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‘No.’ He moved his hand lower, down her spine, to the curve just above her bottom, his fingers splayed wide, holding her close to him so she was aware of his strength and hardness, so that she was aware of all of him. ‘There was a shortlist.’
India couldn’t help smiling at that, but it was a sad smile, pricked with remorse. ‘I see,’ she murmured. ‘No wonder you’re so...’
‘So?’ he prompted.
‘Arrogant.’ She lifted her shoulder unapologetically. ‘You have a queue of women desperate to marry you. It wouldn’t even occur to you that some women don’t value marriage to you as the highest prize imaginable.’
‘On the contrary,’ he responded, and she couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed. ‘You made it very clear that this marriage is the last thing you want.’
‘I feel sorry for the women who were hoping you’d turn to them,’ she said. ‘They’ll be heartbroken.’
‘I’m sure they’ll get over it.’
Silently, India disagreed. If she had loved Khalil, and thought he might want to marry her, she would have had a hard time moving on. He was incomparable. But she didn’t say that to him—his ego didn’t need any more stroking. His certainty spoke more of his belief that women were fickle and unfeeling. As though he couldn’t comprehend true, unfaltering love. Why? What had happened to him? Was it because of his ex-fiancée?
‘As for being arrogant,’ he said, ‘I think that has more to do with how I was raised than anything else.’
Curiosity had her gaze sharpening. ‘And how were you raised?’
‘With the certainty that I would be master of all I survey.’ He said it in a jocular tone, yet India detected a hint of something beneath the surface.
‘Specifics, please,’ she murmured.
‘What would you like to know?’
She cast about for one of the many questions that were swimming through her. ‘Well, did you live at the palace, even as a boy? Or did your parents have somewhere a little less...intimidating...when you were younger?’
‘The palace has always been my home.’
‘So your parents live there now?’
‘They do.’
‘Where?’
‘In the East Wing.’
‘Of course.’ She narrowly avoided rolling her eyes. ‘So you see them often?’
‘I see them as infrequently as you likely see your parents.’
Her step faltered, and her hand on his hip dug in a little, as though grabbing hold of something tangible. ‘My parents are dead.’ She offered a tight smile to put him at ease, as most people would feel regret at having made such a faux pas. Her heart ached, as always, because she missed her parents so much it was like a physical injury.
‘When?’
Most people would also choose to sidestep the issue, but not Khalil. His insatiable need for answers overrode everything. And yet, despite her first reaction, India realised she wasn’t upset to discuss her parents with him. If anything, she felt that talking about them now was a way of bringing them into her life. ‘A little over a year ago. It was a car accident,’ she forestalled his next question. ‘They died immediately.’
‘I’m very sorry to hear it. Were you close?’
India stopped dancing, pain lancing her now. ‘Very.’ Her voice was croaky; she looked away. ‘I think we’ve done what we needed to here, don’t you?’
But a muscle jerked low in his jaw and he didn’t release her. ‘My cousin Astrid lost her parents,’ he said, stroking her back, the comforting touch almost kind, except ‘kind’ wasn’t a word she would use to describe Khalil. ‘She was much younger, so it is not really a comparison—she never really knew them actually, so it’s more the idea of them she misses. It’s a pain that doesn’t seem to get easier.’
‘No.’ India nodded gently. ‘It doesn’t. At least, not in my experience.’ She found herself pressing her cheek to his chest. Not looking at him made it easier to talk. ‘My mother had actually been sick for a couple of years before the accident. Cancer. It was aggressive, so we were prepared for the worst. Though she’d been granted special permission to take a drug that wasn’t approved for treatment, and it was helping. I thought I’d made my peace with losing her, but I hadn’t. It was an awful time in my life.’
He kissed the top of her head and butterflies spread inside her, buzzing through her limbs. It was just an act, he was playing a part, but the effect of his attention was very, very real. She lifted her face to his, and when their eyes locked, it was as though nothing existed beyond them. Their past no longer mattered. Except it did, her brain interjected swiftly. Nothing about what she’d just revealed to Khalil changed a damned thing.
‘Before my mother married my stepfather, we were alone, and I was lonely. Then, overnight, I had a father—a real one, who truly cared about me—and soon enough, a little brother for me to dote on.’ Her smile was ethereal, so Khalil’s gaze dropped to her lips.
