The Sheikh's Collection. Оливия Гейтс

a guy. The one who got away...with her heart.

       Ten

      “This arrived for you a little while ago.”

      Adan turned from the nursery window to find Elena holding a large rectangular box. “More gifts from some sultan attempting to insert themselves in the government with bribes for the baby?”

      She crossed the room and handed him the brown-paper-wrapped package. “This one is from the United States. South Carolina, to be exact.”

      He immediately knew what it contained, though he never believed she would actually honor his request. Not after the way he had regretfully treated her.

      While Elena looked on, Adan tore through the wrapping and opened the box to find what appeared to be a painting, exactly as he’d expected. Yet when he pulled it from the box, he didn’t expect that the painting would depict a slumbering father holding his sleeping son in remarkable detail, right down to the cleft in his chin and Samuel’s prominent left dimple.

      “Oh, Adan,” Elena began in a reverent voice, “this is such a bella gift.”

      He would wholeheartedly agree, if he could dislodge the annoying lump in his throat. The baby began kicking his legs in rapid-fire succession against the mattress as if he appreciated the gesture.

      After resting the painting against the crib, Adan picked up Samuel and held him above his head. “You are quite the noisy character these days.”

      His son rewarded him with a toothless smile, something he’d begun doing the past month. A milestone that had given him great joy. Bittersweet joy, because Piper had not been around to share in it.

      “You should call her and thank her, Adan.”

      He lowered Samuel to his chest and faced Elena with a frown. “I will send her a handwritten note.”

      She took the baby from his arms without invitation. “You will do no such thing. She deserves to hear from you personally. She also deserves to know that you have been mourning your loss of her since she departed.”

      “I have not been mourning,” he said, sounding too defensive. “I have been busy raising my son and seeing to my royal duty.”

      Elena patted his cheek. “You can deceive yourself, but you cannot deceive me. You are so sick with love you could wilt every flower in the palace courtyard with your anxiety.”

      He avoided her scrutiny by picking up the painting and studying the empty wall above the crib. “I believe this is the perfect spot, right above Samuel’s bed so he will go to sleep knowing I am watching over him throughout the night.”

      “Since it is obvious you are not getting any sleep, why not watch over him in person?”

      He returned the painting to the floor at his feet. “I am sleeping fine.”

      “Ah, yes, and I am entering the marathon in Dubai two weeks from now.”

      That forced Adan around. “Would you please stop assuming you know everything about me?”

      She kissed Samuel’s cheek before placing him back in the crib, where he began kicking again at the sight of the colorful mobile above him. “I do know you, cara, better than most. When you were Samuel’s age, I stayed up many nights while you were teething. When you were a toddler, I put you to bed every night with a book, the reason why you were always such a grand reader. When you were six, and you broke your right arm trying to jump the hedges, I was the one who fed you until you learned to eat with your left hand. And when you were twelve, I discovered those horrid magazines beneath your bed and did not tell your father.”

      He’d forgotten that incident, with good reason. “I realize you’ve been there for me through thick and thin, but that does not give you carte blanche to lord over me now that I am an adult.”

      “I agree, you are an adult.”

      “I am pleased to know you finally acknowledge that.”

      “An adult who has absolutely no common sense when it counts most.”

      He should have expected this as soon as he opened the box. “If you’re going to say I made the wrong decision by allowing Piper to leave, I would have to disagree.”

      “And you would be wrong.” Elena leaned back against the crib’s railing and donned her stern face. “As I have told both your brothers, you all have a great capacity to love, but it would take a special woman to bring that out in you. Zain and Rafiq learned that lesson by finding that special woman, and so have you. Piper is your soul mate, cara. Do not destroy what you could have with her by being so stubborn you cannot see what was right in front of you and you foolishly let go for good.”

      He hated that she had begun to make sense. “I am not being stubborn. I am being sensible. If you know me as well as you say you do, then you realize I have never stayed involved with one woman longer than six years, and we know how well that turned out.”

      Elena glared at him much as she had when he’d been a badly behaved boy. “Comparing Talia to Piper is like comparing a cactus to a down comforter. It’s true Talia gave you a precious son, but she also gave you continuous grief. Piper gave you not only this touching portrait but also the means to heal your wounds with the truth. And you repay her by not admitting how you feel about her.”

      “I’m presently not certain how I feel about anything.” Other than he resented Elena for pointing out the error in his ways.

      “And you, cara mia, are guilty of propagating the biggest lie of all if you do not stop denying your love for Piper.”

      “I have never said I love her.” He was too afraid to leave himself open to that emotion, more so now than ever.

      She pointed a finger at his face and glowered at him. “Adan Mehdi, before your obstinate behavior destroys what could be the best thing that has happened to you, listen to me, and listen well. First of all, consider how Piper selflessly cared for your son. How she protected you and Samuel by putting her life on hold while pretending to be your wife, only to be dismissed by you as one would dismiss a servant.”

      “But I never—”

      “Furthermore,” she continued without regard for his attempts to halt the tirade, “should you finally regain some semblance of wisdom befitting of royalty and decide to contact her, you will beg her forgiveness for being such a rigid cretino.”

      The woman knew how to deliver a right hook to his ego. “I take offense to my own mother calling me an idiot.”

      Her expression brightened over the unexpected maternal reference. “It means everything to hear you finally acknowledging me as your mother.”

      He laid a palm on her cheek. “I suppose I have known that all along. Only a true mother would tolerate my antics.”

      “And only a true mother would agree to raise a child that is not her own, and love that child’s father with all her being despite his shortcomings.”

      He recognized the reference to Piper, yet he couldn’t quell his concerns. “What if I try to contact her and she rejects me? And what do I say to her?”

      “You must speak from the heart.”

      “Something I have never truly mastered.”

      She sighed. “Adan, your father also viewed revealing emotions as a sign of weakness, and in many ways you have inherited that trait from him. But in reality, it’s a brave man who shows vulnerability for the sake of love. I implore you to call on your courage and tell Piper your true feelings, before it is too late.”

      Admittedly, Elena—his mother—was right. He had never backed away from a battle, and he shouldn’t avoid this war to win Piper back. Better still, he had the perfect weapons to convince her to surrender—his well-honed charm, and his remarkable son.