Christmas Bride for the Sheikh

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘Rubbish.’

  ‘Hazin, your brother is the person who is honest with you, not the one who believes you.’

  He did not need some old saying stuffed down his throat and Hazin told his brother that. ‘You have the gall to criticise me when you had your harem?’ Hazin pointed out. ‘All you had to do was pull a bell—at least I indulge in a bit flirting and conversation.’

  ‘Don’t try and condone your behaviour,’ Ilyas said. ‘From all I have read there is little conversation and no flirting where your lovers are concerned.’

  Hazin closed his eyes for there had been plenty to read and most of the kiss-and-tell stories were true. He was on the cover of trashy magazines, and there were articles and photos all over the Internet.

  Not recently, though, and Ilyas admitted that at least. ‘But there have been no scandals of late.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Can you keep it that way until the ceremony at least?’

  ‘I don’t need you to tell me how to act,’ Hazin said as he looked out at the lonely island where he had holed himself away from the world.

  An idyllic romantic retreat—without the romance.

  What Ilyas had said was true, there had been no scandals recently. But that was not because he was attempting to redeem his name, neither was it because all temptations had been removed.

  They simply no longer held any appeal for him.

  ‘I need to go.’ Ilyas cut into his thoughts. ‘Not only am I sick of discussing your sex life, Hazin, but I am taking Maggie and her friend out to the desert abode today.’

  ‘Playing tourist guide,’ Hazin sneered.

  ‘Not playing,’ Ilyas responded. ‘I am meeting with the Bedouin leaders to solidify our political ties and to invite them to join a roundtable so they can play a bigger role in shaping the country’s future.’

  Hazin frowned, because this had been something the Bedouins had long been pushing for yet his father had always dismissed the notion.

  But Ilyas had more to say.

  ‘I also happen to enjoy my wife’s company and I am more than pleased to show Flo where we first met.’

  ‘Flo?’

  ‘Maggie’s friend. You would have met her at the wedding...’ Ilyas paused. ‘Oh, that’s right, you were too drunk to attend.’ Ilyas stopped the lectures then. ‘Flo’s also a midwife and has been staying with us. I think Maggie is nervous about giving birth with an elder present and—’

  ‘Ilyas,’ Hazin interrupted. ‘Just as you don’t want to discuss my sex life, neither do I need to hear about Maggie’s plans for her labour.’

  ‘Fine.’

  Hazin was curt, but there was no emotional bond between them and not a single memory Hazin could call on that softened his brother. He had always been forbidding and distant. Certainly it was too late to be friends and have cosy chats but, more importantly, Hazin did not want to hear about Flo.

  Not now.

  ‘Enjoy your time in the desert,’ Hazin said, and rang off.

  He stripped and placed his phone on his clothes, then headed into the surf and swam for the best part of an hour. But no matter how far or how hard he swam, he could not outswim his own thoughts.

  Flo was in Zayrinia.

  How was he supposed to feel at hearing that news?

  There would be warmth and laughter for once at the Palace, and if he did not care about her so much she might even have served as a pleasant distraction.

  Yet he did care.

  Hazin wanted to address how he felt about Flo, after the anniversary.

  Not before.

  First up, he had to finally do the right thing by Petra.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ILYAS CERTAINLY WASN’T playing tour guide.

  When they arrived at the desert abode he disappeared to prepare for his meeting and Maggie showed Flo around while the maids set up for lunch. ‘This is where I slept on the first night I was here.’

  ‘And by the second you were in Ilyas’s bed,’ Flo reminded her.

  It was gorgeous, with a huge satin-draped bed and a luxurious bathing area. It was mysterious and beautiful and Flo could absolutely now see why Maggie loved to come here. ‘When you’ve told me that you and Ilyas were heading off to the desert, I’ve always felt a bit sorry for you, but I won’t now.’

  They stepped back into the main living area and Flo was entranced. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere more beautiful.’ And that was saying something, having come from the Palace. But it was just so lavishly furnished. A huge fire was in the centre of the tent and the flue ran up to the ceiling. On the walls hung tapestries and the rugs on the floor were so plump and inviting that you could easily sleep on them. Ilyas joined them and they sat on cushions around a low table and ate from an array of tajines.

  The food was smoky and delicious. Flo’s favourite was a mild chicken and date curry, which she tucked into as Ilyas told her why he would be leaving them for the rest of the day.

  ‘I am to speak with the Bedouins and invite their representatives to join us at some Palace meetings.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll come?’ Flo asked, surprised that Ilyas had even said this much. He was very formal, or at least he had been when they had met at the wedding, but recently he had opened up a little.

  Perhaps he had realised just what good friends she and Maggie were, Flo thought as he answered her question.

  ‘I expect so. Being consulted and given a voice is something they have wanted for a long time,’ Ilyas said. ‘I have forged a good relationship with them over the years but there is a lot of history. It is not only the Bedouins whose trust I hope to win, though. That is why Maggie and I are heading to Idihr tomorrow. There has been a lot of damage done to our standing with neighbouring countries. I hope Hazin changes his mind about returning on a more permanent basis; there is a lot of work that needs to be done.’

  At the mention of his name, Flo had to fight to keep her features impassive as she asked, ‘Do you think he will?’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Ilyas admitted. ‘I spoke to him this morning and I can’t even pin him down to an arrival time for the memorial event for his late wife.’

  ‘He’ll be here for that,’ Maggie said assuredly.

  ‘I am not so sure.’ Ilyas shook his head. ‘He has few fond memories of Zayrinia and little desire to come back. Whenever he does return...’ he gave a slight smile in Flo’s direction ‘... I am sure my wife will have told you he tends to take out the yacht.’

  It was a little tease about how he and Maggie had first met.

  ‘Ah, yes,’ Flo said. ‘Well, perhaps the yacht will need to go in for a long service after three months in the Caribbean.’

  There was, though she fought it, a slight edge to her voice and she watched as Ilyas’s perceptive eyes narrowed a touch.

  ‘Is it really three months?’ he asked. ‘I admit, I haven’t been counting.’

  ‘Well, Maggie was six months pregnant at the wedding and she’s due any day now. I have a midwife’s mind rather than a mathematical one.’

  She’d got out of that one.

  Just!

  But it was becoming harder and harder not to reveal just how much she liked Hazin.

  ‘Your desert abode is beautiful,’ Flo said, quickly changing the subject.

  ‘You should see it at night.’ Maggie gave a wistful sigh. ‘When it’s dark and the fire is burning and all the lanterns are lit and the music...’ She stopped and looked at Ilyas. ‘Why don’t we stay tonight?’

  ‘I can’t.’ Ilyas shook his head. ‘I have to be at the Palace for an engagement tonight and I am in back-to-back meetings all day tomorrow. Still, there’s no reason you two can’t stay.’ He must have seen Flo’s flicker of concern at the thought of being deep in the desert with
a heavily pregnant woman for he immediately addressed it. ‘Once I get to the Palace I will send the helicopter straight back. If there is a need to return sooner you would only be an hour away.’

  A taxi ride to the hospital really, by the time they turned up! ‘Sounds wonderful.’

  And it truly was.

  * * *

  The afternoon was spent in the kitchen.

  With much laughter, Flo learnt from one of the maids how to prepare the date and chicken curry and then she and Maggie went for a gentle walk around the tent.

  It was a feast for the eyes outside too.

  There were beautiful Arabian horses and even a little white foal. His tail was high and his long legs so slender that he looked as if he should be on a carrousel.

  ‘Oh, I want him,’ Flo breathed.

  ‘Be careful speaking like that in front of Ilyas,’ Maggie teased. ‘Or that cute little creature might be a surprise gift waiting on your doorstep when you return home.’

  It was such a glorious afternoon. Ilyas returned from his meeting with the Bedouin elders and then headed back to the Palace, and soon it was just the two of them.

  There was a deep sense of peace here that Flo had never known. It was such bliss to lie on the cushions and chat with her friend as the fire bathed them in a warm glow and they spoke about life in Zayrinia.

  ‘Do you miss home at all?’ Flo asked.

  ‘I miss you and my friends but...’ Maggie thought for a moment. ‘I haven’t really had a home as such since I was seven.’

  Flo nodded.

  She understood completely what Maggie was saying. Maggie didn’t have any family, whereas Flo was very close to hers.

  ‘It’s going to be so odd, not seeing them at Christmas,’ Flo admitted.

  ‘I don’t miss Christmas either,’ Maggie sighed. ‘It’s the time of year I always miss my mum the most. It’s kind of nice to bypass it.’

  ‘You can’t bypass it, though, Maggie,’ Flo said. ‘You’re always going to miss her.’

  ‘I know I am. I guess Christmas just isn’t the big deal to me that it is to you. I could have the staff try and make a dinner for us...’

  Flo laughed. ‘Please don’t. I’m very specific with my trimmings. Mum’s freezing me a huge dinner and I’m going to have it when I get back.’ She smiled at the thought and then frowned. ‘Have there been any deliveries for me?’

  ‘No.’ Maggie shook her head. ‘Are you expecting one?’

  ‘Not really.’ Flo shrugged. ‘Mum said that we’d do presents and things when I get back, I just thought she might have sent something for me to open on the day.’

  Flo resisted an unhappy sigh and reminded herself that she was twenty-nine! But it was still quite a daunting prospect to have nothing to open for Christmas. Clearly Maggie had given it little thought but she had hoped her mum would have sent something. Still, there was one thing that would certainly cheer Christmas up.

  ‘You might have a Christmas baby!’ Flo said.

  ‘Perhaps, but I really want to have the baby tomorrow,’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I’d like to have you here for some time after he comes,’ Maggie said, and then she gave a cheeky smile as she admitted another truth. ‘And I want to get out of the trip to Idihr as well as the hospital opening.’

  ‘I can write you a note from your midwife to say you can’t possibly attend,’ Flo joked, but then, more seriously, she asked a question. ‘Why don’t you want to go?’

  ‘Well, Idihr will be lovely but it’s going to be a very long day. Then it’s the hospital opening the next day and it will take for ever. Still, it’s so important to the people...’ Maggie admitted to a further truth. ‘I’m terrified my waters will break.’

  ‘Well, labour usually starts with contractions and they don’t generally break with a sudden gush...’

  ‘It could happen, though.’ Maggie sighed. ‘I’m going to sit at the back for the hospital opening and the trip to Idihr is an informal one. Ilyas says that Queen Atisha has had five children...’

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ Flo said. ‘But if it’s really working you up, perhaps it might be time to stay home.’

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ Maggie agreed.

  ‘Do you really think Hazin will come for the opening?’ Flo asked, because Maggie had sounded so sure that he would when she’d spoken about it with Ilyas.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Maggie now admitted. ‘No one knows. Ilyas has tried to talk to him but never gets anywhere. Hazin doesn’t get close to anyone.’

  ‘He spoke to you on the yacht that day,’ Flo pointed out.

  ‘Ah, but only when he thought he’d never have to see me again.’

  ‘How is he with you now?’

  ‘Flo, I haven’t seen him since the wedding, and that was just for a moment when he arrived half-drunk. Hazin will do what Hazin does.’ Maggie looked at her. ‘Please don’t like him.’

  ‘But I do.’

  ‘Then please don’t act on it, Flo—he’s a rake. Well, he’s been lovely to me and everything but that was only because he didn’t fancy me.’

  ‘Maybe I should tell Ilyas I like him so Hazin can be waiting with a bow on my doorstep when I get home,’ Flo said, making light of her feelings.

  It was odd.

  Flo had squeezed out all the details from Maggie when she had come back pregnant from her round-the-world trip.

  Maggie, certain that she and Ilyas were over and scared to be having a Royal’s baby, had told Flo everything.

  Yet Flo could not tell her this.

  It wasn’t because she was ashamed of it, as had been her reason for not telling a soul about the married man.

  It was more that she felt she had to protect whatever fragile flame she and Hazin had.

  And exposing them could not help, Flo knew. Even if she ached to confide in her friend. Even if she yearned to eke out whatever information she could about him, Flo felt it better to keep what had happened between her and Hazin private for now.

  It was a gorgeous night and a really wonderful retreat, just what they had both needed, but all too soon the chopper was landing them back at the Palace.

  It really was stunning and so vast.

  A plane was landing and there was another waiting to take off.

  ‘The Flying Royals,’ Maggie called them as they disembarked, and then she held her stomach.

  ‘I’m having one.’

  Flo felt her stomach and all Maggie was having was wishful thinking along with a mild Braxton Hicks contraction, and she gave a slight cackle. ‘No, Maggie, you’re not.’

  There was no sign of the baby making a move anytime soon.

  ‘I’m going to have to go to Idihr, aren’t I?’ Maggie sighed as they walked across a pretty bridge from the helipad that would take them back to the palace.

  Yes, Maggie was Royal now.

  ‘Maybe not. It’s your antenatal check tomorrow. If things are starting to move along you’ll have a good reason not to go.’

  As they walked into the Palace, Ilyas came down the main staircase to the grand entrance to welcome back his wife, which he did with a kiss, and then Maggie asked what he was doing there. ‘I thought you had meetings all day.’

  ‘I do.’ Ilyas nodded. ‘But Hazin’s plane just came in. I want to see how he is and if there are any last-minute things he wants added in for the opening.’

  Flo didn’t know what to do. A part of her wanted to go and hide in her room and have him find out she was here when she wasn’t around to see his reaction.

  Another part, though, wanted to see his face when he found out.

  In the end there was no reaction at all.

  He walked in scowling, when the Hazin she knew was always pleasant.

&nbs
p; * * *

  Hazin felt he had actually walked into hell, for Flo, Maggie and Ilyas were standing beneath a huge portrait of himself and his late wife. Everything he was trying to separate was there together in his line of vision.

  ‘Hi,’ he said to the gathered trio. His tone was dry as he kept on walking. ‘I really don’t need a welcoming committee.’

  ‘You don’t have one,’ Ilyas said. ‘Flo and Maggie have just got back from their trip. I came out to meet them.’

  That wasn’t true, Flo thought. Ilyas had just told Maggie he had come out to greet his brother.

  There was no warmth between the brothers, she thought.

  None.

  But at least Ilyas tried. ‘Would you like to join us for dinner, Hazin?’ he offered.

  Flo found that she was holding her breath.

  ‘No,’ Hazin said. ‘Thanks.’

  The simple words came in two separate sentences. Even an attempt at politeness had to be forced.

  ‘Please join us, Hazin,’ Maggie pushed. ‘It would be nice for us all...’ She didn’t get to finish as Hazin gave a terse shake of his head.

  ‘I already have plans for tonight.’

  Hazin did indeed have plans.

  As he stalked off to his apartment, Hazin nodded his thanks to the maids who were sorting out his luggage but then asked if they could please leave.

  He waited until the doors closed on them and then let out a tense breath.

  That had been hell.

  This was hell.

  He walked through to the bedroom to get to the balcony but, of course, he had to pass the bed.

  Flo was the only other woman to have slept with him there—not that she could have known that.

  Guilt clawed at his throat like fingers and he loosened his tie.

  Hazin hadn’t been lying about having plans for tonight when he had declined Ilyas’s offer to join them for dinner.

  He was dining with Petra’s parents.

  Hazin did not want to have to meet them for the first time in many years on a stage in front of a gathered crowd.

  Instead, he had called them and Petra’s father had invited him to come to dinner.