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He extended his hand. “There are apartments set aside for us. And I have been given a new position. I’m to be head of the military. And we are to be presented as husband and wife tomorrow before the nation. It is when it will be announced that we have reclaimed the country.”
Her heart kicked into gear. “You mean... Everyone will know. That you’re back? That he’s back?”
“Yes.” It was scary, actually. Knowing that it would create a political shift in the world to have their identities revealed. Knowing that it would change... Everything.
And she and Cairo were simply... Married. They were married. It was something she could not yet wrap her mind around.
He nodded at Brianna, and then took Ariel’s hand and led her from the room. “She’s afraid,” said Ariel. “Just because she slept with Riyaz does not mean that she wants to marry him.”
“I’m sorry. I think these are the consequences for her actions and she has to deal with them.”
“She’s your friend.”
“I know. And if... If I feel like Riyaz is being unreasonable, I will intervene. But I actually think he cares for her. He will not hurt her.”
“Cairo,” she said slowly. “I’m only going to ask you this once. Are you... Giving your friend to your brother because you feel guilty about what we did?”
“It isn’t guilt. But I will not oppose what my brother wants. I understand that you wish... You wish for me to be more civilized. I lived in your world for all this time, after all. I understand that you wish to believe that our marriage indicates that I am something that I am not. The truth is, I am from this land. I am the second son of the royal family. And my duty is to my brother. My king. My duty is to the people here. I do not have a concern for anyone’s feelings. Brianna will not be harmed. She will be sheikha. She will be well treated. I have no need to intervene.”
“She said she doesn’t want to stay.”
“It is a shame. But always was a possibility...”
“You said you rescued her. You said you rescued her and now you’re willing to sacrifice her for this? What was the point of rescuing her at all?”
“Believe me when I tell you, she will be treated better by Riyaz than she ever would have been where she was headed. But it is not my story to tell.”
“Do you love her?”
She hated herself for asking the question. His dark eyes went flinty. Hard. “Love is not a factor for me. For anything.”
It wasn’t a denial. “Do you love her?” she repeated.
He shook his head. “I can’t love. Not in the way that you mean. I’m sorry. If that sounds hard to you...”
“No. It’s exactly what I would expect. And I received that better than hearing that you love another woman, actually. So thank you.”
“I told you. I told you what my priorities were. You didn’t believe me.”
“I just thought at some point the human element would matter. Me. Brianna.”
“My brother spent sixteen years in a dungeon. He is the human element for me. I...”
She saw something tortured in his eyes then. Dark and pained. “I might have devoted my life to freeing the country. But he had no life. None at all. He didn’t even have the honor of being the one to free the country. It is... It is not something that I can ignore. It is not something that I can simply let go. I owe my brother years that he cannot get back.”
“You didn’t hold him in captivity.”
His gaze became bleak. “You don’t know what I carry. And it is of no consequence. For I must now support the throne. I must now support Riyaz. If he wants Brianna, he can have her. For my part, I have you.”
He turned and began to walk down the corridor. The palace was as she remembered it. Golden stone inlay on the walls and the floors. The ceilings. It was familiar and yet somehow alien all at once.
And they were to be living here. Somehow, she had ended up in this palace anyway.
And she realized on some level that... That he had chosen her over Riyaz. For all that he professed to have no feeling. For all that he professed Riyaz to be the most important thing... He had chosen her.
And he simply wouldn’t take something from his brother again.
Did that indicate that he didn’t care for her?
