Page 98 of Modern Romance November 2024 5-8

‘I do wish you’d tell him,’ she said.

‘No.’

‘Please?’

‘I said no.’ The King was clearly regretting that this conversation had even taken place. ‘What time is your flight?’

‘Soon.’

Violet stood there, sad and defeated, because she did not know how to fight, how to be mean, how to persuade another person just to get what she wanted. But she would stand up for Sahir.

‘He told his mother off,’ she told the King. ‘That was the last conversation he had with her. He was trying to protect her from being caught...’ But, no, she could never play mean. ‘You have my word, Your Majesty.’

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SAHIRDIDNOTwalk from the royal jet.

He strode.

Not to his father’s office, but to the Venus wing. Hakaam didn’t halt him with his predictions or warnings. He just stood by the star, wringing his hands.

It was grief. Sahir knew that as he stepped into the bedroom suite...

There were the gowns she had worn still hanging, and he picked up the book by her bed, hurt for her because she hadn’t taken it.

Opening it, he saw his mother’s name—and closed it abruptly.

‘You can be so staid at times.’He could almost hear her voice.‘Just like your father.’

No.

He was not staid. Had not been staid from the second Violet had arrived in his life. He preferred himself now...missed her more than he knew how to miss another person.

And she was the priority.

It could be no other way.

The people would understand—or not.

Simply, it was right.

So he stood and walked away at pace.

Hakaam was still pacing around the star, and when he saw the direction Sahir was taking he pounced. ‘Your Highness...’

‘Not now,’ Sahir barked. ‘I have to speak with the King.’

‘The planets in fire are misaligned. There is no harmony,’ Hakaam urged. ‘Please show restraint...’

‘Too late.’

He parted the guards and walked past Aadil, and it was the King who hurriedly asked for the room to be cleared.

‘You have no idea what you’ve done.’ The doors had barely closed before he told his father the consequences of his actions. ‘The jet is being refuelled. I leave for London as soon as the pilots are here.’

‘You cannot leave now,’ the King said. ‘It’s not possible.’

‘It’s what is happening. I am leaving tonight. I shall discuss my schedule later, but for now I shall be in London, sorting out the mess you have made. I might marry there—if she can forgive what has occurred.’

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