CHAPTER FOUR

      IF EVER THERE was a walk of shame, this was one. Not only was Flo clearly wearing last night’s clothes, she’d also had to go down to the bar to retrieve her phone.

      When she stepped out onto the street it was raining.

      Of course it was, Flo thought as she trudged in high heels towards the underground.

      What on earth had she been thinking last night?

      Only she hadn’t been thinking—one look into those smoky eyes and she’d forgotten why she was even at Dion’s. How the hell was she going to tell Maggie the mess she had made of things?

      And where the hell was Maggie?

      Flo turned on her phone and on a cold, miserable wet morning there was suddenly a reason to smile.

      Ilyas had proposed.

      Oh, she was going to start crying again and hadn’t thought to stuff her purse with tissues from the hotel.

      So she used the back of her hand and read on and saw that Maggie wanted her to come straight over.

      Er, that would be a no.

      Flo first went back to her tiny flat and pulled on something a bit less last night!

      Then she did what she could with foundation because her chin was a little red and her mouth was all swollen from his delicious kisses and soft nips with his teeth.

      She was going to start crying again, but that would not do.

      So, instead of weeping, Flo headed over to her friend’s and bought a bunch of flowers on the way.

      ‘What happened?’ Flo smiled, putting her own woes aside to celebrate the wonderful news with her friend, though there were rather too many stars in Maggie’s eyes to see the threat of tears in Flo’s.

      ‘A lot,’ Maggie said. ‘I was just on my way to meet you when Ilyas came to the door. I’m so sorry I left you waiting...’

      ‘Of course you did!’ Flo said, for she totally understood the wonderful surprise that it must have been. ‘What did he say about the baby?’

      ‘He’s thrilled,’ Maggie said, but then her face became worried. ‘I don’t know how the people will react, though, or his family. Flo, there is so much going on back in Zayrinia—Ilyas has challenged his father, the King.’

      ‘What does that even mean?’

      ‘That Ilyas is to be the silent leader. From now on nothing is to get passed without his approval. He has told his father that if he doesn’t comply then he will take it to the people.’

      ‘What does that mean for you?’

      ‘I’m not sure. I know that there’s unrest amongst the people and that there has been a lot of unhappiness at the Palace. Ilyas wants change. He’s gone to speak with his brother to see if he has his backing.’

      Flo held her breath. She doubted she’d be at the forefront of Hazin’s thoughts when he found out his brother was challenging the King, yet there was a tiny dart of hope that Hazin would maybe understand that she hadn’t been at Dion’s last night to seduce him.

      Maggie had more news as well. ‘After Ilyas has spoken with Hazin he’s heading back to Zayrinia. Now that I’ve accepted his proposal I’m not allowed to see him until we marry.’

      ‘At all?’ Flo checked, and Maggie nodded. ‘So when will you marry?’

      ‘Two weeks’ time!’

      ‘Oh, my!’ Flo looked at her friend and asked, perhaps, a stupid question, but it was all too much to take in. ‘You’ll live in Zayrinia?’

      Maggie nodded. ‘I’ll still see you, though.’

      Yes, Flo thought, but it won’t be the same. She looked around Maggie’s room within a flat, which she had helped her move into not long ago. She was thrilled for her friend but at the same time Flo was daunted by the distance. Maggie felt more like a sister than a friend. Flo stopped by the café where Maggie worked most days for a catch-up. She had a drawer full of clothes and necessities that she’d been buying for the baby.

      And now both Maggie and the baby were moving away—in two weeks’ time!

      ‘I’m going to miss you,’ Flo admitted.

      ‘I won’t give you a chance to. But, Flo, I’m so scared it will all go wrong. What if his father doesn’t accept his choice of bride? This challenge to the King is so new and it was made before he knew about the baby. Ilyas knows that nothing happened between Hazin and me on the yacht but what if his parents don’t believe us?’

      ‘Maggie...’ Flo attempted to calm her friend but Maggie was a touch frantic.

      ‘I just don’t want anything to go wrong.’

      ‘It won’t,’ Flo said assuredly, deciding that now possibly wasn’t the best time to tell Maggie she had just come from Hazin’s bed! Maybe once the wedding was over and done with she would tell her friend what had happened last night.

      But maybe not!

      ‘You will come to the wedding?’ Maggie checked.

      ‘Of course I’ll be there,’ Flo said as she mentally stared down the eye of the off-duty roster. She had fought hard to have three weeks off at Christmas. It would be her first Christmas off since she had started nursing, but she would forfeit it if meant she could be there for her friend. ‘I’ll call work now.’ Flo said. ‘I’ll see if I can swap some annual leave.’

      Yet she didn’t have to!

      She and Maggie would arrive two days before the wedding and, Flo was delighted to find out, they would be flying in on Ilyas’s plane.

      And, given Maggie and Ilyas would be off to the desert straight afterwards, she didn’t need much time off work.

      It just meant a jiggle of the roster and Flo got to keep her Christmas leave.

      Of course, while organising her leave there was a coil of hope rising that she would get to see Hazin!

      * * *

      It was the busiest run-up to a wedding and was beyond exciting.

      Maggie sorted out her life and planned her big move, and Flo worked right up to the last minute.

      ‘I am so tired,’ she admitted, as she and Maggie, along with a couple of other good friends—Paul the café manager and his wife Kelly—all collapsed on the sumptuous leather seats on Ilyas’s private jet. ‘But not too tired for champagne!’

      It was brilliant.

      A whirlwind.

      The take-off was abrupt and then they were served a sumptuous lunch of dips and then a delectable kuku sabzi—a Persian herb frittata with walnuts, decorated with crushed rose petals and berberis leaves, all washed down with a sweet hibiscus tea.

      Paul and Kelly went for a rest in one of the guest cabins but Flo refused hers; instead, she and Maggie went into the Royal suite.

      ‘Oh, my gosh!’ Flo said. ‘You and Ilyas get to have sex here!’

      There was a huge bed draped in furs, and the lighting was demure. It was just a sexy man cave miles in the sky. ‘Is this just for Ilyas?’ Flo asked, fishing a little.

      ‘It is.’ Maggie nodded.

      ‘What