The Sheik's Secret Twins (17 page)

He did his best to reassure them, squeezing them gently to show them that he understood their worries. 
“Then we’ll discuss
any questions or disagreements you have
as soon as I can give you a call back. 
And I’ll make sure that my advisors know that you three have top priority in my daily schedule so they won’t turn away any messages you might have, no matter how small. 
Okay?”

Jacob considered this and
finally
nodded his head in agreement.  “Deal.”  He even stuck his little hand out to shake it but Malik chuckled and pulled him into his arms for another hug. 
Samuel went right along with Malik and Jacob, smiling over Malik’s shoulder as he enjoyed his hug from their newly discovered father. 

Standing up, he looked at Siri.  He wanted to hug her, to kiss her and make her cling to him like she had
during
the previous several nights.  But her body language was clearly shouting for him to leave her alone. 

He started to walk away,
trying hard to respect
her overt signals for space.  But he only took a few steps before he stopped, cursed under his breath and spun around.  He walked over to her and pulled her stiff body into his arms, kissing her and running his hands over all of her secret places only he knew about until she softened and kissed him back.  And even then, he continued for several more minutes, enjoying her soft sighs and little moans she had no idea she actually made when he kissed her 

He didn’t stop until he heard Sam and Jacob giggle off to the side.  Only then did he lift his head and look down into her soft, beautiful features and nod his head in approval.  “That’s better,” he declared. 

With one more peck, he turned around and headed back out the door, determined to get the business out of the way so he could officially bring them all back to Duban and marry that annoying, confusing, beautiful and sexy woman.  He wanted everyone to know that she was his woman and they couldn’t touch her for any reason.  And his boys were the most amazing little creatures.  He’d never known that boys could be so fascinating and curious and interesting to talk to.  He never tired of their questions, continuously fascinated by how their minds processed their world. 

He had obligations though and he had to focus on those in order to make his family whole again.  He’d never allow anything to get in the way of his world like it had four years ago. 
He knew now that he should have done things differently in the past, not given in to his father’s pressure and found a better way to solve the problems of the country rather than marry his ex-wife. 

With determination, he slipped into the back of the limousine and ordered his driver to get him to the airport in half the time.  At this point, he
didn’t
even care if he broke the
traffic
laws.  He just wanted to be back here as fast as possible so he could take his family home and make that woman his wife. 
He wanted the world to know that she was his and no one could mess with her.  And he wanted to know that she would be in his bed every night with her warm smile and gentle heart. 

Siri watched with a sinking
feeling
as the
beautiful
limousine
quickly
pulled away,
the
back tires skidding
as the driver sped away from the house
as fast as possible. 

She didn’t understand
Malik’s motivation today and she really didn’t understand why he was so frantic to get away from them
.  She would have sworn that
he
loved being with the boys
, and she definitely enjoyed having him around, even though she’d fought it hard at first
. 
Besides,
he never hesitated to pull her into his
strong, secure
arms, but maybe she
again
was just a convenient outlet for his desires.  The man was certainly passionate.  Perhaps he saw the boys as an unexpected obligation on top of so many others he was constantly burdened with. 
Or maybe he just had sex with her as a way to secure her feelings towards him so he could claim the boys as his own. 

No, she didn’t think that was the case.  He was too solicitous of her opinion and seemed to genuinely want her advice or perspective.  If he were going to take the boys away, she suspected he would start to pull away from asking her opinion versus increasing her involvement.  Not that she would let him, anyway. 

As she stood there by the window, the tail lights of his vehicle slowly fading away
, her heart felt like it was a lead brick, and
sunk
further into her stomach. 
Why couldn’t she figure this man out?  Why was he so complicated?  And why, why, why did she have to fall in love with a man like him?  Why couldn’t she have fallen for someone normal and boring?  Someone who wouldn’t have to fly halfway around the world just to reach his home?  There were wonderful men, probably right down the street?  What was it about Malik that she just thought was so special? 

She heard the boys in the background and pulled her
worried
eyes away from the
large, sunny
window.  There wasn’t anything to see anymore so it was pointless now. 

It was the middle of the afternoon and she had several
urgent
issues still to finalize at work.  She didn’t have time to think about Malik and why he didn’t want to be around them.  She thought her boys were pretty amazing so it was his fault that he didn’t want to experience each day with them. 

Siri picked up both of her
excited
boys and gave them
each
a hug and a kiss, then headed into the office Malik
had set up for her to work in.  This was definitely nice of him, she thought as she rounded her beautiful, shiny wooden desk that was absolutely perfect for her needs.  Lots of drawers, a wide area for her computer and monitor not to mention a state of the art sound system that allowed her to play whatever music suited her mood. 
He was definitely generous, she’d give him that.  But to what end?  She fingered the files she needed to work on while she puzzled through possible scenarios, but in the end, she couldn’t guess what Malik’s end game was, other than taking her boys from her, which she absolutely would not allow! 

The boys would be finishing up their
afternoon
classes with the nanny soon and she
no longer had
to worry about dinner
, which was a glorious freedom since she sincerely disliked cooking
.  Maybe she could take the boys to the playground for a while
, get their minds off of Malik’s departure
.  They hadn’t been outside
in the sunshine
very much lately
due to a more rigorous school schedule
and several rainy days
, so this would be a nice change. 
She didn’t mind the increased lessons since the boys
were absolutely loving
the additional information, sucking up any new lesson like little sponges. 

Siri looked down at her cluttered desk and gritted her teeth.  She would have to focus if she wanted to get all these issues resolved in time. 
She worked steadily
through
the rest of the afternoon
, resolving several outstanding
problems by refusing to let her mind wander, especially to try and figure out Malik’s motivation.  She worked hard
until the boys came running into her office.  She then
determinedly
shut down her
work
computer and gathered up all the
play
stuff they would need
in order to have a good time at the playground
.  Playing out in the
sunshine
, running along the green grass with Rover and Boy while they chased balls, pushing Jacob and Samuel
on the swing and laughing as they raced up the ladder for the slide was exactly what she needed
to get her mind off of the depressing
events of the
afternoon
. 
These two boys were the right antidote for any kind of depression she thought as the three of them walked back to the car hand in hand, the boys chattering about their rambunctious activities while the dogs kept reaching up to lick
a cheek or nudge a hand for some attention
. 

The next few days followed the same pattern and Siri was amazed at how well they worked their days around their new schedule
without Malik
. 
If she had to force herself to focus at times during the
afternoon because she caught herself fantasizing about a tall, handsome sheik
who
was missing, she’d just push herself harder to get more done. 

The only exception
to their routine
was when Malik called each night.  They boys loved talking with him, telling him all that they’d learned with their new nanny that day
and asking him questions to show her the following day that they were on top of their lessons
.  Her
teachings
were filled with various animals, different countries of the world, cultures and Siri was amazed at how the woman snuck in geography, all of which the boys just
loved, their little minds grasping concepts that others wouldn’t probably understand until they were much older
. 

She was so emotionally distraught over Malik’s departure that by the time
his phone call
arrived, she was barely able to tuck the boys into bed before she fell asleep herself.  She wanted to stay up later and talk with Malik
, to ask him questions and find out how things were going in Duban
or just finish up her
own
work
, possibly get ahead of the curve that she’d felt she’d been under lately
.  But she could barely keep her eyes open
, the emotional stress wearing her down
. 

One night when he called, she’d just tucked
the boys
into bed and brushed her
own
teeth.  She was climbing into bed when her phone rang and she
instinctively
knew it would be him
even though this wasn’t the time he generally called her in the evenings
.  She tried to smile, but she was so painfully tired she could barely press the button to answer. 

“How are you?” he asked, his voice strong and vibrant and Siri was jealous that he could be
so wide awake while
she
continued to feel
so
painfully
exhausted. 

“Tired,” she claimed and yawned so she couldn’t say anything more. 

He hesitated while she finished her yawn before continuing. 
“What did you do today?” he
asked
,
his voice brusque as he tried to determine why she was pushing him away.  Each phone call was becoming shorter and shorter.  She claimed exhaustion, but he’d seen her running her business and running after those two boys before and she hadn’t acted like this at that point.  Something was wrong, he thought as he tried to come up with something that would inspire conversation
.

Siri thought his tone was becoming impatient, but she
wasn’t able to focus enough to make a determination.  “Oh, we received several large orders
at the office
and had to rush the distribution. 
So it’s been a good week so far. 
What about you?” she asked and closed her eyes, curling up in the bed they’d shared for just over a week before he’d left.  Had it only been two weeks since he’d come back into
their
lives?  So much had happened, her whole life was different now. 

“What about you?” she asked and snuggled down into the large pillows that were placed behind her on the bed. 
It was a decadent feeling to slide into a bed that she hadn’t made earlier in the day.  She still wasn’t used to someone taking care of the house for her, but it was definitely something she could enjoy while it lasted. 

He started to talk, but she kept yawning so she only heard about half of what he said.  “
That
sounds good,” she replied, but wasn’t really sure if anything he’d said was good, bad or horrible. 

There was a long pause and Malik finally asked,
“
Siri, are you okay?”

“Of course,” she replied, smothering another yawn. 
“Why do you ask?”

“You seem a bit standoffish.  I want the old Siri back.”

She should be angry at his comment, but she was just too tired.  She snuggled deeper into the pillows, pulling a soft, fluffy blanket over her legs because it was just too much effort to get under the covers. 
“Sorry.  I’m not sure why I’m so tired.
  I’m not normally like this, am I?
”