“I would never prevent you from seeing your child, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m also not interested in anything for myself.” Just the thought of him thinking that makes me sick.
“If you’re carrying my child, you won’t depend on yourself anymore. We’ll have to think about the child’s wellbeing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The only possible solution if we made a baby would be for us to get married.”
Chapter 21
“I don’t think I heard that right,” Madeline says, looking shocked.
I study her face and the trembling hand as she picks up her glass to check if she’s serious, but she seems genuinely so. “I’m a Sheikh, Madeline. I would never let my child be raised away from me. I also cannot allow a child to be born outside of marriage.”
“Oh my God! It doesn’t matter whether they were born inside a marriage or not. Children are children,” she replies.
“Perhaps in your culture. Among my people, he would be excluded from society.”
“I told you . . .” She takes the glass of water and drinks most of it. “This conversation is ridiculous. I can’t be pregnant. It was just once. But hypothetically, what if we’re very unlucky and—”
“Unlucky?”
“What would you call two people who agreed to have a weekend affair and end up with a baby as a bonus?”
I’d call it fate if it really happened.
However, I stay silent because I don’t usually share my thoughts. “Go on.”
“What if I’m pregnant? You don’t know me, you have no reason to trust me, but I swear I would never prevent you from seeing our child.” She covers her face with both hands. “God, just talking about it makes me sick.”
“Why?”
“How can you ask that? Isn’t it obvious?”
“Not to me.”
“Let’s start with the fact that I’m only twenty-two and just got my first job. If I’m pregnant, the father of my baby just happens to be my boss too. From where I’m standing, that’s plenty of reason for me to go crazy.”
Weighing my next words, I pay careful attention to her reaction. “On the other hand, you would never have to worry about money again.”
Madeline pushes the chair back so fast it almost drops do the floor. “How dare you? I—”
Before she finishes the sentence, my cousin Qasim, the owner of the restaurant, approaches. “Kamal, now I understand why you didn’t call me in advance to say you were coming. You were afraid I’d see this beauty with you and steal her from you.”
I stand up to hug him but warn, “She’s mine.”
“His assistant,” Madeline adds, and I give her a stern look.
My cousin laughs. “I already like you, Madeline. Although I believe his answer more than yours.”
“Why?”
“Kamal would never be this close to a beautiful woman like yourself without making her his.”
Damn it!That was the last thing I needed to be said to the woman who might be carrying my child.
“Not to be rude, sir, but His Excellency Sheikh Kamal’s personal life is none of my concern.”
He ignores her bad mood. “You’ve got the looks and a strong personality too. If Kamal doesn’t take you, I will,” he says facing Madeline. “I’m Qasim, love. What’s your name?”
