Gaelen bristled, interrupting. “You were a virgin! The bastard took advantage of you!”
She froze for a long moment and blinked at Gaelen. Then she registered Amit’s expression and Tarin’s. All three of her brothers thought she was a virgin?
After smothering a slightly hysterical burst of laughter, she looked at her brothers, trying to be gentle but…good grief! “Guys, I’m twenty-seven years old!” she exploded. “Think about it! How many women had you had sex with by the time you were twenty-seven?”
Amit waved her argument off. “That’s irrelevant! You’re a woman!”
She laughed again, shaking her head in astonishment. “Seriously?! You think that women don’t have sexual desires until after a wedding band is on their finger? Then how have you all had as much sex as you have? Do you know of anyone, man or woman, who was still a virgin by the time they were twenty-seven?”
No one answered her.
Pulling back, she nodded emphatically as their silence confirmed her point. “Exactly! I’m a normal, healthy woman with normal healthy desires. This baby is a result of those normal desires, although I should have been more careful about the precautions.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Regardless, I will raise this child, by myself. The father will never know. And he won’t interfere. I promise.”
“What’s his name?” Amit hissed, still seething.
She shook her head. “I’m not telling you. I know that my silence is going to cause problems, but telling you would be even worse. So, can we move on, please?”
“I think knowing the father’s name is a pretty big issue,” Tarin argued.
She sighed, wishing this conversation was over already. “No, the biggest issue is whether or not the three of you can accept my child into this family without prejudice. If there is even an inkling of doubt in any of your minds, I need to know about it now. Or if it occurs to you in the future that you will disrespect this child of mine in any way, act with anything except love and support, then I will leave. Tonight. I’ll go somewhere else to raise my child.”
Her threat stunned them into silence.
“You’re tired,” Tarin finally announced. “This isn’t a conversation to have tonight.”
Amit nodded in agreement. “Come back and have dinner with us. We’ll talk about this more after dinner.”
Talia shook her head. “Not a chance,” she grumbled. “You’re dismissing my very understandable anger and I won’t be patronized.” She pulled her shoulders back. “I’ll have the kitchen send me something here. I think I need to be alone for a while.”
Her brothers obviously weren’t done yet and shared a collective glance. But none could come up with a good enough argument to bring her back to the dining room for a more thorough conversation.
“Fine,” Tarin finally sighed, apparently speaking for all three of them. “But this conversation isn’t over. We need to talk about it.”
Talia shrugged. “Not if you’re just going to push me about who the father is,” she declared, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.
“Talia, this isn’t…”
“This stress isn’t good for my baby,” she interrupted, not sure if it was true or not, but the comment got the expected results. All three of her brothers were speechless a moment before they backed away.
“Fine. Eat something healthy and get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow morning,” Amit announced. “How about if we all meet in my office at nine o’clock?”
Tarin and Gaelen both nodded, then the three turned as one and left, not bothering to ask for her agreement.
Talia watched them leave, feeling a deep sense of loss. Loss of their respect, loss of their friendship, probably, and loss of the special trust that had always been there. It had grown stronger since the passing of their oldest sister, but now it was gone.
When she was finally alone, Talia dropped onto the sofa, exhaustion pouring over her like a tidal wave. She closed her eyes, wondering what Orella would do in this situation.
Of course, for all of Orella’s faults, she’d at least gotten married before she got pregnant.
So much for being daring and adventurous, Talia thought as she curled her legs up underneath her and laid her head on a fat, fluffy pillow. Orella would probably have flown off to Paris to enjoy the next few months of her pregnancy. She’d eat delicious foods, laugh with the new friends she’d make with her neighbors, and dance the night away.
Talia looked at tomorrow’s schedule, which Rachel had thoughtfully left on her desk. There were five meetings scheduled for the next day, six for the following, and Talia knew that her schedule would be the same for the rest of the week. Talia worked six days a week as well as most nights. If she wasn’t attending a benefit for a hospital fundraiser or meeting with parent groups at one of the various schools around the country, she was helping her brothers with their diplomatic or business events.
Orella never had the time for those sorts of things, Talia thought, fighting back a sense of doom. Her personal desire to be free, daring, and adventurous would never truly materialize. She just…wasn’t that kind of a person. Talia needed to accept that aspect of her personality. As fun loving and wild as Orella had been, Talia knew that she was the opposite.
Covering her stomach where her baby nestled in her womb, she whispered, “We’ll have adventures together!”
Chapter 15
Santos was ready to punch something or someone. Stalking into his office, he stopped in the middle and stood very still, fighting to calm his raging temper.
Once again, thoughts of Talia intruded but he pushed them away. He’d never had a temper before he’d met her. Yet another reason why it was a good thing that she wasn’t in his life anymore. Now, he could get back to normal.
And yet, it had been six months since he’d last seen her, he thought with increasing bitterness. Six damn months! When were things going to get back to normal? He’d been trying to push thoughts of her away for too long, damn it! He was working longer hours, pushing himself and his team hard in order to keep himself from thinking about her, remembering her soft curves and her sweet sighs, the light in her eyes when she laughed and the gentle way she’d touch him that had always made his body throb with lust.
“Your Highness,” his aide interrupted the rush of memories and Santos turned, glaring at the man who froze mid-stride.
“What is it?” Santos demanded, struggling and failing to temper his tone. His people were afraid to approach him these days. Not much of a shock, since he was ready to berate anyone for even the smallest mistake.
His aide approached warily. “Prince Gaelen el Raminar has requested a meeting, sire.”
Santos stared at the man in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” he snapped, but this wasn’t a bellow like he’d done in the past. This was a soft, furious whisper. The soft tone was even more ominous than the yelling and his aide stepped back.
“No, Sire. Not a joke. Prince el Raminar suggested neutral ground. But he wouldn’t explain why.”
Santos stared hard, trying to figure out Gaelen’s mission. “He wants to meet with me? After placing a spy in my path during our last negotiations?” Santos threw the pen down on his desk. “Tell him to go to hell!”
The aide backed away, his eyes wide with surprise. Santos heard the office door close softly.
Thinking back, six months ago was a long time. And a lot had happened since then. Unfortunately, a lot hadn’t happened either. Neither he nor his team of investigators had been able to resolve the mystery of the warehouse break-in, for one thing. Nor had he heard about who had attacked the town of Lucent. There were rumors that it was someone inside of Izara, but the ambassador to that country hadn’t heard anything official.
It was the rumors that bothered him the most. If someone from Izara had attacked the country, why had they done so? And why try to blame it on Padar? And what the hell was Talia doing? Was she okay? Was she sleeping and eating well? Was she…?
A s
tream of epithets let loose in the silent office and Santos braced his stretched out arms against his desk, closing his eyes in an effort to get her out of his mind. But just as had happened over the past six damn months, closing his eyes caused Talia’s smile to appear behind his eyes.
“Wait!” he bellowed.
Almost immediately, his aide stepped back into the office.
Santos frowned, debating his next move. In the end, he knew that there wasn’t anything else he could do. He had to know.
“Tell Prince Gaelen that we can meet. In Paris. Or some other neutral country. His choice.”
The man bowed and scurried out of his office before Santos changed his mind.
With relish, Santos considered his options, eagerly anticipating the idea of throwing the man’s spy back in his face. And maybe he could find out if Talia was okay. If she was…!
Damn it!
He spun around and stomped out of his office. He needed to exorcise her from his mind somehow!
Chapter 16
Santos walked into the conference room, his gaze skimming the chairs. But instead of the person he wanted to see, he found Gaelen at the other end of the conference table.
“No spy this time around?” he asked sharply.
Gaelen’s eyes narrowed slightly and Santos had the distinct impression he was confused. “From your tone, it sounds like you’re not interested in a serious peace conference,” Gaelen replied and stood up. “Let’s not waste each other’s time. If you don’t want this, then let’s move on.”
With that, Gaelen headed towards the exit.
Santos watched him for a moment, questions building up in his throat.
“How is she?” he asked just as Gaelen’s hand touched the doorknob.
Gaelen paused, glancing back at Santos curiously. “How is who?” he asked.
Santos crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the man. “Talia! How is she?”
For some strange reason, the other man stiffened. “How the hell do you know my sister?” Gaelen demanded, moving back towards the table. Leaning forward, he rested his fists on the polished surface, glaring daggers at Santos.
Six months of seething anger, resentment, and betrayal boiled over. “You damn well know what happened. Stop pretending you bastard!”
Gaelen didn’t move. He didn’t even seem to breathe. “When did you meet my sister?”
Santos wanted to reach across the table and strangle him. “Is. She. Okay?” he repeated, about ready to take a swing at the man, which he’d dearly love to do. Anything that might release this horrible, aching anger would be welcome.
But Gaelen didn’t move. “Tell me how you know of her,” Gaelen replied, his voice deadly quiet.
Santos mimicked his posture, not one to back down. He was too furious at how he’d been played. “You threw her at me, didn’t you? You played me for a fool!”
Gaelen seemed ready to spring. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Back in New York, you bastard! You put her in my path. Was she your temptress? Do you whore her out for…?”
Santos didn’t finish that question since he was now flat on his back staring up at the ceiling, his mouth throbbing. He felt Gaelen grab hold of his shirt and haul him upwards. But Gaelen wasn’t the only one ready to battle it out. For six long months, Santos had been fuming about Talia’s betrayal and now he finally had an outlet for his fury!
Hauling back, he swung at the other man, aiming high and striking him on the chin. Back and forth, the fists flew. If the conference room table hadn’t been in the way, they might have had a more satisfactory battle. Or perhaps if one of them were smaller, less capable, the battle would have over more quickly.
But since they were equally schooled in hand to hand combat, plus they both had righteous fury behind their fists, the fight wasn’t over fast. In fact, the battle took out a beautiful credenza, smashed two side chairs, cracked a mirror, and damaged some other furniture to the point that it was no longer recognizable.
Even that wouldn’t have stopped them, except that they were too well matched. After a particularly good jab to the stomach from Santos and a reciprocating kick to the back from Gaelen, the two men lay sprawled on the floor, side by side, groaning and staring up at the ceiling. It was a miracle that their guards and aides hadn’t been alerted by the noise!
“You’re a bastard!” Gaelen muttered, although his jaw hurt too much to get a really good growl out.
“And you’re a lying, cheating ass!” Santos replied, touching his bloody, swollen lip, cringing slightly at the mess he could imagine was his mouth.
Gaelen sat up, groaned, then moved until his back was against the wall. With his un-swollen eye, he turned to glare at the other man. “Just tell me how you know my sister.”
Santos sighed, pulling himself up and trying to scoot away, to put more space between himself and his enemy. But he was in too much pain to put much effort into it. “You know why. She was your spy. You had her spying on me when we tried to negotiate the peace treaty in New York.”
Gaelen thought about that for a moment. “Talia and I never spoke about peace talks while I was in New York. In fact, we rarely saw each other. She even moved to a different hotel. That period was when I’d met my wife, Savannah, and I was preoccupied.”
Santos scoffed, which was immediately followed by a hiss of pain. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Right. Are you going to try to tell me that you didn’t set Talia up as a spy?”
Gaelen lifted his arm, but he was too sore and the punch had no power this time. “My sister was busy with meetings. She wasn’t my spy and if you ever call her a whore again, I’ll kill you.” He sighed and slowly got to his feet, smothering a groan of pain in the process. “Are you telling me that you met my sister in New York?”
Santos struggled to his feet as well, refusing to remain on the floor when the other man was standing. “Yes. She and I met. We were…”
“Don’t!” Gaelen interrupted. “Don’t say another word or I will have to kill you.” He sighed, rubbing his arm absently. “But if what you’re telling me is the truth, then I need you to…” he stopped and closed his eyes. If his suspicions were on target, then Santos deserved to know.
“You need to talk with her. Immediately.”
Santos shifted his weight off his left leg, which, after one of the bastard’s kicks, hurt like nobody’s business! There was probably some deep muscle bruising there. The man kicked like a horse!
“I don’t think there’s anything to say to each other. I just…” he closed his eyes. “I just came here to ask…is she okay? I haven’t…I…” he sighed, his shoulders sagging with defeat. “Just tell me that she’s okay. That she’s eating and she’s happy.”
Gaelen muttered something under his breath. “Don’t you dare tell me that you’re in love with my sister! I don’t think I could stomach that right now!”
Santos looked down at his tie, realized that it was torn and pulled it off. “I’m not in love with her. I thought I was, at one point, but that was before I found out that she was your spy.”
Gaelen shook his head, ignoring the shooting pain in his shoulder with the movement. “She wasn’t spying for me, you idiot. I already told you, she didn’t know anything about our peace talks. No one did. Hell, at the time, I barely even saw her. I was too busy trying to…well, be with Savannah, my wife. She was…we had some challenges at the beginning of our relationship. Maybe if I’d been paying attention to Talia more, protecting her, then she wouldn’t…” He stopped and frowned at Santos.
Santos narrowed one eye, which wasn’t very effective as an intimidation tactic. Unfortunately, the other was swollen shut. “She wouldn’t…what? Is she okay?” A burst of fear shot through him. “What’s wrong with her?”
Gaelen shook his head. “You need to talk with her.” He sighed wearily. “I’ll have her come to Paris. Just…don’t leave town. You need to talk with her.”
Santos tossed his tie into the
trash and pulled the door open. “Fine. But we’re done. There will be no talks. I just…if she’s here tomorrow, I’ll speak with her. Or maybe not. Just….maybe I’ll see her.” He closed his eyes in defeat, and his head slumped forward. “I need to know that she’s okay.”
Without another word, Santos walked out of the conference room, feeling as if he’d revealed too much already.
Passing by his aide, he said, “We made a mess of that room. Tell our hosts to bill me for the damages.” Then he left the building.
Chapter 17
“I don’t understand why you wanted me here, Gaelen,” Talia said as she moved over to one of the overstuffed chairs and sank down into the cushions gratefully. “What’s the emergency? And what happened to your face?” Talia demanded, looking at her bruised and battered brother with increasing concern.
He stood watching her, his anger still simmering. “Are you seriously never going to tell any of us who the father is, Talia?”
She shifted in the chair, but this time, it wasn’t because of her baby resting on her sciatic nerve. He was so darn persistent! “Why do you need to know his name? It isn’t important.”
He rubbed a hand over his neck. “Would the father think the same thing?”
Talia didn’t want to think about Santos. Would he care that she was pregnant? He’d been aware of the possibility. In fact, he’d been the one to warn her that morning. “He doesn’t care. If he’d cared, he would have contacted me by now.”
That was true enough. She’d stopped reaching out to him months ago when he hadn’t responded to her text messages. Still, Gaelen had a point and she didn’t like second-guessing herself.
“Have you told him specifically about the baby?”
The Sheik's Scandal (The Raminar Family Book 3) Page 11