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Her eyes closed. “I’m sorry.” The tears started to fall. “I’m so sorry.”
“And now I have no choice.”
Her eyes flew open, her lips parting in silent shock at what he wasn’t saying.
“I can’t turn my back on her again.” His voice turned lifeless. “I just...can’t.”
Oh God.
Oh God.
Oh God.
He loved her.
But it was too late.
“Rayyan.” His name broke past her lips just as she watched him turn away. “Rayyan, please...” She choked back a sob. “Tell me what to do.”
He only looked at her, and the answer was in his empty blue eyes, and she wanted to die.
“Please.” Her voice cracked. “There has to be something I can—-”
“I can’t leave her,” Rayyan said tonelessly.
She crumpled as soon as he left, sobbing her heart out, and she was like that when her older sister found her –
“Cin?” Anisah rushed inside, falling to her knees to take her baby sister into her arms. “Cin, what’s wrong?”
“Rayyan...” Sobs started to shake the younger girl’s body. “Rayyan.”
Anisah couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but the truth in her sister’s tear-ravaged face was impossible to deny.
“Oh, Cin.” She pulled her sister close, hugging her, rocking her, and her own tears fell, knowing this was just one of the things a big sister couldn’t ever do. She could slay dragons, she could reach for the moon and the stars, she could do just about anything for Hyacinth, but one thing she could never protect her little sister from was the pain of losing someone you loved.
Twenty-Two
Every invitation sent out for Sheikh Rayyan Al-Atassi’s 32nd birthday was returned with an affirmative, and this included Hyacinth, whose RSVP included a note that she would be attending with Marwan Bseiso.
It was Hyacinth’s first time to attend a royal event with her co-host, and with the media also speculating about the relationship between the two, it was inevitable for the topic to make its way to one of the dinners shared by Ramil’s royal family.
“Has Cin told you anything about him?” Kyria, newborn daughter sleeping soundly in her arms, asked Hyacinth’s older sister with genuine interest.
Conscious of the suddenly cold stare leveled at her by a certain blue-eyed sheikh, Anisah had to pretend ignorance as she said, “All she’d tell me was that they were close friends.” This much was true. “But then...you gotta wonder, right? I mean, she did share a flat with him for a few months, and Hyacinth’s not the type to trust just any guy.”
“That’s true,” the queen agreed, a thoughtful expression on her face. “And she did trust him with the truth about her being behind FBPC V1.0. That has to mean something, right?” Glancing at her husband, Harper asked curiously, “Do you think he’ll make a suitable partner for Hyacinth?”
“I had our people check him out,” the king admitted, “and nothing I’ve read suggests otherwise.”
Tarif and Altair turned to Rayyan at the same time, and when they realized what they were doing –
The kingdom’s army commander raised a brow at his cousin. You know about Hyacinth?
Tarif allowed himself a barely perceptible nod.
They looked at Rayyan again, who was looking more murderous with every second spent on the womenfolk listing down the many sterling qualities of Hyacinth’s co-host.
“What say you, Rayyan?” Malik asked conversationally. “Hyacinth worked for you for some time, hasn’t she? Do you think she should date Marwan Bseiso if he were to ask her out?”
“Can you hand me that bottle of wine?” Altair asked before Rayyan could answer.
“It’s getting late,” Tarif told his wife at the same time. “We should go. I like to have at least four good hours of fucking before going to sleep.”
Anisah’s lovely face burned a bright shade of red. “Tarif!”
Tarif feigned a discomfited look, saying, “I know what you’re all thinking, and nem, I am sorry for being such a neglectful husband. Anisah has insisted on five, but—-”
His wife slapped a hand over his mouth. “Will you shut up?”
The entire table burst into laughter, and it was with this that the dinner came to its end, with both sheikhs having saved Rayyan from losing his temper and letting loose words he might later on have reason to regret.
Even so, Tarif made certain to corner the other sheikh first thing in the morning the next day, walking into Rayyan’s office unannounced. “If you’re that bothered about Hyacinth dating another man,” he said without preamble, “then why the fuck don’t you just date her yourself?”
Knowing it was pointless to deny any feelings on his side, Rayyan simply shook his head, saying curtly, “It’s not that easy.”
“You either want her or you don’t. It can’t get any simpler than that, brother.” He paused. “Unless there is someone else involved—-”
“Nem.”
Tarif cursed under his breath. “You cheated on Hyacinth?”
Rayyan shot his cousin a glare. “No, of course not. I told you, it’s complicated.”
“Then explain it to me.”
