The Sheikh's Contract Bride: Theirs was an ancient debt, and the time had come to settle it... (The Sheikhs' Brides Book 1) by Clare Connelly

Author:Clare Connelly [Connelly, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-01-02T18:30:00+00:00

* * *

“You are lost in thought, Violet.”

She blinked and lifted her gaze to Adin’s face. “I’m sorry.” She scanned the board and moved her knight forward, knowing full well it was an ill-conceived manoeuvre and not able to care.

“You are distracted today.”

Four weeks after her wedding and chess with Adin had become something of a regular affair. Most afternoons she found herself in his room, labouring over which piece to move where. It was a bittersweet occasion, for it reminded her sharply of similar times spent with her own grandfather.

“I met your sister this morning.”

Violet startled. “You did?”

“Mmm.” A grumbling sound that came out almost as a cough. “She came to plead her case to me.”

A smile tickled Violet’s lips, but deep down, she was far from amused. The argument they’d had the day before had been their worst yet, culminating in Violet removing Lilly’s mobile phone and instructing her servants she wasn’t to access the internet. Though she’d been loathe to take it so far, discovering more unsuitable photographs on her phone and emails back and forth with Simon had made her feel that surely she had no choice?

“Her case?”

“Oh, yes. Very –,” he broke off to cough and she waited, her eyes settled on the board, calculating their next options. “Very eloquent,” he said, reaching for his water and drinking it sparingly. “She complained most skilfully on her plight and begged me to prevail upon you to see reason.” He coughed once more. “Apparently you have restricted her communication with anyone but her servants.”

Violet nodded. “I have blocked her from using the internet.” Her cheeks flushed as she began to feel an unflattering kinship with a tyrannical dictator. “It wasn’t a decision I took lightly.”

“And she tells me she would like to petition to be removed from your guardianship.”

Violet shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry you were bothered by her.”

“On the contrary, I found it all very entertaining. Apparently she is under the impression that it is I who wields the power in Kalastan and not your husband.”

“Don’t tell her that or she’ll run straight to Zahir,” Violet moaned, only half-joking.

Adin slid his King into a safe-hold and Violet read several moves ahead, to where he would check mate her if she didn’t immediately subvert him.

“What is it?” He fell back against his pillows, his intelligent eyes locking to her face.

Violet lifted her fingers to a pawn and then dropped them again, mirroring his image but leaning backwards in her chair. “Oh, Adin.” She had long ago been ordered not to call him Sir or Your Highness. “She is going to be the death of me.”

“She is very like Efani,” Adin murmured. “Just as pig-headed and arrogant.”

Surprise shot Violet’s brows skyward. “I thought you two were the best of friends.”

Adin’s laugh was punctured by air. “I would have forfeited my life for his in an instant, true. But he was a son of a bitch to argue with. Always had to have it his way. Only ever gave in to Sophie.

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