Chapter 11
I have nothing to do with this. Whatever Prince Kaled does with his life, even if there’s a line of girlfriends waiting for him, is none of my business, I repeat to myself over and over in silence.
Still, a strange, unpleasant feeling, one I’ve never experienced before, rises inside me, a sort of bitterness that makes me wish I hadn’t overheard that conversation.
I knew we should have waited for him to approach us, but Jazmina, with her usual impulsiveness, ended up putting us in an awkward situation, making us witness the prince’s private moment.
“You could’ve spared us that,” my friend scolds, with absolutely no right to—after all, we’re the ones who invaded his personal space.
“I would have, if you weren’t so nosy. Ever heard of giving someone privacy when they’re on the phone?”
Despite his thunderous voice, he doesn’t seem angry, and I finally allow myself to breathe again. The last thing we need is for him to regret bringing us here and decide to send us back to Rheadur.
Jazmina walks up to her brother, and he opens his arms to her.
Kaled is so strong. So tall. So powerful.
What would it feel like to be held by him?
My face burns, and I lower my gaze.
“That’s not how you treat a girlfriend,” my friend scolds, because she definitely doesn’t know when to stop.
“She wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“I don’t want to hear that.”
“Then stay out of it.”
“Enough! We’re making a terrible impression on Adeela. Come meet my friend.”
Jazmina steps out of his arms and moves aside, and her brother walks closer to me.
I’m nervous, unsure what to do.
“Oh, but we’ve already met,” he says. “I saw you both dance, remember?”
I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I risk a glance upward, but what I see makes me look down again.
One corner of his mouth lifts in a near-smile, and, if that’s even possible, it makes him even more handsome.
No wonder that woman, Ingrid, didn’t want to let him go.
“Anyway,” my friend continues, apparently unaware of her brother’s teasing tone, “you two still need a proper introduction. Kaled, this is my dearest friend, Adeela. Be good to her, because I love her more than our blood sisters. Adeela, this is my brother, Prince Kaled. You can dislike him now while he’s still not sheikh, but hurry, time’s running out.
Once he is, we’ll have to pretend we adore him. ”
For the first time, I find the courage to look at more than just his face.
He’s wearing Western clothes: a navy-blue suit with a vest, gray tie, and white shirt.
Once, Jazmina told me that Kaled floats between two worlds, feeling equally at home in both Eastern and Western cultures.
Now I understand what she meant. He looks perfectly comfortable, dressed like one of those businessmen who sometimes visit our country, and just as handsome in this suit as he is in the traditional tunic of Rheadur.
He stands there, maybe half a step closer than would be considered proper in our society, and a wave of heat rolls through me as my gaze rises, tracing him.
I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t help myself.
When I finally dare to meet his eyes, I choke on the intensity of his gaze.
He doesn’t move or say a word, and it takes me a few seconds to realize what he’s waiting for.
In our culture, if a woman doesn’t offer her hand first, a man must never take the initiative.
He could spare me the awkwardness by simply placing his right hand over the left side of his chest, another common greeting, but something tells me the prince is testing me, seeing if I’ll have the courage to touch him.
Normally, I wouldn’t. But right now, I feel challenged.
Trembling, though trying not to show it, I offer my hand. Something flashes in his eyes, though I can’t tell what.
Now he’s the one hesitating, and when I’m about to pull back, his large hand closes over mine.
I can’t stop myself from looking down, fascinated by the contrast between his strength and my fragility.
And the warmth.
Touching Kaled feels like standing under a ray of sunlight, the heat sinking into my skin, burning in my veins.
“Adeela, welcome to Paris,” he says, still not letting go, and I shiver.
“Your Highness, thank you for having me,” I manage, forcing myself to form a coherent sentence.
“We’re not in Rheadur. Here, I’m just Kaled.”
The man is a contradiction. Even as he asks for informality, his words sound like a command.
Neither of us makes a move to let go, and I know I should pull back, but I can’t resist the need to feel him a little longer.
“Say it,” he orders softly.
“I don’t think I should—”
But before I can finish, Jazmina cuts in. “You’ll be staying at his house. There’s no point in being so formal, Adeela.” Then she walks away to speak with the guards about our luggage.
“All right. Thank you for having us, Kaled.”
The tip of his thumb brushes the back of my hand, making me strangely breathless.
“Was that so hard?” he asks before finally releasing me, slowly.
“No.” I take a step back. I feel overwhelmed, my body flooded with sensations I don’t recognize.
I don’t keep looking at him—my courage has limits—but I can still feel his gaze on me.
To my relief, Jazmina returns a moment later.
“Are you taking us to dinner?” she asks bluntly.
“Jazmina, I don’t think your brother has time for that,” I say, mortified. If we were alone, I’d probably step on her foot for putting me in such an awkward spot. Most likely, the prince prefers to dine only with family.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks, stepping aside to let her into the limousine and waiting for me to follow.
He comes in right after me and sits across from us, leaving me no choice but to face him. He’s talking to his sister, but his eyes stay on me.
“It doesn’t matter where,” Jazmina says.
“I just want to have some fun. I haven’t left Rheadur in six months.
” She pauses dramatically, and not for the first time, I think how she’d make a brilliant actress.
“But if we’re going out, we need to stop by a good lingerie store first. In her rush to leave home, Adeela forgot all her underwear. ”
“I can’t believe you said in front of your brother that I had no underwear!” I whisper, half horrified, half laughing, because her words actually made the prince look uncomfortable.
Apparently, even he doesn’t know all the shades of his crazy little sister.
“Oh, please. Think of him as an older brother. Kaled’s thirty-five; I’m sure he’s picked out lingerie for plenty of his lovers.”
I hide the discomfort that rises in me, not just because I have no practical experience with such things, but because the idea of Kaled being that intimate with another woman bothers me more than it should. “Anyway, don’t do that again. It was embarrassing.”
“Sorry, I promise to think before I speak next time,” she says, hugging me. “But in the end, everything worked out fine, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
More than fine, actually, since he had an entire lingerie boutique, which according to Jazmina is one of the most expensive brands in the world, closed just for us to shop.
Now I own a dozen new sets of underwear, each more beautiful than the last. It seemed excessive, but Jazmina insisted she’d be offended if I refused the gifts.
To my relief, the prince chose to wait in the car, saying he had phone calls to make. I would’ve died of embarrassment if he’d been in the same room while I picked out panties.
Now we’re getting ready for dinner at a restaurant. Jazmina said she’s going without her headscarf and encouraged me to do the same, but I’m not sure.
It’s become part of me, and I’m afraid I’ll feel exposed without it.
“I’m happy to know you’re safe,” she says, for the first time since the flight bringing up the real reason we’re here.
“Thank you. I’ll never have enough life to repay you.”
“I’d never let your father force you to marry someone, especially a man who made it clear he meant to hurt you. I’d go to the ends of the earth to protect you. I’d use every resource I had.”
I sit on the bed and stare at my hands, frightened and uncertain of the future. “Your brother is a good man. Even without knowing why, he brought us into his home.”
“Kaled’s the best brother anyone could have. And if you want my advice, we should tell him the truth. Why we really needed to come here.”
I take a deep breath, still unsure whether I can trust the future sheikh.
“Not the part about me not planning to go back to Rheadur. I can tell him almost everything, but not that. I know he adores you, but that’s because you’re his little sister.
That doesn’t mean he’d support my decision to flee the country he’ll soon rule. ”