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Her heart began to tremble. ‘If I said “no”, would it make any difference?’
He eyed her for several seconds. ‘Yes.’
Her pulse raced. Disappointment was unmistakable and that only made her angrier.
‘So you’ll let me go?’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘But I will delay. We can wait a day or two to let you get used to this. We can talk until you understand. I can prepare you better for what’s in store once we arrive in the RKH...’
‘But you won’t let me leave this embassy?’
Silence prickled between them. ‘I cannot.’
‘Then I see no point in delay, except to assuage your conscience, which I have no intention of doing.’
He stared at her, surprise obvious on his features. She knew she was lashing out at him out of fear, and that it wasn’t fair. He had been as caught off guard by this as she was. He was acting out of duty for his country, and she understood that. But becoming a commodity didn’t sit well with her, and her desire for him was making everything else murky and uncertain.
‘You’re forcing me to marry you, Sariq. I’m not going to let you think otherwise.’ His face paled beneath his tanned skin, and she was glad. Hurting him, arousing his conscience, made her feel a hell of a lot better. She struck again: ‘You should know that. I’m marrying you because I have to—not because I want to—and I will never forgive you for this. Tonight I’m going to become your wife and I may appear to accept that, I may appear to accept you, but I will always hate you for this.’ She glared at him with undisguised fury so it was easy for Sariq to believe her. ‘I love our child, and, for him or her, I will try to make our marriage amicable, at least on the surface, but don’t you ever doubt how I really feel.’
His eyes swept shut for a moment, the only movement on his stone-like face the furious beating of a muscle in his jaw. ‘I wish we had an alternative.’
‘You do,’ she said quietly.
His eyes glittered with something like fire and he reached into his robes, removing a phone. It was a familiar brand but the back was pure gold. He loaded something up on the screen then handed it to her.
She stared at it, her own photo looking back at her, beside his picture, and beneath a headline that screamed Secret Royal Wedding!
She read the article quickly.
News broke overnight that the Emir of the Royal Kingdom of Haleth married American Daisy Carrington when he was last in the United States in July.
The wedding, conducted in secret, means the unknown woman is now Emira to one of the world’s most prosperous nations.
Little is known of the woman who stole the famously closed-off ruler’s heart, or of how their romance began.
More details to follow.
‘We’re not married.’ She handed the phone back to him, wishing her fingertips weren’t trembling.
‘Our marriage certificate will be backdated, to remove any doubts as to my paternity.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘This is your child.’
‘I know that.’ He pocketed his phone once more. ‘I have no doubt on that score. It makes things easier, that’s all.’
‘But...’
‘Your name is in the papers, Daisy.’ There was urgency in his tone. ‘The whole world will know that you are carrying my baby before the morning. And that
baby is the heir to my throne. Can you not see how vulnerable that makes you both?’
She stared at him in disbelief, and desire died, just like that. Now, her feels were not unambiguous at all. Anger sparked through her, overtaking everything else.
‘You are such a bastard. You did this on purpose, so I’d go through with this?’
‘I didn’t need to,’ he murmured. ‘Our marriage is a fait accompli.’
‘But this is insurance,’ she insisted. ‘Because if I somehow managed to walk out of here, my life would never be the same again, right?’
