Pregnant by the Sheikh(51)
Najeeb sat forward, every line in his body explicit with his excitement. “Ya Ullah, after all these years! What happened? How did you find out? Did you just find out? B’Ellahi, this is incredible, amazing! Wait till Haroon and Jawad and my other siblings find out about this! The girls especially will go ballistic. They’ve been swooning over you, and now they’ll have premium bragging rights. But we’ll have to make it clear right off the bat to every other lady in our family and acquaintance that you’re the exclusive property of Jenan—”
Hating to do it, Numair had to interrupt his zeal. “I got you in private because I don’t want anyone but you to know. You’ll realize why when I tell you the whole story.”
Numair couldn’t believe how it dismayed him to see the spontaneity in the other man’s eyes dimming. He’d no doubt extinguish it completely if he declared his right to the throne.
For now, he told him the story he’d already decided to tell him. The attack, his father’s murder and how he’d been left for dead, and the fictional parts about being rescued then adopted, then back to the truth of retrieving his memories of the incident after years of hypnotherapy.
Najeeb looked more moved with every word. Then he let out a ragged exhalation. “But this means you knew your true identity when we first met. Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“Because I was still searching for the proof you have in your hands now.”
“You thought I wouldn’t believe you without evidence?” Najeeb seemed stunned that Numair had considered such a thing.
“Wouldn’t you?”
“To borrow your and Jenan’s favorite catchphrase, you’re kidding, right? After my initial hostility, which was all concern for Jenan, I felt a kindred link to you that I couldn’t explain. I would have believed you without any proof beyond those of my instincts.” Suddenly, he laughed. “But it’s your lady’s instincts that are uncanny. She’s the one who saw through it all from the first moment, who kept saying we felt as close as brothers. As we are.”
“As we are,” Numair repeated, something hot and overriding stirring in his chest.
He had his brothers, and they were an essential part of his being. But the tug of blood between him and Najeeb was something he’d never experienced, or expected to. Since the last trace of worry he could rival him for Jenan’s affection had been erased, and now that Najeeb accepted him so readily, he let it sweep him.
He hated to spoil those moments of closeness, to tarnish the purity of Najeeb’s goodwill. But he had to tell him the rest.
“Making contact with my long-lost family wasn’t why I went to your father’s reception. Or why I came here.”
That again stunned Najeeb. “What else did you want?”
“To reclaim my birthright. And to exact vengeance.”
The light in Najeeb’s eyes went out. “Vengeance?”
“I believed your father had mine killed.”
To say Najeeb was shocked was like saying Numair slightly liked Jenan. Numair could feel his statement tearing through the other man’s very foundations.
Then shock gave way to adamant rejection, and Najeeb just said, “No.”
Before Numair could respond, a sound emptied his mind. That of the helicopter that had been bringing him Jenan for the past weeks. All but this last one.
He heaved up to his feet. “We’ll discuss this at length, Najeeb. But for now just stay here and wait for me.”
Before Najeeb could even blink, Numair ran out.
He had no idea how he’d send Jenan away without explaining why, but he couldn’t have her see Najeeb. The can of worms had been opened, but nothing had yet been resolved.
By the time he crossed the villa, she was already opening the front door. He rushed to intercept her, and she raised her gaze to him. What he saw in her eyes made him almost stumble.
She looked...bereft.
Forcing his legs to work, he reached her as she closed the door, and pulled her into his arms. “Is everyone all right?”
She nodded, but pushed out of his arms when she always clung.
At a loss what to make of her disturbing disposition, he said, “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
Her eyes again rose to his, and they looked so wounded, foreboding pierced his heart. “You would have only found a way to escape seeing me. But don’t worry, I won’t stay where I’m no longer welcome.”
He gaped at her. “What?”
“You should have told me the truth the moment you realized it.”
Everything inside him stilled. Had she somehow found out the truth and it was too late to be the one to tell her? Was that the reaction he’d been dreading?