Читать книгу One Night Of Consequences Collection - Ким Лоренс, Annie West - Страница 48
ОглавлениеAFTER WAITING FOR Zach inside the council chambers for nearly an hour it was safe to say that Nadir was now extremely irritated. Yes, he’d managed to field a few important work calls while he waited but there was only so much he could get done from a country with limited Internet resources.
He also needed to sort things out with Imogen but she’d steadfastly avoided him all morning and frankly he hadn’t tried that hard to challenge her on it. Last night’s discussion—hell, argument—had played heavily on his mind and made sleep impossible.
Before picking her up yesterday he’d expected to find that she’d aborted his baby, mainly, it had to be said, because she hadn’t approached him for a truckload of money and for a while yesterday he’d continued to think that maybe she was somehow playing him for a fool. He’d continued to believe that she had run from him because she’d had something to hide.
He didn’t think that now. She was too earnest in her attempts to get him to change his mind about their marriage. Too earnest in her belief that he had been the one to do the wrong thing by her and not the other way around.
* * *
He recalled her fierce expression when she’d mentioned his text. At the time he hadn’t contemplated the possibility that she would be upset by it. He hadn’t contemplated the possibility that she would feel abandoned by his return to New York and feel as if she had to deal with her pregnancy alone. Guilt knifed through him.
He supposed, if he was honest, he’d been mostly to blame because he hadn’t communicated his feelings to her, but how the hell was he supposed to have done that when he didn’t know how he had been feeling?
Dealing with emotions had never been his strong suit, even before his mother and sister had died.
He remembered his mother encouraging him to embrace that side of his nature and his father telling him it was dangerous and it had been his father who had been proved right.
Nadir sighed. He’d never seen the benefit of rehashing the past and he still didn’t. A man either took action or he bowed out of the game. Nadir had no intention of bowing out. Not with Imogen at any rate.
He glanced at the admiral’s chair his father used to occupy at the end of the room during council meetings. As heir to the throne he had always been encouraged to sit in on those meetings and he’d loved them. He’d loved listening to his father taking charge and issuing orders. Watching him handle political issues.
His father had openly shared this side of himself and it wasn’t until Nadir had left Bakaan that he’d realised how isolated and increasingly paranoid his father had become. How only a select few were ever allowed into his inner sanctum and then only if those select few agreed with him. From the age of twelve Nadir had started to do that less and less and that was when the rot had set in. That was when his father had started trying to keep him from his mother and sister, explaining that the ties he found the hardest to cut were the ones that needed to be cut most of all.
He rubbed a hand across his face. One of the issues between him and Imogen was that she was, at heart, an emotional and sensual woman who didn’t hold back. It was both a draw and a deterrent—although right now he was honest enough to admit that the draw side was definitely winning out. Probably it had been too long since he’d had a woman. It wasn’t natural for a healthy male to go without sex for fourteen months.
Hell.
Did he owe Imogen an apology for his behaviour back then? It wasn’t a position he had found himself in for years and the last two people he’d needed to apologise to were dead.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed one of his father’s senior council members break away from the group and, like a drowning man grasping for a life raft, he welcomed the interruption to his thoughts.
Old and set in his ways, Omar had never been on Nadir’s list of favourite people but he was knowledgeable and, as far as he was aware, loyal to a fault.
‘Well?’
‘We don’t know where he is, Your Highness. He’s not answering his phone.’
Nadir gritted his teeth. His brother had said he needed to go into the mountains on some business or other. He’d flown the helicopter himself. Now he was nowhere to be seen and the helicopter was still at the airfield. There was no sign of foul play or anything amiss. ‘Fine—we’ll proceed without him.’
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible, Your Highness.’
‘Why not?’
‘In order for you to renounce your position as King, we need to have your successor present.’
‘Well, he’s not here and I have a business to run.’
‘The council understand, Your Highness,’ he said in a way that let Nadir know they didn’t understand at all. ‘But you are still our acting King and there is a UAE dinner tonight that has been planned for months. It is too late to cancel. Many of the heads of state have already flown into Bakaan. It was quite a coup for Prince Zachim to arrange it. Many will be staying all week on official business.’
‘Then Zachim should be here to run it,’ Nadir bit out.
‘Indeed, Your Highness.’ Omar nodded deferentially.
Aware that he was being manipulated but knowing that he was boxed in until Zachim returned, Nadir muttered a curse. ‘Okay, I’ll do it.
‘Very good, Your Highness. And shall I set a place for your wife?’
Nadir’s gaze sharpened on the older man. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because spouses have been invited to the dinner. As everyone has heard about your wife, they will expect to see her there.’
Nadir had a good idea how Imogen was going to take that news. ‘Try calling my brother again.’
‘Of course, Your Highness.’
Nadir paced again while Omar dialled his phone. Most likely it wouldn’t work, given the rudimentary telecom system his father had installed in the country. That was another possible reason why no one could reach Zachim. Either that or his brother was hiding out in some attempt to get him to step into the role as leader.
Nadir stilled. Was that it? Was Zach forcing his hand? He frowned as the idea sprouted roots and leaves. As a child, Zachim had often run away and hidden when he was in trouble, waiting for their father’s wrath to subside before coming out again. By then Nadir had usually copped Zach’s share of the punishment as well as his own so it wasn’t a bad strategy—one Nadir had been too proud to ever try himself—but it was quite possible that Zach was right now holed up somewhere with a woman and a case of wine. If he was...Nadir shook his head. If he was, he’d beat him to a pulp when he returned.
‘No luck, Your Highness.’
‘Fine. Set a place for Imogen.’ Nadir turned to leave the room, already thinking about what needed to be done before the evening dinner when Omar’s next words stopped him cold.
‘And your wedding?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Your wedding? You may have forgotten but a Western marriage is not recognised as legal for a member of the royal family. It would be best, Your Highness, if you formalised the marriage in a traditional ceremony as soon as possible.’
Hoping that the issue of his legal ties to Imogen wouldn’t have arisen in the small amount of time he was supposed to be in Bakaan, Nadir sighed. ‘I suppose you have a perfect date available, Omar?’
‘As soon as possible, Your Highness. There is some unrest in the northern part of the country and some who would wish to destabilise the throne. It is important that the people observe their crown prince behaving in a way befitting the leadership.’
‘You know I do not intend to become the next leader of Bakaan, Omar, so the timing doesn’t matter,’ Nadir said tightly.
‘As you wish, Your Highness.’
Realising that he was being obstinate and the council members had no idea why he didn’t want the damned leadership role, Nadir softened his position. ‘I know you’re worried, Omar, but don’t be. Zachim will most likely be back before the evening meal is served. In the meantime, if you think that formalising my marriage is absolutely necessary then organise the ceremony for a week from today.’
That would give Zach plenty of time to stop playing his games—if he was actually staying away on purpose—and get back here. And on the off-chance he was still holding out on him in a week then they would marry. It wasn’t any big deal because it was going to happen, one way or another.
* * *
‘I’m sorry—who did you say you were?’
Imogen placed Nadeena in the baby recliner beside the beautifully paved swimming pool and fastened the safety catch, the fronds of the palm trees overhead keeping the scorching sun from burning her. When she was done she turned to the two women standing in the open doorway. One was young and striking-looking in the traditional cream-coloured outfit that denoted the palace servants and the other woman was much older and dressed in faded black garments. And her eyes were transfixed by Nadeena.
‘My name is Tasnim and this is Maab,’ the younger one said with a wide smile ‘We are your servants, My Lady.’
‘Oh.’ Imogen smiled kindly. Used to fending for herself and preferring it that way, she had no need for servants. ‘Thank you, but—’
Before she could say anything, Maab had moved closer to Nadeena and was crooning something in Arabic. As if sensing Imogen’s regard, she turned and bowed her head, speaking in rapid Bakaani.
‘I’m sorry,’ Imogen said, ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Please excuse Maab, My Lady. She does not speak very much English but she is excellent with babies and helped raise the royal siblings when they were little. She is asking if she might approach the little princess.’
‘Well, of course she can.’ Imogen smiled encouragingly and the old woman knelt down in front of Nadeena and gasped in surprise. She started spouting the name Sheena and smiling broadly.
Confused, Imogen turned to Tasnim for clarification.
‘Maab says that the little princess looks just like Sheena.’
‘Sheena?’
‘The King’s sister, My Lady.’
‘Oh, Nadir’s aunt? That’s nice.’
Tasnim gave her a funny look. ‘No, My Lady, she means King Nadir’s sister.’
Imogen was silent for a moment as she processed that piece of information. She’d never heard of Nadir having a sister but that wasn’t surprising, really. Their short relationship in Paris hadn’t progressed past the intensely sexual phase and, whether by accident or design, neither of them had wasted their time talking about family or personal history. For Imogen that had been deliberate. She hadn’t wanted to talk about her mother’s recent death and her father’s remarriage a month later. Had Nadir chosen not to speak about his past because he was upset by it as well?
‘The King has asked me to help you prepare for the evening ahead. Would you like to do that now, My Lady?’
The evening ahead? Feeling as if her life was once again spinning out of her control and not wanting to look like a complete dill, Imogen kept her expression bland. ‘By King you mean...Nadir?’
‘Na’am, My Lady. Yes.’
A sudden sense of unease fluttered up from her stomach. Nadir couldn’t be King because if he was that would mean they were going to be here for a little longer than a day, but if he wasn’t then why were these women even here?
‘I think there must be some mistake,’ she began slowly and then Zach’s words jumped into her head from the night before.
It’s your birthright.
Was Nadir here to discuss some sort of succession planning? She hadn’t contemplated that and perhaps he would expect her to meet his father. She nearly grimaced. It was one thing to meet his brother but if his father was anything like her own then he was unlikely to approve of her.
Maab started saying something again in Arabic and there was a hint of pride in her voice.
‘Maab says that we are delighted that he has come back, My Lady. That King Nadir will be a great king because he was a great boy. Kind and loyal and very strong.’
Imogen had no doubt that Nadir had been strong but she wasn’t so sure about the kind and loyal part. Ruthless and self-serving? Now that she would have believed in an instant and she wasn’t sure how she felt hearing this woman’s hero worship of a man she was convinced was set on doing the right thing because of a guilty conscience rather than a good one.
‘That’s lovely,’ she murmured.
Tasnim nodded. ‘She was very sad to think that Nadir would not return after the death of his father.’
‘The death of his father?’
Tasnim gave her another funny look and Imogen’s pride kicked in. ‘Oh, yes, the death of his father.’
What the heck was going on here?
‘It has been a troubling two weeks for those of us working in the palace,’ Tasnim continued. ‘And not knowing what would happen...but I’m sorry, My Lady, you don’t want to hear all this.’
Not want to hear it? Imogen wanted to hear that and more. She could hardly believe what Tasnim had said so far. Had Nadir’s father truly died two weeks ago? And what did that mean? Was Nadir going to be King? Did he expect Imogen to move to Bakaan? The whole concept was totally implausible and she could feel panic threatening. She needed to speak to Nadir to sort this out. Right now.
Giving Tasnim what she hoped was a benign smile, she said, ‘Thank you, Tasnim. Would you mind telling my husband that I don’t need any help and I’d really like to see him?’
‘Your wish is my command, habibi.’
Swinging around at the sound of Nadir’s voice, Imogen’s jaw nearly hit the floor at the sight of him dressed in flowing black robes that made him look like a pirate. Absurd excitement gripped her and rational thought was whisked away on the light, hot breeze.
And she wasn’t the only female affected by the sight of him because Maab rushed to her feet with the agility of a woman half her age and threw herself on the ground in front of him.
‘Maab.’ Nadir raised the woman and hugged her tightly, speaking to her in his native language, his tone warm and deep. Tears sparkled in the old woman’s eyes and, seeing it, Imogen felt tears as well; her emotions much closer to the surface since her daughter had been born.
She wasn’t sure what Nadir had said to the women but moments later they had bowed low to them both and disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
Nadir’s gaze swept over her and a small frown of disapproval immediately knitted his brow. ‘Why aren’t you wearing the clothing I provided?’
Tense and uncertain after what she’d just heard, Imogen was in no mood to talk about fashion. ‘Forget the clothing. Why did you lie to me?’
‘I did not lie to you. I have never lied to you.’
‘You told me we would be leaving today and I’ve just heard that I’m supposed to be attending a dinner. And that you’re the King.’ She peered at him, looking for signs that something had changed. ‘You’re not really the King, are you?’
‘No, I’m not the King,’ he said in a way that didn’t convince her at all.
‘Then why do those two women call you the King?’
‘Because they believe that I soon will be, I suppose.’
‘But why would they think that?’
His face turned grim and Imogen felt worry spike inside her. ‘A glitch.’
‘A glitch?’
‘Nobody is King until the coronation but in the meantime the country needs someone to lead it. I am acting head of state until Zachim returns.’
‘So, it’s true that your father died recently.’
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his robe. ‘It’s true.’
Imogen didn’t know what to say in the face of his implacable regard. ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’
‘Don’t be.’ He drew a weary hand across his jaw. ‘The whole purpose of my return to Bakaan was not to take over the throne but to cede it to Zachim.’
‘Oh.’ Didn’t he want to be King? And if not, why not? ‘I suppose, given that women aren’t allowed multiple husbands in Bakaan, your sister isn’t allowed to take over the throne instead.’
‘My sister?’ A muscle flickered in his jaw. Once. Twice. ‘Who told you about my sister?’
Not wanting to get the young servant into trouble, Imogen hesitated. ‘Tasnim. But don’t blame her. I pushed for the information.’
‘Then you didn’t push hard enough.’ His expression made her feel chilled. ‘My sister is no longer alive either.’
‘Oh, God, I’m so sorry.’ Imogen felt stricken as she saw a mask of pain briefly cross his face. ‘Did she die with your father?’
‘No.’ Nadir expelled a harsh breath, his emotions hidden behind the screen of his impossibly long eyelashes. ‘But you are right. She would not have been allowed to be a sheikha.’ His lashes raised and she could see that his emotions were now firmly under control. ‘Now, since Zachim has disappeared for the moment, I must attend a state dinner tonight and I need you to accompany me.’
‘But what about our return to London?’
‘It has been delayed.’
‘It can’t be delayed. I have a job I need to get back to and we’re really short-staffed at the café.’
Nadir gave her a dry look. ‘You will no longer need that job, Imogen, so you might as well quit.’
Imogen shoved her hands onto her hips. ‘I will not quit.’
Nadir let out a long sigh. ‘I hope to Allah that not every conversation we have is going to feel like I’m pulling out hen’s teeth. If you go into your dressing room you will find an evening gown for the dinner and Tasnim will help you prepare. If you need anything else—’
‘Nadir, every conversation feels like a struggle because you won’t listen. And I’m not going anywhere with you tonight when nothing has been resolved between us.’
‘Of course it has. We resolved everything last night.’
As far as Imogen was concerned, they had resolved nothing last night. ‘When?’
‘When we talked.’
She shook her head, frustrated that he could be so obtuse. ‘You might have resolved something last night but I didn’t.’
His sigh was one of aggravated patience. ‘Okay, tell me what you need to make this work for you.’
Was he serious? ‘Time.’ For one thing. ‘You listening to what I want would help.’
Nadir pulled a wry face. ‘I promise to try and listen to you but unfortunately I can’t do anything about your first request because time is something I seem to be in short supply of right now. And I have never seen the point in stalling when the outcome is not in question.’
His high-handedness was one of the things that had attracted her to him so she really only had herself to blame. ‘I take it you mean the outcome of us marrying and if you do then the outcome is only not in question for you.’
‘For us.’
‘This is what I would call not listening,’ she said with exasperation. ‘Because at this point there is no us. There is you and me and a baby. I mean—what about where we’re going to live? What about what school Nadeena will go to? What about her emotional well-being?’
His crooked grin made her breath catch and she wondered if that wasn’t exactly the outcome he’d been trying to achieve. ‘You will live where I live. Nadeena will go to a good school and we both want what is best for her.’
‘You’re simplifying.’
‘And you’re making it complicated.’ It was he who sounded exasperated now.
‘It is complicated.’
‘It doesn’t have to be.’
Imogen’s eyes shot to his as the tenor in his voice roughened and, just like that, sex was in the room again. Or at least in her thoughts. ‘Be serious, Nadir—we don’t even like each other any more.’
‘I like you.’
About to tell him that what he thought of her was inconsequential anyway, she found the words dissolving on her tongue as she watched him hunker down and start trickling water over Nadeena’s feet. Nadeena reached forward and grabbed one of his thick fingers in her chubby hand. Imogen closed her eyes and then opened them again when Nadeena giggled and splashed the water with her feet.
Nadir smiled. That smile that had melted a thousand hearts, including her own.
They looked so beautiful together. Her daughter and the man who had once made her so impossibly happy she’d thought she would burst. Both dark-haired and with goofy smiles. Nadir started saying something softly to Nadeena in Arabic and Imogen felt that strange tug in her chest she knew was a type of longing. A type of longing that she really didn’t want to feel again.
‘Don’t you want more?’ The words were out of her mouth before she knew she was even about to say them and when Nadir looked up her heart stuttered at how incredibly virile he looked.
His eyes skimmed over her and if she wasn’t mistaken lingered on her lips. Heat suffused her cheeks. ‘More what?’
Imogen didn’t want to say it but it was as if someone else was directing her mouth. ‘Love. Don’t you want to marry for love?’
His grimace spoke volumes. ‘Love is for greeting cards and grandmothers, not for marriage.’
‘Which shows you how wrong we are for each other because I only want to marry for love.’
‘I already told you my parents married for love. It caused nothing but grief.’
She could tell by his tone that he was deadly serious. ‘You really believe that, don’t you?’
‘No, I know it. Otherwise you would not still be arguing with me and resisting this marriage. You would be embracing the fact that I can give you a life few others can.’ His mouth tilted mockingly at the corners. ‘Including your friend back in London.’
Ignoring his last comment, Imogen was shocked by his view. ‘You would prefer that I marry you for your money? That’s so cold and...empty.’
‘It’s honest.’ He gave a frustrated shake of his head, keeping his face soft for Nadeena’s sake. ‘And tonight is important, Imogen. Or I wouldn’t ask.’
She swallowed and lifted her eyes to his. ‘Why?’ she asked bleakly. ‘I got the impression that Bakaan doesn’t mean anything to you.’
‘That’s complicated too.’
‘How?’
His face closed down and she knew he wouldn’t answer her.
‘Let’s just say that it is and leave it at that.’
‘So much for listening,’ she muttered.
He looked at her. ‘I have answered every question you’ve asked.’
‘You think?’
He rubbed a hand across his jaw. He needed a shave, she thought absently, and how was it possible for his mouth to be such a perfect bow? He caught her staring and awareness pulsed between them.
The kiss they had shared the day before jumped into her mind and by the way his eyes had now dropped to her own mouth she suspected it had jumped into his as well.
His silent scrutiny unnerved her and she moved sideways to get around him and hoped to heaven that he didn’t touch her because she wasn’t sure how she’d react if he did. Or at least she was sure but she didn’t want to have that reaction. She had a horrible way of mixing sex up with love when it came to this man and given his miserable views on love it would be emotional suicide for her to risk her heart—and Nadeena’s—on him again.
‘My country suffered a great deal because of my father’s reign. I will not worsen that by ignoring my current duties. Now, as much as I enjoy arguing with you, we are out of time. Will you come with me tonight?’
It wasn’t really a question. ‘Do you always have to be so pushy?’ she complained.
A cloud came across his face and, just like that, he was a stranger again. ‘I will watch Nadeena while you get ready.’
Frustrated at the way he just seemed to corral her into a corner as if she was a rogue horse, she tried to think of some way out. ‘She needs a bath.’
‘Then I will give her one.’
‘By yourself?’
‘Don’t look so surprised. I doubt it’s rocket science but if it makes you feel better I will have Maab present so that Nadeena can bond with her.’
Outdone by his logic, Imogen gnashed her teeth. ‘It will be a mistake taking me.’
‘Why do you say that?’
Because she had no experience of dealing with world leaders and dignitaries and she’d likely embarrass them both. ‘I’m a dancer. I danced at the Moulin Rouge. Surely everyone will think I’m unsuitable to be the wife of a king.’
‘No doubt some will.’
That stung and his ready agreement was like the flick of a knife across a wound that hadn’t quite healed.
He glanced at her impatiently. ‘But I won’t be King so it doesn’t matter.’
‘Why not? Too much responsibility for you?’
He shoved his hand through his hair and turned it into a sexy mess. ‘Are you trying to annoy me to get me to change my mind about our union?’
‘Would it work?’
‘No.’ His brow quirked with a mixture of frustration and humour. ‘Now, stop with the delaying tactics. Nadeena will be fine and, as beautiful as you undoubtedly are, yesterday’s jeans and T-shirt aren’t going to work tonight.’
‘I hate you,’ she said, but the words lacked the heat they had carried the day before and by the way he smiled he knew it.
‘I got that memo last night. Now, let’s get this duty over and done with, hmm?’
Yes, Nadir was all about duty but Imogen knew that duty was a poor motivator that led to anger and neglect and resentment unless it was backed up by something deeper and she feared that was exactly where they were headed if she conceded to his demands.
