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“Lacey, there is a very real chance that someone took a picture of us after the party.” He was furious at himself that he’d put her in this position.
She blushed a bright red. “If they had a picture, they would have already used it, right?”
“No, they would hint that something even more scandalizing is coming out,” Hafiz said. “Stir up interest and sell it to the highest bidder.”
“Hafiz, I’m sure there aren’t any more pictures,” she said in a shaky voice. “We would have seen someone.”
He wasn’t so sure. They had been lost in their own world. “I need to call a few people and find out if someone is shopping the pictures,” he said as he turned on his cell phone and walked to the door.
“Good. And I—”
He halted and turned around, stopping her with one warning look. “You will stay here.”
She glared at him. “You have no say in the matter. Anyway, I have to go to work in a couple of hours.”
“Promise me that you won’t try to fix this,” Hafiz said in a low tone. “I need you to trust me on this. Let me handle it.”
“But—”
“I won’t let you down.”
She hesitated, and Hafiz knew what she was thinking. He had let his former mistress down. Back then, he had abandoned his woman when she was vulnerable and in need. At that time, he didn’t have the power to protect what was his from the sultan. Now he did, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to Lacey.
“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “I will hang back...for now. But if I see that you are in trouble, I am—”
“No, you won’t.” He didn’t care what she was planning to do. He wasn’t going to let it happen. Hafiz grabbed the door handle and was about to cross the threshold when he turned around. “And, Lacey, one of these days you will realize that I don’t need saving.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
LACEY LOOKED OUT on the audience and gave a warm smile as she played the last note on the piano.
Why am I wasting my life doing this? she wondered. Why do I still feel as if my life is on hold?
Her smile tightened. The spotlight above her felt extraordinarily hot as sweat trickled down her spine. There were only a few people in the hotel lounge on the weekday afternoon.
That was not unusual, Lacey decided as she rose from the bench and bowed to the smattering of applause. It was common to see a few businessmen sitting in the audience at this time of day. They all had a dazed look from back-to-back meetings or constant travel.
She knew they weren’t really listening to the music. If asked, they wouldn’t remember her or describe her hair in a tight bun or her black lace dress. They were here because they didn’t want to return to their quiet hotel rooms. They didn’t want to be alone.
Lacey knew how they felt. She had struggled with loneliness before she had met Hafiz. It permeated her life and had been the theme in all the songs she had performed.
And when she met Hafiz, she had felt a connection between them. It had excited and frightened her. She didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t want it to end.
She glanced around the lounge and noticed Hafiz was not there. He knew when she was going to perform but he didn’t stop by. Hafiz had always claimed that he enjoyed listening to her music, but now she wondered if that was just an empty compliment. Or perhaps he enjoyed it when she performed only for him.
She knew he wouldn’t be there, but yet she still couldn’t stop the disappointment dragging her down. Did he not show up because he was too busy or because he didn’t want to be seen in the same room with her?
It shouldn’t hurt. She was used to Hafiz not being part of her life. If he had shown up, she would have been unreasonably happy. Thrilled that he graced her with his presence.
And even with the decision that she wasn’t going to let him treat her this way anymore, Lacey knew she would weaken her stance. She wanted him in her life no matter how little time she got with him.
Her dreams were not as grand as Hafiz’s goals. Her plans for her life wouldn’t lead her on the road to glory. At times what she wanted in life seemed impossible. But that didn’t mean her dreams were less important than Hafiz’s dreams. She needed to remember that.
