SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance (93 page)

“What are you going to do if you are?”

“Linda, go away. You have work to do. DO it.”

Linda jumped at Lacy’s tone and ran from the room. As the long, silent seconds ticked by, Lacy’s initial panic settled. Linda’s reaction had fed into Lacy’s paranoid flames, but the truth settled in as the haze faded. Lacy smiled.

If she was pregnant, it could only be Walid’s. He was the only man she’d been with in the last year and a half. If she was to have a baby, she was glad it would be by a man that was as kind and powerful as him. That would mean the baby would have a great start in life, and she knew he’d want to be a part of their lives.

He wasn’t the kind of man to desert family. A small, hopeful voice suggested that maybe, just maybe this would even bring him back around.

The old bar was the worst thing Walid had seen since arriving in America. The support beams above were cracked, two of them having broken entirely and now sat as 45 degree ramps from the floor up to the ceiling. The smell of mold and rot filled the stale air. The traditional mirror behind the bar where the liquor is normally displayed was nothing but a foggy, cracked mockery. The wood of the bar itself was warped and covered in a thick, sticky layer of dust. It had been condemned years ago, but the price point was too expensive for anyone to come in and fix it up.

The foundation was shot, the walls were useless. Walid wasn’t even sure walking through the building was safe as the gentle steps might have been enough to bring the whole thing down. Still, to demolish a building required permits, money, paperwork, and time. Resources no casual business owner had.

For Walid and his current venture, however, the location was prime. It was directly in the center of his target demographic. The cost to demolish and build a new structure would have been prohibitive were he any other person. Fortunately, he wasn’t anyone else. He was Walid, Sheikh of New York.

“You can see where they tried to put in a wider dining area, over there,” their guide said as he stepped over a toppled chair. The lights didn’t work, and only bars of sun streaked across the inside from the broken slats and open windows.

“Yes, I see,” Walid said.

The smell of this place was surely in the fabrics of his suit already. It would never wash out. He’d have to burn his clothes after. The saturation of the building’s rot was finally breaking through Walid’s mental barrier.

“I believe I’ve seen enough. I’ll have my lawyer draw up the necessary paperwork.”

The man paused, confused. “Don’t you want to see the dry storage?”

“I have no wish to be rude, and you have my sincerest apologies if I seem in any way dismissive. Truthfully, though, I see not how it matters as I am to bring the entire building down. Bathrooms, dry storage, it will all be rubble.”

“Yeah,” the man said, his eyes flickering toward the back, then to Walid again. “I suppose.”

“You seem ill at ease.”

“What?” The man’s tongue flicked out over his lips like a snake. “No, I just haven’t—“

Walid held up a hand. “If this is an attempt on my life, I assure you that you will be the first to die. Your only escape is honesty.”

The man’s jaw worked side to side as he fought his emotions. After only a moment’s indecision, tears welled in his eyes and his hands clasped together. “Please, they have my wife.”

Walid’s men had weapons in hand in a heartbeat, and the man flinched at the speed of it. Walid held up his hand “I said honesty would be your salvation. I meant it. Leave.”

“But, my wife…”

Walid looked the man in the eye. “She is your concern. Not mine. See to it.”

The man looked stricken and lost, but started to move away from what he was sure to be the fight. Rage at the man’s betrayal warred with his pity over his plight. Not everyone was a warrior. Not every man was raised to be a killer.

“Wait,” he said softly.

In the deathly silence of that place, his voice carried as far as it needed to. The man turned, almost hopeful.

“Wait for me outside. I will take your information and attempt to find your wife.”

The purest joy filled the man’s face, but before he could say anything, Walid held a hand up to silence him and turned back toward dry storage.

Walid’s guard drew close to him. “What shall we do?” one whispered.

“There is a trap, of this we can be sure, but of what nature there is no way to know.” Walid narrowed his eyes in thought.

The boldest of his guards rolled his shoulders. “Sometimes the best way to defeat a trap is to trip it.”

“Or,” Walid said and smiled, “encase it in a trap of your own.”

Silent as death, Walid and his men snuck out of the building, barred every door shut save one. Then, with the would-be assailants inside, they lit it aflame.

The man was dutifully waiting for him on the sidewalk, staring in shock at the black plume of smoke rising from his establishment.

“Those who took your wife,” Walid said, calling the man’s attention to him. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know,” the man said. “I never spoke with him. His men only ever called him The Sheikh.”

Walid sneered and looked away. This Sheikh was becoming quite the thorn. Walid’s phone rang in his pocket. He checked the display and saw it was Lacy. A splinter in his heart stung at the sight of her name, especially on the cusp of hearing how this Sheikh took the man’s wife to use him.

He knew that just by speaking with her he put her in danger. Yet, even as he knew it, he couldn’t stop himself from answering the call. The man’s worry for his wife only fanned Walid’s own wild concerns for the woman that had won his heart.

“Hi,” she said, her voice honey to his ears. She sounded happy. “Are you busy?”

“I…” Walid looked up as the building fire grew quickly, the rotten wood flashing up on the far side. “Just got out of a meeting. I have a moment.”

“Great. I wanted to talk. Where are you right now? There’s a lot of background noise.”

The men inside panicked, trying every door, desperate to find some way to escape. The windows were boarded up. Only one option was left, and that was the front door. As they charged out, looking to save their lives, Walid’s men pounced on them like wild dogs, beating them senseless. Walid looked around as the faint cries of the men reached him. Walid went to his car and climbed inside. The doors closed, the roar of the fire was muted.

“Oh,” she said, ”that’s better. So, what’s up?”

Walid bit his upper lip for a moment. “You called me.”

“I know, but we haven’t really talked. I just wanted to say hi, ya know, before just diving into—“

“Lacy, I appreciate what you’re saying, but I only have a few minutes. I’d prefer not to waste them if there was something you wanted to discuss.”

Walid’s men climbed into their cars. As his man started the car, he looked back to Walid and gave a nod. Walid gave a small nod back and motioned for him to drive.

“I gotcha,” Lacy said on the other end, and he could tell she was disappointed that he wasn’t willing to chitchat. “Okay, fine. You don’t want to talk. Well, I’ll just tell you then. So, okay, well…” He heard her sigh. “Damnit.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“It would’ve been easier if you were nice.”

“It was not my intention to be rude. I’m just short on time. Perhaps we can speak later.”

“We both know later won’t happen.”

Walid closed his eyes and was grateful she couldn’t see his expression. She wasn’t wrong.

“I’m pregnant.”

It was the most intense bittersweet feeling he’d ever experienced. A child of his own with the greatest love of his life, yet at the same time, the danger to her just increased twofold. If word got out that she was pregnant, this “Sheikh” would make a target of her for sure. “I trust that you took all necessary tests to be sure of this before telling me.”

“Yes sir.”

Lacy curled her legs under her on her big comfy sofa. She wasn’t sure what sort of reaction she’d been hoping for from Walid, but what he was giving her was definitely at the bottom of the list.

“What do you wish to do with it?” he asked.

“It?” She couldn’t believe his distance. “I’m keeping
it.
”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“You know what?” she said. “This was supposed to be happy news. I’m happy about it, and it was a courtesy that I called to let you know.”

“Lacy—“

“Let me finish! If you don’t want to have anything to do with your child, fine. But don’t you try to turn this around on me asking if it’s wise that I keep it. You act like I haven’t been asking that question fifty different ways since I found out.”

“I apologize. Of course you have. I do not mean to sound as though I’m displeased by this news.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” Lacy rested her chin atop her knee as she held the phone to her ear. It took every bit of self-control not to hang up the phone, but some part of her was desperately hoping he’d say the right thing to make everything okay. She had no idea what that would be, but that’s why she was waiting.

“My situation is…” His voice trailed off, and her heart sank by the pause. “Things are not stable. A new life is a wonderful thing, and something I would love to share with you, Lacy. You are a magnificent woman.”

“Uh huh,” she said sardonically. “But?”

“There is no but. That is how I feel. I apologize for my reaction. My first thought was for the child and your safety. I am sorry if I gave the impression I was thinking of myself.”

“Yeah, well…” Lacy bit on her thumbnail. “So you’re not mad?”

“Quite the opposite.” Despite his words, his voice sounded flat and emotionless. It was like he was just trying to make her happy, and not voicing how he really felt.

“What’s going on with you?” she blurted out. “We have an incredible night, and then you pull away. I call to tell you I’m pregnant, you freak out, which sounded real, but now you’re giving me robotic placations.”

“It is not my intent to placate you, Lacy. You are misunderstanding me.”

“Your voice says differently.”

She heard him sigh on the other side of the phone. “As I said, things are not stable. I am attempting to keep my tone controlled. The truth of the matter is this is a dangerous world. I worry.”

“Yeah, well, you know what? You sound busy. I’m going to let you go.”

“Lacy, please.”

“We can talk later about it, if you ever decide you’re stable enough for a conversation.”

She heard him say her name one more time before she hung up the phone. So much for hoping he could fix everything.

Now what was she going to do?

Hours had passed since his conversation with Lacy, and Walid just couldn’t get his mind straight. Everything was in a whirl, and he couldn’t focus on any one thing long enough to solve it. He sat in his hotel room staring out the window when one of his men approached.

“Troubled minds are poor breeding grounds for solutions.”

Walid looked up and gave a small smile. “Indeed. All that spawns in my thoughts are the seeds of further worry.”

The man came and sat across from him. “Tell me of them.”

Walid resisted the urge to touch his forehead. It was a sign of shame in his country, and at a young age he was made aware of the gesture and trained how to avoid performing it. To this day it was a conscious choice to not move his hand. “Lacy is pregnant with my child.”

“And you are certain—“

“Yes. I trust her.”

“And why is this not a cause for rejoice?”

Walid drummed his fingers along the arm of the chair. “I came to this country for my business, my legacy. A single purpose, a single drive. I would conquer this land and then present it to my children when I was ready.”

“So things happened early.”

“It is not just the prematurity of the thing. The Sheikh and his men here, they are a threat. Until that threat is identified, anyone I am close to is in danger.”

“So what is the contention?”

“If I continue on, I put Lacy and my child in danger. To do so would be irresponsible. Yet, if I stop now for fear of their lives, what am I? The calling of business, of my dynasty is all I’ve known. What am I without that? Who could I be to a family?”

“That is not the true question,” his man said, resting his ankle on his knee. “What you are truly afraid of, the thing that stops you is the uncertainty of if Lacy can love half a man.”

“I would be a broken shell,” Walid said, his hand moving to his head. At the last moment he became aware of what he was doing, and turned it into scratching an itch with the knuckle of his thumb before lowering his hand again.

“Your love or your pride. A man can rarely have both. Which is most important to you?”

Walid looked at him, surprised by the man’s wisdom. The question posed truly was the root of how he felt, but more than anything else in his life, Walid was afraid of what the answer may be.

Lacy came into the office the next morning prepared to keep a brave face. The very last place she wanted to be was at work, but she couldn’t afford to let her feelings get in the way of her work. She was up all night worrying, and came to a conclusion: if Walid wasn’t going to be involved, she was still going to raise this baby on her own.

That meant she needed to keep her job and do her damn work no matter how bad she felt. Linda was there, a worried look over her face as she stood from her desk.

“Your morning appointment is here.”

Lacy stopped. Did she have an appointment she’d forgotten about? She had read about pregnant women having “baby brain” and forgetting things, but that happened later. Right? Oh God.

“How long have they been here?”

“Half an hour.”

“What?” A spike shot through Lacy’s chest. In all her time she’d never made an appointment wait so long for her. She rushed by Linda and entered her office.

Three men she didn’t recognize, all of Middle Eastern descent, stood from their place in her guest chairs.

“I am so sorry for forgetting our appointment,” she blathered before realizing she shouldn’t have admitted to forgetting. That was unprofessional. Damn!