by Leslie North
Shamsa frowned. “I know she used one of the palace drivers. She didn’t tell me where she was going, though.”
Malik was moving before he even had a plan. “Thank you,” he called over his shoulder.
He had to get in contact with the drivers. He had to find out where Holly had gone. And then he had some serious groveling to do. Malik’s veins hummed with adrenaline. Yes, he had been a royal idiot, in more ways than one. But there was still time to fix this if he acted fast.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the head of his security team. That would be the fastest way to find out where Holly had gone. If it was the airport, he’d need to get there immediately.
The call connected, and Malik rattled off the outlines of the situation. “I need a car out back, right now,” he finished. “I’m going to go find her.”
And he wouldn’t be satisfied until he brought her back home.
14
Holly hadn’t been able to stay at the palace. When she got back to her room, the rumpled bed caught her eye and sent a painful throb through her chest. She’d meant to sit down, catch her breath, and figure something out, but the scene at the oasis chafed at her skin. More than five minutes in the room would border on unbearable. Luckily, she’d packed light.
It hadn’t taken very long to throw her things into the suitcase, though it reminded her a bit too much of her first hasty exit from Qadir. As soon as she was done, Holly had flagged down one of the maids in the hallway and asked her to call a car. She’d headed toward the back entrance, drinking in the elegant sweep of the hallway one more time.
It felt almost illicit, using a palace driver, but she was angry enough at Malik not to care. On the way down the hall she’d expected to be stopped at any moment, but no one had said a word.
There was only one place she could think to go, and it was the hotel where she’d first stayed in Qadir. Her plan had been to rent a room for the night and find a flight back to the States.
Holly looked up at the hotel from the back of the SUV, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“Ms. Remington?”
“Yes,” she said, turning back toward the driver. “I’m—yes?”
“Did you have another destination in mind?”
The interior of the car seemed to press in around her, squeezing the available space. She gave the man a broad smile. “No, thank you.” A minute later, she was standing outside on the sidewalk, watching the SUV pull away. It would be sensible to gather her thoughts before she went to the airport—maybe even get some sleep.
But Holly couldn’t bring herself to go inside. Coming back to this hotel, where everything had started, had been a terrible idea. She took out her phone and called a taxi. New plan: get out of Qadir right now, on the first flight available.
The taxi was smaller and louder than the black SUV, but Holly’s shoulders relaxed as soon as the driver pulled away. She could always mull over her options while she was in the air. A bucketful of airport snacks and a mindless movie would do her good.
The taxi driver swung out into the traffic, and Holly’s cell phone rang in her purse. She reached for it without thinking. It was Clifton, calling from his cell phone. Her initial jolt of surprise was quickly replaced with irritation. Why was he calling her? He’d fired her just this morning. Holly hovered her thumb over the button to ignore the call.
Then she answered it anyway. At least it would pass the time to the airport.
“Clifton.” She laced her voice with a hint of scorn. Holly was done trying to please him. She’d done excellent work for his firm for a long time, and if he wanted to discount that because of what had happened with Malik, it was his loss.
“Holly,” Clifton boomed. “So glad to have caught you.”
What?
“I don’t have much time to talk,” she said in a clipped tone. “I’m on the way to my flight. We’ll be there in just a minute.” This was not exactly true. It was another fifteen minutes through the city to the airport.
“Then I’ll be quick,” Clifton said. “The royal family was very pleased with the proposal you put together. They would like to choose Berber Inc. as the official developer on the project.”
“What wonderful news.” An angry heat spun through Holly’s chest. What possible reason could he have to be calling her about this? She was no longer part of the company. What kind of asshole placed a thanks for a job well done call to someone he’d just fired?
She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. It was true. She’d done an excellent job, and then she’d lost everything. Holly had certainly lost Malik. He’d run away from her when they got back to the palace. He’d as good as told her she would never be his wife. That he didn’t trust her vision. She had lost the chance to work in a gorgeous country. Qadir couldn’t have been more different from New York City, but it was equally breathtaking, and she’d come to love it.
Love.
Holly’s heart seemed to expand, aching as it pressed against the cage of her ribs. Was it Qadir that she loved, or was it a man named Malik? To Holly, he seemed like the heart and soul of Qadir itself. She couldn’t think of one without the other. Every time her thoughts traced the contours of his face, the pain at the center of her chest faded underneath a bright warmth.
Yes. She loved him.
Holly clenched her teeth to keep a wave of tears at bay. She’d sobbed alone in her room, but she had no interest in crying in front of the cab driver. Or anyone else. Crying wouldn’t change what had happened. She couldn’t see a way past the walls that had sprung up between them. Malik clearly saw her as a wrecking ball poised to blast through the heart of his country and make way for high-rises and condos, and nothing she said to him was going to convince him otherwise. How would he ever trust her again, even if she could?
Love—the kind of love that Holly found herself suddenly and powerfully consumed with—wasn’t going to work out between them. When she was back in New York City, she could arrange for a lawyer to act as an intermediary to figure out the custody arrangements as amicably as possible, and then she would have to move on with her life. She had no other choice, as much as it hurt.
“Holly? Maybe I should call her back,” Clifton grumbled.
“I’m here,” she said. He’d been talking for a while, she realized now, but she’d been lost in her own thoughts. “Say that again?”
She caught a light sigh from Clifton and rolled her eyes.
“The royal family has laid out some conditions for selecting the firm that I thought you should be aware of.”
“Oh? What are those?” Her irritation leaped up another notch. Clifton had about another ten seconds to say something useful before she turned off her phone and threw it out the window of the taxi.
“They’ll only use Berber Inc. if you’re in charge of the project.”
Holly’s heart thumped once, then twice, so loud she thought the taxi driver might hear it. A wild laugh rose in her throat. Well, wasn’t he just screwed, then? He had fired her. That was rich.
“Is that so?” Her tone betrayed none of what she was feeling. Holly had never been so grateful to her father in all her life. He’d given her so many chances to perfect the outward management of emotions, and it was paying off in spades. Letting Clifton dangle was simply too delicious.
“It is,” answered Clifton. “So, I’m calling…well, first of all, I’m calling to apologize for the way our discussion went earlier. I’m still not thrilled about the prospect of one of my partners having a personal relationship with a client, but there’s no reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater. If you’ll pardon the expression.”
“Consider it pardoned,” Holly said wryly.
“And second, I’m calling to ask if you’ll come back to work for Berber Inc.”
Something Clifton had said earlier made a late entrance into her brain. “Wait—what was it that you said before? Something about your partners having personal relationships with clients?”
“Well, naturally, I’d like you to come back as a partner in the firm,” Clifton said. “The Qadiri project would be an enormous asset to us, but they don’t compare to how much you’ve brought to the firm. And could still bring over the years.” Clifton’s voice was tight, and Holly could tell that this apology hadn’t come easily to him.
“I’ll have to think about that,” she said into the pause of their conversation. “I’m not sure I should be making a decision right now.”
“I’ll be frank with you, Holly. I think you’re well positioned to do big things with the firm, despite our…rough patch this morning. A project of this size would put you on the map back in New York and on the international stage.”
“Yes,” she said, but Clifton’s voice was already fading into the background. It was impossible, beneath this rush of feeling, to process this all rationally. She’d need time. Part of her wanted to agree to the job. It would solve a lot of her problems, at least in the near future. And yes, her father might have some opinions about letting her emotions influence her thinking, but she wasn’t her father. Having emotions was human. The most human thing. The way she felt about Malik, for instance, was so sharply real that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t admitted it to herself already. “I’ll give it some thought, Clifton. Call me when you’re back in New York.”
“That’ll be in about—”
“Oh, we’re here,” she said abruptly. “I have to hang up. Talk soon.” Holly cut off the call and put her phone away.
She should have whiplash from how much things had changed in the space of a single day.
This morning, she’d woken up in Malik’s arms, swimming up from a night of crazy dreams into a reality where the sexiest man on the planet was in bed with her, his arm thrown protectively over her waist. She had leaned back into the solid lines of his body and for the space of a few dozing minutes had known what it was like to experience perfection. And he had been so instantly thrilled at the news of her pregnancy. The fear had stuck with her—she’d known that it would, because the prospect of being a mother frightened her on a soul-deep level—but his reaction, at least, hadn’t been part of that.
How quickly things had collapsed.
Holly stopped at the ticket counter and bought a ticket for the next flight out, which helpfully departed in ninety minutes. That left her just enough time to buy a sandwich at one of the airport kiosks, eat it, and make her way through security. She kept her attention focused on one thing and one thing only: getting on the plane. All other decisions would have to wait until she landed at JFK in another twelve hours.
At least her dad would be happy. She’d be able to give him the news about the grandchildren he’d been hoping for, even if it did come along with some…complications.
Finally, Holly stowed her carryon under the seat in front of her. It had plenty of room, since she’d had to buy a business class ticket, but why not? A hasty departure was worth a hit to her savings.
The last of the passengers found their seats. Holly buckled her seatbelt and leaned her head back. The emergency instructions washed over her as static. The engines powered up, and the plane taxied out to the runaway. Soon they’d be in the air—she clung to that.
“Apologies from Qadiri Air,” the voice boomed over the intercom. “We’re being directed to return to the jetway. This will only be a momentary delay.”
The hum of voices rose throughout the plane, and Holly sat up straight in her seat.
Out the window she could see them coming—three black SUVs, barreling alongside the main airport building. They stopped near the gate the plane had been parked at, and one of the back doors open to reveal…
The crown prince of Qadir.
15
Malik’s chief of security had been ten phone calls in on their search for Holly when Clifton had broken the case: she was on her way to the airport. He’d gone straight there.
The door of the plane opened, and a crew ran out from the terminal with a temporary staircase. Malik could see the faces of the passengers pressed up against the windows. Let them look.
The face that appeared at the door to the plane was the only one that mattered.
Holly held her purse close to her body, and she had her black carryon slung over her shoulder. She lifted a hand to shade her eyes and started slowly down the staircase.
She was probably going to be more than a little upset that he’d changed her plans for her. Holly, after all, was not the kind of woman who welcomed that kind of interference. That was what had drawn him to her in the first place. Malik would never forget it again.
He went to her.
She stepped off the last step and looked into his eyes. It wasn’t fear he saw in the green gaze that meant everything to him, or even anger. It was something else entirely.
It was hope.
Holly’s cheeks were flushed and her eyelids puffy, which was the only giveaway that she’d been crying.
“Hi,” she said, her voice rising just above the wind. “Was there something you needed from me?”
Everything.
“A few things.” He put his hands in his pockets. “First, I want you to hear me apologize to you for earlier. For every time I didn’t listen to you about the oasis. For how utterly wrong I’ve been about you.”
A hint of a smile played around Holly’s lips. “Wrong about me? How could you be wrong?”
“I thought you were all about business, with no pleasure,” he said, unable to hold himself away from that smile. “I was wrong about the pleasure. And then I was wrong about how you thought about business. I took you for the kind of developer who was only interested in a gleaming future, in profits and paving, not the foundations of tradition.”
“That does have a certain ring to it,” said Holly, eyes sparkling. “But no. The profits were never the first thing on my mind. I’ve spent most of my time in Qadir with something else entirely dominating my thoughts.”
“What’s that?”
“You.”
His joy exploded like fireworks, points of light falling over his skin.
“And I know,” said Holly, “that it wasn’t the most appropriate thing to fall in love with a client. But it happened anyway. Sometimes, love can’t be helped.”
“Love,” Malik echoed. He’d had another grand speech planned, but hearing her say that she’d fallen in love with him took over everything else in his mind. “I love you, Holly Remington. For everything you are. For everything you saw in me. For everything I didn’t see until it was almost too late.”
“It’s getting late for the people on the plane.” She smiled now, broad and bright. “So let’s give them a satisfying conclusion, shall we?”
He had a question on his lips, but she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him before he could say a word.
Malik felt Holly melt into his arms, and he swept her up as their mouths crashed together, lips meeting hotly. He never wanted to set her back on her feet. Never, never, never.
But he did. And when he glanced up at the plane, he saw nothing but cheering people. The pilot grinned at them from the cockpit.
“Well?” Holly murmured into his ear. “Did they like it?”
“I’d say so.” Malik raised a hand and signaled to the pilot, and then he took Holly’s hand and led her back to the first black SUV. Bandar jogged across the tarmac and scooped up Holly’s bags. Malik opened the door for her and guided her in, then climbed in after her, anxious as he’d ever been to be near her.
“I love you,” he said again, then took her mouth again, claiming it deliciously slowly. She tasted like sweetness and hope and fire. Everything he’d never known he’d wanted until the moment it walked back into his life.
“How much?” Holly teased, but he could hear the sincerity behind the joke.
“I can’t imagine my life without you.” He kissed down the side of her neck. “Every moment that you were back in New York, I could feel the fact that you were gone like it was a living t
hing following me around. I found myself craving the sight of you.”
“Among other things,” she said.
“Of course among other things.” He nipped at her earlobe, and she shivered. “But there’s something else I want to say to you.”
Holly pulled back. “What’s that?”
“It’s more than something I want to say,” Malik said. This had all been more eloquent and smooth in his imagination. “It’s something I want to offer you as proof. Proof that I understand you, and I see you, and I want you—for you.”
“I don’t need any diamonds, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Holly said.
Malik burst out laughing. It rocked his entire body—such a heady joy that he felt like dancing in the middle of the streets. He felt like declaring the day a national holiday and releasing everyone from work. He wanted to shout his happiness from a mountaintop, any mountaintop. Holly laughed with him.
After a minute, he got himself together again and looked her in the eye. “In all seriousness, I think that this is better than diamonds.”
Holly’s smile softened. “Don’t keep me in suspense, Malik.”
“I’d like for you to have the oasis.” Holly’s mouth dropped open. “I saw your plans on your tablet, and I’ve never seen a more perfect representation of…of everything, really. Of what my mother would have wanted for the space. What I would want for the space.”
She bit her lip. “I did not mean to leave that tablet behind. Huge mistake.”
“I have it right here, if you’re missing it. But I also wanted to…free you from these plans, in a way.”
“Free me? I thought they were perfect.”
“They are. But—” Malik shook his head. “This is coming out all wrong. What I mean to say is…” He took Holly’s hands in his. “I want you to be my wife. I want to raise our children together, and I never want to be across an ocean from you again. I love you. Will you marry me?”
She was smiling so brilliantly that it shocked Malik when tears spilled from her eyes and onto her cheeks. “Look what you made me do,” she said, pointing toward the tears. “This is so not me.”