Page 16 of The Skeikh's Games

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked one night when they were out to dinner. He seemed more distracted than usual and kept checking his phone.

“Nothing,” he replied, and slipped the device back into his jacket pocket. “So, how was the meal?” His face had resumed its childish charm, but she was not fooled for a second.

“Don’t patronize me Al-Hafeez. Something is up, and who are you expecting to call?” she asked him.

“I do believe I am old enough to handle my affairs without reporting the details of it to you,” he answered. More wine?” he asked her.

“I think I’m done,” she told him and replaced the napkin on the table.

He raised his hand for the check, and she grew an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. He drove her home in silence, and barely offered her a kiss when the car pulled up at her building.

And his attitude remained that way for the next week or so. Something was definitely off with him, and rather than leave him alone, her gut instincts told her something was terribly awry with him. She was heading home after a long day of sorting through pending cases on her desk, when she spotted his jaguar parked outside a motel. She took her eyes off the road, forgetting she was still driving. The loud honking of a horn snapped her back into focus, and she had to ram on the brakes to prevent from colliding into the car ahead of her.

She checked her mirror, now fully aware of the ongoing honking because she was blocking the flow of traffic. She held her hand up apologetically, and flicked on her indicator light as she pulled over to the curb. As the vehicles slowly moved past, she looked back at the jaguar parked at a place she would have never expected it to be. She sat there for minutes just staring at it, until she switched off the ignition and got out. She skipped across the street and pushed open the glass doors. Inside was just as shady as it appeared on the outside, and she felt out of place.

“Excuse me miss?” the woman at the reception desk called. “May I help you?”

“I was just looking for someone,” Jameela replied. “Sheikh Al-Hafeez.”

The woman looked uncomfortable, and she involuntarily looked in the direction Jameela assumed Al-Hafeez was. She needed to say nothing more. Jameela started walking towards the corridor, and the woman called out to her to stop. She remained undeterred. There were several rooms lining each side of the passage, and at the last door on the right, it was not hard to pick out Al-Hafeez’s voice among several others.

“I don’t want to wage higher than that,” she heard him say.

“Have you now grown into a coward Hafeez,” a gruff voice replied.

“Five million dollars is enough,” Al-Hafeez said.

Jameela could hardly believe what she was hearing, and her ears grew hot with rage the longer she stood there. Unable to contain herself any longer, she rapped on the door. She heard the silence that followed, and then a burly man’s face appeared.

Jameela didn’t wait to be admitted. She pushed past the man, and Al-Hafeez’s jaw dropped when he saw her enter. He shifted uncomfortably, and without saying a word, Jameela walked back outside.

“Jameela,” he called as he raced after her. She kept walking still, but she was no match for his long strides, and he caught up to her by the time she got to the door. He grabbed her hand, and she spun angrily, her rage bursting through the thin veil of control she had been clinging to.

She flashed him off and turned to face him. “After everything you have been through, you still come here with these men?!”

Al-Hafeez looked back at the woman sitting at the reception desk, her interest peaked. He gripped Jameela’s arm and led her outside to escape her prying eyes and ears. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” she asked and folded her arms. “And to think, I defended you so valiantly to your father, promising him that you had changed, and that this life you had was over.” Her disappointment covered her face, and he shrank back at her words.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. There was simply no way of defending his actions that would make sense. He let go of her arm, and she stepped back. Before she moved away, he saw the tears glisten in her eyes, at the same moment when she felt them burn. She turned and hurried away, not once looking back. He had proven to be the very man she had hoped he wasn’t, and his betrayal of her, and of himself, was more than she was willing to take.

She got into her car and sped off, barely missing the truck heading in the opposite direction. She swerved and collected her mentalities, brushing away the tears that had already began to fall. She didn’t look back, but if she had, she would have seen that Al-Hafeez had not returned inside. He stood on the pavement, his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. Then he went into his jaguar and went away.

But she had seen none of that. All she remembered was falling for a man who was unable to control his impulses, even though they had almost cost his life. She drove along the coast for over an hour, trying to clear her mind and Al-Hafeez from her heart. The latter seemed to need more than an hour’s drive. By the time she got home she was exhausted and worn. She dragged herself to the apartment and tossed her bag on the counter. She moved slowly to the bedroom, hurt and disappointment clinging to her like static. She was inches away from the bed when she felt someone grab her. She made a yelp as panic surged through her. The arms squeezed her around the middle, and the thrashed as she tried to break free. It was then that she noticed a familiar scent, and that the arms were not attempting to hurt her. She stopped struggling, and moved her head aside. Sure enough it was Al-Hafeez.

Her face contorted, and she tried to unravel herself from his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go. And a part of her didn’t want him to.

CHAPTER 10

“Let go of me,” Jameela said as she struggled to get free.

“No,” he told her and held her even closer. “Not until you agree to be calm and hear me out.”

“How did you get in here?” she asked him as her temper simmered.

When he was sure she would listen to reason, he slowly released his grip on her. “I have my ways.”

“Let me guess; it wasn’t hard to charm the attendant,” she said and folded her arms defensively before her.

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