Page 36 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
He stood waiting, his breath held, waiting for the slightest response which would change his life.
Chapter17
Zaire didn’t let his eyes move from hers.He felt that if he did, she’d be gone.She’d walk out of his life and never return.Silently, he urged her to give him a chance.At first, he was terrified she’d turn around and leave.Then he saw the first flutter of indecision in her eyes, then the hurt emerged and he knew he was in with a chance.
“Please, Rosana, I beg you.Listen to what I have to say before you leave.”
“You think I owe you this?”she said, with a flash of her former chilly pride.
“No,” he said, without hesitation.“I think you owe yourself this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you walk away without hearing me out, that pain you’re embracing right now will never leave you.Listen to what I have to say and you’ll leave maybe thinking I’m a fool, and many other things besides, but you’ll understand that I never intended to hurt you, and it was never my aim to humiliate you.Never.”
She blinked watery eyes and then she sat down as if all the strength had drained out of her.“Okay,” she said.“Tell me why you told my father we were in a relationship before we’d even met properly, before I’d set foot in the country.”
He sat opposite.“A week ago, all I knew about you was what I’d figured out from your brief visit here years ago.You appeared arrogant and cold, and I had no reason to believe you’d changed.So I figured I’d use the opportunity to shake up your father’s pact with the Faud Federation.”
“You used me,” she said bleakly.“Just as he did.”
“I didn’t know you then, Rosana.I used who you were.But, believe me, I wouldn’t have if I knew then what I know now about you.”
She gnawed her lip and looked away uncertainly as she tried to process his words.He could see that she was warring with herself over whether to believe what he said.
He reached out and took both her hands in his.“Rosana, believe me.I’d never do anything to hurt you now.Nothing.”
She blinked and looked into his eyes and sighed, and his heart relaxed.“I shouldn’t believe you.I’m crazy to believe you but… I can’t not.Because it seems my heart believes you and my head follows.”She shook her head in disbelief.“I have no choice but to trust you.I can’t even believe I’m saying this.”
“Good,” he said, pulling her to standing.“Now, let’s get ready to meet your father and get this over with.Then,habibti, we can get on with our lives together.”
Rosana hadn’ta clue whether she’d done the right thing by believing Zaire.All she knew, as she showered and got dressed in her finest clothes, ready to meet her father, was that she had no choice.Instinctively, she trusted Zaire and only time would tell if her instincts were correct.
They went together to meet her father, but as they were about to enter the room, she stopped and followed her instincts for a second time that morning.“Please, leave me here, Zaire.I wish to speak to my father alone.”
“Leave you alone with that man?”Zaire shook his head.
But Rosana stood firm.His protectiveness warmed her to the core, but knew she had to do this alone.“I’m not a little girl anymore, and I need to do this on my own.Without your help.”
He narrowed his eyes.“Are you sure?”Zaire looked from Rosana to the closed door behind which her father waited.“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“You’ll have to.I need you to give me the space to do this my way.You need to respect that, Zaire.”
“Of course.Otherwise, I’d be no better than your father.”
“Exactly.”
He gritted his teeth and then gave one brief nod.“Okay.I’ll leave you to talk things through with your father, but you have to promise me you’ll call out if you need anything.I won’t move.I’ll be right here.”He gave her cheek a brief caress.“Promise?”
She shot him a tight smile.“I promise.”
Rosana glanced back at Zaire, who stood behind the door, out of sight and out of earshot.She knew that giving her this opportunity had been hard for him.The struggle was plain to see in his eyes.He always took control, but here he’d given it to her.He nodded his encouragement, and she twisted the door handle and entered the room.
His father was standing alone for a change.He whirled around to face her, his eyes like black coals under dark, beetling brows.He looked like the devil.A sense of panic filled her, and she suddenly felt she couldn’t breathe.She nearly turned around and fled back to Zaire.But she dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands and forced herself to stay put.Now wasn’t the time to run away.That time was long past.Now was the time for staying and sorting things out.
“Pathetic,” her father spat out, hatred transforming his handsome face into an ugly one.
“I seem to remember you think everyone who disagrees with you is pathetic.”
