The Sheikh's Baby Scandal(40)

She would have grown up on the rumours too.

‘I would like to fly back to Zazinia tomorrow, some time midmorning,’ he told Anu. ‘Can you arrange that, please?’

Tomorrow was Thursday. He could possibly have left it another day, but he wanted some time in his country to prepare for the meeting. Perhaps he would go to the desert and draw on its wisdom. He was very aware that tonight would be his last in London for the foreseeable future.

‘Can you ask Felicia to come and speak with me as soon as she gets in?’

‘Felicia’s not coming in today,’ Anu said. ‘She just called in sick.’

Oh, no, she didn’t!

Kedah walked into his office and, closing the door behind him, immediately picked up his phone.

The first time she didn’t answer, but he refused to speak to a machine and so immediately called again.

Felicia stared at her phone and something told her that if she didn’t pick up then Kedah would soon be at her door.

‘Hi.’ Felicia did her best to keep her voice crisp, but she had woken in tears and they simply would not stop.

‘Are you crying?’ Kedah asked.

‘Of course not. I’ve got a cold. I’ve already explained that to Anu.’

‘It’s summer,’ he pointed out.

‘I’ve got a summer cold.’

‘You were fine yesterday...’

‘Well. I’m not today. Look, I’m sorry it’s not convenient, but I really can’t work. I need to take the day off.’

‘Felicia...’ Kedah’s impatience was rising. She had swanned off before five last night and now, when he properly needed her, she had called in sick—with a cold, of all things. ‘I want you here within the hour,’ he told her. ‘I have a lot to sort out. You know that. I fly to Zazinia tomorrow.’

‘I can’t come into work,’ she responded. She didn’t need to be looking in a mirror to know that her face was red and that her eyes were swollen from crying. ‘I have to take today off. I believe my contract allows for sick days with a medical certificate?’

Felicia ended the call and turned off her phone. Refusing to lie there worrying, she hauled herself out of bed and dressed. Grabbing her purse, she headed out.

Oh, she was doing her best to reassure herself that it was travel and exhaustion that accounted for her being late, as well as the uncertainty of being head over heels in love with the most insensitive man in the world.

A man who could hold you in his arms while discussing brides.

A man who had told her to her face that an unplanned pregnancy wouldn’t faze him and that the palace would ‘handle’ it.

Though for all he had stated it wouldn’t be an issue, it might be a touch more scandal than he would want this close to a meeting of the Accession Council and the bridal selection.

Well, she didn’t need Vadia to sort her out. Felicia would manage this herself!

She bought the necessary kit and, once home, did what the instructions said and waited, with mounting anxiety, trying to tell herself that she could not be pregnant.

Except just a moment later she found out that she was.

All the panic seemed to still inside her, and she waited for it to regroup and slam back. She waited for the tears she had sobbed this morning to return with renewed vigour, but nothing happened. She sat there, staring at the indicator, trying to comprehend the fact that she was going to be a mum.

It wasn’t something she’d ever really considered before. A baby had never factored in her plans.

Her career had always come first and relationships had come last.

Till Kedah.

Only she wasn’t thinking about Kedah and scandals and the damage this might cause right now.

Instead she thought of herself and her own wants.

And she wanted her baby.

She wanted this little creation that had been made by them.

It was, for Felicia, a very instant love, for someone she knew she must protect.

And she had been told, though had never quite understood, that love was patient.

Could it be?

When she should be calling the doctor, or demanding Kedah’s reaction, something told her that her baby would still be waiting on the other side.

There were other things that needed to be sorted now. It was time to focus on the job she had been hired to do.

Even though she had only known she was pregnant for an hour, right now Felicia needed to be a working mum.

Kedah’s future might depend on it.

Yes, Felicia was very good at her job.

* * *

She went over and over their conversations and thought back to her time at the palace—it all came back to one thing.

Kedah needed to know, before he went into battle, whether or not he was the rightful Crown Prince.

Without that there could be no clear rebuttal, and if he wasn’t his father’s son...