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“I know we’re still getting used to each other. I know you enjoyed your studies, and I know you’re bored here. You’re welcome to go shopping and do whatever you like to the suite. And if you’d like me to join you for dinner, I will.”
Her heart went out to him. There was nothing but exhaustion in his eyes, but he was trying. He was doing a poor job of it, but at least he was trying.
“I don’t want to do anything to interrupt your routine. You have a lot to do before you leave for America.” Jada hesitated. “If you think it would help, I could come with you.”
She held her breath. It was the first time she had broached the subject of leaving with Kamal, and she waited anxiously for his answer. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he had intended to bring her with him all along. In the distance, a clock ticked loudly as the silence stretched between them.
“If you’re bored now, think of how bored you’ll be in America,” Kamal said finally. “You’ll have no friends and family, and I’ll barely be home. It’s probably best that you stay here.”
Her hope deflated as he took his drink into the office. She desperately wanted to call back out to him and tell him that she could explore. She would learn new things. But that, no doubt, was not what he wanted his wife to hear.
Shoving her anger and despair down, she turned and headed for the bedroom. Her hands shook as she wiped away her make-up and slowly unbraided her hair. By the time she slid between the satin sheets, she was too tired to care about anything.
But when he joined her hours later and slid a hand along her bare thigh, she awoke and turned to him. At least, if nothing else, she could give him this. It almost felt like she had nothing else to give.
* * *
Kamal spent the next evening eyeballing his parents. They sat stiffly at the table, and while Nahid carefully avoided his wife’s gaze, Ameena openly glared at him. He tried to ignore the strange tense atmosphere, but finally he could take it no longer. He already had enough pressure on his shoulders to make this expansion work.
Putting down his fork, he wiped his mouth and faced his parents. “Is there something you two would like to discuss?” he asked politely.
“No,” Nahid said hastily.
At the same time, his mother swung her angry gaze at him. “Eat your dinner,” she snapped.
Blinking, Kamal leaned back and crossed his arms. “Mother, it’s not like you to be up this late. What’s going on?”
“You two continue to sneak in late at night. I know it’s not because you’re avoiding me,” Ameena said. Her words were dripping with sugar, but her eyes were angry.
Kamal couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why his mother was so angry. “We’re working, Mother. Of course we’re not avoiding you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Nahid muttered under his breath.
Kamal shook his head. “Enough. I have too much going on to mediate issues between you two. Clear the air right now or stow your problems until I’m not around.”
“Kamal,” Nahid said in a warning voice.
“No. He should know why I’m angry,” Ameena said harshly. “He’s the reason I’m angry. You’re both idiots. How can two men, one running a country and another in line to run a country, be so stupid?”
Dropping his jaw, Kamal stared at his mother. It had been a long time since he’d seen her so upset. “What did I do? I haven’t even been here,” he objected.
“No, you haven’t,” she snapped. “You have a beautiful and brand new bride waiting for you, and you probably don’t spend more than five waking hours with her a day. Not to mention that you’re abandoning her in a few weeks while you move to America. And how long will be gone, Kamal? A month? Three months? Half a year?”
“This is business,” Nahid said heatedly. “This is what he needs to be doing. There will be time after to woo his wife. We’re talking about increasing the profits that go into this country.”
“But does it have to be now? You couldn’t have waited a year? Let the poor woman find her feet!”
“Did she say something to you?” Kamal asked. Jaded hadn’t implied that she was upset that he was leaving, did she?
“Of course not. She’s the perfect dutiful wife. Since she has no idea what kind of man you are since you don’t spend any time with her, she’s probably terrified to voice her opinion on anything!”
Nahid stood. “Ameena,”
“Sit down, Nahid,” his mother commanded. “You may run a country, but when I have something to say, you’re going to hear it!”
Kamal had enough. Pounding his fists on the table to get his parents attention, he gritted his teeth. “Mother, I understand that the timing is poor, but perhaps this is better time than you think. Jada and I are not a match of love. She’d had very little time to adjust to the idea of being married. She can learn under you how the palace works while I’m away. If I stayed and bonded with her, like you seem to suggest, the business trip would only be that much harder.”
Ameena stared at him. “I raised a fool for a son,” she said as she quietly shook his head. “Excuse me.”
