The Sheikh’s Secret Heir(39)

“I need to think,” he said as he headed out the bedroom door.

On the verge of tears, Kira resigned herself to the fact that her biggest fear had been realized—Tarek Azzmar had no intention of being a father.

* * *

He had intended to return to the resort, yet several hours later, he found himself driving a newly purchased Porsche along the coastline with no definitive destination. Kira’s declaration continued to occupy his thoughts as he turned back in the direction of the villa.

I’m pregnant with your baby...

Not once had a woman ever uttered those words to him, even as an empty threat. Not once had he believed he would hear them spoken as the truth.

In spite of his ongoing shock, he needed to talk with her soon, even if he could not say what she needed to hear. Granted, he did have feelings for her more powerful than any he had ever experienced with any woman. Perhaps with any living soul, aside from Yasmin. Yet Kira deserved better than a bitter, broken man bent on revenge, and so did his unborn child as well as Yasmin. If he could not devote all his time to his charges, or be the kind of father Mika’il Azzmar had been to him, he would be doing his offspring a disservice.

As soon as he returned to the villa, Tarek handed over the car to a confused Alexios and entered the house to look for Kira. After a brief search, he found her seated at the bistro table on the terrace outside the master bedroom, the favored place where they had shared several intimate conversations and sexual interludes. Unfortunately, those late-night discussions had not included information he should have been privy to weeks ago. Logically, he could not fault her for the concealment since he, too, had been withholding his own secrets, yet he could not deny his continued anger over yet another betrayal.

The lies would soon come to an end.

Tarek strode through the open doors and claimed the chair opposite Kira, who seemed taken aback by his appearance. They sat in silence for a time, avoiding each other’s gazes until Kira cleared her throat.

“Are you calm enough to talk reasonably now?” she asked.

Externally calm, yes, but not internally. “I am as calm as humanly possible under the circumstances.”

She sipped water from a glass clutched in her delicate hand. “Look, neither of us expected this, but how we feel no longer involves only us. We have to decide how we’re going to proceed for the baby’s sake.”

He would need more time to adjust to the reality of a child. “Rest assured, I will make certain you and the child will be more than adequately compensated. Aside from that, I have little to say at this point in time in light of your lack of warning.” And one more betrayal in a long line of many.

She looked as distressed as he felt. “I wish I would have told you sooner, Tarek, but I didn’t know how. Regardless, this is our child, Tarek, and I don’t want your money. In fact, I don’t need it. I’d rather be struggling and loved than rich and lonely.”

He would endeavor to set her straight. “Wealth does not equal loneliness, Kira.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind buying friends.”

She had touched a nerve with her veiled accusation, causing his anger to return with the force of a hurricane. “You have no right to judge my character after what you have withheld from me..”

She leaned forward and centered her gaze on his. “But isn’t that exactly what you’ve done with the Mehdis, isn’t it?”

“I consider them business associates as well as acquaintances.”

“You’ve said several things that have led me to believe you hold them in disdain and that definitely includes their father. Of course, that didn’t stop you from investing in their conservation project just so you could ingratiate yourself in the family. You even built your mansion in the shadow of the palace. I’m beginning to wonder if this is some sort of contest to see if you can outdo the royals who apparently have something you want.”

If she only knew his real reasons for those actions and exactly what he did want from them—acknowledgment that he existed. “You may think what you will, but the project was a sound investment. The estate was an afterthought.”

“A nice addition to your collection of estates, I’m sure,” she said, her tone heavy with sarcasm. “And it’s so ironic that the place is so large, yet you have no one to fill all those empty rooms. Why is that, Tarek?”

At one time he believed the size of one’s home determined societal status. Now he was not as certain as he had been in the past. “I spent my formative years in a two-room bungalow where I slept on a cot in the living area. Perhaps that explains my obsession.” At one time, he’d believed the size of one’s home determined societal status. Now he was not as certain.