SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance (88 page)

Eight years!

They were on their third kid, and she was a year old already. Her family was done, it was made. All Wendy had to do now was telling boring stories about her kids and let time make her children into adults. Meanwhile, Lacy was going to have to put a lot of work into trying to find anyone halfway decent to breed with.

She ran an agitated hand through her hair and fixed Wendy with a smile that said “Shut up.” After a few sentences, Wendy got the hint, and stopped talking. Lacy honestly couldn’t have said what she was talking about.

“Lacy sweetie,” Wendy said.

“Yes?”

“You look like you’re about to cry.”

In that instant, Lacy felt terrible about every bad thought she’d just had about her friend. “It’s not your fault,” Lacy said. “I just wish I was where you were.”

Wendy reached over and actually took Lacy’s hand in hers. “I know. Why do you think I tell you so many stories about my kids? It’s all I can think to do to help.”

The shell cracked, and Lacy’s lip started to quiver. “You’re a beautiful woman, Wendy.”

There was a dynasty in the hot Arabian sands that spanned generations. It fell from father to son for two hundred years. In the turn of the century, the head of the household did something unheard of, and following the progressive ideals of the Western world, split his empire between his eight children; three of them women.

Not only was this unprecedented, but it was not well received, either.

The empire fell into inner turmoil and civil war. As the attentions of the world were sensitive to obvious lashing out, it was fought entirely in the shadows, and under the cover of night. Some of the most devious tactics were performed under the guise of business dealings.

So dangerous were these that to survive, the eight children were forced to learn the intricacies of their business. No longer could they rely on the expertise of others. If they were to each control a portion of their family’s empire, it fell on the shoulders of each of them to take the reins and guide their people into riches and peace.

It was a bloody time, and one that bred paranoia, but also tenacity and a heartfelt desire for the peaceful times to return. Each sibling in turn did just this. Walid, second to youngest, yet some would say the cleverest of them all, was the one to volunteer his holdings in favor of monetary compensation.

His siblings, suspicious of his intentions, yet trusting of their blood, agreed, and bought out his physical holdings. Walid then took his closest warriors, all of them under the cloak of business partners, and set out to start business in the United States. His family still attempting to recover from the conflict, he thought it best to let them have the larger portions, as that would appease them, and he could claim a small branch of the empire all for himself in a new land.

At first his siblings were furious, certain they had been deceived. Yet when each of their piece of his holdings paid out over time, they learned that he had not cheated them, but simply made a business deal that solved everyone’s immediate needs. The only fault of theirs was having not thought of it first.

His riches now numbered in the billions, Walid sat on a plane, not a single commercial passenger aboard, his guards, warriors, and advisors beside him as they crossed the ocean to New York. He’d made some contacts, and had a few options as to the best locations for his buildings. In addition, there were some ventures most advised to invest in, that would return him the most money per dollar invested.

Of course, American business laws were entirely different than those in his country. First he would have to meet with his corporate lawyer before they could proceed. He was looking forward to that the least. To study law was to dance with the greatest sand devil, the burning sand forever scorching the feet, threatening to devour whole anyone who made even a single misstep. To do this for corporations was to carry the devil on their back as they did this.

All of this produced either the most graveling suck-up in existence, or to create someone so cold-hearted, so unfeeling in life that they would sell their own grandmother to get out of a parking ticket. Still, it may be an evil, but it was a necessary evil. Such was the dangers of doing business in a new land.

After landing and checking into their hotel, of which Walid had bought out the entire top floor for he and his men, they set out to meet with their lawyer. Her firm had setup a meet and greet, complete with lunch buffet and alcohol. Walid walked into the convention hall, his men close at hand, and was at once rushed by bootlickers from the firm. They told him how much they appreciated his business, and welcomed him in. As he expected.

He scowled at the decorations, as though he needed a party thrown for him. A lovely young woman took a sip from her glass, looking bored by all of it, and didn’t seem to notice he’d arrived. Perhaps part of the catering team. No matter how menial her task, he appreciated her frankness for how she felt regarding all of this ridiculous celebration.

Were they so desperate for business that they would do all of this?

The bootlick ushering them along guided Walid and his men to the young woman. She, in turn, startled and hurried to swallow her sip of champagne as they approached.

“Hello,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Lacy. I’ll be your contact here at the firm for your day to day needs. I’m sure it was explained to you that were anything major to come along, you have the full power of Johnson and Stash at your disposal.”

“You,” Walid said slowly, shaking her hand, “are my lawyer?”

“Yes sir,” she said, and fixed him with a solid look. “Is that a problem?”

The fierce gaze, the empowered posture, she reminded him of the strength of his sisters taking their piece of the empire. They were not to be trifled with, and neither was this woman. In his experience, every woman that had ever been near him was only so because of his power and money.

This woman, though, looked as though she was simply doing the job assigned to her. It was a strange thing to be made so happy by such a small thing, but he was.

Walid smiled, the first genuine smile he’d given since landing in this country. “No problem at all. I’m quite pleased to have met you.”

Lacy’s eyes were starting to cross from staring at the contract for so long. The bright white of the computer screen had bored its way into her brain, whittling away at her ability to focus on what she was looking at.

She blinked rapidly and pulled away from her computer. Gently, she touched a finger to her eyelid to see if any make-up had hung on this long through the day. There was some, but not a lot. Instead of doing what she so desperately wanted to do and just grind the heels of her palms into her aching eyes to relieve them, she instead focused on the wall across from her.

Continuing to blink to produce more tears, she focused on something far, then something near, then far, then somewhere in the middle. It was like eating a salad when she was starving. Her eyes didn’t fall out of her skull, but it wasn’t what she wanted.

The object she focused on far was her clock hanging on the wall. It said it was nearly 3 o’clock. Lacy startled and checked the time on her computer just to verify that was the accurate time. Lacy scrambled through her drawers for her small desk mirror and touch-up makeup.

One glance in the mirror and she wretched at her own face.
He
was going to be there at 3 o’clock, and she looked like hell! As quickly as she could manage, she did a quick reapplication of her blush and eye makeup.

As she reapplied her mascara, her assistant came in with a hot cup of coffee in her hand.

“Your afternoon pick-me-up,” Linda said as she set it on her desk. “Someone’s getting fancy for her 3 o’clock.”

Lacy flicked her eyes up to her smirking assistant. “Have you seen that man? You could fry an egg on that face.”

“Because he has the face of a frying pan?”

“What?” Lacy looked up to see her assistant fighting to keep a straight face. “No, because he’s hot. You know what?” Lacy picked up a paperclip and threw it at her assistant, who just laughed and ran from her office.

“Warn me before you—“ Lacy was calling out when he walked through the door.

Linda rushed in to stand ahead of him. “Your 3 o’clock has arrived,” she said sheepishly.

When she first saw him, Lacy’s first instinct was the shove all of her makeup stuff into her drawer. Of course, that would indicate she was in some way embarrassed. That, of course, was a sign of weakness. So, instead, Lacy put on a smile and stood.

“Thank you for being so prompt. Too many of my clients lack punctuality. They feel their money arrives before they do and holds their place.”

“A lack of punctuality shows a lack of respect,” Walid said, his voice deep and dripping with that accent. It made Lacy melt in all the right ways.

He came to the lounge chair in the middle of her office and sat himself. “I would hate to give that impression.”

“Of course,” she said, and gave a nod of acknowledgement to Walid’s colleagues, then a nod to Linda that she was excused.

“The eggs you ordered should arrive shortly,” Linda said before stepping back toward the door.

“Yes, Linda,” Lacy hissed. “Thank you.”

Linda bit on her upper lip to keep from laughing and rushed from the room.

“Well,” Lacy said and splayed her hands. “I was just freshening up. I’d hoped to be finished before you arrived, but of course that’s my fault for expecting tardiness.”

“Please,” Walid said with a small wave of his hand. “Do as you must. I am patient.”

“Thank you,” she said with a small bow of her head and sat. “I appreciate your patience.”

“You are worth the wait.”

She looked up from her makeup but he had fished his phone from his pocket and was scrolling through messages.

“Your partners are welcome to have a seat,” she said, eying the three men standing against the three far walls of her office.

“They prefer to stand,” Walid said. “It is their way.”

Lacy was mortified to be applying makeup in front of everyone, but she wasn’t about to stop, either. “I appreciate you meeting me,” she said as she finished up. “The documents you wanted me to look over…”

“Yes?” he asked and put away his phone.

There was something so fierce in every movement. The way his eyes surveyed everything around him, or how his fingers like the talons of a hawk gripped the arm of the chair. He was a predator, perched, ready to descend on anything hapless enough to be in his path.

Lacy gave a shake of her hair and put her makeup away. “Everything looks good with the documents,” she said, “but when we spoke before… This didn’t seem to be what you were looking for?”

“I understand,” he said and stood. Fastening the button on his suit, he approached her desk. “But you say all is in order?”

The way he moved as he drew closer made the breath leave her lungs in a slow exhale. She couldn’t take her eyes off how gracefully he took those few short steps to her desk. He rested his fingertips against her desk. Not leaning, not threatening, simply position.

Unconsciously she ran her tongue over her lower lip as she imagined where else he could rest those fingertips.

“Yes,” she said, and turned her eyes up to him. “All is in order. That is, if you’re certain this is what you want.”

“Your attention to detail is commendable,” Walid said. Then as slowly as a cat stalking its prey through tall grass, he lowered himself onto those fingertips and locked eyes with her. She felt herself frozen under that gaze, and wondered how many people he’d pinned under the power of his presence. “Rest assured, I know what I want. And I intend on having it.”

Lacy forced a steady breath into her lungs, refusing to let herself be under his power.

“Well,” she said, forcing the word out, hoping the sound of her own voice would break his spell. It was clear he was used to women falling for his charm, and she wasn’t going to just be another notch. “If you’re certain.”

She pushed the documents across her desk toward him and interlocked her fingers.

“It seems a solid deal. Please let me know if I can advise you further.”

Those dangerous eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he smiled. “I certainly will. Thank you for your time.”

She kept her face clear and straight as she nodded and stood as she showed him to the door.

When he was finally gone, Linda turned toward her boss, but Lacy was already pressed against the doorframe, her knees weak.

“You weren’t kidding,” Linda said. “I want to climb that man like a tree.”

The ache in Walid’s neck forced its way into his skull. The chair in his hotel room’s living area was stiff and uncomfortable.

These were supposed to be luxury suites. Where was the luxury? It was strange how people were more concerned with looking rich rather than being comfortable in this country.

Where he came from, luxury means body consistently relaxed, the mind forever at ease, the soul insistently appeased. Here, luxury meant expensive cars that felt more like a stiff chair in a chariot of cloud, closed off from the rest of the world. It meant high penthouses and uncomfortable furniture. He rubbed the back of his neck and threw the papers down on the square glass coffee table.

“They try to cheat me,” he said aloud, not expecting a response.

His three men stood in their positions against the walls. Walid stood and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the ache.

“They think they can send me these demands and I will leave. They think I am not American, and so cannot decide for myself what is a good deal.”

He stood at the window and looked out over the city that hated him. It was opportunity, yes, but would be a hard-fought victory. He looked over to the nearest of his men and nodded his head to get his attention.

“You. The woman, Lacy, what do you think of her?”

His man sniffed. “Bold. She’s a warrior spirit, but untested. A wolfhound working in a teddy bear factory.”

Walid smirked and looked back out the window. “She strikes me as worthy of trust, despite not knowing the world she’s dipped into.”