“Madeline Turner.”
“American?”
“Yes.”
“Welcome to our world, gorgeous.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” I ask, already impatient with all the flattery directed at Madeline.
“As a matter of fact, I do. She’s waiting for me at my apartment. It was a pleasure, beautiful Madeline. If you change your mind about this grumpy guy, I can take you on a tour that isn’t in Turkey’s tourist guides.”
“Get lost, Qasim.”
He raises both hands in surrender and leaves with a smile.
When I sit back down, Madeline is looking at her own lap. “I’d like to go, Kamal. I don’t think I can eat anything.”
I stand up to help her up. When I try to put my hand on her lower back, she dodges and stares at me.
“I’m polite enough. I was raised to be a good girl, but I swear to God, if you touch me again, I’ll make such a big scene that it’ll be heard in your Emirate.”
I let her vent because I know I deserve it.
Once inside the car, she fumbles with the seatbelt, and I take it from her hands to fasten it for her.
“What part of ‘don’t touch me’ didn’t you understand?”
“It was a test.”
“What?”
“What I said in the restaurant was a test to see how you’d react.”
She moves as far away from me as possible in the seat. “Did I give you any reason to think I’m after your money?”
“You’re not a child, Madeline. Put yourself in my shoes.”
She looks at me silently for almost a minute, then sighs tiredly. “Seriously, I understand your concern, but I’m not after your money or anyone else’s.”
My intuition tells me she’s telling the truth. “I believe you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that if you’re pregnant with my heir, we’ll have to get married.”
“But you don’t want to marry me.”
“Well, right now, I don’t want to marry any woman.”
“Great. I don’t either. Problem solved.”
“It’s not that simple, Madeline. I don’t think you understand what it would mean to be the mother of my child. I have enemies. The child would be a target anywhere without the protection of my country.”
She looks horrified. “You’re at risk? I mean, I know about security measures, but I thought it was just protocol. There’s a real threat?”
“Yes. Several attempts on my life have been diverted.”
“Oh my God!”
