Sheikhs of Al-Dashalid: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  He’d have to call Lydia and ask her, hat in hand, to hold off on giving the contract to someone else.

  Rami needed another chance. He needed Catelyn’s good graces. And he didn’t know if he’d get either one.

  But he dialed the phone anyway.

  19

  The bedroom hadn’t changed since Catelyn had left it behind at the age of eighteen to go to college.

  It was so strange, pushing the door open into the stillness that had settled on the room. Her bedroom had once been her sanctuary, and it had held all the various pieces of her life. Now, it was more of a museum. The bed still had the same pink bedspread, and all the pictures she’d collected throughout her school years still hung on bulletin boards on the walls.

  She took a deep breath and sat down on the bed, the old springs creaking beneath her. All around her, the house was quiet. Her parents were not home. They, of course, were still on their honeymoon cruise.

  And Catelyn was at her childhood home without them, which was strange enough.

  She’d needed a place to stay the night before her flight to New Jersey and couldn’t face the thought of a sterile hotel room on the outskirts of town. It seemed torturous to have to talk to a person at a reception desk and act like everything was fine when it wasn’t.

  What the hell had happened to Rami at Lydia’s?

  Everything they’d done had been because they needed each other, and Catelyn had been feeling more and more that the need they shared was about more than business. The time they spent together in the bedroom was fierce and hot and fun, but it was also restorative in a way that she hadn’t expected. When she and Rami were in bed together, nothing else mattered—her head was clear. The trials of the wedding planning business no longer nagged at her. She felt ready to face the world. To conquer it.

  It was too strange to sit in her old bedroom for long, so Catelyn went back into the hallway. The wall leading to the stairs was full of pictures, and she lingered in front of them, searching for evidence that her parents had hated each other enough to get divorced more than once.

  Her parents had been unhappy. She was sure of it. They’d fought and split up more times than she could count, and she’d carried that with her into adulthood. No wonder Rami’s offer of a year of marriage had been so attractive. The truth was, love was fickle, and it was always best to have an exit strategy. Her parents had proven that.

  But looking at the photos on the wall, she couldn’t find any hint of it.

  In every picture of her parents, they were smiling. Laughing. Holding hands. Teasing each other. Yes, it was true—they’d gotten divorced or separated again and again, but here they were, getting remarried and throwing commitment ceremonies an equal number of times. Her mother had worn at least six different wedding dresses. All those pictures were outnumbered by the photos that contained all three of them, arms thrown around each other—in the front yard, on vacation, at the local ice cream shop.

  These pictures, she realized with a start, weren’t a warning not to fall in love. They were a testament to the power of falling anyway, even when it hurt.

  Over and over, her parents had tried again. They’d refused to give up on each other, even when they couldn’t stand each other. Even when it caused a rift in the entire family. She couldn’t forget the Thanksgiving that had been so awful—the sullen silences, the cutting remarks—when she’d known they were going to split. She’d known that was going to be the end of it, and her stomach had roiled with that knowledge all day. For years, Catelyn had hated that memory. She’d told the story often in the course of becoming intimate friends with other people, especially Laura and Daisy.

  And yet she’d never seen the flip side.

  They’d been so pissed at each other that year, but they’d still come together for a family celebration. Her parents had failed miserably at making it a celebration, but they’d given it a shot. Both of them had been hurt. Both of them had reasons.

  Catelyn’s mother had never taken down the photos.

  She raised a hand and ran her fingertips along the lower edge of one of the frames. It held a portrait of the happy couple on yet another wedding day, her mother wearing her fourth wedding dress. This photo, along with all the others, had remained in the same spot on the wall.

  Even when they were fighting, even when they were separated, her mother had left the photos hanging up. For everyone to see.

  There were two sides to every story—at least. Her parents’ story had many sides. But the most important side of all was the way they fought for each other. That was what mattered, in the end.

  Catelyn went down the stairs, heart stinging with regret.

  She shouldn’t have walked away from Rami like that.

  The list of mistakes, she saw, went all the way back to that first agreement. Why hadn’t she insisted on something different? Why had she chosen the most painful path? It was stupid, to put up so many barriers between them. The agreement to divorce after a year was a black cloud over them both, something that dogged them even in their happiest moments. It was like they were begging the universe to keep them firmly apart so that they could never fall in love and risk heartbreak.

  Well, heartbreak had come anyway. Catelyn had turned her back on him. And Rami had turned his back on her. He’d dismissed her after all they’d done to prepare for this meeting—dismissed her outright, in front of Lydia. It didn’t matter that they’d sworn that the arrangement was business. It didn’t matter at all. It hurt just as much.

  The street outside Catelyn’s parents’ house fell into shadow as the sun set, and she flipped the lock on the front door and turned on all the lights. She cooked herself a batch of buttery noodles and brought it to the same sofa that had sat in her parents’ living room for years, under the blanket her mom had picked out from a department store in the mall when Catelyn was sixteen.

  It was lonely, but at least it was familiar.

  Catelyn slept in her old bed that night, and every time she woke up, she had trouble placing herself in time. She listened for the creak of her mother’s footsteps on the other side of the hall, remembering after a few beats that they weren’t there.

  Nobody was there. She missed Rami in bed next to her. She pulled the covers up tight and tried not to think about it.

  The next morning, she woke up early. The ache had settled low in her chest, and it beat with a wish that would never come true.

  Catelyn wished for a second chance.

  One more shot to get it right.

  She wished it all the way to the airport and all the way through security and all the way to the gate. She wished it while her plane to New Jersey lifted off the runway. And she wished it in the sky while the miles between her and Rami grew wider and wider until finally she was sure they would never be close again.

  20

  Laura opened the door to the office and narrowed her eyes. “Rami? What’s going on?”

  “It’s a long story,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “May I come in?”

  She waited a beat before she stepped backward, giving him the space to enter the office. She shut the door behind them and turned to face him. “Catelyn was in the office when I got here at eight this morning, working on the biggest wedding we’ve ever booked and looking like she saw a ghost. She won’t talk about you at all. What did you do?”

  He sighed. It had been a process, convincing Lydia not to write him off. It had taken so long to persuade her that he’d almost missed his flight to New Jersey. The entire time the plane was in the air, he’d prayed that Catelyn had gone there instead of…anywhere else in the world. He’d banked on her commitment to her business, and he’d been right.

  “It was my mistake,” he admitted. There was no point in lying to Laura about it, or sugarcoating things. Catelyn would tell them eventually. “I—misjudged our relationship.”

  “How?”

  Daisy appeared at Laura’s side. “It’s not going well,” she said to Laura. “Rami. You�
��re here.”

  “You don’t sound very enthusiastic about that,” Rami said wryly.

  “I saw my friend’s face this morning.” Daisy pursed her lips. “What did you do?”

  “He ‘misjudged their relationship,’ whatever that means,” said Laura.

  “How did you do that?” Daisy crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I assumed that it really was all business,” Rami said. “Until the moment I realized that it’s not. That it’s never been about that. There was always more between us, and I—” He shook his head. “I blew it.” He stood up straight, lifting his chin. “And I’m here to set things right. Or at least apologize.”

  Daisy’s face softened. “We all make mistakes.”

  “We don’t all make mistakes this egregious,” said Laura.

  “Oh, it was the most egregious,” Rami agreed. “And I swear, I’d never do it again.”

  Catelyn’s friends regarded him steadily.

  “It’s up to her,” Daisy said finally. “It’s up to her, what she wants to do.”

  Rami opened his mouth to ask her what she meant but at that moment Catelyn’s office door opened and a woman in a black floral wrap dress rushed out, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a wadded-up tissue. She hesitated at the sight of them, then pushed past without another word.

  What was happening here?

  “Maybe this isn’t the best time…”

  “There’s never a perfect time.” Daisy stepped behind him and gave him a shove. “Go.”

  Catelyn didn’t look up from her desk when he stepped into the room. Her head was bent over a sheaf of papers in front of her, and she rubbed idly at her forehead with one hand.

  “We’re better off without her,” she said. “The way she’d already been harassing the baker—” She glanced up, and at the sight of him her entire face changed. “Rami.”

  She looked exhausted. Rami’s heart twisted at the sight of the bags beneath her eyes.

  “Hi.”

  Catelyn leaned back in her chair, letting out a breath. “Hi.”

  There was a silence between them, during which Rami wanted to leap across the desk and take her in his arms.

  “I see you decided to come to New Jersey after all,” Catelyn said. “Very brave, after how you acted at Lydia’s.”

  “If I were brave,” Rami said, looking her in the eye, “I’d simply live with the consequences of what I did. I’d live the rest of my life missing you, but I’d let go. But I’m not.” He swallowed hard.

  Catelyn studied him.

  He took it as an invitation to continue.

  “I know I was awful, and I know now that it was needless.”

  “It was needless,” she agreed, then pushed herself out of her chair. “I have no idea what you were thinking.”

  “I was thinking that our arrangement was a business arrangement, and it was going to end.” Catelyn’s face fell at his words. “That’s what I thought. That’s why I said what I said—to Lydia and to you.”

  “That’s the arrangement,” said Catelyn, “but you didn’t have to be so hurtful.”

  “I know. And I apologize.”

  She considered his words. “Well, I’m glad you’ve decided to apologize. But I think it’s time we called it quits, because—”

  “No,” Rami said firmly.

  “What?”

  “I don’t agree. That’s not why I came here.”

  “If you came because you need forgiveness, then you might be waiting a long time.”

  “Before you decide that, will you hear me out?”

  “You didn’t hear me out at Lydia’s.”

  “And that was a mistake.” He stepped closer to Catelyn, facing her from across the desk—a mere three feet between them. “I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart, that I hurt you. I shouldn’t have done that under any circumstance. But especially in light of my…realization.”

  “What realization?” Was that hope in her eyes, or was he imagining it?

  “The realization that a business deal with you is never going to be enough. Not on its own.” He reached into his pocket and took out a folded paper. “Here’s the signature page of the contract with Lydia. I went back and begged her to put us both on it.”

  Catelyn cracked a smile. “That must have taken some doing.”

  “She was furious at me for upsetting you. So, yes, it did. I almost missed my flight out because of it.”

  “Such sacrifices.”

  Rami spread the paper out on the desk. “I want this with you.”

  Catelyn gave him a look. “A business arrangement?”

  “I want this business arrangement, and everything that comes with it.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to repeat your parents’ decisions. I don’t want to split up and regret it—not ever. And I want us both to enter this agreement, because I want so much more with you, and that’s what it represents. I want you to become a citizen of Al-Dashalid. I want to have you by my side, always. I want you to be a member of the royal family in every way possible, because I do need you.” She came around the desk then and stood near, though she still held herself back. “I was wrong,” he said again. “It’s never enough between us. Every minute we’ve been apart has been hell.”

  “Say it one more time,” Catelyn whispered.

  “It’s never enough—”

  “No,” she said. “The other thing.”

  Rami laughed. “I was wrong.”

  “It’s music to my ears,” she said, and he knew from the smile that spread across her face that she’d forgiven him.

  He closed the distance between them and swept her up into his arms, kissing her as deeply as he had that first time. It felt so good. So right. He’d never walk away from her again.

  When they surfaced from the kiss, Catelyn sucked in a breath. “I know it’s only been one night, but I missed that so much.”

  “I know exactly how you feel,” said Rami, and he nipped at her earlobe with his teeth. He felt the shiver run through her body. “I could never have lived without it.”

  “I couldn’t have either,” she said, a hitch in her voice. “I’m ready, Rami. I want to be your wife and partner. On one condition.”

  “What’s that?” His heart beat faster.

  “No end date,” she answered.

  “Never,” he agreed. “Never.”

  “I love you, Rami,” she said. He thought his heart would burst from joy.

  “I love you. More than the sun and the moon.”

  He didn’t let her out of his arms for a long, long time.

  Epilogue

  “You’re up,” said Catelyn, pressing a kiss to Rami’s cheek as he stood at the edge of the stage. Whenever he spoke at events, she came backstage to wish him luck—then hurried back to her seat in the audience. This time was no exception.

  They were back in Texas at the scene of the original crime—Lydia’s estate. Only things were so much different now. And better.

  From the middle of the stage, Lydia herself waved Rami up to the microphone. He met her there, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Good luck, Rami,” she said into his ear.

  “I’ll need it,” he joked, but he knew he wouldn’t.

  It had been a roller-coaster of a year. He and Catelyn had split their time between Al-Dashalid and New Jersey so both of their enterprises had thrived. They’d made several visits to Lydia’s estate, where Lydia had come to know him—and, he hoped, genuinely like him. At any rate, she thought he was good enough at sponsoring STEM scholarships to ask him and Catelyn to set up a similar program for the children in Texas. They’d done just that, and tonight’s cocktail reception was meant to celebrate the kickoff of the program.

  Rami smiled out at the faces in the crowd. “Good evening,” he said, and he felt completely calm. He was never nervous to speak when Catelyn was with him, and he saw her now, taking her seat at one of the tables in the front. She was his rock, and he relished the sight of her. Especially her pregnant be
lly.

  Yes—she was pregnant with his child and due in three months. It had been the delight of his life to discover that Catelyn was pregnant, and every day since had been an adventure unlike any he’d ever had in his life. Through it all, she’d kept him on an even keel. Together, they’d worked to slow down. To treasure every moment.

  “Time is precious,” he began. “And no time is more precious than that of our children, which is why we’ve dedicated our efforts to making sure that the children of Texas have access to the very best in technology and education,” he said. “All of you have helped us to make this possible.” Catelyn beamed up at him from her seat, eyes shining. “So my wife and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” It felt so good to say that. A year had come and gone, and they were still together. They would always be together. He knew it. “And in the interest of making the very most of our time, I’ll keep my remarks succinct. Thank you again, for all that you’ve done, and a special thank you to my wife, who makes the world go around. Now, please, enjoy the party!”

  The room burst into applause, Catelyn first on her feet. Rami didn’t bother to take the stairs—he simply leaped down off the stage, still desperate, even now, to have his hands on her. He lifted her chin and kissed her, right there in front of everyone, so deeply that they drew a wolf whistle.

  He broke the kiss and looked down into Catelyn’s eyes. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said.

  “Than this ballroom?” she said wickedly. “I can think of a few other places.”

  “Than by your side.”

  “I love you,” Catelyn said simply. They’d said it a hundred times. A thousand. A million more times would never diminish its meaning.

  “More than the sun and moon,” he promised, and he meant it with all his heart.

  End of The Sheikh’s Blackmailed Bride