by Maya Blake
Sharply rousing herself from her futile musing, she opened the bottle of water and poured it into a glass. After taking a careful sip, she glanced at her sister. ‘As far as I know, Grandmother was the only woman Grandfather loved. If there’s any more to these items, I’m sure he’ll let us know when he’s ready.’
Bianca sighed, then grimaced. ‘Practical Allegra, party pooper.’
The nickname rubbed her the wrong way, but Allegra kept her composure. After agreeing to meet her in the conference room an hour before it started, Bianca left.
Sliding back in bed, Allegra placed her hand on her stomach. This time the fissure cracked wider, filling her with a warm and protective emotion that made her heart lurch.
From the moment she’d found out, even not knowing which course she would take, she’d safeguarded her baby’s physical health. But Allegra knew she couldn’t ignore the tougher emotional aspect of her situation. She had to tell Rahim.
If nothing else for the fact that the baby she carried was the heir apparent to a desert kingdom. A kingdom whose ruler, she now knew, had been battling against severe odds to do the right thing for his people.
On her return, Allegra had commissioned a more thorough report on Dar-Aman and confirmed Rahim’s claim that things had ground to a halt the moment his mother had died. And in the almost two decades since, Dar-Aman had slipped into devastating decline. But in the past six months the changes Rahim had put into place were staggering. With the economy in free fall, most of the infrastructure rebuilding had been financed by his personal wealth. Contrary to her accusation that he was draining Dar-Aman’s resources to line his own pockets, he’d been doing the opposite.
No wonder he’d been livid.
Shifting in bed, Allegra hugged her pillow close and squeezed her eyes shut. She owed Rahim an apology, possibly more than one.
Taking a deep breath she formulated a plan. Her doctor had told her she would start showing in a little over eight weeks. Regardless of her personal feelings about it, she was fast running out of time to keep her secret to herself.
She would find a way to deliver the news to Rahim before Mother Nature did the job for her. She may have thoroughly and completely bungled her own life, but she owed her baby every decent chance to grow up with as much emotional security as she could provide. And that included giving him or her a chance to know both parents.
* * *
Allegra woke in a better frame of mind than she had since discovering she was carrying Rahim’s baby. She even managed to eat and keep down a whole slice of toast before Bianca knocked on her door at ten.
Together they headed to the vast conference room. As the keynote speaker, her seat was dead centre in the giant amphitheatre. All around her, seats soared to the ceiling, ready to be filled by men and women from all walks of life whose passion for rights for women burned as fiercely as hers.
For the first time in a long while, Allegra felt pride for what she’d accomplished. When her grandfather’s words whispered across her mind, she smiled and hugged it closer.
‘That’s better. You seem almost human this morning,’ Bianca quipped.
She laughed. ‘As opposed to...?’
‘Dead Barbie Walking?’
Allegra rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, right. I’ve never done anything remotely doll-like in my life, and you know it.’
Bianca smiled. ‘True. Your role has always been more of a fairy godmother stroke sister.’
We’re not fictional characters, Allegra... I prefer to live in reality, no matter how unpalatable it can be...
The stark words Rahim had uttered blazed across her mind. Would he find the reality of impending fatherhood unpalatable? Ice drenched her at the thought of a rejection she couldn’t rule out of her immediate future. As a child she’d bore the brunt of such a rejection from her own father. Was she wise to risk exposing her own child to such a fate?
‘Hey, what did I say?’ Bianca enquired anxiously.
She shook her head. ‘Nothing at all.’ Shaking herself free of the dread closing in on her, she plastered yet another fake smile on her face. ‘Tell me what I need to do.’
After a brief examination of Allegra’s face, her sister shook her head resignedly. ‘There are three cameras trained on you. We’re broadcasting live, but there’s a five-second delay in case anything extraordinary happens—please make sure it doesn’t or I’ll skin you alive. Once you’re done, I’ll feed the coverage to the smaller news channels and social media, then do the same for the guest speakers. I won’t bore you with the smaller details, but I’ve told your assistant to set aside an hour for you to do a few press junkets after lunch. And that’s it. Now go put some colour in those cheeks before everyone arrives.’
Allegra left the stage, conscious of her sister’s worry. Praying that she would hold it together for just a while longer, she went into the restroom, sat on the pedestal and concentrated on breathing.
The knock on the stall door sent her surging to her feet. ‘Yes?’
‘Allegra, are you okay?’ Zara asked. ‘Your sister sent me to find you. The conference is about to start.’
Startled, she glanced at her watch and realised she’d been in there half an hour. ‘Thanks, I’ll be right out.’
Rushing out, Allegra washed her hands and reapplied her lipstick. She didn’t need extra colour in her cheeks because her mortification had taken care of that.
Striding onto the stage, she offered quick smiles to her fellow speakers as she took her seat. In the time she’d been locked in the restroom the conference room had filled to capacity.
Allegra told herself the intense tingling along her spine was because she was the centre of attention. But as the organiser and first guests took the podium, the sensation escalated from a tingle to shivers of awareness that wouldn’t abate.
When her name was announced, Allegra rose on shaky legs and approached the podium. Reaching the lectern she adjusted the mic, and looked up.
Straight into the icily condemning eyes of Rahim Al-Hadi.
CHAPTER NINE
RAHIM STARED AT her from his seat on the front row. He had to hand it to her. Not once did her mask of professionalism slip, despite the tension that seized her body when their eyes met. A pulse of satisfaction went through him at the reaction. To everyone else, she was merely waiting for the applause to die down before she spoke. But Rahim had caught the tiny gasp which had escaped her parted lips and the darkening of her blue eyes before she regained her composure.
Had he received a cold, callous dismissal from her, he wasn’t sure that he would’ve been able to remain seated. The depths of her duplicity notwithstanding, the fact that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Allegra had been a mild irritation at first but then had grown into an insidious ache that he couldn’t seem to get rid of. Rahim hadn’t been able to understand it at first. He’d had great sex with countless faceless women, but never had he woken up to a gnawing bewilderment as to why a woman’s absence from his bed would disturb him enough to become a problem.
And Allegra had become a problem. Quite apart from helping herself to property that didn’t belong to her, her barbs about the state of his kingdom and the women in particular had stuck long after she had stolen away from his bed like the slippery thief she was. Rahim told himself it was the only reason why he’d made the trip to Geneva. The sexual aspect of their encounter would die down once he’d got rid of the blemish she’d attempted to stain his character with and walked away for good.
He refocused on her face, listened to her impassioned speech about equality and the empowerment of women through the granting of greater rights. The sound of her voice, husky and beautifully cadenced, threatened to cut through the cold rage locked in his chest. Much like had been happening with far too much frequency in the past few weeks, he recalled her heated implorations as he’d trapped her beneath him and scaled new heights of ecstasy with her. Like every rapt member of the audience, he’d been enthralled with her, enough so tha
t as he’d fallen asleep that night two months ago, he toyed with the idea of prolonging their encounter.
Even waking up and discovering the theft, Rahim had been willing to consider letting her keep the box if it meant convincing her to stay in Dar-Aman a little while longer. Discovering her gone, and the piercing ache of disappointment that had followed, had sent an icy premonition down his spine. The reminder of his father’s weakness where his mother was concerned and the parallels to what he was willing to let slide because of one woman had been shocking enough to bid Allegra good riddance. But, Rahim thought bitterly, out of sight hadn’t meant out of mind.
She paused in her speech, allowing the captive audience to share in her joke. For a brief moment, her eyes slid to his. The shock she hadn’t quite been able to hide reflected in her eyes and in the tiny quiver of her lips. But alongside that, Rahim read fear, stark and real.
A lesser man would have been thrilled to be in the position to leverage her actions against her both publicly and privately. To pay her back for daring to invade his thoughts day and night where no other woman had consumed him with such fervour. But all Rahim wanted was to be alone with her. To test this insane attraction and see if it was as real as his mind and body insisted it was.
He would satisfy himself that Allegra Di Sione was forgettable. Then he would show her the progress he’d made in the past two months in Dar-Aman. It was strictly a matter of pride that she not continue to believe that he was content to live in his opulent palace while his people suffered from his father’s neglect.
The moment her speech was over, he surged from his seat. He waited, hands clenched by his sides as the room erupted in rapturous applause. Again her gaze cut to him, wary questions chasing through the blue depths, before quickly skittering away.
He followed her slender figure as she returned to her seat. Impatiently, he waited as the chairman officially closed the conference before he mounted the podium to where Allegra was indulging in photo ops with a few first ladies. Uncaring about the flashing camera, he cut through the throng surrounding her and stopped in front of her.
Her sleek head turned towards him, and Rahim knew, in that moment, he hadn’t exaggerated the powerful chemistry between them. Every fibre in his body hungered for her with a desperation that was blindingly visceral.
‘Allegra,’ he rasped her name, and just the act of doing so seemed to expand the pressure in his chest.
‘Y-Your Highness. I wasn’t informed you would be attending this conference, or I would have made time to meet with you...’
The formal address, falling so stiffly from her lips, made him want to pull her close, take her mouth in a ruthless kiss and shame her for daring to keep him at arm’s length.
‘Make time now.’ Rahim made sure his tone conveyed he wasn’t making a polite request. ‘I insist.’
She glanced beyond his shoulder and spotted the two burly bodyguards behind him. Her vivid apprehension thickened, reached out and curled around them.
‘I can’t just...leave,’ she parried.
Rahim raised a mocking brow. ‘I think we both know you can do exactly that.’
Every last trace of colour fled her face. Her lashes swept down and she breathed deep before she looked up at him. Against his will, he devoured her lovely features, cursing himself for being this captivated with her despite all she’d done.
His breath caught as she took a step closer and leaned towards him. ‘I can’t do this here, Rahim. Please,’ she whispered shakily.
He caught the delicate scent of her perfume, felt the heat radiating off her body and reined in enough control not to reach out and pull her tight against him. ‘Then leave with me. We’re going to talk, Allegra. It’s your choice whether you want an audience or not. You’re an intelligent woman. Choose the latter.’
She swallowed, and stepped back. Glancing to the side, she smiled at a younger woman who hurried forward. ‘Zara, please cancel my lunch appointment, and send my apologies to Lady Sarafina.’
Her assistant tried to hide her surprise, and failed. ‘I... Yes, of course. Should I cancel the press junkets too?’
Allegra glanced at him, a thousand questions in her eyes. Rahim stared back, biting down the uncivilised growl that threatened to erupt from him. He’d never been possessive about any of the women who’d passed through his life. And yet, the thought of sharing Allegra with anyone sent a pulse of deep displeasure through him. Adding caveman to the list of unpleasant characteristics he’d had to acknowledge since meeting Allegra Di Sione made his teeth clench.
She caught the look, and quickly nodded at Zara. ‘Yes, reschedule those for tomorrow.’
Rahim barely saw the assistant melting away. He saw nothing and no one except Allegra. When she turned to leave the conference room, he followed.
Her stylish navy dress and matching jacket clung to her body as she walked beside him. Rahim watched her smile in acknowledgement at several people, her movements displaying a regal grace that would make his kingmakers proud.
From nowhere, he wondered what his mother would’ve thought of her. Would the queen who’d lived most of her life as a fairy tale have taken to Allegra? Or would she have feared for her son and the near-obsessive emotions bubbling through him right now?
Slashing through the fog of futile musings, he crossed the grand foyer of the five-star hotel and inserted the keycard for his private lift.
‘Um...where are we going?’ Allegra asked.
He tried his best to ignore the wariness in her voice. ‘To my penthouse. It’s the only place we’ll be guaranteed complete privacy.’
‘There are offices reserved down here for the conference. I’m sure we can find one that isn’t occupied.’
He faced her as the lift doors opened. ‘Why, Allegra, are you suddenly afraid to be alone with me? Do you fear for your reputation, perhaps?’ he mocked.
The firm shake of her head belied the racing pulse at her throat. ‘No, I merely thought it would be expedient. You seem in a hurry.’
‘Oh, I am in a great hurry. I cannot wait a moment longer to find out how you thought you’d get away with stealing from me when you knew there was nowhere you could hide that I wouldn’t find you.’
She inhaled sharply and glanced over her shoulder. Only his bodyguards were within eavesdropping distance. With a wave of his hand, Rahim dismissed them. And then did what he’d been dying to do since he walked into the conference room two hours ago. He reached out and grasped Allegra’s wrist. She resisted for a tiny second before joining him in the lift.
Passing the keycard over the LED monitor, he watched her swallow as the doors sealed them in. Silence surged along with the lift. Sliding his hand up her arm and over her shoulder, he caught a finger under her chin. ‘Look at me, Allegra.’
Stunning blue eyes met his.
‘I asked you a question. Answer me.’
Her mouth worked for a moment before she answered. ‘I tried to pay you for what I took. I sent you five cheques. They were all returned, ripped in pieces.’
Rahim allowed himself a tiny, mirthless smile. ‘Not only did you grossly insult me by stealing from me, you then presumed to know the value of my possession?’
She shook her head. ‘I didn’t just pluck a number out of thin air. I...I had the box appraised. Discreetly, of course,’ she added, then flushed when he laughed.
‘Of course. How very thoughtful of you.’
A pained expression crossed her face, then the apprehension he was beginning to detest gripped her features once more. ‘I know there’s no excuse for what I did...’
‘None whatsoever,’ he agreed. Drawing his finger over her smooth jaw, he revelled for a stolen second in the silky warmth of her skin.
‘I made a promise to my grandfather, Rahim. One I couldn’t break.’
He stiffened. ‘And did the great Giovanni Di Sione condone the theft?’
She gasped. ‘Of course he didn’t! He never would.’
‘So you not only perp
etrated a crime against me, you risked bringing dishonour to your family in the process?’
Pain twisted her features. ‘I’m sorry it happened, Rahim. Truly, I am. But when, right from the start, my visit went badly, I had very little choice but to...’
‘Seduce me with the enchanting delights of your sexy body, then steal away like a thief in the night?’ The harsh reminder roughened his voice.
Impossibly, she went even paler, and it was then Rahim pulled back and took a closer look at her.
‘What have you been doing to yourself? You’ve lost weight.’ He took in her deathly pale complexion, her slightly hollower cheeks and the bruised shadows beneath her eyes. ‘Have you been ill?’ he demanded sharply.
The lift doors slid open directly into the Emperor Suite. She stumbled out and away from him, shaking her head as she put the width of the living room between them. ‘Not exactly, no.’
A cold spear lanced his spine, far too close to what he’d felt a long time ago, when his pregnant mother had been rushed to hospital, for it to sit well with him. ‘What sort of answer is that? Either you’ve been well or unwell. There’s no in between. What happened?’
She threw out her hands in a stalling gesture. ‘Please. Slow down.’ One hand went to her forehead and Rahim reeled in shock when he noticed that her whole body was trembling. He found the idea that he’d caused that reaction deeply unsettling.
Crossing over to where she stood, he caught her by the shoulders. ‘Tell me what’s wrong, Allegra. Now.’
The eyes she raised to his were almost navy with fear and worry, clouded with whatever inner demons chased her, and he watched, his shock escalating by the second, as she blinked back sudden tears. ‘I can’t... I can’t go to prison,’ she stammered.
He frowned. ‘I don’t recall threatening you with incarceration,’ he replied.
Her hands braced on his chest, her gaze imploring. ‘I stole from you. It can’t be a coincidence that the moment I stopped sending the cheques, you appeared. You want some sort of retribution for what I did...’
