Linda. She wasn’t sensitive. She was a rude, inconsiderate woman, who drank from the moment she woke up in the morning until she started on cocaine in the afternoon and moved on to harder stuff in the evening.” Looking into Julia’s eyes, he shook his head. “Apparently, you’re following in your sister’s footsteps.” His fingers grabbed Julia’s chin, noticed the sheen to her eyes and pulled away as if he found her repulsive.

Turning to one of the guards, he said, “Arrest this woman, and have her tested for illegal drug use. If the tests turn up positive, search her rooms, find the drugs and store them as evidence, then have her incarcerated and prosecuted.”

“What?” Linda yelled, horrified for her other daughter, even as she tried lifting the torn pieces of the canvas, trying to save her dead daughter’s picture. “You can’t do that to Julia!”

Already, the guards were moving in, ignoring Julia’s screeches of outrage as her wrists were handcuffed behind her back. Several of the guards had already left to go search the woman’s rooms even while Julia was hauled away.

When Julia’s yelling was only a dull roar, Laithir moved closer to Linda who shrank backwards. “Are you telling me what I can and cannot do?” he said with a very low, very angry tone.

Linda bent backwards, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to backtrack. “Of course not, Laithir.”

“That’s ‘Your Highness’. You were never granted the right to use my first name. Ever since you helped Angela trick me into marrying her, you were dead in my eyes. And don’t ever say anything against my wife again. Her actions with the painting were what I would have done if I’d thought of it.”