Book excerpt: Sheik Shakir Kadir, scarred by warfare and lost love, is ready for the ultimate confrontation. But his deadly mission to bring down his family's archenemy is compromised by the discovery that the princess who destroyed his heart is now a prisoner. Held captive in a war-ravaged country, Nikki Olivier has her own life-or-death task to complete: bring her kidnapped son home alive. Her only hope is Shakir, the man she's never stopped wanting. Royal obligation had forced her to hurt Shakir and keep the volatile secret that her missing child is also his. Once the truth is revealed, will they create their own family legacy—or will it be their destruction?