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‘And so you went through with it.’
‘I did. Zoltan wasn’t happy though, when I refused to sleep with him on our wedding night.’
Tora was so shocked she laughed. ‘You didn’t?’
Aisha smiled and shrugged. ‘How else could I show my displeasure at being forced into marriage? I did not know this man I was expected to fall into bed with. He was a stranger to me and I wanted a love match.’
‘What happened?’
‘He showed me he was a good man and I could not help but fall in love with him.’
Tora shook her head. ‘Nobody would ever guess you two started out like that.’
‘Don’t think I’m the only one—Marina and Amber had no easy path to love either. You see, there is something you must understand about these four men, Zoltan and Bahir, Kadar and Rashid—they are like brothers, only their bond is stronger, and duty is everything to them. They may not like it, they may strain against their fate, but ultimately they know what they must do.
‘But they are so focused on their duty they don’t take easily to the concept of love. None of them had an easy upbringing, and they all grew up looking after themselves. They are so used to being in control of their lives and their destinies that love is foreign to them. They are caught unawares how powerful love can be, but when they do fall in love, they fall hard.
‘It has been the same for Zoltan, Bahir and most recently Kadar. And now Rashid is one hundred per cent focused on his new role and, in truth, is probably still coming to terms with this change in his life, but you will see, in time, Rashid will come good, too. He will be a good husband to you.’
And Aisha sounded so certain that Tora’s uncertainties came brimming to the fore. ‘Except this is still a marriage of convenience. As soon as we’re divorced, he’ll no doubt marry a meek Qajarese woman with the right connections the first chance he gets.’
Aisha shook her head. ‘No, this cannot be true. I have seen you two together. I saw you during the coronation where Rashid’s eyes followed your every move. We all saw him watching you. I cannot believe he would let you go, now that he’s found you.’
Tora tried not to read too much into Aisha’s predictions. ‘He did ask me last night, to stay longer.’
Aisha smiled. ‘You see! It is happening already. Soon he will not be able to imagine living without you. Do you love him?’
And Tora looked away to escape from the other woman’s direct question and even more direct gaze. ‘I... I’m not sure. How do you know for sure if you love somebody?’
Aisha put a hand over her heart. ‘You feel it here, and—’ she touched her head ‘—you know it here and suddenly it consumes you and you need him with every fibre of your being. You know that without him, you can never be complete. And when you make love with the man you love, you are complete.’
Tora let go a breath she’d been holding.
Love.
That was how it had felt to her last night.
‘So,’ prompted Aisha. ‘Is it love?’
‘I think it is,’ she said, smiling at the flutter in her heart as she admitted it. ‘I think I’ve fallen in love with Rashid.’
‘So here you all are.’
Tora spun around at Zoltan’s voice, humiliated enough that he must have overheard her words, but no, it was worse than that, because there was Rashid, right beside him, and his eyes were as cold as the slabs of marble that lined the floor. She shivered from their impact as Zoltan leaned down and kissed his wife while the twins shrieked and came running to greet their father.
Tora looked away, busied herself looking anywhere but at Rashid and at those damning eyes.
Why would he be so angry, even if he’d overheard her? How could a few innocent words banish what they’d shared last night?
‘Have you had a good day?’ Zoltan asked, still leaning over his wife, their faces mere inches apart. That was love right there, thought Tora. Love in abundance.
‘The best,’ Aisha replied, aiming a conspiratorial smile towards Tora. ‘Just wait till I tell you.’
And a glance towards Rashid saw his eyes still locked on her, so cold and hard that she was almost sure she must have imagined last night in her dreams.
And if there was any love between her and Rashid, right now, it was one-sided. He stood in the terrace doorway looking as rigid and unmoving as if he’d been planted there and sent down roots.
‘Our plane is ready,’ Zoltan told his wife.
