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‘She can go,’ Amin said, waving an arm in her direction as if she were a baggage to be passed around, ‘but you are needed here.’
‘Enough!’ Khalif barked, his hand slicing through the air and any further objection his infuriating assistant might have. He was done. ‘Out. Everyone. Now.’
Amin looked as shocked as if he’d just been told categorically that Santa Claus was real and moved only when the security guard in front of the door opened it and gestured to him to leave. Maya ducked her head—quite possibly concealing the ghost of a smile—but left and was followed by the security guard closing the door behind him.
‘Did you want me to...?’ Star’s question fell short, probably at the look on his face which—if it was anywhere close to his feelings right now—would be a sight to behold. He resisted the urge to run his hands through his hair, aware of how much that would give away.
‘Do you want a coffee?’
‘If Iampregnant, probably not, no.’
‘Right. Of course. Really? Already?’
Star shrugged her shoulders and stared at him as if he were an unexploded bomb. He certainly felt like one.
‘Herbal tea would be lovely, if you have one.’
Thathe could do. He went to the kitchenette and retrieved one of the herbal teas he’d always kept for Samira.
His brain stumbled over her name as if, even mentally, he couldn’t face it. He glared at the leafy infusion as if it were responsible for creating a link between Star and her at this specific moment.
Pulling himself together, he passed the cup under the heated water tap.
‘I know you’re a prince and everything, but if you don’t know how to boil a kettle...’
He felt a smile soften the grim line of his lips and shifted to the side so that Star could see the steam coming from the boiling water.
‘Ah... Fancy.’
‘Very,’ he confirmed. He turned and passed her the tea. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Not pregnant, if that’s what you’re wondering,’ she said, gently blowing the steam from her tea across the rim of the cup. She looked up at him and shrugged. ‘Kal—Your—Oh, please just tell me what to call you?’ she pleaded lightly.
He smiled at her evident fluster. ‘Kal when it’s just you and me, Khalif in front of the people who just left the room, and Your Highness if there is ever anyone else present.’
Ifthere is ever.Notwhen.
Star gripped the cup tighter to disguise the shaking of her hands caused by the realisation that he had no intention of introducing her to any more people than was strictly necessary. And while that hurt, could she blame him? She had only intended to share one magical night with him before returning to Norfolk. Something that now seemed impossible.
‘I get the feeling you’re not letting me on my flight,’ she said.
‘No.’
A dull thud hit her heart and blood rushed to her cheeks. Eleven days, Maya had said. She couldn’t stay here for eleven days! Panic flooded her body, adrenaline effervescent in her blood. What about her mother? Every single minute she stayed with Khalif the necklace remained lost to them, as did the chance to save her mother.
She put down the hot tea before she could spill it and burn herself. ‘I can’t... I can’t be here for eleven days, Kal,’ she said, her voice almost a whisper.
‘You won’t be. In half an hour we’ll head into the desert.’
‘The desert?’ Star asked before realising that he wouldn’t want her somewhere she could be found by some unsuspecting staff or family member.
‘We have a family residence in the desert.’
‘Really?’ Star frowned. She’d not heard or seen any reference to it in the exhibition. Maybe, just maybe... She couldn’t tell whether the thread of hope winding around her heart at the possibility that she might find the necklace there was fanciful or fated. And then she was horrified at herself for thinking such a thing, for being opportunistic at this time, and her stomach began to hurt as much as her heart.
‘I need to call my sisters.’ They would know what to do, she thought, rubbing absently at her stomach—a move that Khalif’s keen gaze homed in on.
‘You can’t tell them.’
