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  Any hope that might have dared to grow died at the thought of doing this alone. ‘I know that. I’m not stupid, Rahim. We had nannies and housekeepers to help, but I had a duty to my family too. And yet nothing I did as I got older helped. I have zero confidence that I’ll be able to give my child anything worth a damn. What guarantees do I have that I won’t ruin his life?’ she asked bleakly.

  That stopped him for a moment. Then his lips pursed. ‘First of all, this is our child. Secondly, there are no guarantees. And you forget, you won’t be alone in that, Allegra. This is my child too. He will have the benefit of two parents.’

  ‘You expect me to believe that when you swing by for a few hours, then take off again?’

  A thunderous frown clamped his brows. ‘I have work to do. You know the extent of what needs to be fixed for my people.’

  ‘Our people, Rahim. We’re married, remember? They’re my people too now.’

  ‘Then you should understand...’

  ‘Is it what happened with your mother that’s keeping you away? Or me?’

  ‘Allegra,’ he warned.

  ‘What happened on our wedding night wasn’t your fault.’

  He went rigid, his features hard as stone. Encouraged that she was getting a reaction, she approached. When he didn’t turn away from her, she laid a hand on his chest.

  Firming her resolve, she blurted out what she’d been waiting almost a whole day to say to him. ‘What happened to your mother was horrible and devastating. But millions of women deliver babies safely every year. Our baby will be too.’

  ‘This palace ceased to be a place of fairy tale a long time ago. You can’t flick a magic wand and have everything go your way. The Dar-Amanian people need me. Serving their needs isn’t a job I take lightly. We must all make sacrifices for the greater good.’

  Feeling like a pathetic heel but knowing she needed to fight for this, she cupped his jaw. ‘I didn’t sign up for a life of loneliness in a gilded cage, Rahim, greater good or not.’

  He glanced sharply at her. ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘I want you to come back. I want my husband, my sheikh, to come back to me.’ She took another step closer, trapping him between the door and her body.

  A shudder moved through him, lifting his chest against hers. Reaching up with her other hand, she cradled his face in her hands, rose on tiptoes and kissed him.

  With a guttural groan, he captured her hips and dragged her closer, his touch burning through the flimsy clinic gown. His mouth feasted on hers, biting and lapping, until they were both panting.

  ‘Come back to me, please. I need you, Rahim,’ she pleaded.

  He gave a groan and her heart lifted.

  But in the next breath, he was pulling away. Desperately, she clung to him. ‘Don’t leave me again. Please!’

  ‘No. The baby...’

  ‘He’s fine and healthy. So am I. But we both need you.’ She pressed her mouth to his, and they clashed once again in a frenzied exchange of pent-up sexual need. Locking her fingers in his hair, Allegra strained against him, her senses on fire, her heart offering up every prayer it could for the love of her life to stay.

  But once again he dragged himself away.

  She held her breath as Rahim stared down at her. Silently, she willed him to give her something. She’d pleaded. She’d demanded. She wasn’t too far off tears, and she wasn’t sure her heart could withstand another rejection.

  But it could lurch wildly. And it did when Rahim took her wrists in his hands and determinedly pulled her hands from his face.

  ‘No. This cannot happen.’

  Her heart in tatters, she stepped away, removing herself from his path. ‘Go, then. But don’t expect me to be here when you come back.’

  His eyes darkened until they were almost black. ‘I’m disappointed you feel that way,’ he said stonily.

  He walked away, leaving her broken and defeated against the wall.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  RAHIM BARELY MADE it to the guest suite before his legs gave out. He’d taken a secret staircase to evade his bodyguards and to prevent being caught up in the royal baby fever sweeping the palace and Dar-Aman.

  His bodyguards would find him eventually—they were too efficiently trained not to—but for now he had a few minutes to himself. A few minutes to replay Allegra’s words. A few minutes to lose his mind.

  There’d been a time when he would’ve shrugged off a woman’s threat to leave him.

  But she wasn’t just any woman. This was Allegra, proud woman of breeding.

  His wife. His queen.

  Stumbling to the well-stocked bar, he poured himself a drink from a bottle whose label he didn’t read. The drink was bracing, so he poured himself another. His hand froze halfway to his mouth.

  Allegra had never made an idle threat. He’d followed her new foundation’s progress for the past few weeks. Each time a course of action was curtailed or bureaucratic red tape thrown up, she found another way. Each time she came up against a male opponent who made the mistake of underestimating her, she promised to get her way. And she did.

  He slammed the drink on the bar and caught his head in his hands. His wife had begged him to stay, to work on a marriage he’d pushed on her in the first place. And he’d answered her by walking away like a coward. She was carrying his child, a baby for whom her heart shone through her eyes.

  Slowly he lifted his head. If he wasn’t mistaken he’d caught a trace of that same look for him in her eyes. Even if he was mistaken and dreamed up scenarios that weren’t there, every doctor he’d seen regarding Allegra’s and their baby’s health had told him the same thing—the likelihood of something going wrong was low. He’d listened to the advice but he hadn’t believed, not deep down.

  All he’d been able to recall was the blood and Allegra’s screams when she’d thought she was losing their son. But she had rallied.

  He’d hurt her deeply. And she’d stayed, giving of herself to whomever asked, loving his people. Perhaps even loving him?

  His heart jumped.

  His phone beeped. Tugging it from his pocket, he flung it on the counter without looking at the screen. His mind was sifting through the expressions he’d seen on Allegra’s face.

  Each one made him hope a little more...

  The phone beeped again. About to fling it across the room, he glanced at the message. With a dark curse, he sprinted for the door.

  He arrived in the royal suite ninety seconds later. The room was impeccably neat. And deathly quiet.

  Panic flared through him. ‘Allegra? Allegra!’ When his voice echoed back to him, he dug frantically for his phone. Each second felt like a year before his head of security picked up.

  ‘She’s not here! Where is she?’ he demanded, his soul tearing in two. ‘Well, she’s not here. Watch the gates. And don’t let her leave!’

  His grip tight around the phone, he turned to lunge back out the door.

  ‘Don’t let who leave?’

  Rahim whirled around, his heart banging wildly against his ribs at the sight of Allegra framed in the dressing room doorway. Behind her, clothes were strewn on the floor and two suitcases stood open. He didn’t think twice before he acted. Racing to the door, he slammed it shut and turned the key in the lock. Taking it out, he closed his fist over it, hard enough to cause him pain.

  ‘Don’t let who leave, Rahim?’ she demanded again. Her voice was a husky croak.

  ‘You, Allegra. My bodyguards alerted me that you’d summoned a car to take you to the airport. I told them not to let you leave.’

  Her pain-soaked eyes went from his closed fist to the door. ‘And you think a locked door is going to stop me?’

  He shook his head, his breath coming in pants as fear rode his very soul. ‘No, nothing can stop you when you set your mind to something. I know that now. I don’t deserve the time of day from you, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to let me take away the hurt that I’ve caused you.’ He crossed the room and ge
ntly took her hand. Turning her palm up, he dropped the key into it and curled her fingers closed.

  Then he cast another glance into the dressing room, and almost broke down at her feet. With every fibre of his being, Rahim wanted to move her away from the scene where she was preparing to leave him. But he forced himself to stay rooted to the floor.

  Her nostrils flared slightly before her mouth compressed. ‘Five minutes. Then I’m out the door.’

  Rahim swallowed hard. ‘I’ve been running scared ever since my mother died. You know what happened to her.’

  Sympathy shadowed her face before she nodded. ‘Complications during the birth of your brother?’

  ‘Yes, but what you probably don’t know is that the complications could’ve been avoided. She had me by emergency Caesarean section after a complicated labour which she barely survived. When she was diagnosed with placenta praevia for her second pregnancy, she was told the child would most likely have to be delivered by Caesarean section too. But somewhere along the line, she got it into her head that she could deliver naturally. Nothing her doctors said would sway her. She was fragile and naturally petite, with her head always in the clouds. As a child, she used to fascinate me. I couldn’t quite believe I came from this almost mythical creature, but I loved her all the same. And she loved me. Of course, my father’s intense love for her wasn’t a secret. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, including not standing in the way of the sometimes questionable decisions she would make. The first time I heard them row was over her decision about the baby. He begged her to have the Caesarean. She point-blank refused. He told her he wouldn’t be able to go on if something happened and he lost her.

  ‘I was hiding in this very dressing room when he said that to her. I remember dismissing the statement as utter nonsense. Loving a person shouldn’t involve a death pledge or disagreements that led to blazing rows. But with each refusal, my father promised her he wouldn’t live if she died. A month later, she went into labour. Her stubborn belief that she could do it naturally eventually put the child in distress. By the time the doctors took action, there was too much blood loss and she was too frail to survive the Caesarean. The baby died, and so did she.’

  Allegra’s face twisted in agony for him. ‘Rahim, I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.

  ‘And just as he’d promised, my father stopped living. He just...turned everything off.’ Remembered bitterness pounded through him, the pain relentless as he lived it all over again. ‘Nothing I did or said made a difference, and believe me, I did everything I could imagine, savoury and unsavoury. Sadly, the unsavoury bits lingered long after I’d attempted to turn over a new leaf.’

  ‘Possibly because you enjoyed your wild side a little bit too much?’ She didn’t exactly tease as she said it, and Rahim wondered if that would be yet another mark against him.

  ‘I was desperate. I’d gone from a pampered and loved child to losing two parents in one day, even though only one of them died.’

  ‘But you were lucky—you knew love for a while before it was taken away. No matter how devastating that was, you still have good memories to hang on to.’ She looked away, her eyes darkening with her own pain. Pain that lashed at Rahim. She turned and headed back into the dressing room. Rahim followed, resisting the urge to shut and bolt that door too. ‘Mine died as they lived, in a fiery blaze of glory,’ she continued. ‘With barely a thought for their seven children. Had it not been for my grandfather none of us would be where we are today.’

  ‘That’s why you risked everything for him.’

  ‘I love him. I would do anything for him.’

  ‘Even marry a man you barely know so your grandfather could keep his treasured box?’

  She stiffened for a second, then bent to pick up a discarded garment. Disconsolately, she tossed it into a suitcase. ‘Why are you doing this, Rahim? You don’t want to be married to me. I got the message loud and clear today. So let’s just save ourselves this unnecessary post-mortem. I’ve no more of my heart to pour out.’

  She bent down to pick up another bunch of clothes. Rahim lunged for them, wrestled them from her. ‘And I haven’t poured my heart out enough. So let’s redress the balance.’

  Allegra froze, her stunning blue eyes searching his for a frantic second before she shook her head. ‘You know what love is, Rahim. You feel it for this baby. I know you do. So please believe me when I say I won’t stop my child from experiencing that love. And I won’t publicise any separation until he’s old enough...’

  ‘No!’ The word tore free from his chest, a lifetime of hopeless fear rising up to choke him, sending him to his knees. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pleaded for his life. ‘Please, ya galbi, no separation. No divorce. I’ll do whatever it takes. I was a coward, too afraid to admit what I felt for you until now. I don’t want to say “until it was too late,” because I don’t want it to be. I would reverse time itself if I could to redress all the wrong turns I’ve taken. Please let us not be one of them. Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it. Please, Allegra. I love you. Don’t leave me.’

  She gasped, her eyes flaring wide as she stared down at him. ‘You love me,’ she muttered obliquely.

  ‘I love you,’ he affirmed. ‘I feared that love would make me weak as it did my father. When you bled on our wedding night, I nearly lost my mind with the terror of imagining losing you. I mistakenly thought being without you was better than falling deeper in love with you to the point where I wouldn’t be able to function. But I recognise the difference between what my parents had and what I feel for you. Being with you empowers me to be better, to do better for my people. And I don’t love you any less by staying away from you.’

  ‘Oh, Rahim.’

  ‘So given the choice between shutting myself off in some godforsaken remote location in my kingdom or seeing you every day, watching our son grow in your belly...habibi, the choice is very simple. I want to love you, up close and as personal as you’ll allow me.’

  ‘I want it very personal, Rahim. As personal as you showed me it could be on our wedding night. I want that every day and every night.’ Her eyes filled with tears until they spilled from her glorious lashes onto his face. Laughing, she brushed them away, then lowered her mouth to his. ‘Promise me that, and you’ll have my love forever.’

  Rahim’s heart raced, his soul baring itself to the fierce love shining from her eyes. ‘I promise. You honour me with your love.’

  ‘And my body and soul.’

  ‘And I honour you with mine, my Allegra. Forever.’

  They kissed, reverently, then hungrily, before she pulled away. Slowly she opened her hand. ‘I think we should use this now.’

  ‘Is there somewhere special you’d like me to take you?’

  ‘Yes, please. I’d like to finish our wedding night in the tent. Then I’d like to go to Long Island. There’s a grandfather there who needs to know he’s about to become a great-grandfather in a few short months.’

  Rahim took the key from her and caught her hand in his. ‘Your wish, my dear heart, is my command.’

  * * *

  Nabil Giovanni Al-Hadi was born two weeks shy of his due date. His premature entry into the world sent his parents, uncles and aunts around the world into a tailspin. But his great-grandfather, in whose presence he was born, took it all in his stride.

  The day her grandfather held his first great-grandson, Allegra Al-Hadi burst into happy tears. How could she ever have doubted how powerful love could be? How giving and life-affirming in every way?

  Rahim had agreed for them to try for another baby and she couldn’t wait.

  Nothing held a more special, sacred duty for her than to fill the Dar-Aman Palace with its future princes and princesses, hone them into fine citizens who would treasure their kingdom as much as she and Rahim did.

  ‘You’re crying and smiling at the same time, ya habibi. Should I be worried?’ Rahim asked as he entered her childhood room in the Di Sione mansion on Long Island. T
hey’d agreed to divide their family time between Long Island and Dar-Aman because they didn’t know how much time Giovanni had. With the kingdom thriving once more, it had been an easy decision to make.

  ‘I was thinking about the future and the endless possibilities for our children.’

  Rahim shrugged out of his robe and approached where she lay in bed. His naked, honed body sent hers into fever pitch, and his loving but arrogant expression told her he knew it. ‘If you want Nabil to have six siblings too, then we need to get started on the next one.’

  Allegra laughed as she went into her husband’s arms. ‘Yes, my sheikh.’

  And he proceeded to show her just how earth-shattering their love could be.

  * * * * *

  Read on for an excerpt from CARIDES’S FORGOTTEN WIFE by MAISEY YATES.

  PROLOGUE

  ANOTHER BORING PARTY in a long succession of boring parties. That was Leon’s predominant thought as he pulled away from the ostentatious hotel and out onto the narrow Italian streets.

  The highlight of his evening had been the most disappointing portion, as well. Being rebuffed by Rocco Amari’s fiancée. She had been beautiful. Exotic. With her long dark hair and honey-colored skin. Yes, she would have made a wonderful companion for his bed tonight. Sadly, she seemed to be very committed to Rocco. And he to her.

  To each his own, he supposed. Frankly, Leon did not see the appeal in monogamy.

  Life was a glorious buffet of debauchery. Why on earth would he seek to limit that?

  Though he had walked away empty-handed, he had thoroughly enjoyed enraging his business rival. He could not deny that.