The Sheikh's Forbidden Jewel

Part 2 - Chapter 1

She sensed his arrival  before she even saw him.

"That's him! Game on!"

Georgina didn't need her brother Alex's frantic whisper to know their target had swept through the doors. His name ran around the gallery, from mouth to mouth, the silky syllables hissing like a threat. Or a promise. Idriss.

Sheikh Idriss Al-Makudi.

Every fibre of her being screamed at her: he's here. Watch out. Danger. Her heart was already racing.

"Georgina, are you OK?"

She glanced at Alex's anxious face and pasted a smile on her lips.

"Sure. I'll just go up to him and ask him if he's stolen our inheritance. What could be easier?"

Her brother dragged a hand through his blond hair, back and forth, until it stuck out at odd angles.

"I know it's a tough one. But jeez, Georgina, Uncle Percy left us the Iron Star in his will. And now that guy over there has it. We have to get the Star back. It's worth millions."

Trust Alex to see everything in black and white. With himself on the side of the angels, of course. Georgina noted her baby brother's haunted eyes, and bit back her smart retort. If only he were a better gambler. Their father would disinherit him if he found out the extent of his debts.

"Launch a search party if I'm not back in half an hour," she said, and plunged through the shimmering throng, heading for the tall silhouette that dominated the room. How he'd grown. But of course he'd only been fifteen when she'd last seen him. The lanky teenager had morphed into a six-foot-two tower of a man. She could only see his powerful back, and his hair, so black the light shone blue on the silky curls.

He turned his head.

Oh. My.

The dark gaze locked onto hers, and glided all the way down to her core. Her mind emptied. Nothing existed except him, and the electricity that seemed to crackle across the room, from his body to hers. She remembered the sharp beauty of his face: the aquiline nose, the cheekbones she could have cut her finger on. She remembered the shape of his eyes, and their depths of velvety black, but the hard glitter in them was something new.

"Do I know you?"

The deep baritone broke the spell. So did the stab of disappointment. But why would he recognise her, after all? He hadn't seen her for twenty years. This was not the gawky lad she'd once played with on Uncle Percy's private beach. This was Sheikh Idriss Al-Makudi, the billionaire tycoon and famous collector of art and antiques. Antiques like the Iron Star. And she hoped to wrestle the priceless jewel from him? She was bonkers, stark raving mad. She should never have listened to Alex. She should flee, now, whilst she still had time.

Too late. His eyebrows shot up, he took one step towards her.

"Georgina? Lady Georgina Beaufort?"

Her knees were turning into jelly. She extended a hand to steady herself on the nearest piece of furniture.

"Ouch."

His sensual mouth lifted a fraction at the corner.

"Careful. That's ice."

Georgina sucked on her frozen fingers. So much for making a good impression. The clumsy genes she'd managed to hide for a decade were resurfacing. She glared at the blue-white swan with outstretched wings that she hadn't even noticed before, as she'd been busy drooling over the too-good looking man before her.

"Don't they know ice sculptures are so twentieth century?"

Idriss shrugged, the slight movement enough to send his muscles rippling under the immaculate shirt.