CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      NADIR HAD NEVER been one to suffer from nerves and yet today, his wedding day, he was as jumpy as a stock trader facing his first day on the floor.

      Maybe it had something to do with the overcast sky when normally it was true blue and cloudless this time of year. He gazed at the gathering cloud cover. The wind hadn’t picked up enough to trigger a sandstorm so that was something at least. Especially since the convoy Nadir had sent out to find Zach had located the four-wheel drive he had been using overturned and buried in the sand. He hadn’t told Imogen but he felt slightly sick at the thought that something sinister had happened to his brother. Fortunately no body had been recovered, which meant that he hadn’t been buried along with the vehicle.

      He knew he should probably call off the wedding until he knew what had happened but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t think he’d properly relax until Imogen was truly his, which was ridiculous because she’d already agreed to marry him and she seemed happy about it. Or was she just making the best of a bad situation?

      He frowned, recalling her slight hesitation the night before when he’d asked her if she was happy. She’d said yes and he had no reason to believe she was lying but that hesitation... Telling himself he was being paranoid, he counted off the other thing bothering him. The leadership position. For days now his mind had been vacillating over what to do about it and for a man who was used to making quick decisions that was just damned annoying.

      His daughter bounced excitedly in his arms and he refocused his attention on the one area of his life he felt he had a handle on.

      He had taken her early so that Imogen could relax in a deep scented bath and be prepared for him like so many brides had been prepared for their men in times gone by. He’d looked at her seriously and told her it was a tradition she couldn’t refuse. She had laughed and said she was a girl and not only would she not refuse, but she’d revel in it while she was there.

      That had set off all sorts of images in his head about her naked and wet and smelling like the sweetest flower. Tasting like the sweetest flower.

      Nadeena pointed to something over his shoulder and started babbling. ‘What is it, habibti?’ he asked before his mind wandered any further down the sex route. One night away from Imogen and he felt as randy as a teenager who’d just been given the green light to go all the way.

      He turned in the direction of Nadeena’s chubby finger and saw a young stable hand grooming a mare outside the stables.

      ‘Hisaan,’ he told her. ‘Horse.’

      He strode over to it and stroked its arched neck. His sister had loved horses and suddenly a picture of her materialised in his mind and guilt assailed him, as it always did when he thought of her. As it usually did when he felt happy.

       ‘If this was Nadeena and she had made a mistake like the one you feel you made would you want her to punish herself for it for ever?’

      She was smart, his Imogen, smart to strike right at the heart of the issue because of course he wouldn’t want that for her. So why did he want it for himself?

      He shook his head. As awful as that time had been, perhaps it was time he dealt with it and put it behind him. Of course he would change it if he could but he couldn’t. But what he could do was take care of his own family. He could do what was right by them. Do what was right by Imogen.

      He watched as his daughter gathered her confidence and reached out to place her hand against the horse’s soft muzzle. The horse snorted a breath and she drew back, her wide eyes flying to his for reassurance. He gave it to her. Smiling and putting his hand back on the horse, encouraging her to do the same. ‘It’s okay, habibti. Nothing will happen to you while I have you.’ His heart clenched as she followed his lead and then the skin on the back of his neck prickled. He glanced back towards the palace and saw Imogen watching them from the balcony of the temporary suite she had occupied the night before. Time seemed to stop and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

      Her hair had been swept into an elaborate updo in preparation for the afternoon ceremony and her eyes were rimmed with kohl, her lips a deep pink. The honking of a car horn reminded him that stately cars had been coming and going all morning, delivering guests who would witness his joining with this woman he cherished above all others.

      Cherished?

      Loved.

      He went dead still.

      Was that really what was going on here? His heart pounded inside his chest as the words took root in his mind. He nearly laughed. Of course he loved her. It was as clear as crystal all of a sudden. His obsession with finding her, his uninterest in considering shared custody—and yes, he had strong views about that and he never wanted Nadeena to suffer as he had—but Nadeena wasn’t him and neither he nor Imogen would do that to her.

      He wiped a smudge of dirt from Nadeena’s cheek. The simple fact was that Imogen completed him. Waking up beside her, holding her in his arms at night, listening to her talk about her dreams, her hopes...wanting to see her fulfil her true potential.

      Last night she’d turned him away because she had wanted to start their wedding off on the right foot. Now he wanted to do the same thing. Because he knew she only wanted to marry for love and he wanted to tell her how he felt before the ceremony. He didn’t want her going into this wedding thinking that this was nothing but a marriage of convenience for him. Or inconvenience, as he had arrogantly claimed a week ago. He gave his daughter a wry smile. ‘Your papa can be an ass.’

      She looked at him solemnly and babbled something as if she was in complete agreement.

      Laughing, he glanced up at the balcony again only to find it empty. A sudden feeling of vulnerability gripped him hard. What would she say when he told her how he felt? And was now really the right time? Perhaps he should wait, sound her out a little before he dived straight in with the I love yous? Hell, how did a man even start a conversation like that?

      Deep in thought as he strode into the palace, he didn’t see his brother until he almost ran straight into him.

      Relief was followed swiftly by absolute fury. ‘Where the hell have you been? You have a lot of explaining to do.’ He took in Zach’s dishevelled state—his wrinkled clothes that were covered in dust and dirt, his beard growth that looked to be at least a week old.

      ‘I do?’ Zach raised a dust-covered eyebrow. ‘Thanks for the concern and the belated rescue team.’

      Nadir frowned. ‘You look like hell. What happened?’

      ‘The short version is that I had an unfortunate run-in with one of the less welcoming tribes in the mountains.’

      ‘Hell. For a while I thought you were holed up with a woman.’

      Zach laughed. ‘I suppose technically you could say that I was but it wasn’t by choice and she’s more like a spitting she-cat than a woman. One who is currently locked in the old harem. Not the most convenient situation on your wedding day, but then I didn’t know it was your wedding day until about an hour ago.’

      Nadir stared at him. ‘You have a woman locked in the harem?’

      ‘Farah Hajjar, to be exact,’ he growled, his