Desert Rogues Part 2. Susan Mallery

about you. I want to know what’s going on in your life. Don’t you think this was a big deal?”

      “It is,” Cleo admitted. “I’m sorry.”

      Zara didn’t look mollified. “So who’s the father?”

      “No one you know.” Cleo shrugged and tried to look like she wasn’t lying. “After I went home, I met someone.”

      Zara didn’t look convinced. “Funny how you never mentioned him in all the phone conversations we’ve had.”

      “I didn’t know if it was serious.”

      “It’s serious enough that you got pregnant.”

      This was not going the way Cleo had hoped. “Zara, I’m going to be fine. I don’t want you to worry about me.”

      “I can’t help it. You’re my little sister.” Zara climbed up onto the mattress and settled next to her. “What I don’t understand is how this happened.”

      Despite her concerns, Cleo couldn’t help smiling.

      “The usual way. I would have thought you’d figured out the facts of life by now.”

      Zara rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You’ve been sexually active for a long time. How come you got pregnant this time?”

      “Bad timing,” Cleo admitted. “I’d gone off the pill to give my body a rest. I wasn’t expecting to get involved with someone so I wasn’t prepared.”

      Zara looked stunned. “You had unprotected sex?”

      “We used a condom, but things happen.”

      Actually what had happened was that one night she and Sadik had been so hot for each other, they’d both forgotten birth control. She hadn’t even realized it until several days later, when she’d been on her way home. They had been irresponsible, and now she was paying the price.

      “I can’t believe this,” Zara breathed.

      “Tell me about it.” Cleo looked at her sister. “I know you’re upset. This is exactly why I didn’t want you to know. The thing is, Zara, I’ll be fine, as will my baby. This is your time. You have a beautiful wedding in a week. I don’t want you thinking about anything else. Can’t we forget this and deal with it after you get back from your honeymoon?”

      “I didn’t think you were still going to be here then.”

      Cleo didn’t know what was going to happen, now that the news was out. “We can deal with it either together or long-distance. I promise.”

      Slowly Zara nodded. “I’m giving in because I don’t have a choice. You’re a grown-up. You have to be responsible for your own life. I just wish you had told me.”

      “I’m sorry,” Cleo repeated, thinking that she had a few wishes of her own.

      

      The difference between a formal state dinner and an informal state dinner was usually found in the size and the details.

      Cleo paused at the entrance to the cocktail party and studied the room. Flowers bloomed everywhere—providing a sweet scent and creating the sense of being in a garden. Small white lights twinkled, candles flickered and an immense crowd of people circulated and talked. The informal dinner had been for about two hundred people. There had to be at least five times that number in attendance to honor the bride and groom. Everyone glittered and sparkled, leaving her feeling like a very out-of-place, country cousin. A very tired country cousin.

      She hadn’t slept in two days. Not since she’d found out that the king had told Zara about her pregnancy. So far no one else seemed to know, so she was keeping her fingers crossed that she could escape the situation without too much trouble.

      A waiter paused and offered her a glass of champagne. Cleo declined, then decided to head to the bar where she could get her club soda with lime and pass it off as a cocktail. At least she felt reasonably attractive. Her red, beaded gown skimmed over her curves in such a way as to make her feel like a pinup girl from the 1940s. A twist of fabric in the midsection hid her tummy, which was good because it had really started sticking out. She was approaching her fifth month and none of her regular pants would fit. She was going to have to hit the maternity stores before long. But that trip would have to wait until she headed home.

      The good news was she hadn’t thrown up in the past couple of days. Maybe that cookie toss into the royal garden had been her last.

      Less than ten feet from the bar, she came to a dead stop. Sadik stood across the room, and the second she saw him, she knew that he’d been told about the baby. His dark gaze fell immediately to her midsection and the look of accusation on his face rooted her to the floor. Even when he headed toward her, tall, angry and determined, she couldn’t seem to make herself run.

      He grabbed her arm and herded her toward the far end of the room where there weren’t so many people. She glanced around to see if she could find someone to rescue her, then figured there was no point in putting off the inevitable.

      Think fast, she told herself. She had to come up with a plausible story. She’d tell him what she told Zara—that she’d met someone. After all, she’d already hinted there was another man in her past. She needed to buy herself time. If she told him it was his baby, he would take over her life and she would lose the ability to make decisions. It’s not that she wanted to keep Sadik from his child; she wanted to make sure he didn’t ace her out of the picture.

      He led her into a small alcove, then positioned her so her back was to the main room, but he faced that direction. Probably so he could make sure they weren’t interrupted or overheard.

      “Is it true?” he asked by way of a greeting. “Are you pregnant?”

      She reminded herself that the king had not only called the father of her child a jackal of the desert but had offered to have him flogged. She wondered if Hassan would be willing to go through with the latter if he found out the father in question was his own son.

      Once again the idea of Sadik in chains gave her comfort, however small. She laced her fingers together in front of her waist and squeezed her palms together.

      “I am pregnant,” she said slowly, “but before you get all hot and possessive, I want to make it clear that it’s not your baby. I’ve already told you, there’s someone else in my life now. The child is his.”

      Dark eyes narrowed slightly. Sadik seemed to see into her soul. Then he shook his head in a dismissal that made her heart sink.

      “The child is mine. You could not be with another man after being with me.”

      His flat statement made her want to scream. Worse, it was true, and if she tried to deny it too hard, he was going to see right through her. Panic threatened.

      Sadik took hold of her upper arms and pulled her close. As much as she wanted to look away, he compelled her to meet his gaze. His expression turned cold and more than a little scary.

      “Make no mistake,” he said softly, menace in every syllable. “Bahanian law will not allow a royal child to be taken out of the country without the king’s permission. However much my father might claim you as his daughter, he will not turn his back on his first grandson. If you do not admit the truth to me now, I will go to my father and tell him of our relationship. I will explain that I believe the child to be mine and insist you be examined by a doctor. If you are more than four months along…”

      He stopped talking, but there was no point in finishing the threat. Cleo wasn’t an idiot. She knew that the king’s favor couldn’t be stretched very far. Hassan wouldn’t let her take away his grandchild, and Sadik would do everything he promised.

      He continued to stare at her face. “Tell me again, Cleo. Tell me the child is not mine.”

      She waited as long as she could, then exhaled the truth. “I can’t.”

      His self-satisfied