The Sheikh's Fiery Lover (The Tazeem Twins Series Book 2) (5 page)

Rene was in Joshua's quarters helping the maids pack for his business trip when he returned. Even though she did not want him to go, she thought that it was important that she show her support, but she hoped that this would be his last trip, or at the very least, take her with him next time. She did not relish the idea of being left alone again. The whole point of her coming to Al-Qalta was to be with him and not spend her time twiddling her thumbs in her rooms.

“Rene, what are you doing?” Joshua asked her as he walked into his bedroom. She turned and saw him walking slowly towards her while glancing around the room. His two maids bowed their heads to him and left his room.

“Packing your clothes for your trip,” she replied.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said. “The maids can handle it.”

“I want to,” Rene smiled and placed her hands on his chest. She noticed that his tie was knotted tightly. Whenever his tie was pulled that tight, his head was in business mode, which she did not understand. Eating breakfast with your parents was meant to be relaxing, not work-related.

Joshua smiled and nodded, stroking her face with the back of his hand. Rene leaned into his touch. She liked the feel of his hand on her skin. “So, how was breakfast?” She was relieved that she was not asked to be a part of it as she could do without seeing his mother for a while.

“It went well,” Joshua replied.
Went well;
as if it were a meeting. Rene expected him to say something like it was fun or it was good or nice but not, it went well.

“You went dressed all formally. You get too businessy sometimes.”                        

“Businessy?”

“Yes, you know.”

“I do not know.”

Rene narrowed her gaze at him. “Like in a business mindset,” she stated.

“Businessy,” Joshua repeated and raised an eyebrow. Rene pushed him away playfully.

“Whatever, Joshua,” she said as he smiled at her.

“I do hate wearing a tie sometimes,” he said and sighed.

“You should dress casually more often.” Rene bent down to shut the suitcase, snapping it closed. “We were finished anyway,” she said to him as she stood back up.

“Thank you,” he said to her as she wrapped her arms around him and pouted.

“Do you really have to go?” she asked him suddenly feeling the strain of his absence.

“Of course I do,” Joshua said, with a pinched expression.

“James can go alone, can't he?” Rene was trying to tread carefully but it was pointless, Joshua’s face said it all. He released himself from her embrace and put some distance between them.

“Rene, this is my work, you know I have to go.” He turned on his heel and walked out leaving Rene standing there with her mouth open. She could not believe he had just walked out on her like that.

“Fine, just go!” she called out after him, even though she knew it was useless. She growled with frustration, then stormed off to her quarters.

*****

The next day Rene had breakfast by herself. While there were many mornings where she did not have breakfast with Joshua, this time felt different. She felt so alone and she was still angry about how they had left things.

She began to talk to her maids to take her mind off Joshua. They were not talkative and both of them spoke so formally, but it was better than nothing.

“Do you ever get time off?” Rene asked the maids.

“We do, Miss Rene,” Muna replied.

“How long?”

“Two weeks a year.”

“That is very little. You must miss your family.”

“They do not live far and we do get visitations.” Manu clutched her hands together, “So it's fine.”

Working in the palace was definitely a lot of hard work. Everything had to be clean and tidy at all times. They could not eat until the royals had eaten. They could not sleep until the royals had gone to bed. Rene could not live like that, which was why she tried to be as nice to her maids as she could be.

Later on that day, Rene took her laptop and went to sit outside in the sun. The lawn outside her quarters was nice and green. She checked the time to ensure Tanya would be finished with work and then powered up Skype.

“Hi sweetie,” Tanya said as soon as she picked up. She was curled up on their living room sofa with the laptop on the coffee table.  

“I miss our house,” Rene said. Tanya laughed and moved the camera around to show Rene.

“Everything is still the same. You shouldn't miss it, you should be enjoying your new life of luxury.”

“I am but I still miss the house,” Rene and Tanya had lived together since they graduated from high school and she liked being able to walk down the hall to her room to talk or spend the day together watching TV. All she had now was Skype and it was not the same. 

“You look sad, what's wrong?”

“Everything,” Rene replied.

“Has Joshua left again?”

“You knew straight away,” Rene laughed. “He has.”

“When did he go?” Tanya asked.

“Yesterday,” Rene sighed, “and we left things on bad terms.”

“What happened?” Tanya asked. Rene told her what had happened before Joshua left.

Tanya gasped. “Girl, it's never good to leave on bad terms and go to bed angry.”

“I know but it happened so fast,” Rene replied. “Tanya, this whole situation is proving to be a bad idea.”

“Are you having regrets?”

“I don't know. It's frustrating. He is never around because he works so much. I mean when we first met, he was stressed and needed rest. So obviously, the workload gets to him, so why does he insist on working so much? I am so frustrated! He left me here in the palace alone. Again.” Rene ran her hand through her hair.

“While I completely understand how you feel, you have to understand that he is a prince and he runs a multi-billion dollar company. You need to cut him some slack. This is new to him too.”

Rene narrowed her gaze into the camera. “Tanya that is not helping,” she said as Tanya laughed.

“I am just saying,” she replied. “When does he come back?”

“In a few days, I think. I hope they can hurry up and get the contract renewed already.”

“When he does return, you should work your magic,” Tanya suggested as she winked at her.

“Oh, Tanya,” Rene started laughing. “What magic?”

“You're a woman, and you know what makes guys tick.”

“You're crazy,” she told her as she shook her head.

“Seriously. It will work. He'll be dying to spend time with you instead of those stuffy business men.”

“I wish that were the case,” Rene pouted. “He seems to spend more time with them than me.”  Muna came outside to summon Rene for dinner.

“Excuse me, Miss Rene, sorry to disturb you,” Muna said softly.

“No, it's fine.”

“Shall we serve your dinner?”

“Oh, it’s already that time? Yes, please.”

“Yes, Miss,” Muna bowed her head and returned inside.

“Look at you with respectful maids,” Tanya said to Rene as she smiled.

“They're so nice.”

“Lucky you. Well, go have your dinner and make sure to work your magic,” Tanya laughed mischievously.

“I will,” Rene replied and wiggled her eyebrows. She waved and ended the call before walking back inside. She put the laptop on the table and made her way to the dining room. Even though she would be the only one eating, the table was laden with a variety of delectable choices. One thing that she could not complain about in the palace was the food. It was delicious and plentiful.

Rene pulled out her chair and sat down. “Why don't you guys join me?” she asked Muna and Maria.

“Miss Rene, we cannot do that!” Maria said and bowed her head. Muna was standing next to her with her slim, long fingers laced together.

“You might as well. There is a lot of food here and I do not want to eat alone,” Rene said as she batted her eyelashes at them and grinned. They both smiled and agreed to sit with her. Rene was glad that she had convinced them so quickly because she was feeling lonely, even after talking to Tanya, and wanted some company.

Joshua woke early and got ready for their meeting with the Russians. As he was tying his tie, he started thinking about Rene. Usually he liked business trips; they gave him a chance to get away and to concentrate on work. This was why he never committed to a woman before. It was easier to leave or stay late at the office without worrying about someone else.

This was the first business trip where he was looking forward to returning home.

The king had intentionally groomed both sons to be business-minded, which Joshua did not mind. He was ambitious, hard-working and dedicated. Work had always come first in his life. Even though he cared deeply for Rene, it was hard for him to change a part of himself that had been ingrained in him since childhood.

Slipping into his dark grey suit jacket, he checked his tie before exiting the presidential suite and heading to the limo.

When he arrived at the meeting site, he went straight to the conference room to begin setting up. He usually never walked into a room first preferring to wait for his business partners; however this contract was important to him. He was going to do whatever it took to see it renewed. The Russians were being offered a better contract by another competitor and they were seriously considering it. Joshua and James were not going to let them take that deal.

Joshua strode into the air-conditioned room. Even with the amount of business meetings he had been in, he had to admit this room was impressive. The room had unobstructed panoramic views, allowing the sun to shine brightly in the room. There was long Brazilian mahogany table in the middle of the room with black leather chairs around it. A computer and a projector were already set up for his presentation. Joshua went over to the computer to load the slides and set it at the beginning.

James walked into the room a few minutes later dressed just as smartly in a black suit and a light blue shirt.

“Of course you are here first,” James said to him.

“Good morning, brother,” Joshua answered. He was leaning against the conference table with his hands deep in his pockets. 

“Sleep well?”

“Of course, why?” Joshua stared at him expressionless, wondering why his brother would randomly ask him that.

“Being that you are away from Ren-”

“I am not going to lose sleep over her,” Joshua snapped with a frown on his face.

“You are not thinking about her?”

“No. The only thing that is on my mind is this contract. And you should be the same.”

Before James could reply, two directors who worked for the Tazeem Petroleum Company walked into the conference room. They bowed their heads and greeted James and Joshua formally. The Russians walked into the room not long after. They were all grey-haired and stone-faced men, and seemed to all shop at the same tailor.

“Please, take a seat, gentlemen,” Joshua said to them, motioning to the seats around the table. The Russians sat down, and suddenly all eyes were on him. He’d given hundreds of presentations before, but this one was big. When the original contract was signed, it was King Tazeem who set the whole thing in motion. It was obvious that the Russians preferred to work with a king, not princes.

“This is more than just a contract for my brother and me,” Joshua began. “Our father helped establish a legacy between our two countries long ago and it is our hope to honour that legacy.”

Joshua talked about the importance of the relationship between the two companies. The Russian company was the biggest in Europe and they wanted to align themselves with the best. He reminded the Russians of loyalty while James outlined the agreement and how it would be beneficial for both companies.

As Joshua stepped up to conclude the presentation, he made sure to summarise the key points as everyone nodded in agreement. He was very good at commanding attention and being heard while James was the one who handled the details of the negotiations. Together, no one could say no to them.

Mirena, Joshua’s secretary, walked into the room with paper copies of their presentation. Joshua paused for a second, as her purple blouse caught his attention. Thoughts of Rene and her love of purple roses rushed into his mind as he tried to blink the thoughts away. He was in the middle of a business meeting. He carried on speaking and hoped to forget about Rene but he was finding it difficult. He poured himself a glass of water and took a sip.
Come on, Joshua, focus.

He swallowed and then started speaking again. He tapped a button on the computer to continue the presentation on the projector, but as he spoke, thoughts of Rene surfaced again. He missed her silky, soft skin and sweet scent.
Focus, Joshua
.

The meeting was very important and deserved his complete attention. He hated that simply seeing a purple blouse shattered his resolve and made him miss Rene. Earlier that morning, he was glad that he had some space from her but now he was struggling to focus on a meeting that meant billions in revenue.

Joshua cleared his throat and executed his presentation perfectly despite having Rene on his mind. The businessmen seemed pleased with everything the brothers had to say and he introduced new terms that he and James wanted to add to the contract. The Russians had softened up, and this was where James came in to close the deal. The twins were a perfect team together.

“Gentlemen, I appreciate your time and attention. Our team will be in touch to discuss availability for a final meeting,” Joshua said as they concluded.

After the meeting, the twins headed outside together with a spring in their steps.

“We nailed it!”

“When I first saw them walk in, I was sure they were going to refuse, but that was one hell of a pitch.” James agreed. “Let’s grab some food to celebrate.”

“Okay. And of course it went well,” Joshua said confidently as James laughed.

“My brother, over confident as always.”

“I always give my work my best, so of course I am confident,” Joshua replied as he smiled. He was feeling good about the meeting. Even though he would never admit it to anyone, it was important that they succeed because he wanted to impress his father.

Walking to a café, James strode onto the patio, “The weather is good, let’s grab some food outside,” he told his brother as he sat down at a table and motioned to a waiter. Joshua nodded as he sat down and leaned back in his seat. “You need to relax and enjoy the small things in life,” James commented as Joshua narrowed his gaze as his brother burst out laughing.

“Like that joke,” he replied as Joshua let out a small laugh. The wait staff brought them grilled lamb, freshly baked na’an and Mediterranean salad.

“Is there anything else I can get you, your highnesses?” the server asked.

“That is all,” James replied as the server bowed to them both before leaving. James hunched over and tucked into his food while Joshua remained sitting up straight as he ate.

“You won't talk about Rene and you won’t meet with the lady mother has in mind for you,” James said.

Joshua grunted before he responded, “Surely there is something better to discuss,” he replied.

“Last time I saw the two of you together, she was on your lap and you were loved up.”

“What about Ambra?”

“Okay, you win. Let us not discuss her.”

Joshua laughed. “Why not?” he asked even though he knew why.

“Let us enjoy this meal,” James said and shoved a fork full of salad in his mouth. Joshua smiled and shook his head.

“You give me so much grief for not wanting to settle down but you have not settled down either,” Joshua admonished.

“I am not as against it as you are.”

“If you say so.”

James laughed and the subject quickly changed. The two of them enjoyed the rest of the meal together before they headed off their separate ways. James had personal matters to attend to, and Joshua headed back to his hotel room.