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‘Hello, boy,’ she whispered as she pressed her face into his mane.
‘He likes you.’
Well, at least someone does, Abby thought, swallowing a sob of self-pity just as the person she least wanted to see in the world at this point appeared.
Not dressed for riding today, Kayla was instead wearing a pencil skirt that ended mid-calf, her legs elongated by the spiky heels she wore. Her silk top had bell sleeves and a square neck above which she wore some massively impressive pearls.
She lifted her chin; this woman was a bitch, but Abby’s childhood experiences meant she had had a great deal of practice dealing with mean spirits and she knew that you should never let them see that they had got to you, as fear and pain were the food they fed on.
‘Kayla.’ She tipped her head in cool acknowledgement and had the satisfaction of seeing an expression of annoyance in the other woman’s dark, malicious eyes as the thundering sound of horses being put through their paces on the gallops in the distance got louder and then faded away.
‘How was your trip to England...home? You must miss it.’
‘I miss my family and friends.’ But not as much as she missed the sound of Zain’s voice, the touch of his hand...his lips.
‘Then I am surprised your visit there was so short.’
Abby closed her eyes and shook her head. She had no appetite for the cat-and-mouse fencing. She heaved out a long, sibilant sigh, opened her eyes, lifted her chin once more and prepared to take the metaphorical gloves off.
‘Actually, I was looking for you. I think I have something of yours.’ She held out her hand, the diamond stud between her fingers catching the light.
The woman’s smile was almost as insincere as the sympathy and regret in her response. ‘Oh, dear, I wouldn’t have had you find out this way for the world.’
Abby’s brows lifted as she dropped the earring onto the woman’s palm. ‘Find out what? That you are totally desperate and wouldn’t know a moral scruple if it bit you?’
Kayla’s triumphant smile faltered as her lips compressed in a petulant pout, but she recovered quickly and threw out a fresh taunt. ‘You probably don’t know, but I had a relationship with Zain before you were married.’
‘I was here about five minutes before I learnt that on the palace grapevine.’
‘But what you didn’t know is that it carried on...and is still carrying on,’ Kayla added before dramatically producing the twin to the earring.
Abby felt a fresh stab of shame for those split seconds when she had allowed her own insecurities and jealousy to make her jump.
‘If you expect me to believe that you slept with my husband last night, forget it... Zain has too much...’ her lips quivered and her eyes misted ‘...too much respect for me to act that way.’ She clung tight to this; she might not have his love but by his actions Zain had proved time and time again that it wasn’t just words—he did respect her.
The other woman’s eyes flashed with pure malice in response to the simple pride ringing out in Abby’s confident statement. ‘You mean you amuse him right now. It won’t last, you know; the novelty value will wear off.’ Abby’s dignified silence seemed to enrage the woman even more as she snarled out contemptuously, ‘You love him, I suppose?’
‘Yes.’ Even in this situation it felt liberating to be able to say it out loud.
‘And you think he loves you...? I suppose it is his great love for you that will carry him through the latest polling disaster...’ She saw the flicker of shock in Abby’s eyes and nodded. ‘Oh, yes, not good news at all, but then, no great surprise either,’ she drawled. ‘His advisors were expecting it; they warned him that seeing you, an outsider, with him will always remind people of his mother.’ She stepped in closer. ‘You’re the kiss of death for Zain, and if you really loved him you’d leave!’ she hissed, before turning and sweeping majestically away.
Abby stood perfectly still, her thoughts whirling. Kayla was trying to manipulate her but that didn’t mean what the woman was saying didn’t have an element of truth—more than an element, she realised; it was the truth.
Presumably at the outset Zain had calculated that any damage to his reputation that the sham marriage to her might cause could be rectified after they split up down the line, but what if he was wrong...? What if the longer she stayed the more damage she did to his reputation...what if it became irreparable? What if the people he loved rejected him?
She knew that would kill him.
‘Amira?’
The young stable boy was standing there looking concerned.
Abby shook her head and turned, pride keeping her head up as she walked away, her firm tread contrasting with the awful icy chills running through her body.
Her chaotic thoughts chased around in her head. She didn’t know where she was going or what she was going to do yet she knew she needed space...time...distance...but a moment later the stable hand caught her up.
‘Excuse me, Amira, but the driver found this in the car.’
She looked blankly at the tiny charm that had fallen from the bracelet that had been her mother’s. ‘Oh, thank him...’ A sudden thought occurred to her: if she was going to do this it was best to do it quickly, better for Zain. ‘Is the Prince here in the palace?’ she asked quickly.
