Sheikh's Destiny

by Leah Leonard

  Fury burned within every fiber of Uri’s being. How dare his father be so rude as to invite Tamara’s sister here! Had his old man gone completely mad? Had Uri not made his intentions for Stephanie absolutely clear?

  Now the gift his father brought him in the form of Stephanie was about to be lost to him forever. He could not allow that to happen.

  “Who was that?” Sultan Haziz asked.

  “That was my fiancé. Now if you’ll excuse me...” And without another word, Uri turned and took off down the hall after his true love, determined to make things right with her, no matter what.

  Forty One

  Stephanie was never more excited about anything in her life as she was tonight. Being here with Uri, her dream man, in his home, about to join his business dinner, and get to know his father better thrilled her. She knew in her heart they were meant to be together.

  Or so she thought…

  Why had she trusted Uri with her heart? Why had she allowed him to upturn her world in such a short time? Had she lost her mind?

  When Stephanie arrived in the ballroom, nobody noticed her. They were too busy making introductions and apparently matchmaking Uri with a girl Stephanie believed to be one of the most gorgeous people on the planet.

  She had big dark eyes, shiny jet hair that fell to her waist in a beaded braid. Her skin was flawless, and it was obvious from watching Uri’s father with the older man that they were old family friends.

  How could Stephanie ever hope to compete with her? She couldn’t!

  She stood in the doorway and overheard the entire conversation. Uri’s old friend wanted him to marry his daughter and take over their fortune.

  All of this she could forgive, but the fact Uri appeared ready and willing to walk off with her and get to know her better simply floored Stephanie.

  She stood staring with her mouth gaping open when Uri finally saw her and came toward her. She promised not to run from him, but there was no way she could possibly face any of these people now. She felt like a complete fool!

  Why hadn’t Uri told the Sultan of their plans before now? Apparently because they all had other things in mind. Why did Uri do this to her? Why did he use her, and for what purpose? It seemed so unlike him, or at least unlike the man she thought she’d been dealing with this whole time. But why use her? Surely there were women all over Turkey who would have been more convenient. Did he use her for sex? Perhaps, but still…she didn’t have a clue. Maybe having her here put pressure on the other family to present their daughter to Uri. That felt more possible, she realized. After all, this was a totally different culture. For one, they were wealthy beyond anything Stephanie had ever been exposed to. Combine that with the family history, and she stood no chance at all to hope to compete with the younger woman.

  She ran down the halls through the corridor and into her room, slamming the door behind her. She fell on the messy bed which was still disheveled from their lovemaking this afternoon. Mrs. Balik hadn’t yet had time to tidy up for her as she probably expected Stephanie to be at dinner for awhile. Now her plans had changed.

  But what could she do? She felt trapped here in the house. She had no idea how to get to the airport. Maybe Uri’s driver would help her. She just wanted to go back home to Iowa, settle in, and try to forget any of this ever happened.

  Unfortunately, she realized that was probably easier said than done. Buck likely hated her right now after having a chance to think about how she dumped him. Her farm was broke, and with any luck, his parents would still buy it, but she and Buck were done forever. She might have been better off with him after all, but now, that possibility was ruined. That was fine, she thought. Maybe that was one good thing to come out of all this heartache. She finally realized she didn’t love Buck the way she should, and she needed to be with someone else. And to think she thought that special someone was Uri! She’d been a fool, and there was no fixing all the problems this situation caused. Her life was officially over, and the sooner she came to terms with that fact, the better. Meanwhile, she needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

  ***

  Uri watched the love of his life tear off down the hall and his legs went numb. Somehow he had to get through to her and make this right.

  He walked quickly down the hallway just in time to hear the bang of the double doors in the hallway that led to Stephanie’s suite.

  He followed her to her suite and knocked. “Darling? Love? Please allow me to come in.” He tried the knob, surprised it turned, and let himself into the room.

  To his surprise, his typically sweet Stephanie appeared anything but. She busily slammed drawers, yanked her clothes from the hangars in the closet and dumped them out on the bed, then pulled her suitcases out and swung them open.

  “Here you are. Please, allow me to explain. It’s not what you think.”

  “Isn’t it?” she said, through sobs as she wadded up her clothes and stuffed them into her bags. “I loved you, Uri. I was going to set the date, but now I find out that your family doesn’t want me. They want you with her. That beautiful girl. And how could I possibly compete with that?”

  “Dear,” he reached for her. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand, all right.” She pushed him away, turned to face him, her eyes swollen from crying. “I trusted you.”

  “As you should have, dear. This was my father’s doing as usual. Not mine.”

  “Why play games, Uri? What is this all about? Did I help you seal the deal with this rich family? Is that what this is?”

  He knew she didn’t mean what she was saying. “No, of course not. I swear I had nothing to do with this invitation or the offer to marry her. Please trust me.”

  She finished filling one suitcase, zipped it up and sat next to the door. “I just want to go home.”

  “I must insist we calm down and speak about this, dear. Please.”

  She tossed her toiletries into a smaller bag, zipped it up, and paused to glare at him. “But how can you sit here and tell me that you never knew your father was planning to marry you off in a business arrangement? Just be honest.”

  In some ways, he realized she was right. The Sultan had been up to such matchmaking plots for some time, but still, Uri didn’t specifically orchestrate this one.

  Before he could reply, she continued. “Why have you been chasing me? Why waste my time with all of this? That’s what I can’t understand. You ruined my relationship with Buck, you totally disrupted my life. How could you? Why didn’t you leave me alone when I gave you every opportunity to do just that?”

  “Stephanie, I swear I don’t want to marry that girl,” Uri pleaded. He realized if he didn’t come clean about who the girl was, it might prove disastrous later. If Stephanie ever found out Tia was Tamara’s sister, she would never trust him again. “She is the sister of my former fiancé, Tamara.”

  “Oh great,” Stephanie said.

  “Father told me they had been discussing a business arrangement with Tamara’s family, but I swear he never told me it had anything to do with marrying her sister.”

  Stephanie studied him for a moment.

  “Darling, had I known father wanted to match us up, I should never have agreed to meet tonight. I planned to announce our engagement to the entire gathering, and introduce you as my future wife. I can still do so, if you would care to join me.” He smiled and reached for her, hoping this could be easily settled.

  He could see by the look on her face, she wasn’t quite convinced or finished with what she wanted to say, even though his words seemed to soften her a bit. At least for the moment, she had stopped packing. “Then how did he get the idea this Tia person might be a match?”

  “She is far younger than me. I have not even seen the girl since she was a child. I swear to you darling, I love only you, and I will marry you. I knew nothing of father’s thoughts on any of tonight’s plans. I asked him to tell me who was coming to dinner when he first brought it up to me, but he refused to say. I
should have pressed him further, and as I said, I am responsible, because we should have been out on our own tonight instead of wasting our time here. I do not know any more than that.”

  She sighed. “I believe you.”

  “You do? This is wonderful,” he moved toward her.

  Stephanie took a step back. “But how could you be so blind? Your father wanted you married into that family all along. That had to be the case with Tamara too. Don’t you see that? Were you two really ever in love, or was it all just business?”

  Uri cringed at the thought. Like so many aspects of his relationship with Tamara, it all happened so long ago, he could no longer recall exactly what was at stake when they chose to marry. And although he was supposedly heartbroken over her death, he now had to face the truth – they were both pawns in a merger scheme. “I don’t remember, darling. Right now, all I can think about is you.”

  “Uri,” Stephanie moved toward him and shook his shoulders. “Wake up! I am theoretically poor. I live on a small farm subsidized by the United States government. There is no way I can be of any benefit to you or your family.”

  “I don’t care! I want nothing from you but your love! Don’t you see that?” he pleaded.

  “Yes but your family might.”

  “No, darling, they don’t,” he began.

  Stephanie put up her hand to silence him. “Even if I sell the farm, I won’t make a dime from it, we owe so much now. I know I talked to you before about hopefully selling at a profit, but in reality, I’ll be lucky if I break even after all the debts are paid. It’s a real mess.”

  “This makes no difference to me, darling,” he said.

  “Maybe not, but it should. You are a foreign dignitary who is supposed to marry for position. I have no position.”

  “Which is one of the many reasons I love you, dear,” Uri reached for her. “Please, can’t you see my feelings are true? I do not want anyone but you! I love you! Not for anything you have, but for who you are. I know you say you have nothing, but you have one thing no other woman on earth has – my heart, my commitment, and my undying love.”

  “That won’t matter to your family, Uri. You should have figured that out by now.”

  “My family, as you put it, consists of me and my father. That’s it. We are a diminished clan. I assure you our dynasty shall continue with or without the merger with Tia’s family. I do not want anything from you. Believe me! And I do not care if you have no property or money. The fact you would sell to make a new start with me is in fact one of the reasons why I love you. Your brilliant mind, your business acumen and your compassion and loyalty to those who you love are all among your most admirable qualities. Now will you please come back to the party so I may properly introduce you as my future wife, and let the others know of my intentions?”

  ***

  Despite everything, Stephanie still loved Uri. She knew from the brief encounters with his father that the Sultan was manipulative and scheming. Uri had never done anything specifically to make her think he had known what his father had planned for tonight. She loved him so much, she was afraid of losing him, but when she gazed deep into his eyes, she saw nothing but love there. “I believe you.”

  “As you should, dear,” he said.

  “I’m sorry I ran away. I know I promised I wouldn’t do that anymore.” She started to cry. “You scared me, that’s all.”

  He walked over, took her in his arms and stroked her hair. “I know, dear, and I am so sorry.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, sniffling into his dinner jacket. “What if I had changed my mind and wanted to go home? I don’t, but what if I had?” She was curious to know if she did wish to leave that he would allow her the freedom to do so.

  He rubbed her back, calming her down even more. “It would certainly break my heart irreparably, however if you insisted you no longer want to marry me, then I would have to honor your wishes and take you home as soon as possible.”

  Stephanie contemplated all that had transpired between the two of them since they first met in Ephesus. She thought about what it would be like to go home, get back to the farm, and possibly even mend things with Buck. Next, she imagined joining the others, announcing their engagement, then returning home to Iowa and coming back overseas to plan the wedding. She really loved Uri and knew her life would be miserable without him. “I was just asking you know. I don’t want to leave. I love you.”

  “And I love you.” He kissed her. “More than anything in the world.”

  “And you want to marry me, even if you father says no?”

  Uri chuckled. “My father has no control over me dear, despite his meddling. I shall marry you because I love you, and I refuse to live another moment without you. All of this tonight has convinced me I want you as soon as you will have me. There is nobody else on earth for me but you.”

  She looked into his dark eyes and into his soul. She felt the sincerity in his words and his touch warmed her and made her feel secure and happy in a way she had never felt before. She wondered if this was how her parents felt about each other. It must have been. She was so grateful to finally know what such a love felt like. “Okay, if you promise you’ll love me and treat me like this forever, then we can get married as soon as possible.”

  With all seriousness, Uri said, “Darling, I cannot promise that at all.”

  “What?” Her heart nearly stopped beating.

  He took both her hands in his and gazed deep into her eyes. “I cannot make such a promise, because I will love you more with each day we are together, and I plan to treat you better than this over time.”

  She hugged Uri and cried. Doing so made her feel a level of relief and joy that overtook her fears and made her know everything would be okay. No, better than okay – great. “Okay. I’ll marry you.”

  “Wonderful, darling.” He hugged her tight and rubbed her back while her crying settled. A peaceful calm finally came over them both. He kissed her, brushed off his dinner jacket, and held out his hand. “Come.”

  “Are you sure I should? I feel so embarrassed about how I acted before.”

  “You heard me. Come.”

  She checked herself in the mirror, dabbed the tears from her eyes and touched up her makeup. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “Good. You look beautiful, as always, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. My father, on the other hand, should be quite embarrassed for putting you in such a position. I apologize for his behavior, and while I cannot guarantee better from him in the future, I would demand he treat you with upmost kindness and respect, or he would no longer be welcome in our home.” He put his arms around her, kissed her. “Trust me.”

  “Surely it would never come to that,” she said.

  “I would doubt it. Father does like you, you know? Still, I want you to be clear where I stand where you are involved. You are my highest priority in life, dear. Make no mistake about it. Now, shall we join the others?”

  “Yes. I’m ready.” Stephanie realized if she was ever going to find happiness in her life, she had to trust her man, and go with him. It really didn’t matter what anyone thought, she realized. As long as they loved each other, they could tackle anything. She took Uri’s hand and he led her back down the hall into the ballroom.

  When they arrived, everyone was still busy having drinks. Stephanie felt a knot forming in her stomach.

  Uri squeezed her hand, kissed her cheek. “Ready?”

  She nodded. The moment they walked in the room, everybody stopped talking and turned to face them.

  “There you are,” the Sultan chuckled nervously. “We were wondering.”

  “Father, Sultan, Miss Tia, I should like to formally present my fiancé, Miss Stephanie Simonton of the United States.”

  Stephanie bowed.

  “Congratulations,” Tia said sincerely. “When is your wedding?”

  Once the sweet girl spoke, Stephanie realized she was a kind soul. It certainly wasn’t her fault Uri’s father set all of thi
s up. Stephanie really didn’t know how to answer the girl’s question though. “Uh…”

  “Soon,” Uri glanced at Stephanie. “My dear one has some complicated business dealings of her own in the United States, and we are in the process of merging our enterprises.”

  “We were not aware of this, however we do wish you the best,” the elder Sultan said.

  “Sir, know that I have been most honored to know your family my entire life and I feel certain Miss Tia shall find herself a worthy husband,” Uri said.

  To everybody’s surprise, Tia burst into tears.

  Poor thing, Stephanie thought. She was so young and maybe the whole ordeal hurt her feelings.

  “I apologize if I’ve offended you, Miss Tia. I assure you this was not my intent,” Uri offered.

  “Thank you,” Tia told him, then she turned to her father and said, “I love Edo, Papa.”

  “How dare you bring up such things now, in front of our hosts?” Tia’s father shouted.

  “It’s true. I love him, he loves me, and we want to marry as soon as we can. I am so pleased to be released to do so,” Tia smiled.

  Stephanie could certainly empathize with her heartfelt confession. How terrible it must have been for her to think she had to marry Uri!

  The elder Sultan looked as though he might burst a blood vessel and die of a heart attack that very second. “Tia, come. I believe we shall need to leave these good people for now, and discuss such matters in private.”

  “We have not yet had our meal,” Uri’s father said, begging them to stay.

  “We are most grateful for your hospitality and are certainly open to discussions regarding management of some of our holdings, but for now, I apologize, but we must go.” Without any more discussion, they hurried out to their limo, and disappeared into the night.