Page 71 of The Billionaire's Timed Wife

“He is, yes. Why?”

“Because if you inherited my genes and are as foolish as I am when it comes to the heart, you could fall in love, my daughter. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I don’t know what to say.

I listen quietly as she tells me how her love story with my father began: a romance like so many others around the world,with both of them in love—and I know more or less how it ended.

It wasn’t pretty, nor anything close to the fairy tale she hoped for when she agreed to be one of the wives of an older, seductive, powerful man.

Maybe, in the end, it’s safer not to love.

Perhaps a relationship built on physical attraction and respect is a much more solid foundation.

But a voice deep inside tells me that, at least for me, it will never be only physical. I’m already getting attached to Kaled. My heart already belongs to him.

Chapter 34

New York – A Few Hours Later

I listen to Amin’s explanations about the details of my future mother-in-law’s transfer to Rheadur—how many doctors will be required and the bodyguards assigned to ensure Arif doesn’t get near her—when two knocks at the door precede the entrance of my American secretary.

The name she announces catches me completely off-guard: Elina Lykaios.

What is she doing here?

In the days leading up to my arrival in New York, I tried to contact both her and her husband. I learned that Odin was away traveling, and although I would have preferred to meet with him instead of Elina, after months of investigating my half-brother’s disappearance, I’m hardly in a position to choose.

Especially since, by all indications, the answers I’ve been seeking are tied to the Greek blonde herself.

I never imagined she would come to find me. It doesn’t seem like Odin’s style to let his wife get involved in matters like this. If the former FBI agent I hired is right and Odinliterally erased all traces of Naim, then he also knows I’ve been investigating him.

My instinct tells me he doesn’t know his wife is here.

“Let her in,” I say, then turn to my assistant. “Amin, we’ll discuss this later. Leave us.”

“No, I’d like you to stay,” a woman’s voice cuts in, ignoring me and speaking directly to my assistant. “I have no reason to trust being alone with anyone from your family, Your Highness,” she continues, head held high, and now, at last, meeting my eyes.

The first thing I notice as I face the blonde, who looks like a runway model despite her visibly pregnant belly, is that she’s brave.

No one has ever spoken to me like that before, and although I suspect she may have her reasons for despising anything related to Naim, I still feel offended that she thinks she wouldn’t be safe in my presence.

“I’m Elina Lykaios,” she introduces herself belatedly.

“Kaled Faheem,” I reply, shortening my name. “Please, have a seat. Amin, you may stay. We wouldn’t want our guest to feel frightened.”

“I’m not afraid of anything, Your Excellency.”

“YourHighness, madam,” Amin corrects. “Prince Kaled has already been appointed interim sheikh of Rheadur.”

For the first time since arriving, she falters slightly, a small crease forming between her brows. “But that position belonged to your brother.”

“Yes. Until he vanished from the face of the earth,” I say, watching her reaction closely.

The woman would make an excellent poker player. Not a single emotion flickers across her face.

I gesture toward the leather armchairs across the room, and she hesitates before deciding to sit.

She looks at us like a doe expecting to be attacked, yet with the defiance of a warrior.