Page 24 of Unknown Royal Baby

Avril stumbled back and sank into a chintz armchair. It was a relief to focus on her. ‘The six months before the crash? Does that mean you don’t remember...?’

‘I remember some things. But even what I do remember, I can’t always trust. I’ve been told that some of my recollections aren’t correct.’

His distant relative Hafiz had acted as regent while he’d been in hospital, and some of Hafiz’s comments about Isam’s actions prior to the accident disturbed him. Made him question what he knew of himself.

It was frustrating and undermined his ability to move forward as he wished. Increasingly he had suspicions about that, but for now he had more pressing matters to deal with.

Avril. And their daughter.

‘Whatdoyou remember from that time?’

He met her eyes and knew what she was wondering. How much he remembered abouther.

‘Not nearly enough. I remember snippets, scenes rather than complete memories. The visit of another head of state to Zahdar. A friend’s wedding.’

He paused, reluctant even now to admit it, but knowing it was unavoidable. ‘But not you, Avril. I don’t remember you.’

It was a lie. Since seeing her in the boardroom yesterday he’d been getting short flashbacks. Not of any conversation but rather sensual recollections. The honey taste of her on his tongue. The music of her soft cries as she tipped over the edge into bliss. The feel of her body welcoming his.

But were they true memories or wish fulfilment?

Because from the moment she’d walked into the presidential suite yesterday, he’d felt a sensual tug, a deep-seated hunger for this woman who was to all intents and purposes a stranger.

Was it any wonder he’d slept badly?

Isam saw her absorb that, hurt swiftly replacing shock in her expressive eyes.

‘You don’t rememberanythingabout me? You employed me about six months before your accident. We worked together in London the week before.’

Guilt tightened his flesh, making it prickle in discomfort.

How must it be for a woman who’d given her virginity to him,who’d borne his child, to discover he had no recollection of her?

Even though he hadn’t let her down deliberately, it must feel like a second betrayal, after he’d failed to return to her in London.

It was inconceivable that he could be responsible for the torment he saw in her wide eyes. Yet he knew, with a heavy heart, that it was so.

Isam wished he could make this easier for her. But lying would do no one any good.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t remember. But when I saw you yesterday you seemed...familiar.’

The fact that he’d been instantly plagued by sensual snapshots had made it impossible to concentrate on the meeting. Snapshots, sensations, yearnings. They had seemed real. Seemed like genuine memories, but could he be sure? And were they of her as he believed? Or of some previous lover?

Racking his overtaxed brain, he’d been unable to recall any lover who matched those memories.

Avril collapsed back in her chair, deflated. ‘That’s why you were so brusque?’ She frowned, her voice dropping as if she spoke to herself more than him. ‘That didn’t seem natural. It didn’t seem likeyou, to blank me like that. You were never a cruel man.’

He was relieved to hear that. Some of the things Hafiz had said lately made him wonder if his view of himself was flawed.

‘But your London investments. You must remember those.’

Isam shrugged. ‘Only the long-term ones like the hotel where I’m staying. I inherited that from my English grandmother years ago.’

‘When you hired me you were in the process of acquiring some British investments. That’s why you wanted an assistant in the UK.’

‘So I gather. But I don’t recall them.’

For long moments she regarded him silently then shook her head. ‘Even so, your staff must have known about them. They must have known about me. It’s a long time since your accident but I haven’t heard a word from you.’

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