Back with the king... for one desert night! Twelve years after Sheikh Tahir almost lost his throne, the woman who betrayed him arrives at his palace gates. Lauren's request to help her brother is Tahir's chance to-at last-make sense of her betrayal. On one condition: they spend twenty-four hours in the desert...alone. A night at Tahir's command is more than Lauren bargained for. Any trust left between them is fragile. Yet with every passing hour, the inescapable intimacy empowers Lauren to lay bare the scandalous truth of their past-and her still burning desire for Tahir...
SHEIKHTAHIRBINHALIMAL-JUKRAThad dealt with his most senior aide long enough to know the older man's tells. Yet Ali insisted on playing these games with him. Tahir watched him fidget with the papers in his leather-bound folder, straighten corners that didn't need straightening, place the expensive Montblanc pen Tahir had gifted him two Christmases ago precisely in the centre of the top page before moving it a fraction of an inch.
Given the chance, Tahir suspected the other man would've conducted a microscopic inspection of each fingernail for dirt and brushed invisible lint off his tailored suit before stating what was obviously on his mind.
'Are we done here? I'd like to get on with my next appointment before I leave for Zinabir,' Tahir said after a full minute, attempting and failing to keep impatience from sharpening his voice.Ali gave the merest grimace, an action not many would've noticed.
Tahir noticed.
He noticed everything. Because these days, he couldn't afford to be oblivious to anything. Not any more.
Those carefree days when he'd freely trusted, and tossed out benefits of the doubt like candy at a toddler's party, were far behind him. Smothered to death by a far too close brush with a different fate. A fate averted at a steep price he'd never be able to fully repay in this life.
In his quietest moments, Tahir couldn't help but hope he would be able to repay it in his next. Hoped to have done enough in this life to erase the deep disappointment from his father's eyes when they met in the afterlife.
Until then...
He tightened his gut against the surfeit of emotions triggered by thoughts of his father.
'Not quite, Your Majesty,' Ali replied, shifting the pen yet again.
Tahir suppressed a sigh. 'What is it, Ali? Has my brother landed himself in the papers again?' His brother, Javid, much to Tahir's constant disgruntlement, was 'living his best life', which inevitably meant dragging Tahir's treasured homeland of Jukrat into the spotlight just for the hell of it. Luckily for him, Javid hadn't done anything scandalously outrageous enough...yet...
Infuriatingly, his younger brother had learned to skate close to the line without stepping over it. For now, Tahir had let him be because, when he cast aside his playboy ways long enough to do his duty, Javid was the most astute diplomat Tahir had ever come across. He could saunter into near-crisis international incidents and un-ruffle feathers with jaw-dropping proficiency.
Unfortunately, it was the same brilliant technique his brother used to seduce the clothes off some of the most beautiful and influential women in the world. On a regular, tabloid-salivating basis.
Tahir himself preferred much more discreet liaisons and not just because his spotlight was much brighter as the unmarried ruler of Jukrat, but because of another viciously learned lesson fromthatincident twelve years ago.
Dragging himself away from another unwanted memory jaunt, he fixed a gimlet stare at his aide. 'I don't have all day.'
Ali cleared his throat. 'My apologies, Your Majesty. No, this isn't about your brother. His Royal Highness the Prince is behaving himself.'
'Then what is it? Spit it out, Ali.'
Zaina thought she could run from her secrets, but they have finally caught up to her. She’s willing to risk her life for those she loves, but even that might not be enough to stop what’s coming. Einar has finally let down his guard, but when the woman he trusts takes off in the middle of the night with his people's only hope for a cure, he realizes what a mistake that was. They have been living under the shadow of the same monster for longer than either of them realize. But it’s up to them to decide whether that makes them enemies or allies. You’ve heard it asked, who could ever learn to love a beast? But this time, the question is, could a beast ever learn to love?
The King (2019), directed by David Michod, is a historical drama following the life of King Henry V of England during the 15th century. The character Hal, portrayed by Timothee Chalamet, began his journey as a drunk, rejecting his role as a royal while dismissing his father completely
When Corynn mustered up the courage to tell Elliot about her pregnancy, she unexpectedly found him gallantly helping another woman from his car. Her heart sank as three years of effort to secure his love crumbled before her eyes, compelling her to leave him behind. Three years later, life had taken Corynn down a new path with someone else, while Elliot was left grappling with regret. Seizing a moment of vulnerability, he pleaded, "Corynn, let's get married." Shaking her head with a faint smile, Corynn gently replied, "Sorry, I'm already engaged."
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Elisa watched as the most important people in her life showered the evil imposter-The fake heiress, with love. Elisa, the lost daughter of one of the most wealthiest family was found 18 years later and was brought back to her rightful home. However, someone had already taken her place. A fake heiress, the pampered little princess. Her coy acting and innocent façade made Elisa's real mother love her more than Elisa, her real daughter. That made Elisa, though, the true daughter end up as an adopted child. "Elisa, could you try not to appear in front of her too much as it could trigger her insecurities." Her parents had told her because of the fake heiress. "Elisa, You've taken everything away from her. Why can't you give her a little more?" Her fiancé had ordered her. Because of an unfortunate accident plotted by Isabelle-The fake heiress, Elisa was sent to prison and her family cut ties with her without a second thought. Four years, after much torture which led to her being crippled and blind on one eye, she was released, but got hit by a truck. While laying on the pool of her blood, she wanted to question, Why? Why had they all treated her so cruelly, while they love Isabelle unconditionally? She badly wanted to rip off Isabelle's mask of innocence, to reveal the fake, manipulative woman beneath. She was full of hatred. But after her death, she woke up back to when she was 18 years like all that happened were all nightmare. She was elated. She was reborn to re-live all that had happened in her last life, but now, her mission was to reveal mask beneath that woman and make everyone that made her suffer in her past life pay. It was her time for revenge! And definitely, she won't mess this up!
After three secretive years of marriage, Eliana never met her enigmatic husband until she was served with divorce papers and learned of his extravagant pursuit of another. She snapped back to reality and secured a divorce. Thereafter, Eliana unveiled her various personas: an esteemed doctor, legendary secret agent, master hacker, celebrated designer, adept race car driver, and distinguished scientist. As her diverse talents became known, her ex-husband was consumed by remorse. Desperately, he pleaded, "Eliana, give me another chance! All my properties, even my life, are yours."
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.