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That his people seemed to rejoice in his love for this foreign woman was something he’d never have predicted. All they wanted from him, it seemed, was for him to fall in love and settle down. His duties would follow.
Yet now he’d found Holly in the flesh all his faculties seemed to have shut down. His mind too scrambled to string together even a handful of words while the pounding of his heart echoed in his ears.
He forced his stare away from her and bent to reach for her purchases. She crouched and reached for them simultaneously, their heads cracking together like castanets.
He smiled with grim satisfaction. Surely this was a sign, some kind of subliminal message? This wasn’t their first time butting heads and probably wouldn’t be their last.
She clutched at her forehead and he automatically reached for her before he as quickly withdrew. “Are you all right?” he asked gruffly.
She nodded, but when she lifted her head her eyes were distant and her voice hollow. “What are you doing here?”
His lips pinched together and his lungs constricted. He’d hoped she’d be a little happier to see him. “What do you think?”
Her face paled and she looked away to focus on her purchases. He followed her stare. When she went to grab the packet closest to him, his hand shot out to beat her to it. He picked it up, his stomach wrenching as he read the item. He looked at her while fury pulsed within him and he growled. “You’re pregnant?”
She shook her head, but there was almost a resigned, fatalistic look to her as her bleak eyes held his. “I don’t know. At least, not yet. Not until I take the test.”
He’d been careful with protection, hadn’t he? Heat flushed his body as his muscles quivered, his throat almost too thick to talk. She’d admitted to being a free spirit. How many men had she fallen into bed with since leaving him? Acid filled his stomach. “Who is the father?”
She jerked her head back with a pained gasp. “Who do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think!”
She grabbed the boxes of tea and threw then back into the bag. “You’re a good one to talk, aren’t you?” she said bitterly.
His eyes narrowed. “I never cheated on you.”
She pushed to her feet, her eyes blazing. “Liar!”
“You dare call me a liar in public?” he said quietly, though menace was surely pouring out of him. No woman or man had ever dared to say such a thing. And none would ever get away with it. But instead of looking fearful, a flush of anger stained her cheeks and her eyes glittered as she held her head high.
“You dare use your sheikh position to intimidate me?” she hissed. “I was your equal in the desert, as far as I’m concerned that hasn’t changed. Not here. Not anywhere.”
Damn it, but he admired her. Anyone else would be begging for mercy by now, all too aware of what he was capable of. But a bigger part of him was still raw and wounded, and betrayed by her infidelity. That she’d twisted her dishonor to make him look like the bad guy quickly diminished all admiration.
But no matter his opinion of her, she might be pregnant and therefore vulnerable to the heat and their confrontation. “Let’s discuss this elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?” she repeated.
He nodded, then placed the pregnancy test into the bag with her digestive teas before he signaled for one of his discreet, security detail to bring the car. “Yes.” He looked her over. Had she lost weight? “You really didn’t think I’d just let you walk away again, did you?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Holly didn’t try to fight him. What was the point? She was weary to the bone, and, in that moment, sick of being sick almost as much as she was sick of pining for him. She’d missed him. And despite what he’d done she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms while the rest of the world fell clean away.
Her hands clenched around the handles of the bag as a big black sedan squeezed its way down the narrow, cobblestoned backstreet, everyone stepping respectfully out of its way. The driver climbed out and opened the back passenger door, and Hamid waited for her to climb inside its rich, leather interior before he slid in after her.
She clipped on her seatbelt and leaned against the headrest, a headache blooming into life behind her temple. “You said I was free to leave, remember?”
“I did.” He exhaled heavily. “But not with so much left unsaid between us.”
“If it helps…I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
Tinted glass rolled up between the seats of them and the driver, and she had no doubt it was soundproof and bulletproof. She might have laughed hysterically if it wasn’t so much effort. All the running and hiding, the anxiety while maintaining strict artistic work ethics had finally caught up on her. That she might be pregnant surely only added to her physical and emotional exhaustion.
“Look at me, Holly.”
Why did it hurt so much to hear him say her name? Probably because she’d reveled in his endearment.Little flame.It seemed like a lifetime ago now. With a resentful sigh, she turned away from the tinted passenger window, where the ancient, crumbling buildings were already giving way to modern steel and glass structures.
