Читать книгу The Sheikh's Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 48

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE NEXT MORNING they boarded the royal jet to Paris. Since last night Elena had felt closer to Khalil than ever before, even though neither of them had put a name to what they felt. Perhaps it was too early to put such fragile feelings into words; in any case, Elena was simply glad to be sharing Khalil’s life, and that he wanted her to.

‘You must be very close to your aunt,’ she said as the plane took off and they settled into their seats. A royal steward brought a tray of coffee and pastries into the main cabin.

Khalil poured milk into both of their coffees, his mouth twisting in something like a grimace. ‘I am, but it is a complicated relationship.’

‘How so?’

‘When Dimah found me, I’d been in the desert for three years. I was...’ He paused, his gaze on the bright blue sky visible from the plane’s windows. ‘Difficult. No, that is putting a polite spin on it—feral is a better description.’

Feral. Elena swallowed and blinked back sudden tears. Emotions, ones she’d suppressed and denied for so long, were always so close to the surface now; Khalil had made her feel, want and love again. ‘I hate to think of what you endured, Khalil.’

‘It was a long time ago,’ he answered. ‘But I admit, it affected me badly. I’d been treated like an animal for three years, so even after Dimah found me I acted like one. I didn’t trust anyone. I barely spoke.’ He shook his head, his features tightening. ‘She was very patient. She took me to New York to live with her and her husband. She brought me to learning specialists and therapists, people who helped me adjust to this strange new life.’

‘And you did adjust?’

Khalil grimaced. ‘Some. But I haven’t ever felt truly at home in America. No one understood me, or knew what I experienced. Not even really Dimah.’

‘Did you tell her?’

‘A little. I don’t think she really wanted to know. She wanted me to forget Kadar completely, but returning to claim my birthright has always been what has motivated me. Dimah has never understood that.’

Surprise flashed through her. ‘Why not?’

‘The memories are too painful for her, I suppose. She grew up in Siyad, but she always longed to leave. When my mother died, she was heartbroken. She left to marry an American businessman and never wanted to return.’

‘But she knows it is your right.’

‘What she knows is that she provided a good life for me in America. She sent me to boarding school and university, helped me start my own consulting business before I joined the French Foreign Legion. She thought all those things would help me to forget Kadar, but I always saw them as stepping stones to returning. I don’t think she has ever understood how much it has meant to me.’

‘And yet the two of you are close,’ Elena said quietly. ‘Aren’t you?’

‘Yes, we are close. She saved me, quite literally.’ The smile he gave her was bleak. ‘I owe her a debt I can never repay, and I hope that one day she understands that I am attempting to redress it by claiming my birthright and becoming Sheikh.’

‘Even though she doesn’t want you to.’

‘Yes.’ He paused, his gaze moving once more to the sky. ‘Claiming my rightful inheritance will expunge any stain from my mother’s memory. It’s not just for my sake that I am pursuing this path. It’s to right old wrongs, to repair the very fabric of my country that was torn when my father decided to pursue his own selfish whims instead of justice. Putting aside my mother with no real reason rent the country in two. I want to repair it.’

‘And I want to help you, Khalil,’ Elena said. She reached over and took his hand, and he squeezed her fingers in response. Encouraged by this show of affection, she took a deep breath and said some of what was in her heart. ‘I know we agreed to live virtually separate lives in that document we signed, but I don’t want to live that way any more.’ She gazed into Khalil’s clear, amber eyes, unable to tell what he thought about what she’d just said. ‘You once asked me whether I wanted a loving, equal partner for a husband, someone who could support me. I said I didn’t because I’d never even imagined someone like that existed.’

‘Neither did I,’ Khalil answered quietly and her hopes soared.

‘Then you feel differently now too?’

‘I don’t know what I feel, Elena. I never expected or wanted any of this.’ He sighed restlessly, but didn’t let go of her hand. ‘I feel like I’ve experienced something with you that I never thought I would. I want more of it. More of you. More of us.’

‘I want that too,’ she whispered.

‘But this is all new to me. And frankly it’s frightening.’ He gave her a wry smile, but she still saw bleakness in his eyes. ‘I haven’t trusted anyone like this since I was seven years old with a child’s simple heart. Since my father told me I wasn’t his son.’

‘I know, Khalil. And I want to be worthy of your trust and—and even of your love.’ She held her breath, waiting for his reaction, wanting him to say it back: I love you. She hadn’t said it quite as clearly as that, but still she thought he must know how she felt.

‘I want to trust you,’ Khalil answered after a long moment. He took a deep breath, squeezing her fingers once more. ‘I want to love you.’

And in that moment it seemed so wonderfully simple, the way forward so very clear. They both wanted a loving relationship, a proper marriage. Why shouldn’t they have it? Why shouldn’t it be possible?

* * *

As they left the airport for Dimah’s townhouse near the Ile de la Cité Khalil marvelled at the change in himself. He felt like some shell-less creature, pink, raw and exposed, everything out there for another person’s examination. It was a strange and uncomfortable feeling, but it wasn’t necessarily bad.

He’d been glad to tell Elena about his childhood, his aunt, his own fears and weaknesses. He’d never talked that way to another soul, yet he craved that kind of honesty with Elena.

He just didn’t know what to do next. How it all would actually work. Take one step at a time, he supposed. For now he needed to think about Dimah.

He’d phoned her from Thallia, so she was waiting as their limo drew up to her townhouse and their security detail quickly got out to check the surrounding area.

Dimah came out to the front steps, her face wreathed in a tremulous smile, her wispy white hair blowing in the breeze. She looked so much older, Khalil thought with a pang, and he’d last seen her less than a year ago when he’d stopped in Paris on the way to Kadar.

‘Dimah.’ He put his arms around her, feeling her fragility. ‘This is my wife, Queen Elena of Thallia.’

‘Your Highness,’ Dimah murmured and curtseyed. No matter how frail she looked or felt, she was still every inch the lady.

‘I’m so pleased to meet you,’ Elena said, and took Dimah’s thin hand in both of her own.

Once inside, Dimah arranged for refreshments to be brought to the main salon, chattering with Elena about women’s things while Khalil’s mind roved over his arranged meeting with Aziz next week.

He’d been amazed that his half-brother had agreed to meet with him; it had given him hope. Perhaps Aziz really would see sense. Perhaps he would call the referendum.

And what about his wife?

Perhaps a quick and quiet annulment would get the nameless woman Aziz had married out of the way. Yet the fact that Aziz had been willing to marry so quickly made Khalil uneasy. It made him wonder if his half-brother wished to be Sheikh more than he’d thought he did.

‘Khalil, you are not even paying attention,’ Dimah chided. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed. ‘But I don’t blame you. Anyone can tell you are in love!’

He felt Elena start next to him, saw her glance apprehensively at him. Was she worried for his sake or her own? He smiled and reached for her hand. It felt amazingly easy. ‘You’re right, Dimah,’ he said. ‘My mind is elsewhere.’

Elena beamed.

‘I’m afraid I must excuse myself,’ he said a few minutes later as he rose from his chair. ‘I have business to attend to. But we will dine with you tonight, Dimah, if that is acceptable?’

She waved a hand in easy dismissal. ‘Of course, of course. Go ahead. I want to get to know Elena properly.’

Suppressing a wry smile, Khalil gave his bride a look of sympathy before striding from the room.

* * *

‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am Khalil has found you,’ Dimah said once she was alone with Elena. ‘Anyone can tell how in love you are.’

Elena smiled, felt that tremulous joy buoy her soul.

‘Do you think so?’ she murmured, craving the confirmation of Khalil’s feelings. ‘I want to love you’ was, she acknowledged, a little different from ‘I love you’.

‘I know it,’ Dimah declared. ‘I’ve waited so long for Khalil to find someone to love, and to love him back. I pray now he’ll forget all this foolishness with Kadar.’

Elena tensed, unsure how to address such a volatile subject. ‘The sheikhdom of Kadar is his legacy, Dimah,’ she said gently. ‘It’s his birthright. He will not forget it.’

‘He should,’ Dimah said, her voice rising fretfully. ‘He should. I keep telling him. There is nothing good for him there.’ She bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears, and Elena frowned.

‘Why do you want him to forget it?’ she asked. ‘Wouldn’t you like to see him restored to his rightful place, and your sister’s memory—’

‘No.’ Dimah cut her off swiftly. ‘No. We mustn’t talk about that.’ She shook her head, seeming to come to herself. ‘I want to hear more about you and your wedding. Tell me about happy things. Tell me about when you first realised Khalil loved you.’ She smiled eagerly, like a child waiting for a story, sounding so certain of something Elena still wondered about.

Yet in that moment she knew she wanted to be like Dimah and believe. She wanted to hear and speak of happy things, to be certain that, no matter what happened with kingdoms or countries or thrones, she could be sure of her love for Khalil...and his love for her.

Gazing at Dimah’s expectant face, Elena felt her own doubts begin to melt away. If Dimah could already see how Khalil loved her, then surely he did? Elena saw it in his eyes, felt it in his touch.

Maybe Khalil wasn’t sure what love looked or felt like, but Elena believed he loved her. She loved him. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing could change that.

Leaning forward, she began to tell Dimah all about how she and Khalil had fallen in love.