Читать книгу Modern Romance June 2019 Books 1-4 - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 14

WITHIN AN HOUR a brief flight in the helicopter returned them to the palace.

Zoe walked through an ancient porticoed entrance and instantly felt as though she had been transported into another world and another time. An awe-inspiring giant hallway full of pillars and elaborately tiled walls greeted her as well as a wealth of fawning servants, some of whom were in actual tears welcoming Raj back to his home. Brushing off their blandishments with palpable embarrassment, Raj hurried her on into the building while a cohort of attentive staff fell in behind them.

‘My father has placed us in the oldest part of the palace, which is...unfortunate,’ he told her in a clipped undertone. ‘It is, however, where the Crown Prince always has his apartments, so I cannot fault him for following tradition.’

‘Why’s it unfortunate, then?’ she queried uneasily, even while her eyes fled continually to her surroundings. She was enthralled by the exotic quality of the internal courtyard gardens she espied from the stairs and the fabulous views out over the desert, not to mention the stonework, the domed roofs and the stern palace guards, dressed as though they had stepped out of a medieval painting, armed with swords and great curved knives. The palace was everything she had dreamt of when first coming to Maraban but far more grand and mysterious than she had naïvely expected.

‘Only one bedroom has been prepared for us,’ Raj breathed curtly, his strong jaw line clenching. ‘It will be difficult to give you privacy.’

‘We’ll manage,’ Zoe told him with an insouciance she could not have contemplated before meeting him in the flesh. She knew in her very bones that she could trust Raj, believed that he would never try to force her into anything, but when she pondered that conviction, she was challenged to understand why she had such faith in him. He’d shown her empathy, tenderness, kindness the night before, she reminded herself ruefully.

‘That is very generous of you but not strictly within our agreement,’ Raj pointed out, refusing to be soothed.

‘Can’t be helped,’ Zoe murmured, breathless from trying to keep up with his long stride as he traversed long corridors at speed and mounted flights of stone stairs with lithe ease. ‘This is a very large building.’

‘But not modernised,’ Raj retorted grimly, throwing wide a door before a hovering servant could reach for it and guiding her into a simply vast room in which a bed hunched apologetically in one corner.

‘Plenty of space though!’ Zoe carolled like Job’s comforter.

The remainder of her cases were already parked along with the one that had travelled out to the desert encampment. A maid glided up and tilted one suggestively, looking eager to unpack, while Raj stalked across the huge Persian rug, like a jungle predator at bay looking for something else to complain about.

A connecting room, she quickly learned, contained cavernous wardrobes.

‘This suite was last occupied by my father fifty-odd years ago,’ Raj informed her grimly. ‘You can tell.’

‘You didn’t use these rooms when you were younger?’

‘No. Before my marriage I was expected to live in my father’s household.’

Zoe passed on into a ridiculously gigantic bathroom with a great domed roof studded with star tiles. The bathroom fittings huddled somewhat pathetically against the walls. ‘It just needs more furniture,’ she told Raj with determined cheer. ‘We could have one of those fainting couches in the middle and I could lie there like Cleopatra eating grapes.’

His starlit eyes focused on her without warning, an intensity within that look that made something quiver and burn low in her pelvis. ‘Naked?’

‘Whatever turns you on,’ Zoe mumbled, face burning, outclassed in her attempt to be light-hearted and dropping her head even while she pictured herself lying there naked for Raj’s enjoyment. A ridiculous fantasy, she scolded herself, for there would be nothing particularly sexy or seductive about her very small curves on display.

‘I have staff to introduce you to now,’ Raj announced, biting back the comment that seeing her naked in any circumstances would work a treat for him. There would be no flirtation between them, he instructed himself harshly, no foolishness.

‘Staff?’ she exclaimed in dismay.

‘Principally my PR team, but you will have your own PA to keep you well informed of events. My father has made certain requests. He would like you to give an interview to our leading newspaper.’

Zoe had frozen. ‘An...interview?’ she yelped in dismay.

‘Saying how you feel about arriving in your grandmother’s country and being on the brink of a state wedding. My team will advise you and remain with you during it. There is also a fashion stylist, who will recommend a suitable wedding dress and new clothes.’

‘I brought a wedding dress and an entire wardrobe with me,’ she informed him helpfully.

‘It would be distasteful to me were you to wear the dress you purchased for the marriage you planned to make to my uncle,’ Raj delivered succinctly. ‘You will wear nothing bought for that purpose.’

Zoe just couldn’t see why it should matter what she wore. ‘Don’t you think you’re being too particular?’

Raj settled hard black eyes on her, startling her. ‘No. I know what I like. I know what I don’t like. The concept of you wearing anything chosen with another man in mind offends me.’

Zoe sucked in a sustaining breath, deciding that he was more sensitive to her past history than she had appreciated. She returned to supervising the maid hanging her clothes because it seemed safer to keep her head down.

‘You will be kept very busy over the next few days choosing wedding apparel,’ Raj informed her from the doorway.

‘Can I use your phone for a few minutes?’ Zoe asked abruptly. ‘Mine needs charging and I want to catch up with my sisters and my grandfather.’

‘Of course.’ Raj dug out his phone, cleared the password and handed it to her. ‘I will see you later.’

And then, just like that, he was gone and she was staring at the space where he had been, all black silky curls with his dark, devastatingly beautiful face taut and uninformative. She had wanted him to stay with her, had wanted more. For a charged moment, she couldn’t cope with seeing that large gap between reasonable expectation and sheer idiocy for, naturally, Raj wasn’t planning to hover over her like a protective and loving spouse because he wasn’t really her husband in the truest sense of the word. No, he was genuinely offering her what she had told herself she needed and craved: an independent life in which they would live separate in mind and body. So why did that sensible arrangement now seem much less inviting? Why did his attitude currently feel like something of a rejection? She shook off that strange notion and told herself to stop overthinking everything before she drove herself mad.

Her grandfather was delighted to hear from her and eager to be assured that Raj was treating her properly, while adding that he would be arriving for the wedding, the fierce pride in his voice as he mentioned ‘state’ wedding so strong that it made her roll her eyes and swallow back a sigh. Winnie and Vivi were far less accepting of the change of bridegroom.

‘He’s a lot younger than the oldie,’ Vivi warned her worriedly. ‘Make sure he doesn’t try to get too friendly because he may have a different agenda.’

And when Zoe protested about how kind and considerate Raj had been so far, Winnie snorted. ‘He’s a prince, a future king—obviously he’ll be full of himself. And I looked him up online...he’s incredibly good-looking. Watch out for him trying to change the terms of your agreement.’

But when Zoe went to bed that night there was no sign of Raj being full of himself or looking to change the terms of anything. He had joined her earlier for dinner out in their private courtyard, a space shaded by towering and somewhat neglected trees and shrubs, and he had then excused himself to work. She had been measured up for a new wardrobe, had looked at length at designer dresses on a screen and had stated her preferences. By the end of the day she was too exhausted to stay awake, wondering where Raj was.

Raj worked late into the night before bedding down on the sofa in his office. It was the safe option. A vision of Zoe naked troubled his rest and at four in the morning he was on his phone trying to find out what a fainting couch was; for some reason he was determined to buy one regardless of cost. He groaned out loud at the conflict tearing at him. He didn’t want to get involved. He didn’t want to have sex with her...except when his resistance was at a low ebb. Why the hell would he buy a fainting couch for her to pose on? He found a purple velvet one hung with tassels and pictured her with a driven exhalation of breath before he thumped the cushion beneath his head. No couch, no flirtation, no sex, no intimacy whatsoever, he reminded himself grimly.

* * *

‘Well, I couldn’t say much for the accommodation,’ Vivi remarked with a decided sniff.

Zoe bit back a tart response because her sister had been making critical comments ever since she had arrived the night before and it was starting to annoy her. ‘It’s very comfortable and Raj says I can take furniture from any of the unused rooms in the palace or buy new stuff, but contemporary wouldn’t really work in surroundings like these. I haven’t had time yet to change anything with all this wedding craziness going on.’

‘That monster bathroom is just ridiculous,’ Vivi opined snarkily.

‘Raj’s father wouldn’t agree to any structural alterations when the bathrooms first went in. As far as he can, the King wants to preserve the palace as it was when he took the throne and I can understand that. It’s a very old and historic building and he feels more like the custodian for future generations than the owner who has a free hand,’ Zoe pointed out.

‘You’ve got more confident...that’s clear and I definitely approve of that,’ her eldest sister, Winnie, said warmly. ‘Here you are giving interviews and the like. I never thought I’d see the day.’

‘Oh, the interview was easy,’ Zoe carolled. ‘Raj’s PR team headed off any too personal questions for me and advised me on what to wear and all the rest of it.’

‘But you picked your own wedding gown,’ Winnie said knowingly, scrutinising the tiny glittering figure of her youngest sister. The dress was an elegant sleeved sheath with a modest neckline. Elaborate embroidery sewn with crystals and pearls adorned the lightweight tulle and it was the perfect fit for her petite frame. ‘It’s very chic.’

‘Oh, stop changing the subject, Winnie,’ Vivi cut in curtly, keen to cut through the chit-chat to what she believed was truly important, which was protecting Zoe. ‘You know that you’re as worried as I am. We talked about it last night.’

‘And we’re not going to talk about it any more,’ Winnie declared, throwing her fiery sibling a pleading look. ‘It was Zoe’s decision to do this and the deed is done. They’re already married.’

‘With one bedroom in a palace the size of a small city!’ Vivi interrupted worriedly, seriously suspicious of that development. ‘How’s she going to fight off a guy twice her size?’

Zoe paled at the tenor of the conversation. ‘I won’t have to fight him off. Raj sleeps elsewhere. We haven’t had to share a bed since that first night I told you about, and that was kind of unavoidable and he apologised for it.’

‘Raj is smooth, sophisticated, predatory,’ Vivi outlined in condemnation, finally speaking her mind, for she had taken one look at Raj in all his good-looking, silkily soft-spoken glory and seen him as a major threat to the terrifyingly innocent and fragile little sister she loved. How could such a very handsome and wealthy man not be predatory? Zoe’s near rape had almost destroyed her and Vivi didn’t want her sister plunged into any situation that could threaten her peace of mind. ‘I would imagine he is never stuck for the right word in a difficult situation.’

‘He’s not predatory,’ Zoe argued with distaste. ‘He’s been kind. He’s courteous and considerate and that’s all we need right now.’

‘Leave it, Vivi,’ Winnie said ruefully. ‘All you’re doing is putting more pressure on her.’

Zoe’s hand shook a little as she reapplied her lipstick. She was furious that Vivi had called Raj predatory after only meeting him for an hour over the formal dinner that had been staged the night before. Stam Fotakis, her grandfather, had been grudgingly impressed by Raj, pointing out to her with satisfaction that, unlike her sisters’ husbands, Raj had never been tagged a womaniser.

Diamonds flashed with every movement of her body. Raj had sent her jewel cases containing a tiara, a necklace and earrings. She didn’t know whether they were family heirlooms or bought specially for her use and she hadn’t had the chance to ask him because she had barely seen Raj since their move to the palace two weeks earlier. He joined her for dinner every evening but his manner was formal and distant and she didn’t know how to break through that façade.

And although she had tried to penetrate that barrier to establish a friendlier vibe, Raj remained resolutely detached and very, very polite. His attitude frustrated the hell out of her. She didn’t know what the matter with him was or what was travelling through his brain. The warmer, milder, more approachable side of Raj had vanished as though it had never been.

Although she could have had no suspicion of the fact, Raj’s attitude was frustrating his royal parent even more.

‘Any normal man would want to keep her!’ King Tahir was proclaiming to his stony-faced son.

‘I have no intention of keeping Zoe as a wife,’ Raj asserted quietly. ‘You knew that going into this.’

‘She’s a beautiful, gentle girl. Everyone who has met her has talked highly of her. She could be a tremendous asset to you with her personality and ancestry,’ his father fumed. ‘Why are you sleeping in your office with a beautiful wife in your bed? Have you forgotten how to woo a woman?’

The obstinacy that ran through Raj like a steel backbone flared and he gritted his teeth. ‘She agreed to a fake marriage and I will abide by that agreement as I will abide by the one I made with you.’

The King paced the floor and silence fell. It was the silence of unresolved differences and residual bitterness that most often distinguished meetings between father and son. It took effort for the older man to persist. ‘I loved your mother. I know she was unhappy as my wife but I loved her very much and the mode of her death devastated me,’ he bit out harshly. ‘I have to live with my regrets and my mistakes but I still remain grateful for the time I had with her.’

Raj swallowed hard, unable even to look at his father and utterly taken aback by that confession. He had never realised that his father actually loved his mother but he did recall that, after her passing, the older man had lived like a hermit for over a year. Not guilt so much as grief, Raj adjusted now, his view of the past softening the trauma of loss just a little.

Ironically, even appreciating that could not lift his gloom because there was nothing to celebrate when marrying a very beautiful woman who appealed to him on every level but who would ultimately leave him. His mother had left him by taking her own life, Nabila had left him through betrayal of all that he held dear. But then, hadn’t he agreed that Zoe would ultimately leave him? Hard cheekbones colouring at that timely recollection, he reminded himself that he was in control of events and walking the path he had chosen. By the time Zoe walked out of his life again, he would surely be glad to reclaim his freedom.

* * *

The state wedding was so official and serious that Zoe’s face ached with her set and determined smile. Being the cynosure of all eyes was taxing for her, but she wouldn’t let herself dwell on that reality because she was well aware that all brides were subject to close scrutiny. Instead she reminded herself that she was lucky enough to have her grandfather, her sisters and their husbands with her for support. Sadly, the formality of the event had persuaded her sisters that their young children were better left at home and she suppressed a sigh. Winnie’s son, Teddy, was a very lively little boy and her toddler daughter was full of mischief while as for Vivi’s twin boys, sitting still for any length of time was a massive challenge for them, but Zoe was still disappointed not to have had some time with her nephews and niece because she had always adored children and had grieved over the truth that she was unlikely to have any of her own.

Yet her recognition of her attraction to Raj and her enjoyment of that amazing kiss had made her think that just maybe there was hope for her in the future. Maybe some day, after all, she would be able to have a relationship with a man like any normal woman, and if that happened then she just might have children of her own to love and care for eventually. More than anything else, what she had learned about herself since arriving in Maraban had convinced her that staying in her grandmother’s country was the very best thing she could do to steer herself back into the land of the living. There was a whole world out there waiting to be discovered and for the first time in years she was filled with hope and optimism.

In the short term, however, she acknowledged wryly, there was the marrying, the constant smiling and the solemn bridegroom to contend with at their reception. If a smile had cracked Raj’s face once she must not have been around to see it. A half-smile would play about the corner of his full sensual lips in the most infuriatingly tantalising way and she would watch and watch those lean, darkly beautiful features of his, but the real thing never quite made it, even for the authorised wedding photographs, which had proved to be an exercise in rigid formality.

Yet everywhere in Raj’s radius, a virtual party was in swing, his return to being Crown Prince clearly a development that was celebrated by the many important guests attending, who ranged from visiting royal connections to business tycoons, top diplomats and local VIPs. His popularity was undeniable, although he was quick to dampen comments that tactlessly suggested that some day he would take Maraban forward in a different way from his father. Zoe sat through a lot of business talk before escaping back in the direction of her sisters.

She had already done her stint with Queen Ayshah, who had employed Farida as a translator and had embarrassed the other young woman greatly by insisting on passing on her convictions of what it took to be a good royal wife. A feminist would have had a field day with those rules, Zoe reflected with strong amusement, but then the elderly Queen had grown up in a different world where a woman’s happiness and even her life could be utterly dependent on retaining her husband’s favour. Thankfully, Raj would have no such power over her, Zoe thought fondly as she took a detour towards the cloakroom before approaching Winnie and Vivi.

In the big anteroom surrounding the cloakroom, a tall, slender woman rose from a chair and addressed her. ‘Your Royal Highness?’ she murmured with modestly evasive eyes. ‘May I have a word?’

Zoe looked up into one of the most beautiful faces she had ever seen: a flawless oval graced by almond-shaped brown eyes with remarkable lashes, a classic slim nose and a pouty full mouth. The woman wore a sophisticated silk suit, tailored with precision to show off her well-formed figure and falling to her ankles while still toeing the line of local mores on modest dress. The pale golden hue of the outfit set off her glowing olive colouring and her wealth of tumbling black wavy hair to perfection.

‘I am Nabila Sulaman,’ she revealed in a very quiet voice. ‘I was Raj’s first girlfriend and, as I’m sure you’re aware, it ended badly between us.’

Thoroughly disconcerted by that introduction, Zoe merely gave an uncertain nod while her mind raced to understand why the wretched woman would want to approach her.

‘I run one of your grandfather’s construction firms and he brought me here with his party of business people. I would definitely not have received an invite on my own behalf,’ Nabila admitted, startling Zoe even more with that freely offered information. ‘I’m very much a career woman and I don’t want past mistakes to taint my future now that I’ve returned to Maraban to work. My parents suffered a great deal over my short-lived relationship with Raj. My father is a diplomat but he has been continually passed over for promotion since I blotted my copybook with the royal family. I am speaking to you now because a lot of time has passed since then and I was hoping that you could persuade Raj to bury the hatchet.’

Zoe winced at that bold suggestion. ‘I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m the right person to intercede for you. I don’t interfere with Raj’s life and he doesn’t interfere with mine.’

‘How very modern he must have become,’ Nabila remarked with a dismissive toss of her beautiful head and an amused smile. ‘Well, I think you should know that I’m in charge of the Josias project as CEO of Major Holdings, and that Raj and I will be working together in the near future. Please make him aware of that. I’m leaving now.’

‘But Raj is here. You could speak to him yourself,’ Zoe pointed out.

‘No. I don’t want to put him in an awkward position and surprise him in front of an audience,’ Nabila declared with assurance. ‘We haven’t seen each other since we broke up.’

‘Oh...’ Bemused, Zoe watched the poised brunette walk away again and she entered the cloakroom with a lot on her mind. Nabila was gorgeous, clever and successful and had once been the woman Raj loved and wanted to marry, Zoe reflected ruefully. Loved and wanted to marry a long time ago. Eight years back, she reminded herself, practically pre-history in date. But even though that was her mindset she still headed straight for her grandfather to check out his opinion of the brunette.

‘Nabila Sulaman? She’s one tough cookie, a real go-getter,’ Stam opined. ‘Had to be to get so far in the construction field. She’s Raj’s ex?’ Her grandfather grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t have included her in my party if I’d been aware of that.’

‘Oh, it doesn’t bother me,’ Zoe hastened to proclaim just as her sisters joined them and then, of course, the entirety of her short conversation with Nabila had to be recounted.

‘She’s got some brass neck!’ Vivi declared. ‘I wish I’d been with you. Didn’t you learn anything from us growing up?’

Zoe blinked and studied her sibling’s exasperated expression. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You don’t tangle with an ex. You certainly don’t give her any information... I mean, what you were thinking of, telling her that you and Raj don’t interfere in each other’s lives?’ Vivi demanded ruefully. ‘How normal does that sound? You want the ex to think you’re the love match of the century.’

‘Put a sock in it, Vivi,’ Winnie cut in. ‘Zoe doesn’t have to pretend if she doesn’t want to. It’s a marriage of convenience and both of them know and accept that. It’s not personal for them the way it was for you and me.’

Zoe had lost colour. No, it was not personal, she repeated staunchly to herself, because, unlike her sisters and their husbands, Zoe had had no prior relationship with Raj before their marriage. Yet even in acknowledging that truth she was taken aback by the revelation that she would have liked to have scratched Nabila’s beautiful eyes out because Nabila had hurt Raj. A long time ago, she reminded herself afresh, and he was perfectly capable of looking out for himself.

When the festivities were almost at an end, Zoe went to change into more comfortable clothing for their journey. They were to be out of the public eye for two weeks and she couldn’t wait to reclaim some privacy. Apparently, the royal family owned a very comfortable villa by the Gulf on the Banian side of Maraban, and Raj had already promised to show her the beauties of her grandmother’s birthplace, which was greener and less arid in landscape. She pulled on a light skirt and T-shirt, teaming them with a pair of glitzy high sandals, one of the many, many pairs she harboured in her wardrobe but had never previously worn. She had a serious shoe fetish and knew it.

‘We’re fortunate to be making so early an escape,’ Raj remarked, sliding into the limo beside her, a lean, lithe figure in jeans and a shirt, his black curls tousled as though he had changed out of his wedding finery in as much of a hurry as her. ‘If my father wasn’t so eager to pack us off on a honeymoon, the celebrations would have lasted all week.’

‘Farida mentioned that weddings usually last for days here, but then it was our second time round the block,’ she pointed out before pressing on, doing what her conscience told her she had to do, which was to warn Raj that he would be working with his ex on some project that she didn’t recall the name of. ‘I met your ex-girlfriend, Nabila, at the reception.’

Raj’s arrogant head turned, a frown building, his lean, darkly handsome face forbidding. ‘That is not possible. She would not have been invited. Nabila is a common name in Maraban.’

‘Apparently she came in my grandfather’s party of guests,’ Zoe persisted. ‘She’s the CEO of some company called Major Holdings and she asked me to warn you that you would be working with her on some project.’

‘The Josias hospital project.’ Raj’s intense dark eyes shimmered almost silver in the fading light. ‘But I need no warning. I am not so sensitive,’ he breathed with roughened emphasis.

And then he didn’t say another word for what remained of the fairly lengthy journey that took them to the airport and a flight and, finally, a bumpy trip in a SUV. And, unfortunately that brooding silence told Zoe everything she didn’t want to know or surmise about the exact level of Raj’s sensitivity. He was like a pot of oil simmering on a fire but all emotion and reaction was rigidly suppressed by very strong self-control that acted like a lid. But knowing that, accepting that she hadn’t a clue what he was thinking, didn’t make Zoe feel any happier. For the first time with Raj, she felt very alone and isolated...