16. Kareem
CHAPTER 16
KAREEM
“ Y ou’ll be fine to meet with the vendors by yourself today?” Kareem asked.
“I’m on top of it,” Keira assured him with a warm smile. She rested a hand briefly on his shoulder as she picked up his breakfast plate, and Kareem’s heart missed a beat.
He had worried that things would be awkward between the two of them following the unexpected kiss — and to an extent, they had been. They’d spent the following day stealing glances at each other and speaking much less than they ordinarily would have. But now, two days after that, things had settled into a comfortable routine — even if it was a routine that gave Kareem more questions than answers.
Like now. The way her hand lingered on his shoulder. What was he to make of that? Clearly she was choosing to touch him, not shying away from close physical contact. Did that mean she had been so unaffected by the kiss that she simply didn’t perceive touches like this one as meaningful or unusual? Did it mean that she was trying to force things to seem normal between the two of them? Or did it mean… could it mean that she wanted another kiss and was trying to steer things in that direction?
He didn’t know. All he knew for sure was that she wasn’t choosing to avoid him, and for that he was deeply thankful.
“Remember, we need to sign the contracts with all of the food vendors by the end of the week,” Kareem said.
“I know,” Keira told him with a smile. “I’m on top of it, I told you. You don’t need to worry. Focus on your meeting with your father — do you know what it’s all about?”
“No. He just said that he needed to see me.”
Keira said nothing, and Kareem was sure that she was thinking the same thing he was. A summons from Kareem’s father might be very bad news indeed. It could mean that he had found out about the race, and if he had, there was simply no telling what his response might be.
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Keira asked.
“No. You need to meet with the vendors. That has to happen today. Besides, I don’t think it would help matters for us to go together,” Kareem said. This might turn out to be nothing at all. Maybe he wants to have lunch with me because he’s interested in how things are going in our marriage. Maybe he wants to do something kind to welcome you to the family. We shouldn’t jump to the worst conclusion.”
“You’re right,” Keira said with a smile. “And whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it.”
Warmth spread through Kareem when she said we . He liked that they were a team. It did make him feel more confident, more capable of taking on whatever lay ahead for them. This, he thought, must be the reason people chose to get married in the first place — so they would have someone to stand by their side during whatever life threw at them. It didn’t mean that he was going to get married, of course. But it felt good to understand the motive for that behavior nonetheless.
“Call me if you need help with anything today,” he said, getting to his feet. “But I trust you to make the right choices for us. I know you’ll do what needs to be done to get us prepared for the event.”
“I’ll do my best,” Keira said.
Kareem wasn’t worried. He had the utmost faith in her. The only thing that worried him was what he might be in for when he faced his father — but there was nothing for it but to head over to the palace and get this meeting over with.
His father was waiting for him when he arrived. His expression was somber — lips pressed into a thin line, gaze fixed on Kareem’s face. Kareem’s anxiety elevated. Whatever was going on, it was clear that it was no minor thing.
“What’s this about?” he asked his father.
“Come into the study and sit down, Kareem,” his father said.
Kareem followed his father, seeing no way out of it. He felt as if he was a very young man again, about to be reprimanded for something he’d done wrong. His father’s scolding hadn’t gotten to him in years, but right now he knew that his father had the power to take away the thing he wanted most, and that was a very difficult thing to face.
“Sit down,” his father said, and Kareem sat.
His father sat across from him and looked him square in the face. After a few moments, it became obvious that he was waiting for Kareem to speak first.
Kareem had long since learned not to fall for that. If he spoke first, he risked getting himself into worse trouble than he was in already. He would wait to see what his father already knew.
“You were aware,” his father said eventually, “that any woman you brought home would have extensive background checks run on her. You were aware that we would investigate her thoroughly and find out everything there was to know. Did you think we wouldn’t catch on?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Kareem said.
“Keira Harding,” his father said. “Her family is well known in the United States, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t say they’re well known.”
“Stop it, Kareem. I already know, so you might as well admit it. You didn’t bring Keira here because you fell in love with her. You brought her here because of who she is.”
Kareem said nothing.
“Go on,” his father said. “Tell the truth. I looked into things here in Qalmar, and I know that a venue has been reserved for a major sporting event. That race you asked me about. You’re going ahead with it anyway, aren’t you? Despite my objections. Despite the conversation you and I had about it. You’ve decided to organize it anyway.”
Kareem drew a steadying breath. This would always have happened eventually, and he knew it. At some point, his father was always going to find out about the race, and Kareem would have had to admit to what he was doing. It was happening earlier than he had expected it to, but he had still known that it was coming, and he could still deal with it.
“All right,” he told his father, doing his best to maintain an even tone. “You’re right. I am planning a race.”
“And you’ve been lying to me about it, thinking that I wouldn’t find out.”
“I knew you’d find out,” Kareem countered. “I always planned to tell you eventually, Father. I just wanted to make sure that we had the plans in place before I spoke to you about it.”
“You did that because you wanted to make it more difficult for me to cancel the event,” his father said. “You wanted to make sure that it would go ahead. Isn’t that right?”
“I did want that,” Kareem agreed. There seemed to be no point in lying about it now. “I wanted to make sure our plans would come to fruition. I’ve worked hard on this. And, Father, I didn’t use any of the crown’s money. I respected what you said when you told me that you didn’t want to contribute to an event like this. I used my personal funds.”
“I suppose you think that makes it all right?”
Kareem waited. In fact, he was sure that it wouldn’t be all right with his father. But he wasn’t yet sure what the reasoning would be.
“You knew perfectly well that I didn’t want you to do this,” his father said. “You know what I think about racing and how I feel about your involvement with it.”
“Yes, I do,” Kareem said evenly. “I also know that you and I are never going to see eye to eye about this, Father. And I’m very sorry about that, but you simply cannot expect me to structure my entire life around trying to please you. The fact of the matter is that I have never been able to win your approval. I don’t believe I ever will be able to. I had to abandon the attempt eventually. I had to move on and allow myself to live the life I want to live. I’m sorry that’s disappointing to you, but you must acknowledge that everything I do is disappointing to you.”
“I have no hesitation about acknowledging that, ” his father said. “I’ll happily let you know what a disappointment you’ve been — and frankly, your passion for racing has very little to do with that.”
“Don’t expect me to believe this isn’t about racing, Father. That’s why you called me here today — because I’m planning a race and you don’t like it. Because you look down on motorsports and you always have.”
“I think it’s a foolish hobby,” his father agreed. “But people have foolish hobbies. You know I don’t like the fact that you’re publicly attaching your name to such a thing, but at the end of the day, it is your name, and you didn’t use crown money, so I can appreciate that. But the real problem is that you manipulated me and your mother. Pretending to be married in order to disguise what you were doing — that’s going too far, and I’m surprised that you didn’t realize that. I can’t believe you could bring that woman home and lie about a marriage to her in order to get what you wanted. I never dreamed you were so selfish.”
“It isn’t a lie. We really did get married,” Kareem insisted.
“And is it your intention to remain married?” his father asked, raising his eyebrows.
There was no good answer to that question, of course, so Kareem remained silent.
“You thought I wasn’t going to figure out this part of your plan,” his father surmised. “You knew that eventually I would catch on to this race of yours, but you thought I would never realize that you meant to end your marriage — or rather, not until it was too late for me to stop you. You thought you could use a marriage as a way to manipulate this whole family, to trick us into supporting you and turning a blind eye to your behavior. Isn’t that right?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Kareem said.
"All right. Tell me what it was like.”
There was nothing Kareem could say. The truth was that his father did have the measure of the situation, and although it hadn’t been as mean-spirited as what he was describing, Kareem couldn’t dispute the facts. He’d wanted his marriage to stop his family from looking too closely into his actions. That was the reason he had chosen to marry Keira.
There was more between them now. His feelings for her had changed, and it no longer felt as clear as it had before they had come to Qalmar.
“Father,” he said. “It might have begun that way, but things are different between the two of us now.” Surely his father would understand this. Hadn’t he talked all Kareem’s life about how his affection for Kareem’s mother had grown slowly? This wasn’t the same situation, but surely he would be able to acknowledge the value in a friendship that had grown where Kareem had not expected to find one.
But he shook his head. “What matters is that you lied,” he said. “You lied to me. You lied to your mother. You let us believe that this woman was joining our family, but it was all a ruse to help you get what you wanted. This is why I’ve always felt that you were too immature to be trusted with anything important, Kareem. I don’t think you’re even able to see why this is such a problem. Truly, I am very disappointed.”
He sighed. “You can have your race,” he said. “Since it was so important to you, and since you’ve already invested so much money in it — I won’t interfere. Do what you want. But the woman must leave Qalmar at once. I won’t take the risk of any more public attention being drawn to this sham of a marriage. And I expect you to finalize your divorce, quickly and quietly, as soon as you possibly can.”
Kareem felt as if a lead weight was sinking into the pit of his stomach.
“You're dismissed,” his father told him, not bothering to look up.