Page 22 of Unknown Royal Baby

The other?

She sounded scornful, as if she hadn’t enjoyed sex with him. Despite the gravity of the current situation, which far outweighed whatever carnal joy they’d had, Isam bristled. No woman had ever found him an unsatisfactory lover.

‘What would you call it, then, if not an affair?’

She couldn’t have thought he was offering a permanent relationship! Even foreigners understood that a king’s bride had to meet a whole slew of requirements.

It would be disastrous for a royal sheikh to marry a woman who wasn’t up to the job.

His wife would be more than his companion and lover. She’d be Queen of Zahdar. She’d help him in his work to support their people and keep their country thriving, with the best prospects for the future. She’d be in the public eye every day, a role model to many.

Avril made a dismissive gesture. ‘I’d call it a one-night stand. What else?’

Isam heard the words but instantly rejected them. He jerked back in his seat, pulse chaotic and thoughts whirring.

‘A one-night stand?’

He felt his eyes bulge. Saw her say something but couldn’t make it out over the hammer of his pulse in his ears.

The edge of his vision misted, blurring into grey. But he saw her, every line and curve clearly defined.

She spoke again and this time he caught the words. ‘I said, what else would you call it? We were only together for one night.’

A one-night stand!

With his personal assistant.

A woman dependent on him for employment and a reference.

A virgin.

A terrible, crawling sensation began in his belly, slithering all over him, making his flesh shrink against his bones.

What sort of man was he?

It seemed people had been right to question after all.

He shot to his feet, paced the small room, then paced back again, unable to sit still. Emotions thrashed through him, needing an outlet.

He swung around again and there was Avril, blocking his way. When she spoke her voice was softer. ‘Isam. What is it? I don’t understand.’

Nor did he. If anyone had told him he was a man who’d seduce an innocent then dump her after one night, he’d have been insulted. He’d have claimed it was impossible.

Maryam, their daughter, proved him wrong.

He clutched his head, pain flaring at the effort to dredge up the proof that it wasn’t true.

‘Isam! You’re worrying me. Come and sit before you fall down.’

‘I’m not going to fall,’ he muttered. ‘I’m in peak physical fitness.’

His rehabilitation regime had been taxing. Determined to recuperate quickly, he’d pushed himself even harder. He’d always been fit and now he was stronger physically than ever before.

‘You’re swaying on your feet. Your face has gone grey.’

She half led, half pushed him into a chair. Despite the adrenaline rush in his blood, he felt as if his bones melted into the welcoming upholstery. He trembled all over.

Shock. More than shock. He sometimes got this heady feeling when he pushed too hard. But not usually this bad.