Unwrap the Truth

by Ali Parker

  The scent of grease made my stomach growl.

  “I wanted to talk with you,” he said. “Lunch, okay?”

  I hoped he wasn’t about to quit after a short time as the big boss, but I had more faith in him than that. He was an honest man, and if he couldn’t do the job, he would let me know.

  He didn’t tell me right away what he wanted to talk about, though, which kept me on the edge of my seat.

  Maddox spread the fish and chips meal on the table closer to the windows, which was usually reserved for meetings with clients. They always appreciated the view of the city, which tended to distract them enough for me to persuade them to think in my favor when it came to business.

  We ate for a few minutes in silence. I wasn’t going to pressure him into telling me what was on his mind.

  Just as I crumbled up the crumb-filled oil-stained paper, he got to the point.

  “I’ve considered your proposal,” he said.

  “And?” I said, leaning back in the chair.

  Maddox wiped his mouth with a napkin and then rolled the paper around between his hands. “When the time comes, I would like to be your top man for the job.”

  “That’s great to hear,” I said. “I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.”

  He sniffed and leaned back in his chair. “I do have one condition.”

  I would give Maddox anything to keep the company in my best friend’s hands. “What’s that?”

  “At least for a little while, until I get my bearings, can you make yourself accessible to me? In case I have any questions, I don’t want to look like an ass in front of our clients.”

  “That’s all?” I asked.

  Maddox narrowed his eyes. “Yes, why?”

  I chuckled and stood up, bringing my trash over to the garbage can. “I thought you were going to ask for more money or a car or something.”

  “I just assumed I was getting more money,” Maddox said, raising his eyebrows. “I am, right?”

  I laughed. “Of course.”

  “Then I can buy a new car on my own,” he said, linking his fingers together behind his head. He put his feet up on one of the other chairs and leaned back. “How do people eat this much on a regular basis? I’m exhausted.”

  * * *

  It was nearly five by the time I felt comfortable enough to leave the office. I sent a text to Sophia, apologizing profusely. Apparently, she was still in the city. Checking the darkening sky outside, I asked for her to make her way home sooner rather than later.

  “I’m picking up dinner,” I texted her. “We can stay in tonight.”

  “I feel like my legs are going to fall off,” she responded.

  “I'll start a fire too,” I texted, imagining Sophia curled up next to me while we sat on the couch. I wondered how long I could keep up with these normal activities. I never once saw my parents snuggled on a sofa.

  “Want me to do it?” she texted.

  “No,” I replied before getting into my car.

  My phone went off seconds later. “Afraid I might burn down your place?”

  “You said it, not me,” I wrote back. Hooking up my phone to my car, I texted her the rest of the ride to the takeout place. Getting out of the car, I noticed a flower shop next door. Since we had done things backward, I never had a chance to get her the typical flowers and chocolates that other couples did for each other.

  I picked up the biggest and most expensive arrangement and tucked it between the front and back seats of my car so it wouldn’t fall over while driving.

  I drove home quicker than I normally would. I usually didn’t have anyone waiting for me. But it wasn’t just that; I wanted to see Sophia much more than I’d ever wanted to see anyone before.

  I started to understand those employees who checked their watches during our later meetings. Was this the feeling they had when they wanted to rush home to their families?

  That was never the case with me since I lived so far away from mine. But now that I understood, I would make sure Maddox didn’t schedule as many late meetings as we did in the past. Between the both of us, we didn’t care, but I could make Maddox the “nice boss” to start him off on the right foot.

  * * *

  Arriving at my flat, I saw that the lights were on inside. A small thrill moved through me at the prospect of seeing Sophia again. I hoped she enjoyed the food from one of my favorite takeout places. I wanted to relax with her tonight, and I couldn’t think of a more relaxing stay-at-home date than takeout and a movie.

  When was the last time I saw a movie? Probably not for years. I hoped Sophia liked movies. I was up for watching anything as long as she was sitting right next to me.

  Once I got inside, I didn’t see or hear Sophia anywhere.

  I wanted to call out to her, but I also wanted to surprise her.

  Walking down the short hallway toward the middle of my home, I was about to say something when I saw movement from the kitchen.

  Sophia wore a pair of tight jeans and one of the cashmere sweaters I’d bought her. She held a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. I wasn’t opposed to drinking at home, but I didn’t recall the last time I bought alcohol for myself outside of a restaurant or pub.

  “I hope it’s good,” Sophia said, holding up the wine. “The cashier said it was good. I bought a few different ones if it’s not.”

  Her nervousness made me smile. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

  I kissed her thoroughly on the lips and lingered there for a moment before she pulled away.

  She swatted at the flowers that nearly took over her face.

  I laughed. “Sorry, these are for you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, burying her nose in the petals and inhaling. “They’re beautiful.”

  She poured two rather heavy glasses of wine, but I didn’t complain. We both took sips, and Sophia regarded her glass.

  “Not bad,” she said.

  “No,” I said, checking the label of the wine. I’d never had it before, but if it had been bought in a store, then I doubted I would have. I preferred top shelf liquor which was usually only found in restaurants. I took another sip.

  “How was your day, honey?” she asked with a smirk.

  I kissed that smirk. “Tiring. I’m looking forward to loosening my tie tonight.”

  She placed her glass down on the countertop and reached for my tie. Smoothing her hands over the fabric, she untied it and pulled it out from around my neck. “Better?”

  “Much,” I said.

  “Did you speak with Maddox?” she asked, getting down to business. I supposed it was something that couples discussed at the end of the workday. Admittedly, I wanted to tell someone about Maddox agreeing to accept my job.

  “I did,” I said, grabbing another sip of wine. It was good. “He’s ready and willing when the time comes.”

  “And you’re happy with that?” she asked.

  “As happy as I can be with getting forced to take the throne.”

  “No one is forcing you,” she said.

  I wished she were right, but I wasn’t about to spoil our evening together with arguing about my lack of choice surrounding the situation.

  “You’d make a great king,” she added as if she sensed the tension in the air.

  I did not doubt that. “How would you feel if I became king, though?”

  She shrugged. “As long as you were happy, I would feel fine about it.”

  I wanted to have a broader discussion about the expectations that came with the throne, for myself and for her, but I couldn’t force the words out of me. I hated being so torn between being honest with her and keeping our relationship as normal as possible. It all happened so quickly. If I were to discuss the nature of our relationship going forward, would she run? Was I selfish for keeping her in my grips this long when she might not want anything to do with the throne?

  “It’s a big responsibility,” I said, focusing on me for a minute. Maybe I could work out her feelings a
bout being my queen a different way.

  “You run a billion-dollar company,” she said. “I think you can handle a kingdom.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t, but you’re naturally great at everything. You’re strong yet gentle enough to be the king. I’ve seen the changes in you since I arrived. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’re ready.”

  “The problem is, I don’t feel ready. When it comes to working at the company, I can separate my professional and personal life. Being the king, both of those things collide. What I say directly affects my work and my family.”

  “Can you find a way to separate them? If that’s what will make it easier for you?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, finishing my glass. I placed it on the counter and took a step closer to Sophia. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ve missed you.”

  She snaked her arms around my shoulders and brought her lips to mine. She tasted sweet like the wine, and I indulged for a moment. All of my worries disappeared while I kissed Sophia. Her lithe body was perfectly shaped to mine. I grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the counter. Her legs pulled me closer to her and squeezed around my waist.

  My erection pressed into her, and just as I was about to lift her off the counter and bring her to my bedroom, my phone rang.

  Pulling away from her with a groan, I reached for my phone to turn it off. Nothing was going to stop me from fucking Sophia right now.

  I glanced at the screen, and my heart stopped.

  “What is it?” Sophia asked.

  “It’s my mother,” I said, mentally calculating the time difference between London and Qatar. It wasn’t a regular time for her to call, even if she was trying to interrupt something between Sophia and me.

  “This can’t be good,” I said, picking up the phone.

  18

  Sophia

  My lips were swollen and hot from Luke kissing me. I wanted him to bring me over to the couch to make love to me, but with his mother’s phone call, I knew those plans were gone for good.

  My chest tightened as Luke picked up the phone and put his mother on speaker. That little gesture meant a lot to me. He trusted me with personal family business, and I could have kissed him for it if it were an appropriate time.

  “Hello, Mother?” Luke said into the phone.

  There was a long pause, and then a sharp inhale mixed with what sounded like a sob.

  My hand clamped over my mouth and tears welled in my eyes. Luke’s eyes didn’t move from the phone as his mother spoke.

  “Luke,” she said. “Your father passed away a few minutes ago.”

  Luke’s chest heaved with the effort of breathing. It was a good thing that my legs were still around him. If he passed out or something, then I could at least try to prevent him from smacking his head on the marble tile.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “It was peaceful,” she said. “He was asleep when it happened. His body gave up. I need you to—”

  “I’ll be on the first flight out,” Luke interrupted.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Luke was as still as a statue, and my stomach felt as if I had swallowed a boulder. I wasn’t sure what to say. Gia didn’t know I was in on the conversation with them, and I didn’t want to piss her off after she’d just lost her husband.

  “I’ll see you soon,” he said and then hung up the phone.

  He placed the phone on the counter next to me and then touched my legs, gently removing them from around his waist. His chin brushed close to his chest as he walked through the living room and stopped by the windows.

  I slid off the counter and stood there for a moment. Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I took a breath and went to Luke. He needed my support, not my sadness. I barely knew his father, and Luke had a lifetime of memories with the man.

  Luke didn’t move as I approached him. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to touch him, but to me, it was the right thing to do. I gently touched the top of his arm.

  He turned to me as if he’d forgotten I was in the room at all. His eyes filled with tears, but none were shed. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” I said. “Be whatever you need to right now. I’m here for you.”

  “You are?” he asked.

  At that moment, I got a glimpse of a younger Luke, the one that had been abandoned in an orphanage. “Of course.”

  He sniffed and grabbed a tissue from the coffee table to wipe his nose. “I knew it was coming, obviously, but it’s still tough.”

  “I know.”

  “I should have stayed,” he said in a voice just above a whisper.

  “He asked you to come here to get things in order,” I said. “You can’t blame yourself.”

  “I suppose not,” he said. “There’s not much to do about it now, huh?”

  I shook my head. “What do you need from me?”

  He raked a hand through his hair and then unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. “Is it hot in here?”

  “Let’s sit,” I said, bringing him over to the couch.

  He sat and kicked his shoes off his feet. “I feel dizzy.”

  “You did drink a glass of wine in, like, two minutes,” I said. “Let me get you some water.”

  “No,” he said, grabbing my arm. He brought me down to the couch and then laid down, resting his head in my lap. “I want you here.”

  “Okay,” I said, pushing my fingers through his hair.

  His eyes fluttered closed, so I kept going. A tear slipped out from his eye, but neither of us brushed it away. My heart broke for him.

  We sat there for some time in silence. Luke’s head appeared to get heavier in my lap, and I thought he had fallen asleep. When I leaned over to check on him, he spoke.

  “He was a good man,” Luke said.

  “He was,” I said.

  A smile touched his lips as his eyes fluttered open. “When I first moved to the palace, I was so scared. At the orphanage, we were crammed into small rooms. All of us were on top of each other all the time. Father gave me a room big enough to fit more than half of the orphanage building inside. It was too much for me, so Father would allow me to sleep in his room.”

  “That’s nice.”

  He chuckled. “Mother didn’t appreciate it because, apparently, I was quite the restless sleeper. But sleeping in their room helped. Eventually, I felt bad for taking up their days and nights and made my way back to my room. But Father always gave me the time and space that I needed, even when I didn’t know I needed it.”

  “Sounds like he cared for you a great deal,” I said.

  “He did,” Luke said. “Now that I’m thinking about it, he did a lot more for me than I ever realized.”

  “Like what?” I asked, keeping him talking. His voice was stronger, and his eyes were clearer. I would let him rest on me for as long as he needed to work through his emotions. It wasn’t going to get easier, especially when he returned to Qatar, but I would do whatever it took to help him get over this hump.

  Luke regaled me with loads of stories about Erol when Luke was younger. To me, it didn’t seem as if Erol had been grooming Luke for the throne. He had taken in a child and had given as much of his time to creating a safe environment for him.

  I was sure Luke wasn’t making up the fact that Erol wanted him to become king, but I wondered if it was coming out of a place of love rather than selfishness.

  Luke continued to talk about his father well into the night. While I knew he wanted to get on a plane right away, sifting through his emotions was even more important. It amazed me that he calmed down as much as he did. Selfishly, I wondered if I had anything to do with that, but it was his personality. He was intelligent and probably knew that making rash decisions wasn’t the best thing for the situation. Working through all of the feelings in his mind was the most rational first step for him.

  When he finally sat up, I took his hand. His hair was mussed from me worki
ng out all the gel from the strands, making him appear younger and if possible, more handsome.

  He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue. “I suppose Father has always been seen as the King of Qatar, but he’s also been the father that took a scraggly kid into his life as his own son.”

  “What do you want to do?” I asked.

  “I need to get back there,” he said, standing up. “I’ll call the pilot to prepare the jet and then get Maddox on board with everything.”

  While Luke handled his business with the pilot and Maddox, I went into the bedroom and started to pack my things. I only picked out the appropriate clothes since I only had a carry-on suitcase. I didn’t doubt that Luke would let me borrow a bigger one, but he had a lot on his plate.

  When he walked into the room sometime later, he glanced at my suitcase and then at me standing next to it.

  “You’re coming?” he asked.

  “Do you want me to come?” He had never refused me before. In fact, he tended to push me to be by his side in every situation since I returned to Qatar. Had I misread the signs? Did he want to deal with this on his own?

  “Y-yes,” he stammered. “Of course. But only if you want to.”

  I went over to him and kissed him. “I want to. Is this going to piss off your mother? I don’t want to cause problems.”

  “She’s going to have to get over it,” he said, taking my hand in his. He squeezed it. “I want you by my side for all the big moments. Even the bad ones.”

  He pulled me close to him in a tight embrace. “Thank you.”

  For once, there was no hesitation in my decision. I was going with Luke, and I would be there until he no longer needed me.

  19

  Luke

  With each trip back home, a myriad of emotions tended to flow through me. When I traveled back the first time with Sophia, I was anxious to introduce her to my family and get my mother off my back about hooking me up with whatever woman she had chosen. On the previous trip back, I felt dread for Father’s illness.