Page 16 of The Innocent Carrying His Legacy

This was necessary and the sooner she understood that, the better.

Five minutes later, the door to his office opened and his guards came in with a very annoyed-looking Ivy. Her mouth was set in a grim line, her clear gaze glittering.

Nazir looked her over, impersonal and assessing. The weariness was more apparent now, dark shadows like bruises beneath her eyes, and she was holding herself very rigid. This wasn’t the best timing for such an announcement, not when she needed rest, but, then again, the quicker he got this over with, the quicker she’d come to accept it.

‘Mr Al Rasul,’ she began furiously, not waiting for him to speak, her face flushed with annoyance. ‘You need to tell me what’s happening and you need to tell me now.’

Nazir flicked a glance at his guards, who immediately left the room, closing the door firmly behind them.

‘Sit,’ he ordered, gesturing at the chair in front of his heavy wooden desk.

Ivy folded her hands in front of her, her chin lifted. ‘Thank you, I’ll stand.’

Stubborn woman.

He rose to his feet and came around the side of the desk, noting how she stiffened even further the closer he got. It was clear she found his presence uncomfortable, which was interesting.

Leaning back against the desk, he folded his arms. ‘You might find it preferable to sit.’

‘I’ve been sitting for the past couple of hours. I do not wish to sit any longer.’ Her jaw was tight, her shoulders tense, the agitation pouring off her like a wave.

She needed some direction for all that energy. Whenever he had a soldier similarly agitated, a workout or intense weapons training was a good way for them to expend their nervous tension.

Obviously, though, he couldn’t involve Ivy in either a workout or weapons training.

There are other ways to expend nervous tension...

And he would not be involving her in that either, no matter how interested his nether regions might be. He’d marry her, but only as a marriage of convenience. It was going to be hard enough to convince her that she couldn’t leave, let alone that she must marry him. Sleeping arrangements would likely be a bridge too far right now.

Heat lingered inside him, though, reminding him of needs that he’d neglected for far too long. Well, he’d remedy that, but perhaps not right now.

‘Suit yourself.’ He gave her another critical scan. ‘You need more food and probably some more liquids, not to mention some rest.’

‘No. What I need, Mr Al Rasul, is to be told what’s going on.’ She enunciated each word as if it were made out of crystal and she didn’t want to shatter it.

‘I have made a decision about the child,’ he said. ‘That’s what’s going on.’

She seemed to stiffen even further. ‘And? Spit it out, for God’s sake. I need to be back in Mahassa by tonight, because—’

‘You will not be going back to Mahassa. Not tonight, and not tomorrow either.’

She blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re going to be staying here in the fortress. Where I can protect you and my child.’

Her dark, straight brows arrowed down. ‘I’m sorry, what? What do you mean staying in the fortress? And protection? Protection from what?’

‘Fromwhom. And as to what I mean about staying in the fortress, that is exactly what I meant. I’m afraid I cannot let you leave.’

‘Why ever not?’ There was an edge in her tone, the crystal becoming sharper and more cutting.

Nazir studied her, measuring her agitation and the sparks in her gaze. Part of being a good leader was being able to judge the well-being of those he commanded and he’d learned how to read his men. How to tell when he could push them and how far, as well as when not to push. When they needed rest and when they were bored and needed to be challenged. When they were uncertain and needed more confidence, and when they were arrogant and needed to be reminded of their failings.

Miss Ivy Dean was none of those things right now. What she was was tired and at the end of her tether. And perhaps this news would push her over the edge.

He wasn’t a man who generally did delicacy or care well, not when he was a soldier at heart. But he could manage it when the situation called for it and clearly the situation called for it now.

‘I have many enemies, Miss Dean,’ he said. ‘And your presence here will have been noted. I do not get many women coming to my gates and certainly not pregnant ones, and so conclusions will be drawn. Correct conclusions, as it turns out.’

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