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It wasn’t a threat; he knew his sister-in-law. She was worried about him. “Marook should not have said…”
“But he did.” She was quiet.
Ra’if kicked his long legs out in front of him. His eyes glowed with the force of his emotions. “It was just a distraction.” His voice was thick. He cleared his throat. “And it’s over.” He shrugged to emphasise that to himself.
“Good.” Olivia’s relief was obvious. “Because I don’t like the idea of you being with anyone who doesn’t make you happy. And you don’t sound happy.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “What the hell did I do before you were in my life?”
Olivia left the response unsaid. They both knew what he’d done – he’d found solace for his pain and grief in drugs.
He disconnected the call after a few more minutes of idle chit chat, but he was distracted.
He reached for his phone again and dialled Marook.
The man answered immediately. “Any news?”
Marook’s pause was heavy with unspoken concern. “No, sir. Nothing.”
Ra’if nodded, slowly. “Marook?” He toyed with the novelty of explaining his actions. Life, though, had changed him. The once arrogant ruler of Dashan had space in his head and heart for others now, and Marook –despite his tendency to intrude – was one such person. “I’m just helping Melinda out. You need not worry.”
Marook’s voice was rich with doubt. “I worry because there is temptation. Where there is temptation, there is worry.”
Ra’if shook his head. “It’s not temptation. It’s a cautionary tale. I see what this man has lost because of his addiction and I know I will never be back there. I will never lose those I love, Marook.”
Marook knew enough of Ra’if’s steel and resolve to be momentarily appeased. “I will redouble the efforts. There was a lead. A possible link in Bristol. I will do what I can.”
“It’s important,” Ra’if said sombrely, leaning back in his chair and once again staring out at the view of the city. “I need to find him.”
* * *
She blinked away the tears. They were stupid and unwelcome. She’d made the right decision.
The only decision she could.
But days after hearing Ra’if say he loved her, Melinda felt no less alone and remorseful than she had the night he’d left. It had all been a fantasy. Looking back, she?
??d been so foolish not to press him harder about his identity.
There had been signs the whole way.
He was no ordinary man.
From the way he spoke, to the quality of his clothes, the obvious hallmarks of wealth that were just a part of who he was, to the languages he spoke, the mystery about what he actually did… she’d let herself ignore all of those question marks because he’d seduced her with his beautiful smile and incredible body. With his sexual magnetism and masculine appeal.
He’d found a way under a barrier she never let anyone near!
Not once since having Jordan had she been tempted to get close to someone. Not romantically.
She’d had offers.
A guy she worked with had been pretty persistent in his interest over the years. But Melinda had always known that she was better off alone.
She wasn’t alone, anyway.
Her eyes lifted to Jordan’s closed door and her heart lifted.
But what if, in denying her own desires, she was hurting him, too? What if she was closing the door on relationships that might actually give Jordan something that he was missing.
