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“I do. You are pregnant, Cassie.”
She stared at him, waiting for his words to make sense. She shook her head. “Wait … what?”
“Anassi confirmed it this morning.”
Her fingers knotted in front of her. Her eyes were sparkling with tears – she couldn’t have said what emotion prompted them to moisten her eyes.
“Pregnant.” She leaned against the wall again. “I’m pregnant.”
“With my baby,” he commented firmly.
“I can’t be.” She shook her head. “I’m on the pill.”
He lifted his brow. “The doctor confirmed the results twice. You are pregnant. You swear it can only be my baby, and I believe you.”
“Shit.” She sank against the wall and stared up at him with a sense of complete fear.
The look of her face drove devastation through Layth. “You are unhappy.”
“Unhappy? Yes. It’s one of the things I’m feeling.”
“You do not want this baby.”
Cassie gripped her stomach. “I do not want you and your suitable wife to raise my child,” she corrected instead. “I do not want you to pressure me to move to Takisabad where I would forever have to see you living with Arja.” Nausea began to roll through her. She dug her fingernails into her palms until she thought she might draw blood.
“Then what do you want, Cassandra?”
I want the dream. She blinked her eyes closed. “I want to sleep some more.”
“Fine. My helicopter is outside. It will take you back to the hotel.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m going to stay here.”
“You will accompany me to the hotel. Until this child is born, you will be under the supervision of Anassi.”
“Layth,” she lifted a hand to his chest, and the spark of electricity jolted her instantly. She looked away. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” He was wary.
She bit down on her lip, uncertain what she felt, what she wanted, and what she should say. “Why are you speaking to me like this?”
His expression was grim. “You fled from me. You disappeared. And though my team were swiftly able to track you, I spent seventeen minutes not knowing where you were going and what you were feeling. I do not want to feel this ever again.”
She shook her head. “I was upset. For God’s sake, you’re engaged. Even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t prepared for it. Yesterday was … the first time I’ve ever spoken to someone about … about … my life before London.” Her cheeks flamed. “I almost forgot about your engagement.”
“I am not engaged to Arja.”
Her eyes were saucer-wide as they sought his. “What?”
“Arja’s people fed the story to the papers to prompt me into action.”
“But … your mother was quoted in the piece I read.”
His lips were a slash in his face. “My mother is eager for me to marry and further our lineage. She had felt, until I corrected her this morning, that Arja was the best choice.”
“You corrected her?”
“I told her I will not marry unless it is to you. I told her I will not return to Takisabad unless she accepts my choice of bride; you. I told her that I have fallen in love with a woman who is beyond perfection and pleasure – a woman who is truly an angel on earth; you, Cassie.”
