by Leah Leonard
Dear Kelley,
Josh and I have gone back to Istanbul. I am sorry, but we needed to do this. Be well and if you need anything, please call the driver or Khalil.
Your Friend,
Safina
They needed to do this? Do what? A sinking feeling crushed Kelley in the gut. Why in the world were they going to Istanbul? To what? Confront Khalil? This was all her fault! The bottom of the paper had two phone numbers on it.
Were these two nuts? Did they actually think it was okay to go back to Istanbul and parade around in front of Khalil two days before her wedding?
Kelley stepped outside, hoping to take the Jeep to find them. If she were lucky, they would still be on the way to the airport. She walked around the side of the house, but sure enough, the vehicle was gone.
They stranded her here. How could they? Had Josh lost his mind? Visions of Josh and Khalil in a heated battle filled her imagination. Josh was strong, but Khalil might injure him if he had the chance. Or worse.
Scrambling for an idea, Kelley realized the dig would have to wait. She pulled out her cell and called the driver and asked him to bring her to the airport. Fortunately, he reported the plane was still there. Safina and Josh hadn’t taken it yet, so she begged him to come and get her and make sure the plane wouldn’t leave without her.
The driver arrived within minutes to pick her up and they were at the airport thirty minutes later, but the jet was still parked. This really wasn’t her place to take the family jet. She would never leave Safina stranded, so while she had not said a word about her whereabouts until now, Kelley finally asked,
“Did you receive a call from Ms. Safina this morning?”
“No, madam, I did not.”
She hadn’t told the driver why she needed to go to Istanbul, or what exactly was going on, but she wanted to see if he had seen them or knew anything that might help. “Well, I am worried about her. She took the car and is headed back to Istanbul. I just assumed she would be coming here.”
“I have not seen or heard from her,” her driver reported. “The pilot will be here shortly and we will take you to the palace if you wish.”
“Oh I don’t know about that,” Kelley stammered.
“The Sheikh insisted you are taken care of while you are here. If you need to return to Istanbul to meet with Miss Safina, then it shall be my pleasure to ensure your safe journey, madam.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Kelley’s face flushed thinking about Khalil.
“No bother at all, madam. Please. Allow me.” He reached for her bags.
What else could she do? Theoretically she was here for research, not to ward off personal disaster, but somehow things had gotten out of hand and she couldn’t very well let Khalil and Josh kill each other.
She waited in the car while the plane was readied for takeoff, all the while glancing out the back windows, hoping to see her friends pull up in the Jeep.
If they drove home, that would take ten hours, but then again, once Kelley settled in for the night, she had no idea when they might have left. Kelley had a feeling they probably left in the middle of the night, and if that was the case, she needed to get there soon to ward off any disasters, if that was even possible at this point.
Twenty minutes later, she was once again on the jet headed back to Istanbul. She tried resting her eyes but her mind was spinning, wondering what in the world she would find there. She hoped Khalil was all right and wouldn’t be too upset with her for disrupting his life. Kelley should have thought things through better. She should have specifically mentioned Josh to Safina long before coming here and none of this mess would be happening right now.
What if Safina and Josh were at the palace right this moment having a knock down drag out with the Sheikh? How would she ever forgive herself if anything happened to any of them?
She prayed that everything would work out, but knew this situation was clearly not in her hands anymore. “God, please help us all!”
Sixteen
By the time the plane landed and the driver picked her up, Kelley arrived back at the palace in the early afternoon. She did not see the Jeep parked anywhere – thank God - and there were no signs of anyone except the servants who met her at the door.
She was escorted into the palace to the same large ballroom where and Safina had lunch only last week, and there, to her surprise, Khalil was seated on a sofa in a far corner, his back to her, his head in his hands.
Of all the situations she expected to find, this wasn’t it. Hoping she wasn’t too late, Kelley’s hands trembled as she approached him. “Khalil? I mean…Sheikh?”
Khalil rose and turned toward her. His normally gorgeous face was worn from stress, faint circles under his eyes highlighted the somber mood. The power he typically exuded was still there, but fainter.
“I…” Kelley hardly knew what to say. She wasn’t sure if Safina and Josh actually showed up here or not. If they hadn’t, she didn’t want to cause more trouble than she already had by saying anything about what she discovered that morning at the cottage, then again, if Khalil didn’t already know, she would eventually have to tell him. “I’m looking for Safina.”
“She is no longer here.” Khalil produced a letter, which he handed to her.
Speechless, Kelley took the letter, her hands shook as she read the words:
Khalil,
You are a wonderful human being, a good man and a loyal friend. Any woman would be lucky to have you as a husband. Unfortunately, that woman is not me. I cannot marry you. I am sorry. I have reunited with the one I love. I should have told you and not put you though this pain, but to marry you now, knowing how I feel, would do us both a great disservice.
I shall send for my things in the next few weeks.
Safina
“Oh, Khalil,” Kelley braced herself on the back of a chair. “I am so sorry.”
“You are sorry?” He stood and shouted. “Was it not you who caused all this?”
A cold chill filled Kelley’s gut. He was right. She had to have the decency to own what she had done. She ruined his life and all his plans and she owed him an apology. “Yes. I brought Josh here from the States to help me with my project. I never would have done it if—”
To her surprise, while she was busy explaining herself, Khalil shortened the distance between the two of them, reached a strong arm around her waist and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Wanting to struggle against him and tell him this wasn’t right and explain all the reasons why the two of them could never be together, Kelley found herself doing just the opposite. Not only did she not move away, she actually found her body relaxing in his hands, and worse, she kissed him back.
In the deep part of her mind she hoped the servants weren’t around watching, gossiping about all this in the back room, or worse, she hoped Oma didn’t catch them. Yes, Kelley’s mind said all of these things and then some. She was a terrible person, a home wrecker, and a burden on the people who invited her here.
Despite all this, her body and mouth, and soon her hands, said something entirely different. Her arms relaxed, her purse fell to the floor and she found herself wrapping her arms tight around Khalil’s shoulders, sliding her palm to the groove in the small of his back, her fingers crawled to his backside where she cupped his buttocks in her hands and actually squeezed him a bit through his traditional white robe.
Khalil explored her as well, forcefully scanning her curves with his hands, he too cradled her in the small of her back, kneading her waist, teasing her by slipping his fingers in the opening of the gown she was told to wear around him, he cupped her breast in one hand, her bottom in the other. He removed the scarf from her head, tossing it on the floor and loosened her hair with his fingers.
Breathless, Kelley pushed him away. “We can’t do this. It isn’t right.”
“I knew you wanted me as much as I wanted you. I could feel you from the first moment our eyes met, and now I know.” Khalil kissed her again, and
attempted to lift her in to his arms.
“Wait! We can’t! Not here, not now. I…I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t even be here right now.” Flustered and still panting, Kelley picked her purse up off the floor and walked toward the front door of the palace. “I can call a taxi if one even exists out here.”
“Wait!” Khalil overtook her, grabbed her shoulders in his hands. “You must stay. Please. I need you.”
Kelley recalled the bulge she felt under his robe and realized that yes, he did need her and apparently she needed him too, but that wouldn’t be good for either of them. “You just lost Safina, and I just went through a breakup myself. We can’t do this. It isn’t right. I’m sorry. Really sorry. You have no idea how much.” She pushed him away and kept her eyes on the door, even though leaving was the last thing she wanted to do, it was what she had to do for her own decency.
“I want you,” Khalil purred, kissing her neck.
“I feel the same, but we can’t. Please, let me go!”
“I need you,” he ran his palms down her hips and took both of her hands in his. “I truly need you. As a lover, of course, but also as a friend.”
“We are not going to be lovers,” Kelley panted, trying to keep her hands off of him and finding this an incredibly difficult task. Not today, that is…
“Aren’t we?” He kissed her again.
Their mouths melted together into one uniform flesh. She had never felt such attraction for anyone in her life. This couldn’t be good. “You are Safina’s fiancé. This isn’t right.”
“I am no longer engaged.”
“You have a wife, and besides, Safina has been one of my best friends in the world before now. I can’t do this.”
Khalil kissed the tender skin on the undersides of her wrists. “Safina is gone. We owe her nothing.”
“Mentally, I know that, but the idea of being with the same man as one of my friends kind of turns my stomach.”
Khalil chuckled. “Nonsense.” Before she could reject him again, he kissed the tender skin on her neck, his mouth traveled down her collarbone.
Kelley breathlessly tried pushing him away. “You may not feel the same, but women are…territorial. I don’t want to share, and besides I have to be loyal to her and not take what was hers even if she isn’t here anymore.”
“I appreciate your loyalty, however Safina and I have never touched.” The look in Khalil’s eyes made her want him all the more, “not in an intimate way. Safina is a virgin.”
“Yeah, right.” She blurted out.
“What do you mean by that?” Khalil demanded.
Not wanting to get into the fact that Safina was anything but innocent, Kelley changed the subject. “As Safina always said, you are a good man, but I have a really hard time believing you and her never…well, you know…held each other…you were engaged, after all!”
“We did not touch! You have my word!”
“Fine.” Kelley wasn’t about to let these gorgeous eyes and stunning smile influence her. She wasn’t going to continue to argue. The fact of the matter was she needed to get out of here, sooner rather than later. “That’s not the point. We shouldn’t do this and I need to go back to the States. I’m starting to feel like my trip here is cursed.”
“Nonsense. I need you here and you must stay and complete your task. Do you not have investors expecting a result?”
“Well yes, but—”
“Stay.” He brushed his fingers tenderly though her hair.
Her legs wobbled and she wanted to throw him down on the couch at that very moment, but she somehow controlled herself. “No. Besides, my project is in Ephesus. I still have the keys to the cottage. Safina never said anything about throwing me out so I will stay on and try my best to complete my work and be out of your way. I can go back to the airport, rent a car…”
“I cannot allow that.”
“I’m not asking for permission.”
“You misunderstand. I mean no disrespect. I want you to stay. With me. Here. In a few days, I can arrange for you to go back to Ephesus and will assist you with any travel arrangement you need.” He took her hands. “Please.”
Knowing full well she just might be dealing with the most persuasive man she’d ever met in her life, Kelley was determined to go and put distance between the two of them until she saw the look in his eye. There was a vulnerability there she had not seen before. He really did seem to need her, not just on a physical level, but an emotional one as well. She wondered what he could possibly need from her, of all people.
“Oma…” Khalil’s voice broke off. “She is dying.”
“What?”
“Safina did not tell you?” this appeared to hurt Khalil even more that his companion wouldn’t even think to mention the dire situation at home.
“Safina mentioned Oma was not well, but I never thought she was dying.”
“The doctors do not expect her to survive the week.”
“Oh Khalil,” Kelley grabbed his shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”
He nodded and his gaze lowered to the floor. “My father will not be here until Wednesday, the day before my wedding, which of course is no longer. I hoped Safina could assist, but when I spoke to her about coming home the other day, she was opposed and insisted on staying in Ephesus.”
“What? She told me it was you who wanted her away from the house.”
“Untrue.”
“She said you were on business and asked her to stay with me.”
“No. I told her to do the right thing, come home and help.”
What other lies had Safina told? Or was Khalil lying, trying to vilify Safina since she dumped him? “I swear to you if I had known, I would have brought her home immediately.”
“I have no reason to doubt you, however, I am alone here with the staff yes, but Oma deserves more than what I can give myself. She needs a woman’s care.”
“What about your mother?”
“She died when I was a young boy.”
As if things weren’t bad enough, Kelley felt about an inch high after that. “I am so sorry.”
“Please,” he held her hands again. “Stay.”
Kelley felt a total and complete compassion for this man. How could she possibly refuse him? She had to be strong, put her feelings of lust aside and realize that poor Oma apparently needed a friend. She would want someone to be so kind to her if she was in the same situation. “All right. I will stay. For you, for Oma.”
“You have made me a very happy man. Thank you.”
“Take me to her and I promise to do all I can.”
Seventeen
Kelley didn’t know exactly what she’d gotten herself into. She followed Khalil through the door that led into the part of the palace where she had never been allowed to go before. She wondered if Safina had ever been in here either, and bringing her friend to mind caused her much stress. How could Safina do this to her? How could Josh? What in the world were they thinking?
She felt sorry for Khalil. The two may not have loved each other in the typical way, but it must have been quite a blow to his ego to have a woman run out on him. With his Hollywood good looks, Kelley felt sure nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Maybe that was why he kissed her – to prove he was in charge.
She shouldn’t have kissed him back. She knew that, but she simply couldn’t help herself. Not to mention the fact she shouldn’t be here at all right now. She did this for Khalil, out of respect for him and the fact that before she showed up in his life, things were going as planned, his life was perfect, and now things were anything but.
She tried justifying her actions in her mind, telling herself it was okay to stay here because she was performing a civil duty to a fellow human being.
All of that was true, yes, but under different circumstances would she really have stayed on to help? She was raised a good Catholic and believed in helping others, but there was only one person who motivated her to stay for all the wrong reasons.
She
wondered if Oma really was ill, or if this was some exaggeration. Surely she couldn’t be dying. She looked perfectly fine when Kelley saw her glaring at her and Safina the other day. What a difficult life this must be! To know your husband is out with other women and there is nothing you can do about it! That would make Kelley ill. Perhaps she could use that feeling to tame her attraction for Khalil. As she thought about that, she caught a whiff of his cologne again, and realized that would be easier said than done.
The hallway leading to the apartments looked exactly the same as it did in Safina’s old area. Stunning bright blue and yellow mosaic tiles swirled about in gorgeous patterns throughout the entire area.
The hall went back hundreds of feet, at least the length of a football field back in the States, and opened up into a courtyard, similar to the one on Safina’s side, only Oma’s area had more trees and flowers and the fountain there was larger and far more ornate. It was stunning.
“Come,” Khalil led her to the farthest edge of the courtyard, up two flights of tile stairs and down another hall where several doors led out into the open area. It reminded Kelley of an American apartment building, only this was all a part of the Sheikh’s home.
She noticed several staff members who she had never seen before peeked their heads out of the doors and some passed her in the hall. This must be their quarters, Kelley thought.
Khalil led her to the back part of the building where one single brass door stood alone. He knocked slightly and swung it open, revealing amazing quarters with a full plate glass window that looked out to a part of the mountain Kelley had not yet seen.
As stunning as Safina’s home had been, the view here was far grander and everything about this apartment was richly adorned for a queen.
Safina was right about one thing – the Sheikh took great care of his first wife. Oma wanted for nothing, which was a sad example of the fact that all the money and care in the world could not buy good health.
The first room they entered appeared more like a living room to a normal house in the U.S. On the far wall, a small kitchen and table stood, complete with a coffee pot, pots and pans, and fresh fruit. A small table was set for four, although it appeared no one had eaten there in some time.