The Sheikh's Pregnant Bride. Jessica Gilmore

      To her surprise Idris didn’t react with impatience or irritation. He sat down on the chair at right angles to her and leaned forwards before jumping up and striding across the room, his face set and eyes clouded. The premonition Saskia had felt in the pool returned, fear icy on her skin.

      ‘What is it, Idris? Why are you here?’

      He turned and the grief on his face clawed at her heart. ‘There was an accident. Fayaz...’ He stopped and swallowed.

      ‘What kind of accident?’

      ‘A car accident.’

      ‘He will always drive too fast. Such a boy racer.’ If she could keep chatting, keep the conversation light and inconsequential then she wouldn’t have to hear the rest. Because of course there was more. Idris wouldn’t have flown over from France for a minor injury. Nor would he have come here to tell her—to tell the unknown surrogate—in person.

      ‘Saskia.’ She could only sit paralysed while he walked back towards her, each deliberate, slow step echoing around her brain. He sat next to her, so familiar and yet a stranger and, to her increasing dread, took her hand in his. Once the simple touch of his hand would leave her incoherent and unable to think about anything but him, but right now she couldn’t feel anything. All she could do was wait for the words she knew were coming.

      ‘Saskia, the accident, it was a bad one. Fayaz didn’t make it. Nobody did.’

      Nobody? Her free hand crept down to her belly, whether to reassure the baby or herself she didn’t know. ‘Maya?’ Her throat was so swollen she could barely croak the word out, but she knew that he heard her when his grip on her hand intensified.

      ‘I’m sorry, Saskia. She was with him.’

      She didn’t move, didn’t react, couldn’t react, couldn’t process anything he was saying. Fayaz and Maya. Such a golden couple; beautiful, wealthy, powerful sure but also caring and loving, and they had known their share of tragedy. Years of IVF and three miscarriages had left Maya utterly bereft—which was why she had come to Saskia.

      Saskia’s hand stilled on her belly. She pulled her other hand out of Idris’s clasp and turned to him. ‘The baby? What happens to their baby?’

       CHAPTER TWO

      IDRIS STARED UNSEEINGLY out at the sea. He needed to get back to Jayah. The funerals would be taking place in just a few hours’ time and there were a hundred and one things demanding Idris’s attention, but his business at the villa wasn’t done. Not nearly. Saskia’s question echoed round and round his mind. What happened to the baby? Orphaned before birth. His cousin’s baby and, morally, the rightful heir.

      But the burning question remained unanswered: was it the legal heir? Idris had no idea; which was why he was still kicking his heels at the villa, awaiting both the lawyer who had drawn up the surrogacy agreement and his great-uncle so that he could get their advice. Advice he was praying tied in with his own plans, because if the baby could inherit and if his great-uncle was prepared to take on the Regency until it was of age then Idris could return to France as soon as the mourning period was over.

      He pushed away the guilt clenching his chest. Fayaz would have understood why he couldn’t stay; he knew how alone Idris always felt in Dalmaya. How out of place. Set apart by his accent, his French upbringing. Tainted by the dishonour his mother had brought on her family, not just by her elopement but by her subsequent lifestyle. Fayaz knew how duty already ruled his life, knew how hard Idris had worked to restore the chateau, the vineyards, to make the Delacour name mean something again. He wouldn’t expect Idris to put all that aside for a country that had never quite acknowledged him. Would he?

      The all too familiar burden of heavy expectations descended onto his shoulders. Fayaz might not have expected Idris to put everything aside, but he would have known that it was almost impossible for Idris to turn away.

      Almost...

      At the back of his mind another question burned white hot. What was Saskia Harper doing here? Why on earth was she acting as Maya’s surrogate? The guilt pulsed harder. He’d spent the last seven years doing his best not to think about Saskia, but occasionally he would see a flash of auburn hair, hear an imperious English accent and his heart would stutter to a stop, a tiny part of him hoping it might be her.

      He hadn’t expected to be so numb with grief when he did finally see her again that he had barely registered the shock of her presence.

      The doctor’s footsteps echoed through the hallway and Idris turned to the doorway, impatient for some answers. The midwife who worked full time at the villa had taken one look at Saskia and hustled her straight to bed, insisting that she be seen immediately by a doctor. The guilt pulsed again. Fayaz would expect him to do his best for his child and for its mother. ‘How is she?’

      The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘As well as can be expected, Your Highness. A severe shock at any stage of pregnancy should be avoided if possible, but she’s strong, healthy and has had the best possible care throughout. However, as a precaution, I’ve suggested bed rest for the rest of today and that she take it as easy as possible for the next few days. It’s out of the question for her to attend the funerals, of course. She shouldn’t be travelling.’

      The funerals. Idris clenched his jaw and refused to acknowledge the grief beating down on him. There was no time, not now. ‘Of course.’

      ‘I’m leaving Nurse Wilson in charge. She has my personal number if there are any concerns. I’ll come out straight away but I don’t foresee any problems. Try and keep Sayeda Saskia calm, and make sure she eats something.’ The doctor paused. ‘I’m very sorry for your loss, Your Highness. Your cousin was a good man and Queen Maya deserved the happiness this baby would have brought her. I’ll be back in the morning.’

      Idris spent the next couple of hours sending emergency emails. Just because it felt as if he were standing in the eye of a storm, unable to move while events whirled around him, didn’t mean he could neglect his own concerns. He closed his eyes briefly, picturing the weathered grey stone, the chateau turrets, the acres of slowly ripening vines. He’d made his home, made his mark at Chateau Delacour, knew every inch of soil, every man, woman and child in its environs. Last night he’d gone to bed expecting to wake up to another spring day, making sure he put some time aside to join the workers in the field as they carefully hoed and weeded the precious vines. What was the point of living in the glorious French countryside if he spent all his life in an office? Instead he’d awoken to a panicked call and his life had come to an abrupt halt. The vineyard felt like a lifetime, not a continent away.

      He knew his managers could take charge of the vineyard and his export business until he returned and he made sure they had all the relevant authorisation to do so, warning them that he would likely be difficult to get hold of and so they should contact him only in an emergency. He stopped as he typed a reassuring message promising them he would be back as soon as possible—he just hoped he was telling them the truth. Meanwhile a flood of panicked emails flooded in from the various ministries all needing guidance. He told each one to carry on as usual, promising an announcement on the succession imminently. He hoped he was telling them the truth as well. It was a long, testing couple of hours and he was relieved to hear the car pull up heralding the advisors he needed.

      ‘Assalamu alaikum, this way, please.’ Idris gestured to the stairs. On the midwife’s advice he had decided to hold the meeting in Saskia’s rooms—the doctor had said she was to be kept quiet but she clearly had a stake in the subject under discussion and Idris sensed it would be far more stressful for her if she was left out.

      The houseboy led them up the staircase and indicated the door leading to Saskia’s apartments. Idris paused, the reality of the situation hitting him anew. Fayaz was gone—and Saskia was here. Here in Dalmaya. Not quite his territory but close enough to discombobulate him with her unexpected presence.

      Her bedroom was huge, the outside wall