“I know I cannot say anything here that will take away the damage I have caused. I know it will take time for you to forgive me, to let me back in. But I want, more than anything, to earn my place at your side, Sophia Bin Hazari.”
It was too much. His anguish was too much. “Stop it.”
He was very still for a moment and then he dropped his hands to his side.
“Addan was my best friend. Not for anything on this earth would I have risked hurting him. Can you not see how much more it makes me love you, to know you were willing to walk away from me even when it hurt you, hurt me, all for Addan? You loved him, and you cared for him and respected him. There is no guilt here for you to bear. If our marriage is a resurrection from the ashes of his death, I can’t feel bad about that. Until the day he died, we were faithful to him, to his wishes.”
Malik swallowed roughly, she felt the movement.
“You were faithful to Addan and knowing now what that cost you, it makes me care for you even more. There is only goodness in what you did.”
He groaned. “You are rewriting my actions…”
“No. I’m holding a mirror up and showing you that you can be proud of your conduct with Addan. You sacrificed for him. You were a good brother.”
“And a terrible husband.”
She lowered her eyes, her heart strangely light, her chest tingling. “There’s room for improvement,” she conceded, after a beat.
“Will you let me improve?”
She frowned, looking to him.
“I have had seven days to think about this, Sophia, to think about how I can fix this. And I have to say this to you. You have any option at your disposal that you would wish. Stay here in Abu Faya as my Sheikh, but never see me again, if that is your wish. Stay here in Abu Faya and divorce me, and I will ensure you never worry about anything, all your life. Go back to America; I will understand all these things. These are the options I should have presented you, that night he died, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wasn’t strong enough then to let you go.”
“And you are now?”
“Keeping you here and watching a part of you die because you are so miserable is not something I can do a second time.” His expression was ash. “Seeing you fade from me, these last few months, knowing myself impotent to fix it, God, Sophia, I cannot do that again. Choose what will make you happy and let me give that to you. Your happiness is all I care for now.”
So much grief flew from her and there was only relief in its place. “You want to make me happy?”
“With all my heart. I must.”
She nodded. “Fine. Then let me tell you what I want.”
And he held his breath, waiting, his expression one of pure wariness.
“Be my husband.” Her eyes bore into his. “Be my husband in every way. Talk to me, laugh with me, share your life with me. Your worries, your frustrations, your triumphs. Let me take my place at your side, as your Sheikha and as your wife. Your partner in all things. Be the parent to our children that I know you are.”
He didn’t speak. He only stared at her.
“Take me to the desert, often. Take me to those magical people, to be a part of their life and culture. Love me, Malik, without guilt, without fear. Love me completely.” She lifted up onto the tips of her toes, pressing a kiss against his lips. He groaned and deepened it, holding her right where she was, his tongue duelling with hers, the force of his relief evident in every cell of his body.
“I promise you, Sophia, all of this, and all of me.”
“And I promise you I will be happy from now on,” she said, smiling, because she knew, without even a hint of doubt, that it was absolutely true. She had everything she needed, and always would, for evermore.
THE END
Books By Clare Connelly
SINGLE TITLES
Regret Me Not - Montebellos 1
Just This One Summer - Montebellos 2
Loving the Enemy - Montebellos 3
Nothing Lasts Forever - Montebellos 4
It Started with a Lie - Montebellos 5
Her Guardian’s Christmas Seduction
Stolen by the Desert King
In the Hands of the Sheikh
His Nine Month Seduction
The Sheikh’s Contract Bride
Seduced by the Vengeful Tycoon
The Sheikh’s Stolen Bride
The Sheikh’s Secret Baby
The Sheikh’s Million Dollar Bride
The Tycoon’s Virgin Mistress
The Sheikh’s Virgin Hostage
Bartered to the Sheikh
The Sheikh’s Arranged Marriage
Marrying for his Royal Heir
The Greek’s Marriage Revenge
The Velasco Love Child
The Sultan’s Virgin Bride
Bound to the Sheikh
The Medici Mistress
His Loving Deception
The Sheikh’s Convenient Mistress
The Princess’s Forbidden Lover
Marrying her Enemy
Rakanti’s Indecent Proposition
Seducing the Spaniard
The Italian’s Innocent Bride
The Greek Tycoon’s Forbidden Affair
The Terms of their Affair
A Second Chance at Love
The Sheikh’s Christmas Mistress
At the Sheikh’s Command
The Billionaire’s Christmas Revenge
Seduced by the Italian Tycoon
Raising the Soldier’s Son
Warming the Sheikh’s Bed
The Tycoon’s Christmas Captive
The Brazilian’s Forgotten Lover
Betrayed by the CEO
The Billionaire’s Ruthless Revenge
The Italian Billionaire’s Betrayal
The Sultan’s Reluctant Princess
Love in the Fast Lane
Bought by the Sheikh
The Tycoon’s Summer Seduction
All She Wants for Christmas
One Night with the Sheikh
A Bed of Broken Promises
Tempted by the Billionaire
The Sheikh’s Christmas Wish
To the Highest Bidder
The Tycoon’s Secret Baby
Bedding His Innocent Mistress
The Sheikh’s Baby Bargain
The Greek’s Virgin Captive
The Sheikh’s Inherited Bride
Claiming His Secret Baby
Blackmailed by the Spaniard
Her Surprise Baby Christmas
HARLEQUIN TITLES
Bought for the Billionaire’s Revenge
Innocent in the Billionaire’s Bed
Off Limits
Her Wedding Night Surrender
Burn Me Once
Bound by the Billionaire’s Vows
The Season to Sin
His Innocent Seduction
Bound by their Christmas Baby
Her Guilty Secret
Shock Heir for the King
The Greek’s Billion-Dollar Baby
Spaniard’s Baby of Revenge
The Bride Behind the Billion-Dollar Veil
Cross my Hart (Notorious Harts Bk 1)
Burn my Hart (Notorious Harts Bk 2)
Harden my Hart - coming soon
Hired by the Impossible Greek
The Secret Kept from the King
Redemption of the Untamed Italian
Their Impossible Desert Match
COMPENDIUMS
Casacelli Brides
Mediterranean Tycoons
Desert Rulers
Billionaire Bad Boys
Too Hot to Handle
Desert Kings
Happily Ever After
The Darling Buds of May Café
Royal Weddings
The Evermore Series
Sheikhs: Rich, powerful desert kings and the women who bring them to their knees... Page 119
