"Though she'd likely already slept with most of the men at their wedding." Lan stood up. "I'll shut up now."
"Poor Oliver. He really liked Talib, respected him. She used that relationship to move him toward marriage and did a number on him. I do get that. I guess she knew exactly how to play him." Apparently Yasmin had known him better than Tori did. The woman had figured out that her best move was to play coy with him. Tori hadn't, and he'd made it pretty plain what he thought of her that night. Her virginity had only infuriated him. He certainly hadn't been about to propose marriage.
Well, she didn't have to worry about that anymore. Nope. She was definitely not a virgin now and she'd already survived her first pregnancy scare. Yay, her. She'd always been an overachiever.
"I remember Oliver before he married Yasmin," Alea said with a sad smile.
"Douchebag," Lan coughed.
Alea rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. He doesn't like the fact that Oliver once had a crush on me when we were young."
Tori didn't much like that fact, either. So Oliver's type was stupendously wealthy, stunning royal women. She did not fit that bill.
"You're jealous." Alea reached for her hand. "There's no reason to be. Oliver and I never even kissed. He married Yasmin because she told him she was pregnant. She conveniently had a miscarriage shortly after. That's the story she told him anyway. After she nearly killed the both of us, Oliver discovered bills for clinics around London. Apparently she'd gotten pregnant twice and dealt with the problem herself, telling Oliver that she miscarried. She kept him in the dark, and when he finally emerged, the truth blinded him. He was devastated. He hasn't been the same since, except I saw him smile the last time I was in London. It was just for a moment and I don't think he knew I was watching. I was about to cross the street to meet Callum and Rory to talk about their company sponsoring a charity event."
"I remember that visit."
"Oliver was standing in the lobby, staring out the window, and the loveliest smile transformed his face. I had to stop and stare at him because he looked like the Oliver I knew. He was young and happy in that moment. I wondered what had put that grin back on his face."
Tears threatened because she'd never seen Oliver smile like that. He'd always been polite, always scrupulously in control. Except that night when he wasn't, when he'd taken her in his arms. "What was it?"
"Oh, darling, it was you. You were wearing a blue skirt and a white cardie and you looked like a little bit of sunshine walking down the street. By the time you walked into the building, he was suitably dour. But for that moment, he was Oliver again."
Tori sniffled a little and was grateful Sabir chose that moment to sit in her lap. He cuddled close and she took comfort in his warmth. "Well, I'm afraid he changed his mind."
"He's a fool then." Lan kissed his wife briefly before getting to his feet. "You can't let the past rob you of a future. That's one thing my wife taught me. You've got two hours before the ball. Alea, my love, we've got to get ready to go."
Tori sighed. Another ball. She'd proven she was no Cinderella. "I'm going to stay far away from the ball and get in my PJs and watch Disney movies with the babies."
"No, you can't do that." Alea let Lan help her to her feet. "It's been announced you'll be in attendance. If you don't come there will be gossip that you and your sister are at odds."
"Why would they think that?" This was the part of her sister's life she couldn't comprehend. Even when she was working for the Thurston-Hughes brothers, she'd struggled with the idea of being the target of all those vultures. She knew how to work them. She had no problem being the spokesperson or the woman behind the scenes plotting to get a client out of a sticky situation, but the idea of her life being under a microscope made her ill.
Which was another very good reason she should stay away from the Thurston-Hughes brothers. They were a bad idea all around.
"They think that because the tabloids here use any excuse to pit the royals against each other. It doesn't help that we've had two cousins try to kill us," Alea explained. "You have to come. I believe Piper said arrangements had already been made for your gown."
The last thing she wanted was to be in another borrowed gown. PJs sounded so comfy, accompanied by a nice gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "You could say I was sick." She coughed a little. "I definitely feel an illness coming on."
"Oh, if we say you're sick, they'll report that you're pregnant and bringing shame on the sheikh. They really enjoy the bringing-shame-to-the-sheikh headlines. Those sell out in record time." Alea picked up her baby and cuddled him to her chest.