It was Malik who turned, slowly, to face her, Malik whose eyes, so black they were like shining coal, regarded her with the coldness and dislike that had always been a part of his response to her.
And heat flicked at her spine, the instant, unwelcome recognition a biological response to him she had learned to flatten, to ignore. A response she was glad she didn’t have to fight often – by silent yet mutual consent, they avoided one another as much as possible. She hadn’t seen Malik in at least six months, since he’d come to Addan’s birthday ball with a Swedish supermodel, and danced with her all night, his body cleaved to hers, his eyes promising seduction and heat that had made Sophia blush.
She blushed now, at the memory, and to cover it, assumed a cross expression. “What are you doing here?” She forgot, in that moment, that she generally attempted to preserve an air of respect. He was, after all, second in line to the throne. Besides which, Addan adored him – and revered him in equal measure.
“Earlier today, my brother, His Royal Highness Sheikh Addan bin Hazari, died.”
The words, spoken in her native English, jarred, like stones in the sole of her shoe. They landed against her ears but she couldn’t make sense of them, she couldn’t unravel them. She shook her head, certain she’d misheard. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, lifting a hand to her throat, toying with the necklace there. “What did you say?”
“My brother is dead.”
Belatedly, realization hit Sophia and she stumbled backwards, reaching for something, anything to support her. Only there was nothing, just air, and it was not thick enough. She shook her head, unable to accept this, needing him to explain why he would say something so cruel, why he would lie to her.
But mistaking her anger for something weaker, he crossed the room, lifting her up, holding her to his chest, cradling her and staring down at her with the same resentment she’d always felt from him. “It was an accident,” he said quietly, his face expressionless now, his eyes bitter. “It happened quickly.”
She wanted to tell him to put her down, but she was quivering from head to toe, and grief splintered through her, tearing her apart. “I don’t believe it.”
“I understand,” he said, the words loaded with his own sadness. “Nor did I, at first.”
“It can’t be…”
“I have seen his body,” he said, and she realized she was being held by the only person on earth who could understand the emptiness of her heart. That Addan’s death bonded them in an awful, horrifying way.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, looking up at him, seeing the pain, the raw despair in his stony features and sobbing suddenly. “What happened?” She asked again.
“The helicopter he was flying; the blades stalled.”
“Don’t,” she shuddered, burying her face in Malik’s shirt, his masculine, musky fragrance lacing through her on a biological level. “Don’t tell me he took that damned thing…”
Addan had been restoring an old helicopter for years, tinkering with it, loving it for its rudimentary nature.
“It doesn’t matter now. Don’t you understand?” A muscle throbbed, low in his jaw, and he carried her to Addan’s desk chair, placing her down on it. But she didn’t want to sit there. She didn’t want to sit at all, but especially not where Addan had been so at home. She jerked out of it, her body still trembling, her mind slow and weak. “He’s gone. He’s gone.”
She sobbed, lifting her hands to her lips, the words so cold, so violent for their truth, and the reality they painted.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again.
“As am I. My brother was the best man I have ever known. The world is poorer for his loss. The country is poorer without him as its leader.”
Her eyes lifted to Malik’s face as the full reality of this situation wrapped around her. “You are King,” she said, sitting into Addan’s chair now, collapsing into it, taking in a shaking breath.
“Yes,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “I will inherit Addan’s throne, and all that entails.”
She swallowed, his promotion one she knew he didn’t wish for, one she knew he didn’t take any joy in.
“Your highness,” she said, deferentially, standing uneasily. She couldn’t work out how she wanted to be. “I’d like to be alone now.”
He didn’t answer, his eyes holding hers for a moment before she spun and moved to the door. But before she could open it, his voice arrested her.
“You are part of that, Sharafaha.”
She turned to face him. “Part of what?”
“When he died, I inherited all that was his. Including you.” He said the words with a hint of disgust. With coldness and disdain.
A frisson of alarm jolted her spine. “I don’t… understand.” Tears streamed down her cheeks and she dashed at them; more came to take their place.
“This palace, the title, the country, his duties. All of it. And also, your betrothal to Addan, on his death, passed to me.”
THE END
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BOOKS BY CLARE CONNELLY
HARLEQUIN TITLES
Bought for the Billionaire’s Revenge
Innocent in the Billionaire’s Bed
Off Limits
Her Wedding Night Surrender
Burn Me Once
Bound by the Billionaire’s Vows
The Season to Sin
His Innocent Seduction
Bound by their Christmas Baby
Her Guilty Secret
Shock Heir for the King
Spaniard’s Baby of Revenge
SINGLE TITLES
Her Guardian’s Christmas Seduction
Stolen by the Desert King
In the Hands of the Sheikh
His Nine Month Seduction
The Sheikh’s Contract Bride
Seduced by the Vengeful Tycoon
The Sheikh’s Stolen Bride
The Sheikh’s Secret Baby
The Sheikh’s Million Dollar Bride
The Tycoon’s Virgin Mistress
The Sheikh’s Virgin Hostage
Bartered to the Sheikh
Marrying for his Royal Heir
The Greek’s Marriage Revenge
The Velasco Love Child
The Sultan’s Virgin Bride
Bound to the Sheikh
The Medici Mistress
His Loving Deception
The Sheikh’s Convenient Mistress
The Princess’s Forbidden Lover
Marrying her Enemy
Rakanti’s Indecent Proposition
Seducing the Spaniard
The Italian’s Innocent Bride
The Greek Tycoon’s Forbidden Affair
The Terms of their Affair
A Second Chance at Love
The Sheikh’s Christmas Mistress
At the Sheikh’s Command
The Billionaire’s Christmas Revenge
Seduced by the Italian Tycoon
Raising the Soldier’s Son
Warming the Sheikh’s Bed
The Tycoon’s Christmas Captive
The Brazilian’s Forgotten Lover
Betrayed by the CEO
The Billionaire’s Ruthless Revenge
The Italian Billionaire’s Betrayal
The Sultan’s Reluctant Princess
Love in the Fast Lane
The Tycoon’s Summer Seduction
All She Wants for Christmas
One Night with the Sheikh
A Bed of Broken Promises
Tempted by the Billionaire
The Sheikh’s Christmas Wish
To the Highest Bidder
The Tycoon’s Secret Baby
Bedding His Innocent Mistress
The Sheikh’s Baby Bargain
The Greek’
s Virgin Captive
Claiming His Secret Baby
Blackmailed by the Spaniard
COMPENDIUMS
Casacelli Brides
Mediterranean Tycoons
Desert Rulers
Billionaire Bad Boys
Too Hot to Handle
Desert Kings
Happily Ever After
The Darling Buds of May Café
Royal Weddings
The Evermore Series