It was the most intense bittersweet feeling he’d ever experienced. A child of his own with the greatest love of his life, yet at the same time, the danger to her just increased twofold. If word got out that she was pregnant, this “Sheikh” would make a target of her for sure. “I trust that you took all necessary tests to be sure of this before telling me.”
“Yes sir.”
THIRTEEN
Lacy curled her legs under her on her big comfy sofa. She wasn’t sure what sort of reaction she’d been hoping for from Walid, but what he was giving her was definitely at the bottom of the list.
“What do you wish to do with it?” he asked.
“It?” She couldn’t believe his distance. “I’m keeping it.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?”
“You know what?” she said. “This was supposed to be happy news. I’m happy about it, and it was a courtesy that I called to let you know.”
“Lacy—“
“Let me finish! If you don’t want to have anything to do with your child, fine. But don’t you try to turn this around on me asking if it’s wise that I keep it. You act like I haven’t been asking that question fifty different ways since I found out.”
“I apologize. Of course you have. I do not mean to sound as though I’m displeased by this news.”
“You could’ve fooled me.” Lacy rested her chin atop her knee as she held the phone to her ear. It took every bit of self-control not to hang up the phone, but some part of her was desperately hoping he’d say the right thing to make everything okay. She had no idea what that would be, but that’s why she was waiting.
“My situation is…” His voice trailed off, and her heart sank by the pause. “Things are not stable. A new life is a wonderful thing, and something I would love to share with you, Lacy. You are a magnificent woman.”
“Uh huh,” she said sardonically. “But?”
“There is no but. That is how I feel. I apologize for my reaction. My first thought was for the child and your safety. I am sorry if I gave the impression I was thinking of myself.”
“Yeah, well…” Lacy bit on her thumbnail. “So you’re not mad?”
“Quite the opposite.” Despite his words, his voice sounded flat and emotionless. It was like he was just trying to make her happy, and not voicing how he really felt.
“What’s going on with you?” she blurted out. “We have an incredible night, and then you pull away. I call to tell you I’m pregnant, you freak out, which sounded real, but now you’re giving me robotic placations.”
“It is not my intent to placate you, Lacy. You are misunderstanding me.”
“Your voice says differently.”
She heard him sigh on the other side of the phone. “As I said, things are not stable. I am attempting to keep my tone controlled. The truth of the matter is this is a dangerous world. I worry.”
“Yeah, well, you know what? You sound busy. I’m going to let you go.”
“Lacy, please.”
“We can talk later about it, if you ever decide you’re stable enough for a conversation.”
She heard him say her name one more time before she hung up the phone. So much for hoping he could fix everything.
Now what was she going to do?
FOURTEEN
Hours had passed since his conversation with Lacy, and Walid just couldn’t get his mind straight. Everything was in a whirl, and he couldn’t focus on any one thing long enough to solve it. He sat in his hotel room staring out the window when one of his men approached.
“Troubled minds are poor breeding grounds for solutions.”
Walid looked up and gave a small smile. “Indeed. All that spawns in my thoughts are the seeds of further worry.”
The man came and sat across from him. “Tell me of them.”
Walid resisted the urge to touch his forehead. It was a sign of shame in his country, and at a young age he was made aware of the gesture and trained how to avoid performing it. To this day it was a conscious choice to not move his hand. “Lacy is pregnant with my child.”
“And you are certain—“
“Yes. I trust her.”
“And why is this not a cause for rejoice?”
Walid drummed his fingers along the arm of the chair. “I came to this country for my business, my legacy. A single purpose, a single drive. I would conquer this land and then present it to my children when I was ready.”
“So things happened early.”
“It is not just the prematurity of the thing. The Sheikh and his men here, they are a threat. Until that threat is identified, anyone I am close to is in danger.”
“So what is the contention?”
“If I continue on, I put Lacy and my child in danger. To do so would be irresponsible. Yet, if I stop now for fear of their lives, what am I? The calling of business, of my dynasty is all I’ve known. What am I without that? Who could I be to a family?”
“That is not the true question,” his man said, resting his ankle on his knee. “What you are truly afraid of, the thing that stops you is the uncertainty of if Lacy can love half a man.”
“I would be a broken shell,” Walid said, his hand moving to his head. At the last moment he became aware of what he was doing, and turned it into scratching an itch with the knuckle of his thumb before lowering his hand again.
“Your love or your pride. A man can rarely have both. Which is most important to you?”
Walid looked at him, surprised by the man’s wisdom. The question posed truly was the root of how he felt, but more than anything else in his life, Walid was afraid of what the answer may be.
FIFTEEN
Lacy came into the office the next morning prepared to keep a brave face. The very last place she wanted to be was at work, but she couldn’t afford to let her feelings get in the way of her work. She was up all night worrying, and came to a conclusion: if Walid wasn’t going to be involved, she was still going to raise this baby on her own.
That meant she needed to keep her job and do her damn work no matter how bad she felt. Linda was there, a worried look over her face as she stood from her desk.
“Your morning appointment is here.”
Lacy stopped. Did she have an appointment she’d forgotten about? She had read about pregnant women having “baby brain” and forgetting things, but that happened later. Right? Oh God.
“How long have they been here?”
“Half an hour.”
“What?” A spike shot through Lacy’s chest. In all her time she’d never made an appointment wait so long for her. She rushed by Linda and entered her office.
Three men she didn’t recognize, all of Middle Eastern descent, stood from their place in her guest chairs.
“I am so sorry for forgetting our appointment,” she blathered before realizing she shouldn’t have admitted to forgetting. That was unprofessional. Damn!
“Have not a care,” the oldest of them said. He had black hair that shined under the lights of her office, clearly oiled and groomed. His thick mustache was trimmed neatly, his grey suit tailored specifically to his dimensions. This was a man of money. “You did not forget an appointment.”
Lacy subtly released the breath she’d been holding. “Okay, I’m unable to speak with you unless you’ve made an appointment. I’m an incredibly busy woman and I don’t have the time for walk-ins.”
“We work for a client of yours. He wishes you to go over some paperwork at our office. There is a large transaction he is preparing to make, but we all felt more comfortable having his legal representation present.”
Lacy was rattled and unnerved by their appearance that morning, and for just a moment she stood in indecision. Why wouldn’t Walid just let her know ahead of time? Then again, with the way he’d been acting, she wasn’t really surprised he would send other men in his stead.
Resolving herself to the complete breakdown of their relationship, Lacy gathered up her things and left with the men.
SIXTEEN
The cool air of the hotel room did little to settle Walid’s nerves as he stared at the chess board. When he discovered one of his men was particularly proficient, Walid insisted they play a round. After he lost the first round, Walid respected the man’s willingness to not play easy against his boss.
In their culture, those of lower station bowed to those above them. Groveling and supplication were a big part of his father’s dynasty. It was an aspect Walid never agreed with. Treat people like people, and they’ll work hard to maintain a positive point of view. Walid rewarded the man’s tenacity by insisting on another game. So far Walid had won a single game to the man’s four.
Both were quick thinkers, neither taking more than a few seconds to move. Obviously this was his opponent’s style, and he was good at it. At first Walid was attempting to match his tactics, to overcome his enemy on his own turf. Now that it was failing, he realized he needed to play his own game. As Walid contemplated his next move, his cell phone vibrated in his coat pocket.
“Yes,” he answered.
“The bar owner’s information was good. We believe we’ve located where they’re keeping his wife.”
“Good. Standby. I will gather the rest of our men. A deal is a deal.”
“There’s something else.”
Walid held up a finger to his opponent to inform him he needed a minute. Walid leaned back in his chair and turned his focus entirely to the conversation. “Go on.”
“As we observed the building, they brought in someone else.”
“I find your hesitation both troubling and unnecessary. Out with it.”
“They have Lacy.”
His greatest fear realized. Walid closed his eyes as a very real pain seared through his chest. The love of his life, the would-be mother of his child, and she was in the clutches of this mystery enemy. Now was not the time to show weakness.
“Hold position. Await further instruction.”
“Understood.” Walid ended the call and placed the phone on the table beside the chess board.
All his mind could latch onto was the thought of breaking something. To smash the table, find a deserving man and crush his skull. It wasn’t just a desire, but a need to break his fists against something. Such outbursts, however, were unbecoming of a leader. Walid wished to be followed in this foreign land of concrete and sales, and that meant being a pillar of stone. The shaking hands of his were anything but stone, however.
He tried to disguise this by slowly rubbing his palms together, his eyes fixed on the enemy king on the chess board.
“They have her, don’t they?” his opponent said. It was worded as a question, but they both knew it didn’t need answering.
Walid saw the eyes of his opponent rise to look over Walid’s shoulder. He in turn looked up and saw his other warriors standing beside him.
“What do we do?” one asked.
“We do nothing. They’ve yet to reveal their hand to me. Until they do, we cannot know their intention for Lacy.”
“I cannot believe their intentions are in any way benign.”
“Nor I,” Walid said as he looked back to the chess board, “but we cannot play the game their way. First, we must discover their intentions, and then we will devise our own plan of attack.”
“I do not understand why we do not attack now while they are unaware we’ve been alerted,” the third guard said.
“Silence,” the other guard snapped at him. “When it is your place to know, you will know.”
Walid held a hand up for the guard to stop his beratement. “When the enemy reveals their demands, they will in turn reveal their greatest weakness. In that time, we will strike clean and decisive.”
His phone rang from an unfamiliar number. Walid answered, his entire body tense.
“It would seem the presence of your men have advanced our timetable.” The voice on the other end was female. The caller used an electronic scrambler to change the tone, but there was something familiar in the way they spoke.
“Who is this? Why do you call?”
“Do not think me a fool. You know who this is and you know why I call.”
“You are the false Sheikh.”
“Use that word one more time, and her blood will be on your hands.”
“Your demands?”
“You will not meet them.”
Walid stared at the chessboard, his eyes falling on the bishop. Fighting sideways. He plucked up the piece and looked at the round knob at the very tip. “Make them anyway. It is only courteous.”
“Leave this country. Abandon your projects. Never return.”
“And I can take her with me?”
“No you cannot. She remains.”
“Her body or her spirit?”
He could hear the smile in the voice as it answered, “That depends on your answer.”
The call ended and Walid set the cellphone down, his eyes locked on the bishop.
“What did he want?” Walid’s former opponent asked.
“She,” Walid said.
“What does she want?”
This was it, the moment of truth. Walid had been torn on his true heart’s intent. If he stayed now and continued to pursue his business, he would succeed. It was as clear as the fact that they had to capture his love in order to try and persuade him.
Both of them knew he would be the victor. However, he would lose Lacy and his would-be child. If he left, he would lose everything, but Lacy and the child would live.
This would have been a devastating choice to make, except for one grave mistake. This “Sheikh” had to make the call herself, to dig it in. Secretly, she wanted Walid to know who was competing against him. That, however, was to be her downfall.
“Why are you smiling?” one of his men asked.
“I know who the false Sheikh is.”
SEVENTEEN
Lacy’s leg bounced nervously and she checked her watch again. It’d been an hour. She was starving, her coffee had long since worn off, and she had to visit the bathroom like never before. Up to now they had been feeding her poor excuses, having her look over useless generic papers, and giving inconsistent reasons for Walid’s absence. Lacy had had about enough. She closed her briefcase and stood.
“Gentlemen,” she said politely by way of goodbye. The two men in the room jumped up from their seats.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to excuse myself to the powder room, if you don’t mind.”
“Your man will be here any moment,” one said as he moved to stand in front of her, and arm out block her path.
“He should have been here an hour ago,” Lacy said, and tried to step around him. “I need to eat something. I have meetings and other clients.”
When she couldn’t get around his constant dodging, she stopped and looked him in the eye. “Get out of my way.”
There it was. She was being blatant. No more time for lies.
“We can’t do that.”
“I feel I’ve been more than patient, but I’m really done playing around. So unless you have a gun or something, I’m leaving.”
The man in front of her reached behind him and pulled out a gun. A real gun! He pointed it right at her head and pulled the hammer back. “Sit down.”
“This is kidnapping,” she said.
“Noted,” he said. Heart hammering in her chest, her throat suddenly dry and clenched, Lacy went back to her chair and sat down. She kept the briefcase on her lap, as if it could provide any protection against gunfire.
“Stay in the seat. If you try to leave, we will shoot you.”
“You obviously want me for something. You wouldn’t shoot me,” she challenged.
“I said we’d shoot you. I never said we’d kill you.” He pointed the gun at her leg. “Are you emotionally attached to your knees?”
Before she could stop herself, she moved the briefcase down to block her legs. The man jutted his jaw out.
“Don’t get up.”
The two men
left since the need for appearances was no longer necessary. Fear kept her in the chair for another hour. Her restlessness took over then, and she paced the room for another hour. What was she to do? She was a lawyer. A pregnant lawyer!
Lacy stopped and touched her hands to her stomach. Her womb. She was pregnant. It was an odd thing to realize the full extent of such a thing when in the middle of such danger. She wasn’t just responsible for her own safety now. She had to think of her baby.
Lacy’s jaw clenched, her teeth grinding against one another as her fear churned itself into a frothy rage. They think she’s a bargaining chip? They think they can just take her and hold her hostage like a… a… a victim!
She was no victim!
Walid wasn’t going to come for her, not after everything. This was as clean a solution as he was going to get. The woman and the baby he didn’t want gone, and he had nothing to do with it. If she was going to get up to this mess, it would have to be up to her.
Lacy dropped her briefcase, no longer needing the comfort of its useless materials, and she began to eye the office they kept her in. A plan formed.
SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance Page 76
