Desert Rogues Part 2. Susan Mallery

I torment my baby sister whenever I can.” Zara winked at Cleo.

      Sabrina sighed. “I wish I’d grown up with a sister. I envy you two that.”

      Cleo looked at Zara and Sabrina. Not only did they look alike, but they were dressed alike in expensive slacks and silk blouses. Cleo wore a loose cotton dress she should have tossed out the previous summer. “You’re the sisters. I’m just someone Zara’s mother took in. Not a relative at all.”

      Sabrina shook her head. “You’re sisters in the truest sense of the word, and I’ll admit to wanting to be a part of that.” Her expression turned serious. “Cleo, I hope that we can all be close. I’d really like that.”

      While Cleo was touched by her sincerity, she also felt a little uncomfortable. “This is where I remind you I’m the only nonprincess in the group.”

      Sabrina playfully bumped her shoulder. “Maybe we can change that. I saw you dancing with a certain prince last night. Things looked intense.”

      Cleo could feel heat flaring on her cheeks. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s so not going to happen. I’m not in the market for an arrogant prince, no matter how handsome he might be.”

      “Oh. So you think he’s handsome.”

      Cleo pressed her lips together. Trapped by her own stupid words. “He’s okay.”

      “Uh-huh. Sure.” Sabrina laughed. “Zara, we might have to do a little matchmaking with this one.”

      Cleo thought about how Sadik was so hot to get her into bed now but hadn’t once bothered to get in touch with her after she’d left. In four months there hadn’t been a word from him.

      “No matchmaking for me. Like I said, arrogant princes aren’t my style.”

      “Too bad.”

      Sabrina scribbled a few notes about the bowl, then helped Zara collect the wrapping paper and throw it in a trash container at the side of the table. The bowl, along with the letter and the paperwork, went onto a display table. Zara brought over another box.

      Sabrina studied the accompanying letter. “This one is from the crown prince of Lucia-Serrat. It’s an island in the Indian Ocean. The crown prince of the island is a cousin of the king of Bahania.” She waved a hand. “Don’t ask, it’s complicated. But this guy is good-looking and a widower with four sons.” She glanced at Cleo. “He needs a wife.”

      “Too bad I’m not looking for a husband.”

      “You will be eventually. Although now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’d want to recommend my brothers. After all, our father was a bit of a playboy.” She frowned. “He was devoted to your mother, Zara. And he loved Reyhan and Jefri’s mother, at least that’s what I’ve been told. Of course Sadik has been faithful in his own way.”

      Zara opened the package. Inside the box was a flat jewelry case. She opened it and caught her breath. “Can I accept this?”

      She pulled out a stunning diamond necklace. Hundreds of glittering diamonds dangled, forming a vee shape. There were matching earrings and a bracelet, as well.

      Sabrina touched the earrings and sighed. “Someone has fabulous taste. And, yes, you can accept it. If he’s related to Dad, he’s family, remember?”

      Zara looked at Cleo. “At times like this I think about running for home.”

      “This is your home now,” Cleo reminded her. Although she had to admit the necklace intimidated her, as well. But she had more important things on her mind.

      “Sabrina, what did you mean about Sadik being faithful in his own way?”

      Sabrina put the earrings back in the jewelry case. “Just that he’s continued to mourn Kamra all these years.”

      Cleo was glad she was sitting down. The room tilted suddenly and her stomach began to flop over. “Kamra?”

      “Sadik’s fiancée.” Sabrina sat back in the chair and picked up the clipboard. “They were engaged. It was an arranged match, but they seemed to get along well. She was killed in a car accident about three weeks before the wedding. Sadik took it pretty hard.”

      “Cleo, are you all right?” Zara asked.

      Cleo forced herself to keep breathing. “Fine. So you want to keep the necklace or is it going in the discard pile?”

      Her question had the desired effect. Zara was distracted. When the next box turned out to be a half-dozen camel bridles from one of the nomadic tribes, Sabrina explained that there were actual camels to go in them. That sent the two women off into a discussion as to whether camels were a better or worse gift than elephants.

      Cleo tried to participate. She nodded and occasionally added a word or two. She even managed to smile. But inside, she felt numb, and just beyond the numbness was a gaping pit of intense pain and betrayal.

      Sadik had loved another woman. That woman had died and now he mourned her. No wonder he only wanted Cleo in his bed. He’d already given his heart to someone else.

      She’d always known there couldn’t be anything serious between them, but somehow finding out that he had never been available made the situation worse. All her life she’d dreamed of being the most important person in someone’s life. It was her private fantasy. And now she knew it was never going to happen with Sadik.

      Until that moment she hadn’t realized she had secretly hoped he would fall in love with her.

      She pressed her hand to her stomach and felt hopelessness well up inside. As much as she’d thought about keeping the baby from him, she knew it wasn’t possible. Not only was he likely to find out, keeping him from his child was wrong. Which meant at some point she was going to have to come clean. And then what? Would he try to take her child away from her? How could she possibly come to terms with the royal family? How could she stay in Bahania and share in the upbringing?

      Everything was going wrong. She should never have come back here. Then she looked at Zara and saw the happiness on her face. This was Zara’s time. Cleo couldn’t ruin it. Not by refusing to show up or by running off. Somehow she would have to get through the next week. Once the wedding was over, she would have time to think and figure out what she was going to do.

      

      Cleo escaped into the gardens. When she was outside, she finally felt as if she could breathe again. She ached inside. She supposed that a sensible person might have figured out that Sadik had loved someone else, but then a sensible person wouldn’t have gotten involved with him in the first place. She felt well and truly trapped.

      Worse, she still wanted him. Not just in bed, either. Even as her heart was ripped apart by the knowledge that he would never love her, she wanted to feel his arms around her.

      “You need therapy,” she said aloud as she crossed the garden and sank onto a bench. She breathed in the scent of the flowers and tried to find peace in the beauty all around her.

      The sky was a brilliant shade of blue. The scent of the sea blended with the sweet scent of hundreds of blossoms. She touched the edge of a late-blooming rose. Her finger caught on a thorn, and she yelped as a single drop of blood formed.

      “Figures,” she muttered.

      If only, she thought sadly. If only there was a way to change her feelings or change Sadik. But even if she was princess material, which she knew she was not, she couldn’t compete with a deceased fiancée. Kamra would be ever perfect in his mind—never growing old or looking tired or snapping back. No woman could compete with a ghost.

      Cleo swallowed, then suddenly surged to her feet. Her stomach rebelled against all the emotion—or maybe just against her overly large breakfast. She barely had time to bend over one of the bushes before she vomited.

      In an unfortunate quirk of timing, King Hassan chose that moment to take a stroll in his garden.