Page 80 of The Billionaire's Timed Wife

As I watch my future husband being invested as sheikh of Rheadur, my heart fills with an immense mix of tenderness and pride.

Since returning to our country, Kaled has dressed in traditional clothing.

I didn’t think the man could get any more handsome, but with each passing day, I’m more ensnared by the aura of masculinity and power he radiates. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s now officially a sheikh. It’s him. Kaled would stand out in any crowd—with his effortless charismaand charm—but above all, he’s the kind of man who, when he speaks, you know it’s true. Honor pours off him in waves.

I make a quick comparison to his missing half-brother, Naim. I never saw our people look at him with the same respect and admiration they show my fiancé, and that surprises me. I thought that, having been raised largely in the West, the people of Rheadur might eye Kaled with suspicion at first, but they seem pleased with the change in leadership.

Since we returned, not a day goes by without gifts arriving at the palace: scarves, flowers, food, honey. Small gestures that show they accept not only their new leader but me as well.

“My brother can hypnotize them,” Jazmina whispers. “Look how the representatives of the neighboring emirates are glued to his speech. I overheard a conversation with my father that Kaled may be chosen as the new emir[34] of our peninsula.”

I glance around, agreeing. Even though this was meant to be a discreet ceremony, leaders from several countries are here, and of course, his inseparable friends as well.

Alongside Kaled, they stand out from the rest of us mortals with the beauty and the bearing of alpha males.

“It would be a great honor for our sheikh,” I say, awed. “Not only to lead Rheadur but also to become the overall ruler of the neighboring emirates. Do you think he’d accept?”

“I have no doubt. If there’s one thing you need to learn about my brother, Adeela, it’s that he never runs from responsibility.”

For some reason I can’t quite place, what she says unsettles me, but I push the feeling to the back of my mind.

I get the sense I’m being watched, and when I turn my head, my father is staring at me. What I see on his face sends a chill up my spine, lifting the hairs on my neck.

Hatred. As if he were looking at an enemy.

The craziest part is that I don’t fear for myself but for Kaled. Instinct tells me to protect him.

The private ceremony finally ends, but before he goes out to the balcony, where the excited crowd waits to pay him homage, he looks at me for the first time tonight.

I’m not upset that he didn’t earlier. Even if I’m not sure about his feelings for me, I don’t doubt the pull that drags us toward each other. I suspect he was simply trying to focus on the solemnity of the occasion.

Since the day we set foot in Rheadur, we haven’t been alone for a single moment, and I have the impression we’re like two boiling kettles about to spill over, the desire for contact nearly unbearable.

So when, after speaking with his father, he starts toward me, my legs go weak.

Thank goodness Jazmina is at my side, because I can feel every eye in the room on me now.

He stops about half a meter away, but it’s as if his hands are already on me.

“Peace be upon you, Your Highness. It’s an honor to have you as my sheikh.”

Something flashes deep in his dark eyes, making my skin prickle. “In a few days, you’ll be seated at my side as I govern our country, my fiancée. Does the idea please you?”

I lower my gaze, not looking at him directly as heat spreads under my skin.

Before I can stop it, a smile curves my lips as I whisper for him alone:

“There’s nothing I want more, my sheikh.”

Chapter 38

One Week Later

I stop mid-sentence when the door flies open and Amin appears, followed by my head of security.

I wasn’t expecting to be interrupted, but it takes only seconds to sense something is very wrong.

“What happened?” I ask, already rising from the meeting I was having with my father.