At the Sheikh's Bidding(16)

‘No  formality today, Zahir,' he murmured, resting his hand briefly on   his  son's shoulder before he turned his gaze to Erin. ‘And you must be   Erin.  I understand that you were married to my son Faisal and you are   Kazim's  adoptive mother?' He glanced down at Kazim-who had turned   suddenly shy  and was clinging tightly to her, with his face buried in   her skirt-and  added softly, ‘I can see that Kazim is very fond of you.'

‘As I am of him,' she replied fiercely. ‘I love him as if he were my own child, Your Highness.'

The  King's dark eyes seemed to look into her soul, as if he could read   her  innermost thoughts. The silence stretched Erin's nerves to  breaking   point, but then he smiled warmly and ushered her over to the  sofa.  ‘Come  and tell me all about him. You have cared for him since he  was a  few  months old, I believe, so you must know him better than  anyone … '  his  voice faltered ‘ … now that my son is dead.'

Tears glistened in the  elderly King's eyes and his voice was gruff when   he spoke again. ‘I  will regret to the end of my days that I was not   reconciled with my son  before his death. Faisal spent his last years   estranged from his family  and in a foreign land, but I am comforted by   the knowledge that he was  not alone. He had you,' he said simply,   smiling gently at Erin. ‘Did you  love my son, Erin?'

Taken aback by the question, Erin did not  know how to answer. She could   feel Zahir's dark eyes boring into her and  knew what he was   thinking-that she had callously married Faisal knowing  that she would   soon be a rich widow. It wasn't true, of course, and as  she thought of   the man she had married a year ago she suddenly relaxed  and met the   King's gaze.

‘Yes, I loved him,' she said honestly.  She had not been in love with   Faisal, but he had been like a big brother  to her. He'd been the only   person apart from her foster parents who had  been prepared to give her a   chance and accept her for the woman she had  become, rather than the   unhappy and rebellious teenager she had once  been.

She had met him fresh from the humiliation of being sacked  from her   first job as nanny to the Fitzroy children, and Faisal had  believed her   when she'd explained that, far from flirting with Giles  Fitzroy, she   had hated his revolting sexual innuendoes, and his  suggestion that she   could improve her career prospects by sleeping with  him. When she'd   finally found the courage to accuse the balding,  middle-aged barrister   of sexual harassment she'd been fired on the spot,  and the furious   Giles Fitzroy had insisted to his wife that it had been  Erin who had   wanted an affair. The story had quickly circulated among  the Fitzroys'   social group, and her chances of finding another job had  seemed   non-existent until Faisal had chosen her over several other  applicants   to care for his baby son, explaining that he believed Erin  would give   Kazim the love and attention he would have received from his  mother.

‘Faisal was a very special man,' she told the King softly.

King  Kahlid nodded. ‘And now you have been left alone to bring up his   son.  Some would say that that is quite a burden on such young   shoulders. You  have your whole life ahead of you, and although you   loved Faisal, I'm  sure you will not wish to be alone for ever. One day   you may fall in  love and even wish to marry again.'

What had Zahir been saying?  Erin wondered furiously, recalling how he   had accused her of planning to  satisfy her sensual nature by taking   lovers. Had he suggested to the  King that she was an unsuitable mother   for Kazim? She glanced across to  where he was sitting, with the  toddler  on his knee, but his shuttered  expression gave no clue to his   thoughts. ‘I have no plans to marry  again, Your Highness,' she told  the  King steadily. ‘When I adopted Kazim  I vowed to devote my life to  him,  and that is exactly what I intend to  do.'                       
       
           



       


King Kahlid nodded. ‘I see that my son was very lucky to  have found   you,' he said gravely. ‘And at least we, his family, can  help you in   your task now that you have brought Kazim to live here at  the palace.'

‘Oh, but I haven't-' Erin broke off, her heart  plummeting. The King was   beaming at Kazim, and he was clearly delighted  when the little boy   slid off Zahir's lap and trotted over to him.

‘He  fills my heart with joy,' the elderly monarch murmured in a choked    voice. ‘He is the image of his father, and God willing I will have a   few  years yet to watch him grow up.'

How could she break it to the  King that she planned for Kazim to spend   his childhood in England? Erin  wondered frantically. It would break  the  old man's heart if she took the  little boy away from the palace.  She  felt as though she had fallen into  a trap from which there was no   escape, and it was all Zahir's fault,  she thought bitterly. He had   tricked her into bringing Kazim to Qubbah,  and now the King believed   that his grandson was going to stay for ever.

Kazim  had brought a toy fire engine from the nursery and, having grown   bored  with the conversation going on above his head, was now whizzing   the  vehicle across the marble floor and through the legs of the King's    chair. His grandfather chuckled and turned to Zahir. ‘He's a fine  boy,   isn't he, Zahir? A boy any man would be proud to call his son.'

‘Indeed,'  Zahir replied stiffly, forcing a smile that he hoped   disguised his  irritation from his father. Before he had left for   England he'd spoken  to the King of his intention to bring Kazim to   Qubbah and raise him as  his own child. He was more than willing to be a   father to Faisal's son,  and he already loved the little boy, but now   there was an unexpected  problem in the form of Faisal's second wife.  It  was customary under  Qubbah's ancient traditions for a man to become   the head of his dead  brother's family and to marry his widow-but if  his  father believed there  was any chance that was going to happen he  had  better think again!

‘If  you will excuse me, I have some work to attend to,' he said, bowing   his  head to the King. ‘I believe Erin has brought some photographs to   show  you of Faisal, and of Kazim when he was a small baby. I've  already  seen  them,' he added, in response to his father's querying  gaze.

‘Then  go now. But I would like to see you later. There is something I   wish to  discuss with you,' the King said, in a genial tone that did not   fool  Zahir for a minute. He could always tell when his father was up   to  something. With a curt nod he strode from the room.

On the flight  from England he had flicked through the album he'd found   in Faisal's  study, and his throat had ached with suppressed emotion at   the pictures  of his brother, whom he had not seen for six years. The   photos recording  Kazim's development were delightful, but there were   other shots of Erin  and Faisal, pictures that were clear evidence of a   shared warmth  between them he had not expected.

Could he possibly have  misjudged her? Or was she simply a talented   actress who had been lying  through her back teeth when she'd told his   father she had loved Faisal?  And why the hell did he feel as though   he'd been kicked in the stomach  at the idea that she really had married   Faisal because she had been in  love with him? Anger formed a tight   knot in his chest-anger, and  incomprehension of the violent jealousy   that made him want to hit  something.

He must look at it rationally, he told himself  impatiently. Erin was a   beautiful woman and he desired her. End of  story. He had desired many   women in his time, and without fail had  persuaded them into his bed   with an ease that had become almost boring.  If Erin had been any other   woman he would have wasted no time in bedding  her-but, whatever her   reasons for marrying Faisal, she was his widow  and he could not seduce   her.