20. Chapter 20 A Mahr that is So Much More than Money #2
"If I could change the way things happened, I would, but I can't. Don't throw a good man's love away because he did what he needed to in order to protect his mother. I’m the one who put marriage into the contract and I'm the one who took it out."
"Gabriel said you took the arranged marriage addendum out."
"I did. And he still wants to marry you. What does that tell you?" my father demands, out of abject apology mode completely.
That he suspects I'm pregnant?
Or that he loves me like he says he does.
I'm still asking myself the same question when Gabriel finds me in the library later.
I smile up at him. "Done wheeling and dealing?"
"More like interviewing someone to take over as CEO of the mining consortium."
Shocked, I blink up at him trying to parse what he's saying. "But you've built the company into a global concern. You did that."
"I did," he agrees. "However, there are only so many hours in a day and fulfilling the role as sheikh of my people while also being a full-time CEO of a major company would leave no time for us."
"Us, like you and me?" My heart squeezes.
"Exactly like you and me. I do not want to be gone for at least a week a month attending meetings abroad and working until after you have already gone to sleep most nights."
"That's your current schedule?" I ask faintly.
"Yes, until our courtship. I had to delegate a great deal to both my vice president and vice regent to spend the two weeks in New Mexico and to oversee the building of Is?ablāt Jawharat al-Qalb since my return."
And he doesn't want to go back to a schedule that would allow for almost no personal time for us. Because he loves me?
"My dad said he showed you some pictures when you were making the deal about the arranged marriage."
As he so often does, Gabriel pulls me up and into his body. Like being even a foot away from me is too far. "He did."
"What were they of? I mean, I know they were me, but were they like touched up, or something?" Oh, man. That's pure old insecurities right there.
"Come with me and I will show you." He leads me to his office.
I expect him to pull a file from his desk drawer or something, but he picks up a picture frame that's sitting on the top of his desk, angled so he can look at it while he's working.
The picture is one Tessa took of me beside the pool. I'm fully dressed, of course. I only ever got into my swimsuit when I was sure mom and dad wouldn't be around to make helpful comments about either losing weight or wearing a swimsuit designed to hide my tummy and thighs.
But I'm smiling because it's Tessa and having her around always makes me happy.
Still, there's nothing special about the photo. I'm wearing my usual frumpy clothes, designed to hide the curves of my body so no one could comment on them. I'm not wearing makeup, or anything, either.
"My dad said that you were taken with my pictures," I say, my difficulty believing that claim saturating my tone.
"I was. When I got the videos that came with the deep dive report I had the private investigator compile on you, I spent an inordinate amount of time watching each clip."
I turn and stare up at him.
There's a wary expression in his dark eyes. He's admitting to having had a deep dive report done on me and that he spent a lot of time watching the video clips of me.
"Like a stalker?" I tease.
Red scores his cheekbones above the close-cropped beard. "Yes."
"That's kind of sweet."
"I'm glad you think so."
"Mark didn't do a deep dive on you, but he did research you, your family and Zahriya for me."
"He is a good brother-in-law. Your siblings are very protective of you."
"They love me."
"I understand that need to protect you, but in the beginning, I did not realize it was motivated by love."
"No, you told me love wasn't something you were offering when you asked me to marry you."
"I was a fool."
"Not a fool, but maybe blind to your own feelings."
He shrugs. "If you say so."
If he loves me, that is exactly what I say. "So, you're cutting back your hours at work. How does your father feel about you hiring a CEO for the mining consortium?"
"He thinks it is a smart thing to do and hopes I can convince Zayed to do the same. There are responsibilities he carries that he does not have to as the Crown Prince and others he cannot delegate."
"But not Karim?" I ask.
"Karim's region requires far less governance because it's a much smaller population center than Ayn al-Hayat or the Sahar Gulf."
"Oh. Maybe that's why your dad thought it was a good training ground for the Crown Prince. Only, he didn't take into account how much time university would take."
"Or that there was political and business unrest when my brother took over because the region had been without a sheikh in residence for so long."
"Little governance is not no governance."
"Just so."
The next day, I get a phone call from DeeDee telling me that Gabriel has asked her if she would consider coming to Zahriya to teach for a year.
"He said that if I decide to stay longer, he will make it happen too," DeeDee says in a tone laced with shocked excitement.
"He wants you to come here?"
"Yep. To make your transition easier."
"That's…" My voice trails off.
"Over the top. Incredibly sweet? Super romantic?" DeeDee offers.
"All of the above." Gabriel is pulling out all the stops on convincing me I can be happy in Zahriya.
"Are you going to do it?" I ask.
"You know I was looking into the opportunity to teach English in Korea for a year, right? I want to travel and being able to hang out with my bestie, the sheikha, only makes it that much more appealing."
"I'm not sure what kind of sheikha I will be but he built me a rescue and therapy stables." I tell DeeDee all about my mahr.
"That's it. I'm not getting married until I meet a man who is that gone on me. That's seriously amazing, right? There's no way he had spare time to make that happen, but he didn't delegate it."
"No. He delegated his other responsibilities so he could do it."
"That man loves you with the heat of a thousand suns."
DeeDee's words are still ringing in my ears when I get the video call request from Tessa. It's on the service that can show multiple people on the call and I see why when Mark shows up on his own screen and Bobby on another.
"Gabriel offered me a job as the Satellite Operations Manager. Apparently, they have an entire fleet they sell time from to other countries."
"He offered me a position as an associate art curator for the royal residences," Tessa says, sounding bemused. "He made sure to tell me it would require no more hours than I currently work because not only am I not the only curator, but I could have an assistant."
"Um…" I don't know what to say.
Bobby gives me a sardonic grin. "He didn't offer me a job, but he did provide details on how he discovered my secret sideline and how to make sure no one else does. He told me he wasn't giving you up. I guess he meant it."
"He says he loves me." Those darn pregnancy hormones are making my eyes leak again.
"Don't you believe him?" Mark asks, looking bewildered.
"Of course she doesn't. Not after dad made making her fall in love with him part of a business deal."
"But even if he did all the right things, without that thing that draws soul mates together, Jules wouldn't still love him. I mean, she could have thought she did," Mark says to his wife. "But not after she learned the truth and you do still love him, right?"
I nod, unwilling to give voice to the words just yet.
"Right. And he loves you. Because that soul connection goes both ways. Just ask your sister."
Tessa gives Mark googly eyes over the video call.
Bobby shakes his head. "Yeah, I don't know about soul mates, little sis, but that man would move the world for you."
They're right. DeeDee was right. My dad was right. They all see what I've refused to acknowledge deep in my heart since Gabriel proposed and told me he was offering me devotion, respect and affection but not love.
Prince Gabriel Hassan Al Qadir, Sheikh Jabal al-Dhahab loves me.
And I love him enough to believe that.
"I've got to go," I tell my sibs. "Listen, Mark…Tessa, I know Gabriel wants me to be happy, but I don't want you upending your life to move here. I'll be happy because he's here. That's all that really matters to me."
I ring off before they have a chance to answer.
I have some plans to make.