Once in Paris Read Online Free PDF

company.
    Kurt kept throwing Brianne and Sabon together at every opportunity. He was always nice, but there was something in the way Sabon looked at her that made her very nervous. He wanted Kurt to invest in some project in hishomeland of Qawi, which was sandwiched between several other small nations in the Persian Gulf. It was the only nation that had, until now, refused to consider developing its oil potential. Its ruler, an elderly sheikh, was old enough to remember European domination, and he wanted no more of it. Sabon had convinced him that the abject poverty in his nation was too widespread to ignore. Sabon owned his own island, Jameel, just offshore from Qawi. The name, he told Brianne, meant “beautiful” in Arabic.
    Sabon had apparently talked Kurt into approaching an oil consortium for him, and even investing in this scheme to develop the poor country’s oil wealth. As a high minister in that nation—and many said that he’d bought the office—Sabon now had power enough to put through any sort of land deal he chose. He controlled the country’s mining rights. He had given Kurt a part interest in these, and Kurt had sent a firm of mining engineers to do a study on the oil-producing potential of the untouched land. The move had been a good one. The engineers found a wealth of untapped gas and petroleum under the hot sands. All that was needed was more money for equipment to exploit the resources, because the oil companywas only willing to provide a percentage of the capital required for drilling, and the national treasury of Qawi itself was apparently off-limits for such industry. Brianne thought that odd, but Kurt seemed not to care as long as he held title to half the mining potential of the country.
    Kurt and Sabon had combined their own resources, and Kurt had coaxed an oil consortium to join in the venture. Kurt now had most of his fortune committed to the enterprise, which he expected to put him in the billionaire class. He had to keep Sabon in his hands, however, to realize that potential. Sabon had already inferred that another rich Middle Eastern friend would be happy to replace Kurt in the endeavor. Kurt had too much money tied up to risk backing out now. He’d noticed Sabon’s fascination with Brianne. If dangling Brianne as bait would keep Sabon in his power, he was more than willing to provide it, with or without her permission.
    There were stories about Sabon’s perverse appetites circulating all over Nassau. The way he’d looked at Brianne when they were introduced made her feel as if he’d touched her body under her clothing. He found Brianne’s coldness a challenge; she found him frightening.There was something in his dark, intent eyes that intimidated her. He was dignified and courteous to a fault; he was charming. But there was something about him that belied his reputation, and Brianne couldn’t think what it was. He was like an iceberg in the sense that most of his character was carefully hidden behind a shield of reserve. People said he was perverted, yet Brianne saw nothing about the man that spoke of perversion in any form. He seemed always to be apart from others, always alone. He sought out Brianne and watched her quietly, but there was no hint of disrespect or lewdness in his manner toward her. Perhaps, she mused, it was her inexperience that kept her from seeing the truth about him.
    She’d heard that Sabon was an enemy of L. Pierce Hutton, who had publicly denounced Sabon’s recent support of a nation that was constantly under sanctions from the world community because of its aggressive political stance. Pierce seemed certain that Sabon was only seeking political support in the region by his public friendship with the other country. He wanted wealth and power and didn’t mind what he had to do to obtain it. In that, he had something in common with Kurt Brauer, Briannemused. Kurt didn’t seem to have a conscience or a