The Sheik's Secret Twins (19 page)

Malik looked down at the boys.  “Would you mind if I had a private word with your mother?” he asked, but his voice was firm, indicating that it wasn’t a request.  “Go find Laura and see if she can dig up some information on crocodiles.  I bet I can come up with more facts about them than you can,” he said.

The boys both looked up at him, their eyes wide with excitement.  “Crocodiles?” they echoed.  Comically, Sam and Jacob looked directly at each other, then back up at their father, then the two of them raced out of the living room as fast as their little legs would carry them. 

When both of them were out of ear shot, he turned back to Siri.  “Okay, what’s going on?” he asked, his hands on his hips as he glared down at her. 

“Tell me you’re not married,” she whispered, the fear
almost choking her. 

At her question, Malik finally understood what she’d been thinking these past few days and his body relaxed.  He
pulled her closer, his arms wrapping around her stiff body.  “I’m not married.  Yet.”

She shoved out of his arms and glared up at him.  “What do you mean?  If you tell me that you’re engaged to another woman, so help me Malik…”

“I’m engaged to you, Siri.”
  His voice was soft, but firm, not trying to tease her in any way because he finally understood why she had been so stressed while he was away. 

Those weren’t the words she was expecting to hear so when he said them like that, just as a statement of fact
as if it were a fait accompli
, she could only stand there in front of him in stunned silence
. 

“We’re engaged?” she whispered, too afraid of believing him.  Had she
misunderstood?

“Yes.  We’re engaged.  We’re getting married the day after we arrive in Duban.  You’re going to….”

She interrupted him by raising her hand to stop him.  “Hold that thought,” she said and quickly ran out of the room and into the powder room off the hallway.  She was so embarrassed when she slammed the door shut and then emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet, heaving over and over again. 

When she was finished, she felt a cold towel press against her forehead and she slid against the wall, grateful for the support.  “Thank you,” she said quietly and closed her eyes, waiting for the wave of nausea to ease. 

“Were you that worried about what was going on?” he asked gently as he knelt down in front of her. 

She thought about it for a few moments,
and then
nodded her head.  “I was terrified to read the newspapers
and I
wouldn’t even log o
nto the internet, afraid I might see something
.  That’s how I found out about your first marriage.”
  He picked her up and carried her to the sofa in the living room, holding her there while she laid her head on his shoulder.  She was too weak from the bout of nausea to fight him.  And by now, she didn’t want to.  The words, “I’m engaged to you, Siri” kept running through her mind, a dream that was too precious to believe in yet. 

He nodded his head as well and pulled her close, his fingers tangling in her hair.  “
I know you haven’t wanted to hear an explanation, but I think it’s time we finally talked about what happened so you can understand why I got married that weekend.  I want to assure you first off that it wasn’t my choice and if I could have done things differently, I would have.  I loved you back then, but I’d been with you so much during the time we were together, I’d become out of touch with what was happening at home. 
I went home that weekend and was told about an uprising in the north of my country.  My father was furious that he was being cornered in that way and ordered me to marry the daughter of the tribal leader who had instigated the rebellion. 
She and I met for the first time the same day we were married
.”

Siri’s whole body tensed, but that brought back the nausea so she forced herself to relax
back against his warm chest
.
“So you weren’t engaged before then?”

“
I was never
engaged to her.  Ever! 
I
only
wanted to marry you.
  Please believe me, Siri.  You have been the only woman I’ve ever loved and even my ex-wife knew that I wasn’t emotionally involved with
the relationship
.  It wasn’t the cause of the breakup, but it definitely didn’t help.
”

“Why didn’t you?”

He looked down at her pale face, confused by her question.  “Why didn’t I what?  Love her?”

She didn’t even bother to shake her head, afraid of the consequences to her stomach.  “No.  Why didn’t you marry me four years ago?”

“I wasn’t sure how you felt about me.  You were still in school, so smart and beautiful.  You had so many plans for what you wanted to do with your education and marrying me would take all of that a
way.  I wanted you to be happy more than I wanted to marry you.”

“Why?”
She couldn’t look up at him, but she snuggled against him more, her nose pressed to his warm neck and smelling his wonderful scent. 

“Honey, you can’t have a career and be married to me.  I wish it were otherwise, but there are too many obligations.  Especially in the business you’re in, there would be implications of
favoritism.”

“You mean someone would try and buy my favors by going through my company to order their toys?”

“Exactly.”

She thought about that for all of two seconds. 
“Okay.  I’ll sell it off.  I know exactly who should have first chance at it too,” she said, thinking of Joe and his efficiency, his dedication. 

Malik looked down at her, trying to determine if he understood her correctly.  “Are you saying that you’re willing to give up all that you’ve worked for to be my wife?”

She smiled up at him.  “I’ve done the career part, Malik.”  She took a deep breath and forged on, determined to be brave and honest with him. “And I didn’t like life without you.” 

“I hated being married to that woman, Siri.  You’re the only woman I ever wanted by my side.”

“Why did you marry her then?”

“My father ordered it.  And I didn’t have time to figure out an alternative before the wedding.  I was cornered and it took me all this time to work a solution
for the tribes in the northern area of the country to get along
without the marriage.
  My ex-wife and I both worked hard over the years to make sure that any kind of separation between us wouldn’t impact the peace.  She’s a good woman, but not the one for me.  Only you are that woman.
”

She ran her fingers over his arm, feeling the hair against his warm skin and loving him even more for all of his dedication. 
“I can’t believe your ex-wife was willing to give you up.”

He shrugged and looked down at her.  “She wasn’t really into me,” he explained
diplomatically
. 

She thought about it
for a moment
, and came up with the right
explanation
.  “She was a lesbian?”

“Yes.”

“So that’s why you didn’t have any children with her?”

“Exactly.”

“She was an idiot,” Siri replied, leaning her head against his shoulder weakly. 

He laughed softly and squeezed her shoulders.  “She would have loved you!”

Siri smacked his thigh, but there was no force behind her movement. 

“I’m sorry you were so worried about what was happening,” he finally said.  “
Do you want to move anywhere?  I’m fine with you right here, just trying to figure out what’s going on with you lately.”

Siri smiled and shook her head. “No.  I’m fine right here.”

He nodded his head.  “How long is this going to last?” he asked. 

Siri thought about it for a moment and then tensed. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, feeling her body change and becoming alarmed. 

“Malik, remember that first night we were together?”

“Yes.”

“Did you happen to use a condom?”

He stilled as he thought back to that night.  “
Yes. 
Hell,” he cursed quietly. 
“It might have broken.  I wasn’t sure and completely forgot to mention it.”

She laughed and put her hand on his chest.  “How soon is the wedding?”

“As soon as we get back to Duban.  Everything is arranged which is what took me so long to get back here.  I wanted everything ready so you couldn’t wiggle out of the ceremony.”

“Would you mind terribly if we left maybe this afternoon?”

“Are you telling me…
?”

“Yes.  I think we’re going to have another little one running around whatever palace you’re going to make us live in.”

Mal
ik picked her up and hugged her gently, careful not to upset her stomach again
.  “I love you,” he said as he kissed her gently. 

Epilogue

Malik strode down the hallway, his steps eating up the distance between his office and the gymnasium.  His aide had just whispered in his ear and he was rushing to stop imminent catastrophe. 

He heard their words before he reached the room, but he hurried even faster, wary of any of them demonstrating their skills. 

“Stop!” he commanded as soon as he entered the room.

Four sets of eyes looked over at him, all of them wary and all wondering why he would be discouraging the use of their combat skills when he’d taught them so well over the past several years.

“Danika, get off Jacob immediately,” he said,
then
turned to see his other two children.  “Samuel, you may not put your sister in a head lock!” he ordered. 

Siri rushed into the room, already out of breath herself.  She’d obviously received the same message and was here to stop her children from hurting each other as well. 

“Good grief,” she whispered as she noticed Jacob glaring at his younger sister and Samuel looking smug as Lila brushed herself off.  “What’s going on?”

Malik turned so his back was facing his four children.  In this way, Siri was the only one to see his amusement.  “Our children decided they were ready for real combat and thought they should fight to the death here.”

Siri glanced around, her mouth hanging open slightly in horror. 
“Danika!
  You’re three years old!  You cannot fight to the death at three years old!”

Danika humphed and looked at her sister who was a year older.  “Lila started it.  Samuel said he knew more than she did so he said he could win.”

Malik’s shoulders shook and she glared back at him as well.  “You’re actually to blame for this!” she snapped at him, her hands on her hips, not
appreciating
any of his amusement when her children were about to harm each other.

He shook his head and approached her slowly.  “How am I to blame?”

“You’re the one who taught them all their moves.  And gave them the confidence to believe they could actually fight to the death!  Don’t even try that innocent look with me.  You know exactly what you’ve done.”

Malik turned back to his children, keeping a stern expression on his face.  “I don’t ever want to hear any of you joking about fighting to the death with each other. 
Your combat skills are
only for emergency
and protective
situations.”

“We weren’t really going to fight to the death, dad,” Jacob said as he stood up. “We only wanted to teach them a lesson.”

“I’m the only one who can teach this.  Now go back to your studies and don’t let me find you in here again without supervision.”

All four children stood at attention and bowed, appreciating that they we
re supposed to respect their bla
ck
belt master before exiting any room.  Siri had to smother her own smile as she watched their efforts, knowing that Jacob and Samuel would never hurt their sisters.  They were overly protective of them as it is, but she’d panicked when she heard the message and was only now realizing how silly her fears had been. 

Even Danika and Lila wouldn’t do anything to hurt their brothers, thinking the boys walked on water. 
As she watched
, Jacob elbowed
Danika, whispering that she’d done a good job.  And Samuel was holding Lila’s hand as he led her out of the gym.  All was well with her growing family and she sent up a silent prayer of gratitude for all of the wonderful gifts she’d received. 

Malik walked over and put his hand on Siri’s growing stomach, waiting to see if he could feel his next child move for him.  “How are you feeling?” he asked gently. 

She chuckled and moved to one of the benches to sit
down,
accepting Malik’s assistance as she
carefully
lowered
her
pregnant bulk down.  “I’d feel a whole lot better if my children weren’t so competitive.”