Falling for the Sheikh She Shouldn't. Fiona McArthur
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needs to come home, at least for the time being, for her and her sons’ safety, now she is a widow.’
‘I don’t suppose it’s easy for her. I think she has some friends and a life in Australia.’
His lip curled. ‘The friendship of a man who has plans to control a royal widow? A man who pretended to be a friend of her husband, who has helped her remain cut off from her family now she has no husband to protect her?’ She could see the implacable intent in his expression. ‘What sort of man preys on a young woman like that?’
So he knew a little about this Tom. Okay. But wasn’t it Fadia’s final decision they needed to wait for? She stamped down her initial unease over saying something. ‘She seems to have relied on him in the past.’
His gaze sharpened and she could almost smell the briny scent of storm to come. ‘So she has mentioned him?’
She looked away. ‘No.’ She really didn’t think she’d get away with her pitifully thin denial but he wasn’t looking at her.
He’d focussed across the room at the windows. ‘But has he already found where she is?’
She wasn’t touching that assumption. ‘Is that why you have a guard in her corridor?’
His gaze returned to her but he declined to answer that question. ‘Her marriage and the birth of her sons has been an unexpected development for our family.’
His eyes bored into hers. ‘She must come home. But even I would not whisk a new mother with twins away until she has had a chance to recover.’
‘And is that your intention?’ She could see it was.
His look measured her. ‘Yes.’ There was no doubt in his mind anyway.
Now they were down to the real thing. Was he the type of man, like her ex-husband, who saw only his own wants and needs? Did he even care about Fadia the person or just her sons? ‘Even if she’s not a hundred per cent sure she wants to go?’
‘I believe it is in her best interests, and the best interests of her babies to return to Zandorro.’
Controlling creep, then. It seemed Fadia’s wishes were not in the equation at all. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’
‘Again, you do not understand. It is my prerogative to not answer any question.’
Well, that was straight out. She was on Fadia’s side until the young mum definitely decided what she wanted to do. She stood up and he did also. ‘I see. Thank you.’ Her voice was dry. ‘And thank you for seeing me.’
He studied her. Intently. And she felt he could see not just her but right through her. Into her brain. Hopefully not through her clothes. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. ‘I found our conversation to have been most illuminating.
‘Yes.’ Well, she had learned a little. ‘Some of it was.’
‘Good day, Miss Carmen.’ He bowed and a small smile teased at the side of his mouth. The air in the room seemed suddenly more heavily scented, the music dimmed, and his eyes burned into hers. She knew he was thinking of that moment in the lift. She was too. She could feel the flush in her skin, her neck warmed, and yet she couldn’t look away. His perusal drifted down and swept the full length of her. And it was as if he’d trailed a feather down her skin. She shivered and his eyes darkened even more.
She needed to get away. ‘Good day, Prince Zafar.’
‘My word, it is, Miss Carmen.’
CHAPTER THREE
ZAFAR accompanied her to the door and watched her walk away up the corridor. Actually, he couldn’t take his eyes off her, even toyed with the idea of calling her back until he realised what he was doing.
Her shapely legs would show to advantage in traditional dress and her formless tunic still did not disguise the lushness of her body. He could quite clearly remember his view from yesterday and had even recognised the scent of her skin next to his today.
Unexpected recognition when he barely remembered any woman since his wife had been killed.
The memory saddened him and pulled his mind away from Fadia’s midwife.
Poor, sweet Adele. Theirs had been an arranged marriage, she younger than him, eager to please and expecting her husband to keep her safe. Her broken-hearted family had entrusted him with their precious daughter and he’d failed. The burden of that guilt still weighed heavily on him, the picture of her frightened eyes before the plane crashed haunted him in his sleep.
He hadn’t looked at another woman since. Had lost himself in his work until recalled to royal duty.
Now his task was to ensure Fadia and her sons were safe. Nothing else. But he feared it would not be easy. That was his real problem. He feared. Feared he would not be able to stop something terrible happening. Feared he’d be unable to save Fadia and her sons like he had been unable to save his own family.
Prior to two years ago he’s been afraid of nothing. Evil had arrived and until it was conquered he would not be distracted.
His eyes strayed to the empty corridor. Perhaps the midwife could help, though. And so his concentration returned to Carmen as he turned thoughtfully back into his suite. She had braved the lion in his own den. He admired her courage. And she amused him with her determination not to be cowed by his prestige. But she’d lied about Tom.
So the dog might be here in the hotel. He would have Yusuf investigate. And delve into the delightful Miss Carmen’s past too. Perhaps she could help his cousin more than they knew, and such information would be useful.
He needed Fadia and the twins well enough to travel as soon as possible. He would feel better when he had them back in Zandorro.
Zafar strode across the room and out the doors onto the balcony, punished himself with the rise of gall in his throat from that height, forced himself to grip the rail and glance down. His gut rolled and he stepped back as he drew breath.
His mind roamed while he stared out over the rolling sea. If he cut off the bustling town below, the ocean seemed not dissimilar to the rolling dunes of his desert, and he could feel a lightening of his mood that normally only came when he retreated to solitude.
A whimsical thought intruded where none normally went. He wondered what Miss Carmen would think of the desert or the ways of a desert prince. It was an unexpected but intriguing scenario.
Carmen clanged the door behind her. Her favourite place. The fire escape. He’d burnt her again. It was criminal to be that handsome and mesmerising. But at least she’d found out Fadia was just a pawn on his gold-embossed chess set and she, Carmen O’Shannessy, didn’t like the idea. Or him. If Fadia needed an ally, Carmen was her girl.
It brought back too many unpleasant memories. The way Carl had turned, as early as their honeymoon, swearing at her, keeping her awake with tirades when she’d needed to sleep, wearing her down, demeaning her after a year of desolation until she’d finally accepted the enormity of her mistake and run away. Had moved jobs, states, lost friends until finally she rebuilt her life.
Domineering men did not have a place in her life. She straightened off the door and began her descent. Unfortunately, she could picture this man’s wicked smile so easily and the warmth she’d felt.
No. No trust, especially for men who could cool and heat her body with just a glance. So why did she want to run back and relive the sensation? How did that work?
When Carmen opened the door on the sixth floor, of course her friend the guard was still there. He rose from his chair when she appeared and nodded coldly as she walked past him towards her own room at the end of the corridor.
Made a good little enemy there, she thought as she stared past him to the rooms of mums and babies that looked out over the beach. When she reached the end of the corridor the midwife’s room welcomed her with a sanctuary, which she couldn’t help embracing,