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Lacey stopped in front of the lounge’s entrance and folded her arms across her chest. He wasn’t married. The relief swirled inside her, only to be pulled down by a heavy sadness. One day Hafiz would have to marry, and she wouldn’t be the bride.
“Did you forget the words to the song?” he asked softly. “Like you tried to forget us?”
She didn’t know if it would be wise to explain anything. To encourage a love that was impossible. “You wouldn’t understand,” she finally said.
“You don’t know that,” he said as he placed his large hand against the gentle swell of her hip. The contact nearly undid her. Lacey stiffened, fighting the urge to sway into his body and melt against his heat.
She needed to calm down before her heart splintered. Lacey cleared her throat. “I don’t play that song anymore. It reminds me of our time together.”
His fingers flexed against her spine. “And you regret what we had?” Hafiz’s penetrating eyes made her feel vulnerable and exposed. “Do you regret loving me?”
Lacey exhaled wearily. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a way, her life would be so much easier if she regretted her love. “I told you that you wouldn’t understand,” she said as she strode away.
She didn’t get very far. Before she knew it, her back was pressed against one of the alabaster columns. The Damask rose fluttered to the champagne-colored carpet as Hafiz barricaded her with his strong arms. Her eyes widened anxiously as he leaned into her. “Make me understand,” he growled.
The anguish deepened the lines of his stark face, and she struggled with the wrenching need to erase it from him altogether. Lacey tilted her head in the direction of the piano. “I don’t play that song because it’s about you. How you changed my life, how you changed me. How much you mean to me and what I would do to keep you.” She pressed her clammy palms against the column, but they streaked against the cool, slick surface. “And that is why it belongs only to you.”
Comprehension flashed through his bronze eyes. “Ah.” Hafiz straightened and removed his hands from the alabaster.
Lacey frowned at his sudden retreat. She’d revealed more than she was comfortable with, and this was how he responded. “Ah, what?” she asked defensively, doing her best not to feel slighted. Why was he pulling away? “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
“No, I do.” The corner of mouth slowly slanted up. “It’s how I feel when I give you this.”
She watched with growing alarm as he removed his royal ring from his finger. The gold caught the light. Lacey stared at it, transfixed, unable to move until Hafiz grasped her wrist.
Lacey bunched her hand up into a fist. “What are you doing?” she asked in a scandalized whisper. She struggled to keep her arm flat against the column.
“I’m giving you my ring.” He easily plucked her hand and moved it closer to him.
Her knuckles whitened as her tension grew. There was no way she was going to let him. She knew the rules, but she could only imagine the consequences of breaking them. “But, but—it’s a royal ring.” She gestured wildly at it. “Only someone born into royalty is allowed to wear it.”
“And,” Hafiz added as he leisurely caressed her fingers, enticing them to unfurl, “I’m allowed to give it to the woman I want to marry.”
Lacey’s hand tightened, her short fingernails digging into her palm. Her mouth gaped open as the remainder of her argument dissolved on her tongue. “Marry?”
“Yes.” His gaze ensnared her. The depths challenged. Tempted. Pleaded. “Marry me, Lacey.”
“I—I—” she spluttered, unable to connect two words together. Her heartbeat drummed painfully against her breastbone. “I...can’t.”
“Why not?” Hafiz didn’t sound crestfallen. His taunting tone indicated that he was primed and ready to argue. And win.
Her gaze clung on to the ring. It looked big and heavy. It belonged on Hafiz’s hand, not hers.
“I’m not from the right family,” she blurted out. She knew her shortcomings.
“I disagree,” Hafiz said confidently. “You are the only family I need. Together we will create the home we always wanted.”
