A hot surge of fury ripped through him.
His Azlyn—the woman who’d refused to leave her career to come to Lativa with him, who wouldn’t even entertain the idea of building a life together—had gone and had a baby with someone else?
His jaw clenched, thoughts spiraling, body tight with disbelief and rage.
But then his vision cleared a little, and he leaned in, scanning the video again.The baby—if that’s what it was—was tiny.Ridiculously small.Now that he knew what to look for, the length of the bundle was clearly...well, very short.He couldn’t do the math—his brain was running on fumes—but he could tell it wasn’t a toddler.More like a loaf of bread with a hat.
“I have to go,” he blurted, spinning on his heel and shoving the tablet back into his cousin’s hands so fast that he flinched.
“Go where?”Ramzi asked.
But Zayn was already gone, his thoughts a mess of logistics, travel routes, and apologetic cancellation emails.Meetings would have to be rescheduled.People would be disappointed.
Too bad.
He had to get to Chicago.And fast.
Chapter 15
Saif stared at the doorway through which his cousin had just stormed out.He knew something life-changing had just happened—but what, exactly?Something about a baby?
Should he talk to Uncle Khal?Tell someone Zayn was acting weird?
No.He’d give his cousin some privacy.Whatever was going on, Saif didn’t want to interfere.Zayn was one of the most competent people he knew—and he respected him deeply.If Zayn had a problem, he’d fix it.
But what if that problem was a baby that…what?Zayn would know if he’d gotten a woman pregnant.Wouldn’t he?
What if he didn’t know?
No.That was ridiculous.
They’d all been given “The Lecture”—on repeat.Protection was non-negotiable.Prince Raj, Saif’s father, had practically turned it into a bedtime story:Once upon a time, I missed five years of my daughter’s life because I didn’t use a condom.Saif adored Angela, his older sister, but the family never let his father live that story down.
And Zayn wasn’t careless.He was the crown prince of an entire nation—serious, tightly wound, responsible to a fault.Sure, he made mistakes now and then, but they were the kind of mistakes you could file under"brief lapses in perfection."
Still, that had definitely been the look of a man blindsided by fate.
Saif sighed and dropped into the chair again, annoyed and curious.He pulled up the video and hit play, trying to see what Zayn had seen.
“What’s wrong with Zayn?”Ramzi asked, crossing the room with his usual blunt energy.
Saif shrugged just as Rylan, still tapping away on his phone, chimed in without missing a beat.
“Whatever it is, I hope it cheers him up.He’s been an absolute ass for the past year.”
“Isn’t that just Zayn’s love language?”Ramzi muttered.“Brooding silence with a dash of royal disdain?”
Saif smirked.“You mean ‘tactical emotional shutdown’?It’s very on-brand.”
Rylan finally looked up.“Maybe he’s in love.That would explain the drama.”
“Oh yeah,” Ramzi deadpanned.“Nothing says romance like Zayn storming out of a room and terrifying the furniture.”
Saif shook his head, but his amusement faded just as quickly.His eyes returned to the screen, that knot of worry still tugging at him.He stared at the baby lump strapped to the woman’s body.
What if…?
No.Zayn wouldn’t...
