Lily followed behind Atnan as he walked up to the double doors that served as the palace entrance. He pressed one open, revealing that it was unlocked.

“For a man clearly hiding from the law, you sure take few precautions,” Lily commented.

Atnan glanced over his shoulder.

“No one comes out this way anymore. I assure you, our distance alone provides all the safety we require.”

“Sure,” she replied, doubtful.

What safety? She had gone from potentially being a prisoner of the law to being trapped in a dilapidated palace. Was this really much better?

Gazing around, she had to admit that the palace, while a little worse for wear, was much nicer than a prison cell. The carpet beneath her feet was frayed, but beneath the layer of dust was a beautiful design that must have shone brightly in former days. The walls were lined with peeling wallpaper that appeared to have been a deep shade of burgundy with an intricate gold pattern.

There was now an element of gray around both of those colors that dimmed the effect considerably.

Pieces of furniture were strewn about the place, as though someone had prepared to move and then simply left everything in the front entryway, forgotten. The house was echoing with a story, though Lily could hardly imagine what it was. There was something missing, and a sadness surrounded her as she took in her new surroundings. She felt a sense of deep loss and melancholy.

Then she remembered Marissa.

Her friend’s car! Totaled! And she had been such a bad friend to leave it in the middle of the street. Her friend was away and had no idea she would be coming home to no way of getting around. A tidal wave of guilt coursed through Lily at the thought, and she realized in that moment that running away might not have been the best course of action.

“I need to go back,” she said, and her voice echoed in the silence of the hall.

Atnan had been looking at some papers on a side table. He glanced up at her words.

“I beg your pardon?”

Lily approached him, her body instantly reacting to the sight of his eyes on her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to run away or wrap her arms around him, and that discord was enough to have her foot out the door already. Atnan may have been the future Sheikh of Al Yibri, but he was also a stranger who was clearly hiding some pretty big secrets. She didn’t need to get caught up in anything worse than she had already gotten herself into.

He turned to fully face her, his steps slow as he approached. Her skin tingled as he drew near. His eyes were so focused, so intense. Why did he have to look at her like that?

“You want to go back to the scene of the crime?” he asked, his voice hushed.

Lily looked up at him. She had to crane her neck to keep eye contact as he came near enough for her to smell the musky cologne on his skin. She planted her feet, refusing to be cowed.

“Yes. I should pay for what I did. I destroyed my friend’s car and left it in the street! When she gets back, she’ll have no idea where the car is, not to mention where I am. She’ll be worried sick, and I have no way to replace her car as it is. I’ll have to find a way to make it up to her. I have to find a way to fix this.”

Her voice carried around the vast chamber, muted slightly against the sconces high up on the walls. Atnan continued to stare, his face unreadable but strikingly handsome. If she wasn’t so attracted to him, she would certainly think him the most annoyingly aggravating man on earth. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

After a pause, he stepped back to pace around her.

“So you would like to place yourself into police custody when at least a dozen or more people saw you crash a car in the middle of rush hour traffic and then proceed to get into mine before speeding away?”

His questions were making her uneasy, but Lily stood her ground, grasping at straws to come up with a solution.

“I don’t have to go into police custody. For heaven’s sake, it was a simple car accident, and no report was even filed because, if you remember, you decided to drive off and not press charges. They have no case against me and no reason to hold me against my will. I assume this country allows some freedoms in that sense?”

Atnan’s face twisted momentarily before he fixed his features back to neutral. He must have assumed Lily hadn’t noticed, but she certainly had. What was he hiding?

“The police in this country are ruthless and omnipresent. There will now be a warrant out for your arrest since you ran from the scene of a crime—regardless of what my actions might have been. You think they wouldn’t be able to spot you in a millisecond? Do you know how many blond-haired, blue-eyed women there are in this country?”

That was the second time Lily’s looks had been pointed out to her, and she didn’t exactly appreciate being singled out for them. Still, the Sheikh wasn’t wrong. If the police really did press charges for leaving the scene, she would be in big trouble if she stepped foot back in the capital. It was clear she would be arrested on sight, wherever she was.

The palace was the only place she knew she could stay safe.

Beyond that, it was clear that Atnan had no interest in returning to the city anytime soon, having been spotted himself. Lily wondered if he was trying to convince her not to go because of her own safety or his. He was still pacing around her, then finally he returned to face her head-on.

“Ah, I see you’ve welcomed reason into your life. That is good news. You see now that your only course of action is to stay here.”

“You certainly have deduced much from my silence,” she shot back, annoyed.

He assumed so much for a man who hadn’t even bothered to ask for her name.

“I have been raised since infancy to read people. I know how to interpret emotions that are unspoken. It is an excellent skill to have when working in politics.”

“If that’s true, what am I thinking right now?” Lily asked, crossing her arms.

His eyes sparkled with a glint of humor, and she had a sudden urge to slap him in the face. There was nothing about her situation that warranted laughter. She was trapped in a foreign country with a future monarch who appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be running from the law himself. Had she mistaken who he was in the first place? Perhaps he was an imposter posing as the Sheikh and had been forced into hiding by the royal family!

“You are thinking about where you will sleep tonight, and I have just the answer for you.”

“Wrong,” she said, and the Sheikh chuckled.

“Not entirely. That thought is in the back of your mind somewhere, just not before all the mean thoughts you are currently having about me. I will assure you, once again, that you have nothing to fear from me. It is honestly rather nice to have a bit of company after being on my own for so long.”

“How long?” Lily asked, desperate for information. The man was such an enigma. He was handsome, proud, and strong, and yet behind that royal exterior, his eyes darted ever so slightly toward the door, as though he expected at any moment to be caught and taken to jail.

Why?

He turned and began walking away from her, leaving her no choice but to follow. Watching his muscular back as he distanced himself from her, she released a huff and jogged forward, falling in stride beside him.

“Remember our deal? No questions about me equals no questions about you?”

“If we’re going to be trapped here for an indeterminate amount of time, I think I have a right to ask some questions about you. What else will we talk about? The weather?”

He glanced down at her with a tiny smile, a dimple in his cheek. Her fingers ached to run along that crease, and she folded her hands behind her back, silently scolding herself.

The Sheikh lifted an eyebrow, as though he really had been reading her thoughts, and Lily felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

“I suppose you have a point. I am willing to share some things about myself, but you will be advised not to pry excessively or I will have to make good on my word. After all, there is no proof that I can trust you, either.”

They walked in silence down a long hallway, Lily keeping her eyes anywhere but on the Sheikh’s handsome face. The walls were lined with painted images of flora and fauna, and Lily found herself deeply impressed by the artwork.

“Were these all painted by the same artist?” Lily asked, keen to change the subject. She had no idea how long they would be staying in the palace together, and if reality TV had taught her anything about being stuck in the same space with other people for an extended period of time, it was that human relationships and the ability to get along were the only survival tools that mattered.

Atnan stared at the paintings, his expression appearing haunted for a moment.

“Yes, they were,” he replied.

They walked on, Lily waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, she sighed, keeping her eyes on the artwork as they strolled along. Finally, Atnan stopped at a door with a rusted-over knob.

“This suite should suffice,” he said, turning the knob and pushing the door open.

Lily stared into the space, her feet moving without her awareness as she floated inside, enchanted. The room was enormous, but it was divided into a series of smaller areas, almost like her own apartment. It was far larger than Marissa’s apartment, not to mention her own dingy place back in Wyoming. The walls were a pale pink color that hadn’t been dirtied over time like the rest of the place, and there was a sense that this area might have been untouched by time altogether.

“This is…so different from the rest of the palace,” she breathed.

Atnan nodded, glancing around as though just noticing that this was the only room without chipped paint.

“Some of the rooms have been renovated more recently than others. There are certainly parts of this estate that are completely uninhabitable, but this one is not one of those, as you can see.”

“And this is meant to be where I stay now?”

“Would you prefer a prison cell?”

“You have been subtly threatening me since the moment I arrived. I don’t appreciate it.”

Her voice was like steel, her warning clear. If he intended to hold that over her head for the entirety of her stay, he would find himself alone very quickly, police be damned.

Atnan frowned.

“Forgive me, that was not my intention. It has been a very trying afternoon, and I believe some rest would do you some good. This room still has some clothing in it that might fit you, and I believe there should be some soaps and such still stocked in the bathroom. While I live a quiet life out here, I do have access to provisions.”

“Well, that is encouraging,” Lily quipped.

“Did you think me a hermit?” he asked.

His eyes searched hers, as though her answer truly mattered. She stared up at him, utterly confused. What did he want from her?

“I don’t know what to think,” Lily whispered, the weight of all the fear and uncertainty crashing over her. She felt like throwing herself onto the plush-looking bed and crying herself to sleep if only to forget her current predicament for a little while.

Atnan placed a sturdy hand on her arm, recapturing her gaze.

“You are going to be just fine—uh…” He stammered and suddenly appeared quite embarrassed. “I feel I have completely lost my manners in our escapade and have forgotten to ask the name of my damsel.”

Lily stepped back, crossing her arms again, though she couldn’t quite hide the gentle tug of a smile at her lips.

“I’m no damsel,” she reminded him.

He nodded.

“Of course. What I mean to say is, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss…?”

Lily stared at him, letting him sweat it out for a moment. She had wondered when he would bother to ask her name.

“Hawthorne,” she said finally. “Lily Hawthorne.”

He stuck out his hand for her to shake, and she stared at it for a moment, wondering how it would feel to touch him. As an awkward silence encroached, she reached her hand out and placed it in his, her stomach erupting in butterflies as their palms touched. His handshake was gentle, yet firm, and he kept his eyes on hers.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lily. I hope we will become good friends. Until then, please take some time to recover from the day’s events. I will return to check in on you in a couple of hours.”

“Uh…” Lily managed, ever eloquent.

He released her hand and nodded before walking out the door and closing it behind him without looking back. Silence echoed across the enormous space, and as Lily gazed around, she felt a wave of relief wash over her.

She was safe! At least at present. The police would have found them by now if they had been chased.

She walked over to the bed, which was draped in a fluffy comforter, and sat down, still gazing around her.

The truth of it was that she had forgone one prison for another. While Atnan had apologized for his comments about turning her in, she didn’t fully believe he wouldn’t use that against her. She had gone from facing a dark prison cell to being in a gilded one with no way to get home. Her warden had changed from the chief of police to the Sheikh, leaving her with the same number of options she had started with.

Zero.