Page 67 of Just a Bit Captivated

Aiden tried to process it, but he couldn’t seem to think beyond the fact that Zain was… He was…“You—you married your brother’sbride?”

“Yes,” Zain said tonelessly.“It was the logical thing to do. I’m a bigger prize than Gadiel. Al Sharabi is happy. My father is happy—he got what he originally wanted. My irresponsible fuck-up of a brother is no doubt happy too. Everyone wins.”

It felt like there was something hard and painful lodged in his throat.

“What about u—you?” Aiden managed.“It’s not like you to be selfless.”

Zain finally turned his head to meet his gaze.“It wasn’t an entirely selfless decision,” he said, something tight about his expression.“It was self-preservation too.”

Aiden looked at him searchingly, not understanding—until he did.

“Oh,” he said in a small voice, his vision going blurry. Zain had agreed to the marriage to escapehim. It didn’t matter why he’d done it: whether Zain was running from his “unnatural,” inconvenient feelings or whether he didn’t trust himself to stay away from Aiden despite Damiano’s threats. It didn’t matter why; the end result was the same.

Zain didn’t want him enough.

He didn’t want him.

Zain’s expression became pinched.“Stop that,” he said roughly, clasping his hands together.“Don’t. Don’t cry, damn you.”

“I’m not crying,” Aiden said, wiping his eyes.“That would be stupid. What I feel for you isn’t real.”

Zain’s jaw locked.“Exactly. You’re young and confused. You’ll forget me within a few months.”

“Yeah,” Aiden said, forcing a shaky smile.“I will. Consider yourself forgotten. Bye.” Why was his vision only getting blurrier, damn it? His face felt wet.“Go away!” Aiden croaked out, pulling his knees to his chest and turning his face away.“Go. Please, Zain.” God, why did this hurt so much if his feelings weren’t real? If it was just stupid Stockholm syndrome?

“Aiden—” Zain said tightly.“Habibi—”

And then there were arms around him, tugging him against a firm, familiar chest, and Zain was kissing all over his face, whispering something in Arabic, and Aiden was clinging to him with all his strength, his senses going into overdrive. God, he missed him, he missed him so fucking much—

“Let go of my son!” They were yanked apart forcefully, and it took Aiden a moment to process what was going on through his tear-filled eyes.

There was his father, glaring at Zain, his face red with rage. There was his mother, holding Aiden tightly as if she was afraid that he’d be stolen away. There were the two burly bodyguards holding Zain back. There was Zain, his face stony and his eyes hard as he held Aiden’s father’s gaze.

“I don’t care what my son says,” his father spat out.“We all know what you did to him. We all know you brainwashed him and held him against his will. We don’t even need him to testify against you to press charges!” His eyes hardened. “We don’t even need to win in court, Mr. Rahim. Even the accusation of sodomy will be enough to destroy you—”

“Dad!” Aiden snapped, shaking his head frantically.“Don’t do that—you’re better than that!”

His father didn’t even glance at him, glowering at Zain.“Normally, I would never use such barbaric, discriminatory laws to threaten anyone with exposure. But to protect my son from a predator, I will. Don’t think I won’t. Stay away from him.”

His face expressionless, Zain wrenched himself free and walked to Aiden’s father. He said something, very quietly.

Aiden’s father’s lips thinned, something like discomfort flickering in his eyes. But his voice was still firm when he said,“Leave right now and never come back. My son doesn’t need you in his life. Aiden, tell him.”

When Zain turned to Aiden and looked at him searchingly, a lump formed in Aiden’s throat.

God, I love you.

It was the worst possible moment to realize that, but he could no longer remain in denial when above all, he wanted Zain to be all right. He cared more about Zain being safe than he cared about his own happiness.

It wassaid that when you really loved someone, you wanted that person to be safe, healthy, and happy, even if it was without you.Aiden had always scoffed at that, not believing that anyone would be that selfless.

But now he understood.

Any relationship between them would be extremely dangerous now that Zain was married to the daughter of the President of the UAE. Al Sharabi would have him killed or thrown in jail if Zain left his daughter to be a sodomite with Aiden.Anything between them was impossible now, even without Aiden’s father’s threats.

“Go,” Aiden whispered.

A muscle jumped in Zain’s jaw. He didn’t move.

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