Page 17 of His to Take

The rest of the evening is straight out of a fairytale, with the sheikh never leaving my side and attending to my every need. He's acting like he's in love with me, and I have to believe that he is. Right?

It's only a few minutes past ten when we leave the party, but I'm already half-asleep as the sheikh bundles me up in his limousine. Having the day shift means I'm usually dead to the world by nine, and I stick to the same routine even on my days off.

When I wake again, I realize we're back in the hotel, and I'm all alone in his bedroom.

I hear voices coming from the suite's balcony, and one of it is wonderfully familiar while the other bears the same Middle Eastern accent as the sheikh's.

"I can't believe you're marrying the girl you saw a year ago."

"It's what I came here to do."

"Have you told her yet?"

"There's no need for her to know," Sheikh Saif says coolly.

"You mean, you don't want her to know," the other voice retorts in amusement, "and we both know why that is."

Chapter Nine

I don't wait to hear what the sheikh has to say to that. I've heard more than I care to know, and it's enough to crush my heart into pieces.

Tears burn my eyes as I tiptoe past them unseen, but just as I step out of the room, I hear the balcony doors slide open, and the sound is enough to have me break into a run.

The elevator doors are halfway to sliding close when I make it down the hallway, and I punch the Open button in a series of desperate jabs as I hear the sheikh bite out my name.

I slump against the wall as the doors close, and the tears I've been doing my best to hold back finally start tracking down my cheeks.

God, I'm such an idiot.

I should have known a man like him would never see me as wife material. I should've known, dammit!

The elevator finally reaches the lobby, and I've just stepped out when someone suddenly blocks my way...and slaps me so hard that my face snaps to the other side.

Oh God.

Is this the sheikh's fiancée? Maybe someone told her what happened between Sheikh Saif and me at the party, and she's here to let me know what a shameless slut I am?

I slowly raise my head...and find myself blinking when I realize it's actually a former classmate of mine from college. "Jessica?"

She slaps me again, and this time I feel my lip start to bleed.

"You really are shameless, aren't you?" the other woman screams. "You haven't even managed to pay back a fraction of what your thieving mom stole from us, but there you are, just partying the night away and whoring yourself—-"

"Say another word," an accented voice warns grimly from behind me, "and I'll have you thrown out of this hotel."

It's the sheikh, of course, and my eyes start stinging anew. I've been so caught up with my feelings for him that I failed to think about what it means to the sheikh if he marries someone like me.

Sheikh Saif has a throne to inherit and an entire kingdom to lead. He needs the right woman to be his queen, and with the kind of past I have...can I really blame him for not choosing me?

The sound of a harshly expelled curse interrupts my thoughts just then, and the next thing I know, it's the sheikh carefully turning my face to his.

"You're bleeding."

I actually forgot that I was, and I quickly wrench away from his hold. "It's nothing—-"

"I'm the victim here, not her!" Jessica has finally recovered from her shock, and I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the sound of distress in her high-pitched cry. She's acting like she's the one who got slapped, and not the other way around.

"You probably don't know this," Jessica begins self-righteously, "but that woman—-"

"—-is my future wife," Sheikh Saif says coldly, "so choose your words wisely, if you know what's good for you."

I'm not sure who's more stunned between Jessica and me, but I forget all about the other woman when the sheikh switches his attention back to me, and I see the fury in his eyes.

What the hell?

First, Jessica, and now it's the sheikh?

I'm the victim here, dammit.

I'm the one the sheikh lied to. The one Jessica slapped, and twice at that.

So why are these two acting like I did something wrong?

"You will never speak to such trash again, do you hear me?"

Since he's growling the words out, he hasn't anything the worry about on that score. Everyone in the hotel lobby has heard him, and the words are more than enough to have the so-called trash, I mean Jessica, drop her woe-is-me act in an instant.

"How dare you? Who the hell are you to call me trash?"

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