Samir didn’t realize she was crying until he moved his mouth to her neck, and tasted the wet, salty tears. He was no monster, and her suffering sat awkwardly on his broad shoulders. He straightened. “Try to be happy, Grace. Nothing has changed between us really. Except that you’ve gained a royal title and a lot of money.”
His attempt at humor fell flat. She spun away from him and wrapped her arms around her body. When she spoke, her voice was completely devoid of emotion. Flat and lifeless. “I’d like to see Jacob,” she said without looking at him.
Tamping down on his frustration, he nodded. “I will have him brought to you.”
She did not thank him. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be in this situation. A few minutes later, Jacob appeared, in the arms of his father. Grace glared at Samir over the top of their son’s head, but Jacob was oblivious to the undercurrent of tension in the plane.
“Are you actually telling me we can’t leave Elaminar?”
He compressed his lips. “I hope that when you see the country and the palace, you will have no desire to.”
She did laugh then, but it was a maniacal giggle that made his blood turn cold. “You must be kidding me?” She reached forward and took their sleepy little bundle into her arms.
“I’m not kidding you.” His eyes ran over her face. “Grace, I wasn’t lying to you. You are like a fever in my blood and I do not intend to let you go, either.” A shiver ran through her at his words. “I want you, I desire you, and I need you. When I told you I had not stopped thinking of you for two years, I was not exaggerating.”
She felt her insides clench at his words, because now, they seemed so empty. “But you don’t love me.”
He was silent, which she took as confirmation of her worst fears. She’d been a naïve, gullible, stupid idiot. Worse, she’d argued with the one person who’d seen him for what he was and tried to warn her.
“You don’t love me.” She said again, pacing across the room, rocking Jacob as she went. His eyes were heavy and she lowered her voice to a whisper. “You haven’t been honest with me at all.”
“If I had told you who I am, would you have come?”
She turned around and stared at him in consternation. “I don’t know. But you should have let me choose.”
“I couldn’t risk it,” he said honestly. “I’m sorry, Grace, but I simply couldn’t risk it.”
Her heart turned over in her chest. “Because of Jacob.”
He tilted his head which was all the confirmation she required.
“How could you do this to me?”
He sighed. “It will not be so bad, Grace. You know we are good together. Once you get over your anger, you will see that a marriage between the two of us makes sense.”
“Makes…” She spluttered, then with great effort, whispered calmly, “Makes sense? Nothing makes sense any more. Two hours ago I thought you were some guy who just wanted to introduce us to his family. You’re a King, for goodness sake. You run a country. You’re… I can’t… I’m so angry with you!”
“Don’t you see that I didn’t have a choice?” He ran a hand through his hair and grudgingly, she realized that he looked tired. “As soon as I knew about Jacob, I had to act fast. I am, as you put it, a King, for goodness sake. His safety, and yours, had to be assured.”
“So you had some henchman follow us around?”
“Actually, there were seven.”
“Seven!” She stopped walking and stared across at him. “How dare you?”
“What is wrong with that?”
“It’s so high handed! I don’t need protection. And I sure as hell don’t need you organizing my life for me.”
“Grace, there are people who want to hurt me simply because of who I am. Don’t you see that you and Jacob are a liability? Imagine if he was kidnapped. I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. There are many who would seek to earn a quick pay day by ransoming off my son.”
Fear, cold and real, pulsed through her. “No one knew about us.”
“From the minute I arrived at your door and began to be seen with you, it was only a matter of time before I was recognized. I had to get you both out of London and under my protection quickly. If I had told you the truth, you might have said no, and my ability to protect you would have significantly decreased.”
“This is unbelievable.” She looked down at their sleeping baby, and felt another pang of fear. Nothing could ever be allowed to happen to Jacob. “But you should have just let us be. As soon as you knew about Jacob, if you really cared about our safety, surely you should have simply protected our anonymity.”
“Ah, but I have always been a selfish man, I’m afraid. Once I saw you again, I knew I couldn’t leave you. Even without Jacob, from the moment you opened the door and burst onto the street, I knew I could marry no one but you.”
“Why?” She stared at him, but her breath had stopped, her heart had stopped, everything had ground to a complete standstill while she waited for his answer. If he told her what she needed to hear, she could almost make sense of this mess. If he reassured her that he still loved her, then she could try to get him to understand why she was upset.
Samir’s face gave little away. But for a muscle in his jaw that flickered, his expression was frozen. “Because I want you in my bed for the rest of my life.”
If it was at all possible, his answer cut her even more deeply than anything else had to this point. “You must be kidding me.” Except that he was already pretty scathing of his behavior, her look of total disapproval would have got under his skin. He didn’t need her censure to tell him he’d behaved like a bastard. But he simply couldn’t see another option that would have achieved what he wanted, in the time frame required. “You’re totally delusional if you think I would ever sleep with you again.”
His smile was sardonically teasing. “A minute ago your body was showing me just what you want.”
She breathed out a sigh of anger. “You really are a bastard. I can’t believe I ever thought I loved you. My God, I must be stupid.”
He shook his head as he closed the distance between them. “Not stupid, Grace. I wanted you to fall in love with me.”
“And people always do what you want,” she said grimly, gripping their son tighter. “My first instinct was to keep Jacob from you. Why didn’t I listen to myself? Why didn’t I listen to Rupert?” She sobbed as she thought of her friend. “I defended you to him. I was prepared to cut him out of my life simply because he wouldn’t accept you. And all along, he was right.”
His eyes narrowed imperceptibly at her reference to Rupert. A shard of jealousy broke through his body. Whatever else Rupert was, he had been her lover, and her quick pity for the other man was both hurtful and infuriating. “Enough. You will not mention him to me.”
Her eyes flew wide. “Is this how it’s going to be? You’re going to tell me what I can think? What I can say?” With one hand clutching their baby’s chubby body to her chest, she used the other to dash away the tears that overflowed from her eyes.
Samir expelled a long, steadying breath. He had three sisters and a mother he cherished. He was not a man to treat women disrespectfully. “Of course not,” he said stonily. “I trust you have the ability to behave as your new role requires. Remember, Grace, you are to be Queen.”
“I don’t want to be Queen,” she whispered fiercely, glaring at him through a mutinous set of features.
“You will either become my Queen, in every sense of the word, or you will have very little to do with our son. The decision is yours.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed, shivering uncontrollably. The movement almost woke Jacob but when Samir extended his hands to relieve her burden, she clutched their son all the tighter. It was hard to speak through the lump in her throat. “You would really want a wife who hates you?” She asked finally.
“I want you.” He responded simply. “There is little point arguing.” He cast a look at his gold watch. A rolex, she saw now,
with what looked suspiciously like diamonds encrusted around the face. How had she missed such an obvious symbol of extreme wealth? His whole body language seemed immediately impatient. “We have a little over two hours until we land. Stay here and think my offer through. If you choose to marry me, you will find a more suitable outfit in that wardrobe in the corner. If you decide you hate me so much that you are prepared to leave your son, then stay in this room and feel sorry for yourself. The plane will refuel and immediately return you to London and your precious Rupert. The choice is yours, Grace.”
CHAPTER TEN
But what choice did she really have? No mother on earth would leave their child, even if the price was as high as she was about to pay. Having settled Jacob’s sleeping form into the centre of the bed and surrounded him with pillows, she moved with a determined grace towards the wardrobe and grimly opened it. The dress was actually surprisingly beautiful. A modest yet modern court dress with a matching bolero. She slipped it on, willfully ignoring the accompanying lingerie and opting to keep her own simple cotton set in place. She didn’t have a mirror, so she used the camera in her phone to check her appearance. The dress was too formal for her, especially the way her hair was flying wild around her face. Fortunately, Grace always carried an emergency stash of hair and makeup supplies in her bag, in case something happened with their usual team of beauty experts. And because it helped to distract her, she sat down on the edge of the bed, her phone on her knees, and skillfully arranged her hair into an elaborate up-style. She imagined it was eminently suitable for a woman wishing to marry a King. Two long braids looped from ear to ear, and the rest of her hair she rolled into a Grace Kelly style chignon. As for makeup, she rarely wore a scrap, except on stage, but she knew she’d need a veritable mask in place for what lay ahead.
With a hand that had watched and learned professionals for many years, she slowly transformed her face, so that she looked less the naïve ingénue who had believed her one-time lover’s lies, and more like a princess in waiting.
A voice came over the loud speakers but it was in another language. One she supposed she would have to learn. She was paralyzed by fear. Then, she remembered her first stage coach’s advice, all those years ago. “Use your nerves, Gracie. Nerves aren’t a bad thing; they’re the push you need to do better.”
She was a professional actress. She’d spent the last two years acting and singing her heart out in a hit show in the West End. It would take all the skills she possessed, but she could do it. She could play the part of the doting fiancé. At least when other people required it of her. When they were alone, he would be dead to her, however.
Above the door to the private room, a light flashed, showing the seat belt sign. It was infinitely better to arrive at her fate under her own steam, rather than be found hiding out in abject terror. So, she stood and collected her still sleeping son into her arms. He roused a little and she pressed a kiss against his forehead. “You are my world, darling. I will always be here for you.”
And the moment she stepped into the main carriage of the plane, she felt a sense of calm, as though she was taking to the stage. She had a much smaller audience than usual, but her sell was harder. “My love,” she said with a smile, trotting confidently down the aisle in her sky high heels. The look on Samir’s face would have made her laugh if she wasn’t hiding such a seething rage for him. “Where shall Jacob and I sit for landing?”
Samir stared at the woman he’d just verbally hit over the head with a block. He’d taunted her and threatened her and she looked, to all the world, as though she was a delightfully contented, soon to be married, woman of the world. She was actually going to go through with this. Sickness threatened his gut. She was going through with it because he’d promised to poke a hole in her life and take away her most important and beloved child if she didn’t do as he wanted. She looked ethereally stunning. The dress was perfect. Modest yet beautiful, and to his mind, incredibly sexy. He swallowed down the wave of desire that assailed him and stood from his seat.
“You look perfect, Grace.” His green eyes studied her face. And she did look perfect. But he had seen her happy, he had seen her overflowing with pleasure, he had held her in his arms when she fell apart at the seams. And now he, who knew her so well, knew that she was suffering unimaginably. “Why don’t you sit opposite me,” he indicated the chair nearest his. “Kaliq and I will not be much longer.”
She let her eyes drift to his friend; the speculation she saw there was obvious. So she smiled at him brightly and slid into the seat. She even managed not to startle when Samir’s foot brushed up against hers. But it took a monumental effort.
Kaliq and Samir continued their heated discussion until the plane had drifted down through the skies and put its wheels firmly onto Elaminarn soil. Or concrete.
“You did very well,” she whispered in Jacob’s ear, smiling at him proudly as his little face beamed back at her. “Not a single cry.”
“He is brave, like his mother,” Samir interrupted seriously. His eyes were too much to bear. For though she hated him, and despised his behavior, those eyes had been in her dreams for so long. She looked away from him, refusing to acknowledge his compliment.
“Grace,” he leaned forward in his chair, lightly touching her knee. Kaliq was still there, and though he was apparently engrossed in his work, she didn’t want to draw his attention. And so she let him touch her leg, though she wanted to scratch out his eyes. “My mother will be waiting to see Jacob as soon as we arrive at the palace.”
“Palace,” she whispered, momentarily forgetting her role in this bizarre production.
“Yes. She will also be eager to meet you. Do you need some time after the flight before you undertake such a meeting?” His meaning was clear. He was really asking if she needed to sort herself out, maybe throw a few plates and stomp on a few feet, before she could play nice with her future mother in law. But Grace had always been impatient. Feeling like she had an axe suspended over her neck was not something she relished.
“I’d rather get it over with,” she said honestly, and for a second, she thought she saw Samir’s lip lift in a small smile.
“As you wish,” he said, all business again. “I will advise palace security to arrange it.”
“Fine.”
As they disembarked, Samir kept a hand under her elbow, and though she resented his familiar touch, she was grateful for the support. The heat hit her like a wave in the face. Though she’d always loved the summer sun, this was like something else. “It is not usually like this,” he said quietly, whispering into her ear in a way that made her skin goose bump. “We are in the midst of an unusual heat wave.”
“Well in that case, I feel so happy to be here,” she whispered back in a sarcastic undertone.
Samir ached to pull her into his arms. At least when her body responded to his, there was no room for this caustic disapproval. With a knot in his stomach, he watched her hand Jacob to a waiting member of staff to strap into the car, then elegantly take her place beside the child. Samir needed to think. With a gruff sound from the base of his throat, he strode across the tarmac and took up a seat in a separate vehicle. Grace had wreaked havoc on his good sense from the first moment he’d met her, and now he’d done something so out of character he couldn’t himself believe it.
* * *
Even Grace, who had been raised by stage royalty, felt intimidated meeting a bonafide Queen. She rung her hands in front of her stomach and sucked in a deep breath.
“Are you ready?” Samir asked, walking into the cavernous tiled corridor with the lithe stride she recognized so well.
Jacob stood beside her, unusually still. It was almost as if he sensed the importance of the occasion, and was behaving accordingly. “As I’ll ever be,” she answered drily.
Samir’s eyes glittered at the small dig. She was going along with his plans, but not without a fight. “Good.” And because she looked equal parts stunning and terrified, he kissed her quickly o
n the lips. Her shock made him smile. “Get used to it, Grace. We will soon be married.”
“How soon?” She said, catching onto the word in spite of the fact her knees were suddenly threatening to buckle beneath her.
“As soon as it can be arranged. Royal weddings take time, but I am impatient to formalize things. I’m sure you can understand that.”
Grace pressed her lips together and turned away from him. The reality of her situation was still dawning on her, but she knew she could either fly into an hysterical rage, or appear, at least on the surface, to be falling in with his plans. For now.
He nodded over her shoulder and instantly, the large doors opened inwards. Samir, used to his palace and the trappings of such a building, walked calmly into the Gold room.
Grace, however, was overawed. The entire room was either gold, or white. White marble and gold. It was opulence to the extreme. It only took her a moment to gather herself again, though, and, holding Jacob’s hand, she forced herself to move forward.
He spoke in English for her sake. “Mother, this is Grace Jones, my fiancé. And our son, Jacob.” There was a crowd of perhaps ten people assembled at the other end of the room, and in the centre, a woman so like Samir that Grace had no doubts in the world whom he had addressed. The woman was tall, wiry, with an intelligent face and dark black hair pulled up into a bun. She wore a navy blue skirt suit, and a strand of baroque pearls that were so long they looped around her neck at least four times.
But , at the sight of Jacob, her face took on an expression of complete delight. She clapped her manicured hands together and walked quickly towards them. To Grace, she had the smallest of smiles. It was Jacob she wanted to see, after all. In a steady stream of words that meant nothing to Grace or the small boy, she crouched down and attempted to pull him into her arms. Jacob, as overawed by the enormous room, the heat, and the foreign sounds as Grace was, indulged himself in the meltdown Grace had herself wanted to experience.
One Night with The Sheikh: An accident of fate brought them together, and it would bind them for the rest of their lives. Page 10
