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He laughed then, a deranged sound. ‘For God’s sake, we’ve conceived a child together. We’re going to be parents. Call me Sariq.’
She bristled, her eyes showing strength and determination. ‘We are not going to be parents together.’ She spoke with a cool authority that was belied by the quivering of her fingers. ‘You’re going to be in another country, far away. I’m going to raise our child.’
His eyes narrowed imperceptibly. ‘You know what this baby means to me.’
She froze.
‘You know how imperative it is that I have an heir.’
‘But this baby isn’t your heir,’ she mumbled after a moment. ‘We’re not married. It can’t be...’
‘We’re not married, yet.’
Her eyes flared wide in her beautiful face, and her lips dropped to reveal her glossy white teeth. She didn’t speak. She couldn’t. Good. He needed a moment to organise this. He crossed to his desk, picking up the phone. ‘Have Malik call me.’
He disconnected the receiver once more and turned to face her. She was standing where he’d left her, shaking her head.
‘Sit down, habibte.’
She shook her head harder. ‘I’m not marrying you.’
Determination flooded him as he saw the only path before them clearly, and knew he had to guide them down it. ‘There is no alternative, Daisy, so I suggest you move past shock to acceptance. The sooner you do so the better, for both of us.’
She stared at him, her insides awash with uncertainty and disbelief. ‘You can’t be serious?’
‘Does it sound like something I’d joke about? This child has more value to my people and me than I can possibly describe. You are carrying my royal heir. There is no option but
for us to marry.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ she spat, crossing her arms over her chest, wishing his eyes didn’t drop to her cleavage in that way that reminded her of everything they’d shared that weekend. ‘There is one option, and it’s the one we’re going to take. I’m going to leave here now, with a cheque that will help me cover medical expenses and rent in some kind of home in which to spend the first year of our child’s life, until I can go back to work—’
‘Go back to work?’ His laugh was a caustic sound of derision. ‘And who will be raising the crown prince of the RKH?’
‘Or princess,’ she snapped caustically. ‘And I don’t know. I’ll find a family day care.’
‘Family day care?’ he repeated, and she nodded, though she could understand his reaction to that. It was a little haphazard and ill-thought-out.
‘I don’t know, okay? I haven’t gotten that far. I just know that I can do this on my own.’ She lifted her chin, breathing in deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves. ‘I haven’t told anyone anything about what happened between us and I don’t intend to. I won’t say a word about the fact you’re this baby’s father. Your name won’t appear on the birth certificate. It will remain untraceable.’
His jaw clenched. ‘You think this will please me? For my own child not to bear my name?’ His nostrils flared with the force of his exhalation. ‘Honestly, Daisy, your naivety would almost be adorable if it weren’t so inappropriate.’
Anger flared inside her. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘How hard do you think it would be for someone to piece this together?’ He held her gaze with obvious contempt. ‘You cannot imagine the scrutiny my life is subject to. You are acting as though I am any other man, as though this child is like any other love child.’
‘I’m sorry, it’s my first time being pregnant after a one-night stand,’ she muttered sarcastically. ‘I have no idea how I’m supposed to act.’
‘You’re supposed to be reasonable,’ he responded flatly. ‘There is no way I’m having my child raised anywhere besides my palace and I think you knew that when you told me about your pregnancy.’
His words hit her like a mallet. She shook her head again, feeling like one of those bobble-head dolls.
‘Listen to me, Daisy.’ He began to move closer to her so she braced instinctively. Not out of fear of him so much as fear of her reaction. How, even in that moment, could she be aware of trivial matters such as the breadth of his shoulders and the strength of his arms?
‘I need an heir. You know this, and you understand why it’s an urgent concern. As the last remaining heir of my family’s line, I am in a vulnerable position...’
She jerked her head in an aggressive nod. ‘Which is why you’re marrying and planning to have a child as soon as—’
‘I have a child.’ The words cut through the room, loud and insistent. He paused, visibly calming himself. ‘We are having a child.’ And now, he closed the distance, gripping her hands and lifting them between them, his eyes boring into hers with the force of a thousand suns.
