The Sheik's Secret Twins (14 page)

“I have several houses lined up for us to walk through.”

“Why would we look at houses?”

“We discussed this
a few nights ago
, but you didn’t want to accept it.  B
ut Siri, you have to understand
that Samuel and Jacob can never be just normal boys.  I need them to be in a secure environment.  I can’t let anything happen to them.”

Siri took a deep breath and stood still for a moment.  She had to think about this rationally, and do what was best for the boys and not what she wanted to maintain.  Besides, she was really just maintaining her little cottage out of sentimental reasons.  She’d hate it there if anything happened to the boys.  “Okay.  Let’s take a look.”

Malik relaxed with her acceptance, had actually been prepared for a longer argument over any possible move.  But
thankfully
she was being reasonable. 

He just hoped she’d continue to think that way as she walked through the houses his security team had already approved.  He had a plan but knew he’d have to take it slow.  This little woman was skit
tish and didn’t trust him.  If
he were in her place, he wouldn’t trust him either but now it was time to toss all that behind them and move forward. 

“Excellent.  Thank you for this.”  He pushed away from the limousine and opened the car door for her. The driver had already taken the car seats out and stored them somewhere else so there was plenty of room in the back now.  As they drove through unfamiliar streets, Malik had to take a phone call which was fine with her.  She didn’t know what to talk to him about.  She felt like she was with a stranger, and the mention yesterday that her sons were actually princes was still a huge shock. 

They pulled up to an extremely large house with Palladian windows, a gate with a security guard standing out front and several other security measures she was stunned to see in place.  It made her wonder what other measures were around that she wasn’t aware of. 

“Where’s the realtor?” Siri asked as Malik led her into the house, not even needing a key to open the door.  “And shouldn’t we knock before entering someone else’s house?  Or are they expecting us?”

Malik chuckled and put a hand to the small of her back.  “This house has been vacant for about six months.  The previous tenant died suddenly and the children live on the west coast.  They’ve been trying to sell it ever since their father died.”

“Ah.  So it’s a bargain, huh?” she asked
tentatively
,
warily
looking up at the ornately decorated
pink
marble foyer with
gold painted
statues and a
grand
staircase that wound around the circular room to a landing at the top
complete with black
balustrades
and more gold statues
. 
Even the ce
iling was decorated ala Michelangelo
style celestial type of art, but Siri wasn’t sure if the painting was actually a work of art or a….well, she couldn’t really describe it and she blushed as she pulled her eyes away. 

“I guess you could say
that,” he
replied softly
, smothering the chuckle at her not so subtle reaction
to the not-so-subtle sexual images on the ceiling
.  “What do you think?”
As if he didn’t know already, he thought.  Siri’s poker face, at least in this case, was non-existent. 

She bit her lip and looked upwards
again, needing another look at the ceiling to make sure she hadn’t imagined the scene
. “It’s a very…nice house,” she replied carefully.  In reality, she hated it.  Every little detail and golden covered cherub was a disgusting show of pompous wealth and she couldn’t imagine living in a place like this. 
It was beyond pretentious and bordering on obscene both in the blatant wealth and the decorations that seemed somehow seedy and creepy in a sexual way. 

“Let’s look around a bit more,” he said, already able to tell that she didn’t want to live here.  “Remember, we can always redecorate.”

“Do you like this house?” she asked, worried that he really did like
the feel and the décor
.  She remembered his penthouse from four years ago
and had a hard time reconciling his previous taste to the interior of this house
.  That place had been decorated with
strong,
masculine colors
like tans and browns or grey and black
, but they were still elegant and refined.  This was just….tacky and pretentious.

He shook his head as he surveyed the cheap bureau
masquerading
as a Louis XIV marble topped hallway table.  It wasn’t hard to detect the poor workmanship and the chips already broken out of the white marble. 
“I won’t be
the one
r
edecorating.  Feel free to
hire a decorator to make the house the way you want it to be
in any style that suits you and the boys
.”

She looked around, actually depressed that he’d brought her to a place like this.  It was so completely outside of her tastes that it seemed like a complete waste of their time. 
“I can’t afford a decorator,” she replied, angry that he was being so casual about
moving them out of their current home and into a hollowed out bordello
. 

He took her elbow gently and navigated them through the foyer and into the office, which seemed much more normal with the heavy wooden desk and large, leather chair.  The books on the shelves were well worn, but dusty, indicating that the previous owner hadn’t used them often.  He looked around, amused that some of the shelves actually had fake books, as in wooden pieces cut out to look like a row of books complete with gilded edges. 
“You won’t have to worry about money from now on, Siri.  I will be taking care of you and the boys.”

“I can take care of them well enough!” she snapped back.
  She knew she was just being defensive now because Malik’s wealth was so far out of her league she couldn’t even begin to imagine his net worth, much less
how she could afford to pay for the security Malik considered necessary. 

He thought about contradicting her, knowing that the boys would need private tutors as well as many different kinds of instructors.  He planned to have the boys taught how to ride horses, teach them combat training, economics, politics, languages…anything that would help them survive in the world they were going to be thrown into.  Being ruler came with the perks of wealth, but ruling was also a huge pain in the ass! 

As they walked into the living room together, Siri stopped at the entryway, stunned by what she was seeing in the room.  “Oh my,” she replied softly. 

“That’s quite an understatement,” Malik replied
with a cough of surprise
.

Siri tried very hard, but staring at a nude painting of a man who was, to put it kindly, rotund
,
while angels danced above his head just caught Siri’s sense of humor and wouldn’t release it.  It started off as a snort in place of a chuckle, but as she looked to the right, she found another nude, of the same man!  “
Do
you think it’s the previous owner?” she asked and covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. 

“Hmmm…I’m guessing it’s a strong possibility,” he said as he looked to the left.  Siri followed his gaze and gasped in horror at the painting of the same man, with the same physique, but the angels were no longer angels but had transformed into fairies.  All of whom were kissing the man in various parts of his body.  “I hope this home wasn’t offered fully furnished,”
Siri
finally got out but she couldn’t control her laughter any longer.  The hilarity was just too much and she was bent over laughing as she looked at the three portraits of the man in the buff.  “He really thinks something big of himself,” she replied
, all anger and frustration of the previous moment dissipated with the views
from the horrific living room.

Both of them walked
rapidly
out of the house, Siri laughing uproariously while Malik was able to maintain a bit more decorum and
was
only chuckling at the paintings.  They didn’t even bother going through the rest of the house, just too amazed by that front room to even bother. 

“Okay, on to the next,” Malik declared, nodding to his guards who immediately moved into position, startling Siri as she entered the limousine. 

Malik said something to the security guard, who looked stunned initially, then shook his head and opened the door to the
car
, all the while maintaining his perimeter search of the area. 

“What did you say to him?” she asked as they were seated in the vehicle.

Malik shook his head slightly
, an amused expression on his face.  “I told him the house looked like a fat man’s bordello.” 

She couldn’t smother the laughter at his comment and since they were now out of the house, she didn’t even try.  “I loved the pink marble.  Do you think that was to make the ladies more comfortable? 
Or to add a bit of romance to his day?”

Malik chuckled.  “I’d hate to see that man trying to be romantic.”

It felt good to laugh with Malik, Siri thought as they traveled down the road, heading to the next house he wanted her to see.  The past several days had been so filled with tension and trying to avoid being caught alone with him, the absence of tension, even if it was only momentary, was extremely nice.  She sat back against the soft leather seats with a smile on her face as she watched the countryside pass by. 

“You haven’t done that since I arrived,” Malik said softly.

She spun her head around, looking up at him.  “Done what?” she asked, her stomach muscles instantly tensing
as her awareness of him came right back.  She wanted to scoot away, to put just a few more precious inches between their bodies, but she didn’t want him to know that she was aware of him.  She was trying to pretend she was indifferent to him, t
hat she was over the attraction
she’d had in the past. 

Unfortunately, as he looked down at her, his heat seeping into her arm and leg, she didn’t think he was buying her act.  She watched as his eyes dilated and she thought he moved slightly closer, but wasn’t sure and didn’t want to test it. 

“What are you talking about?” she asked, trying to sound more confident and unaffected than she was. 

“You haven’t smiled. 
Except when Jacob or Samuel does something like put frogs in your fridge.”

She had to laugh at the memory now that she wasn’t surrounded by
scary,
jumping blobs. 

“You were trying to protect me that night, weren’t you?” she asked, chuckling at the memory now that it was in the past.

“All I heard was your scream.  I had no idea what the threat was.”

A giggle escaped her and she covered her mouth with her hand.  “So you ran out naked, slammed me up against the wall.  Where on earth had you stored that knife?” she asked through her laughter. 

“I always carry a knife.  Who knows when I have to protect a damsel
in distress?
”

“From frogs,” she finished and the laughter just couldn’t be stopped.  She let it roll and was actually holding her stomach when the laughter finally subsided. 
“Oh my!
  Could you imagine if that scene had been recorded? 
All those frogs jumping around, my kids trying
to protect me from you who are
ten times their size and you standing there naked with a knife.
  What a chaotic mess!”

“It was cute,” he replied and leaned back but the smile on his face told her that he’d found the memory just as humorous.  “I’m impressed that both boys are so protective. 
Of you and the frogs although Samuel might need to rethink his priorities.
   It shows they will both be good leaders.”

That reminder sobered her instantly and she looked away, pretending to watch the trees pass by outside the car but in her mind, she was scared for her boys.  For what might be in their future.  “Promise me that they’ll be okay.”

Malik took her hand in his and gave her a reassuring squeeze.  “We’ll work this out together.  I’ll teach them how to survive and they’ll thrive.  Trust me,” he replied.

Siri shivered and couldn’t look up at him.  Trust was the problem, she thought.  She didn’t trust him.  She had at one point and he’d broken that trust.  She didn’t want to even try to trust him again for fear of being hurt. 

Luckily, the driver pulled into another driveway at that point, relieving her of needing to reply. 

The next house was better, but had no furniture in it.  The lines were more elegant, less ornate and much more to Siri’s liking.  It was still much bigger than she would prefer.  And much too empty.

As they walked through the house, she tried to step away from Malik because each time he touched her, she wanted more.  She wanted him to pull her into his arms and kiss her but she had to remain firm in maintaining her distance. 
“Why isn’t a realtor here to help walk us through the houses?”
she asked after he touched her back to lead her through one of the rooms.