AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The client’s eyes came instantly to her mind, dark and relentless as they’d all but pierced their way into her skin during their heated scrutiny. Yes, he was no doubt ruthless, but so too could Paolo be, along with half of his colleagues. You didn’t make it to the top ranks of international law partnerships by being anything less.
She turned on him, protesting, ‘I don’t understand. If you feel this strongly about the man, why is it you’ve never so much as mentioned him before?’
‘What happened was long ago. Before I met you.’
‘Then maybe he’s changed. Whatever differences you had back then probably don’t exist any more.’
He shook his head. ‘No. You don’t know him like I do.’
‘And you don’t know what I do. There is a bride. I’m meeting her just as soon as we get to Jebbai.’
She knew she was stretching the truth, but with the mood Paolo was in, there was no way he wouldn’t jump on the news that Khaled had prevaricated over her meeting the bride, whatever his reasons, and use it to add fuel to his arguments to stop her going.
And she wanted to go, even if it had taken her a while to convince herself. There were good business reasons for her to go. It wasn’t as if Paolo would be waiting for her at home while she was gone, after all.
‘Then are you so sure that she’s willing to marry this man?’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. What are you suggesting? This is the twenty-first century after all. As it happens,’ she added, if only to stop Paolo’s wild accusations in their tracks, ‘they need to get married quickly. The bride is desperately ill.’ Then she added for effect, ‘It’s really quite romantic, don’t you think?’
He watched her, saying nothing, though the fierce rise and fall of his chest spoke volumes about how he was feeling. There could have been a ten-gallon drum of romance in the situation and still it would have eluded him.
‘Look,’ she said softly, moving alongside and placing a hand on his rigid forearm, ‘this Sheikh Khaled, whoever he is and whatever problems you’ve had with him in the past, in all likelihood has no idea that I even know you. He just wants to commission a dress. And I’m only going for four weeks—four we
eks, I might point out, when you won’t even be here. So it’s not like you’re going to miss me.’
His arms sliced passionately through the air, a gesture that spoke of both his power and frustration. ‘You know I have no choice. I have to go back to New York.’
‘And I have to go to Jebbai.’
‘Don’t do this.’
‘Don’t do what? Make my own decisions? This is my career. This is my passion. You know I love more than anything to design wedding dresses. This is a wonderful opportunity for me and I can’t afford to miss it, certainly not on the basis of some “secret men’s business”.’
‘You can’t go.’
‘I’m sorry, Paolo, but listen to yourself. Your arguments and accusations hold all the characteristics of a tired grudge. You’re angsting over some apparent wrong committed so long ago that no one other than you probably remembers or even cares.’
‘I won’t let you go!’
‘It’s not up to you. You’re not my husband. Even if you were, you couldn’t tell me what to do.’
A muscle in his face twitched. ‘You still haven’t forgiven me because I wouldn’t talk about marriage?’
‘Paolo,’ she whispered on a sigh, ‘please try to understand, I’m not angry with you. I just don’t understand why everything between us changed when the media assumed we were an item. One mention of marriage and suddenly you seemed to find reasons for us to be apart.’
He moved closer, sliding a hand behind her neck. ‘You know I care about you.’
‘I once thought you loved me. Now I don’t know what to think.’
He pulled the hand away, raking it instead through his hair. ‘I know. Things back then got—awkward for awhile. But if what you say is true, and Khaled is getting married, why don’t we talk about things some more after the wedding?’
She tilted her head up to his, studying his face for any hint of what was going through his mind. What was he offering her and why would some desert sheikh’s wedding make a difference to their relationship?
‘Why can’t we talk about it now?’
‘Because we can’t. You have to trust me on this. Just as you should trust me enough not to go to Jebbai.’ He gazed back levelly into her eyes. ‘You know you mean a lot to me.’
‘It’s okay,’ she said on a sharp intake of breath as she turned to stare out the window again, the sky now dark and the lights of the square bright and inviting and wholly jarring with her mood. ‘I care for you too. And I appreciate your advice. Truly I do. But this is something I need to do. So I’m going. Come Monday I’m leaving for Jebbai.’
