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Izzy, however, was a unique case.‘We’re not a real couple,’she had said, and while in one essential way that was true since they did not plan to remain together, in other ways it was quite distinctively untrue, Rafiq reasoned seriously. Of course, his outlook on marriage was very different from hers. Weddings were fun occasions in the West, associated with romantic love and deeply optimistic hopes. But being born royal, Rafiq had never expected that kind of marriage. He had always known that he was unlikely to get to choose his wife for himself and that he would have to simply make the best of whichever woman he married. That awareness had made him realistic and practical.
What Izzy had yet to accept was that, even without those Westernised notions of hers about marriage, she wasstillhis wife and wasstillthe mother of his unborn children, a bond that would create an unbreakable lifelong tie between them. And when she did reach that real-world state of acceptance, how would she feel then? How could he possibly know?
He was still marvelling that she was willing to surrender custody of their offspring and leave her children behind in Zenara while she returned to the UK to pursue her career plans. She was a lot younger than he was, he reminded himself, and still defiantly determined to reclaim the life she had expected to have, and he understood that tenacious streak of hers. Even so, she had seemed softer, more sentimental and had made it very clear that family meant a lot to her...
But then what did he know about a mother’s emotions, most particularly a career-orientated modern mother? he asked himself cynically. Having birthed him, his own mother had not seemed to care whether he was alive or dead, having never shown any further interest in him. At a very young age he had realised that not all women were maternal. It wasn’teverywoman who wanted to raise her own child, take on that responsibility for another being’s welfare and limit her own freedom accordingly. He had not the slightest doubt that, had it not been for the royal nursery staff, he would have starved and cried without comfort as a baby. He wasn’t making a poor judgement of Izzy’s character, he assured himself staunchly, just as he hadn’t judged his mother for the same lack of interest. After all, he freely acknowledged that his father had been no more concerned than his mother about their son’s well-being. And with his private jet at her disposal, Izzy would be able to come back and visit their children any time she wanted...
In the bedroom next door, Izzy cradled her mobile phone and tried to work out what she could afford to tell her sister when she called her. And shehadto call Maya because they had never been out of contact for so long.
‘Where theheckhave you been?’ her twin shrilled down the line with worried emphasis. ‘I’ve been worried sick! Youvanished... I mean, who can afford to do that on our income?’
Izzy registered that she had to come clean. ‘I found out that I was pregnant,’ she told her sister baldly.
‘How the hell—’ Maya exclaimed and then added with startling insight, ‘Bathroom guy? IknewI wasn’t getting the whole story.’
‘Bathroom guy,’ Izzy confirmed, grateful for once that her sibling was that quick on the uptake.
‘Right, so you’repregnant,’ her twin murmured with laden stress on that condition. ‘And right now, I’m...er...working in Italy.’
‘You got a job abroad?’ Izzy gathered with admiration. ‘Congratulations. I expect, considering how fast your talents have been snapped up, that the position pays very well?’
There was an unexpected silence before Maya responded brightly, ‘The benefits are unbelievable. My stay in Italy promises to free Mum and Dad fromalltheir financial problems!’
‘My goodness,’ Izzy muttered, undeniably impressed by her twin’s superior earning power. ‘But what a shame that the dream job has to be abroad!’
‘Well, can’t have everything,’ her twin sighed feelingly. ‘So, where are you?’
‘Zenara,’ Izzy admitted.
‘Where’s that?’ Maya questioned, delighting Izzy with her ignorance. ‘And you’re living there with this guy?’
‘Yes.’ Izzy grimaced, reluctant to tell fibs to her sister and hoping she wouldn’t ask too many more difficult questions. She would tell Maya the whole story when she got home again but if she spoke up now, her twin would be worried sick, and she didn’t need that stress when she had just embarked on a demanding highly paid job in a foreign country. But sooner than that she would definitely have to tell Maya about Rafiq’s true identity and share the news that they were married.
‘He wants us to stay together until the babies are born,’ she admitted.
‘Babies...likemorethan one baby?’ Maya exclaimed in excitement.
‘Twins,’ Izzy confirmed. ‘But it’s too soon to know the gender yet.’
‘Heavens, I’m going to be an auntie!’ Maya cried with satisfaction and the dialogue veered off awkward questions into territory that Izzy could more easily cope with.
‘All right, you’re being suspiciously silent here about the important stuff. Tell me all about bathroom guy.’
‘He’s...he’s gorgeous.’
‘You’re not that shallow,’ Maya told her.
Izzy reddened at her end of the phone. ‘He’s very responsible, decent, maybe a little old-fashioned.’
‘Nothing to complain about there when you fall accidentally pregnant,’ her twin commented bluntly. ‘Why shouldn’t he be responsible? They’re his kids too. At least he’s not trying to run away.’
‘Rafiq is not the running-away type.’
Having completed her call, Izzy walked into the ridiculously large and luxurious dressing room off the bedroom and opened doors and drawers, amazed to find them packed with brand-new garments and she leafed through them in awe. Rafiq hadsaidshe had no clothes because she had only brought along a couple of casual summery outfits in her carry-on case and he had made good on that deficit,sogood indeed that she was staggered by his generosity. There were drawers full of fine lingerie, rails lined with dresses, both long and short, and all appeared to be maternity wear. It was good that he was aware of that issue with clothing, she told herself even while her instincts shrieked no, no,no, don’t want that aspect to be so important that it shadows everything else for him.
So, you go and say thank you like a well-brought-up woman,she reflected, reasoning with her less grateful self, crushing it down because she was beingunreasonable. After all, he wouldn’t have needed to marry her or clothe her had she not been pregnant, therefore it was downright irrational to be annoyed that he was quitethataware of her condition. And it was not as though she could afford to buy a hot-climate wardrobe for herself or any maternity wear, she reminded herself. In any case her cropped jeans were already straining at her thickening waist and all her bras were too tight.
Knocking on the door politely, she walked into his empty bedroom.
