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“No.” She closed her eyes. Ori probably had orders not to leave without him. “I just need to go home. I’ll call a cab.”
“No, miss. I’ll take you.”
He didn’t say anything as he drove, and she did nothing but stare at the ring on her finger. Was everything that Rashid had said to her a lie? Fabricated to manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted?
She’d been so blinded by love and hope that she hadn’t even seen it.
Slowly, she slipped the ring off her finger and set it on the seat next to her.
The veil was off, and Mila knew one thing for certain.
She needed to get as far away from Dubai as possible and never look back.
14
“Rashid.”
He stood on the balcony in his suite and let the warm breeze wash over him. The moon hung high in the sky and cast a romantic glow on everything, and all he could think about was how he wished Mila was standing next to him.
Holding the engagement ring up, the one that he’d found in the car, he watched the silver light sparkle over it. “Mother,” he said dully.
“Your family is concerned for you,” Shekinah said softy as she joined him on the balcony. “Amira says that you aren’t eating. Asad said you’re picking fights at work. Even Khalid is concerned.”
Rashid dropped his arm, curled his fingers around the ring, and pocketed it. “I can’t find her,” he said hoarsely. “I think Sahaar knows where she is, but she won’t tell me. Liyah isn’t even speaking to me, and if Asad did happen to know, he wouldn’t dare cross his wife. I’ve looked over this entire city, and she’s nowhere to be found.”
Shekinah put her hand over his. “Rashid. She almost ruined you.”
“This isn’t her fault.” Rashid let the pain of losing her wash over him. “I used her to get back at you guys, and when I had her, I wanted to turn her into something she wasn’t. I shut her out of the real parts of my life, and she only wanted to help me. She had no reason not to trust them—because I hadn’t warned her. She was going to be my wife, and I couldn’t tell her that I suspected my two friends were involved in the illegal gambling that was threatening my business.”
His mother squeezed his hand, and Rashid closed his eyes. He could still remember the pain on Mila’s face as she’d stared at him. “She said she loved me,” he whispered. “I had her love, and all it took was one night for me to ruin everything.”
“You know, I always thought that you would end up with a quiet girl. You were always so protective over Amira when you were growing up, and I thought you needed someone to protect. When you announced your engagement to Mila, I saw it for what it was. A play for you to upset your brother. I thought that she was all wrong for you.” Shekinah patted her son’s arm. “It turned out that I was wrong,” she admitted. “I think that she’ll push you to be the man you were always meant to be.”
“What good is that?” Rashid asked bitterly as his mother pulled away. “She left me.” In a lower voice, he said, “I drove her away. She doesn’t want to be found. She’s probably halfway to America by now.”
“You’ll find her,” Shekinah promised as she hugged him. “If you feel for her the way that I suspect you do, you’ll find her, and you’ll figure out a way to make it right.”
Rashid stared at her. “You really think so?”
“You’ve never let anything stand in the way of what you wanted.” His mother smiled as she touched his cheek. “I don’t believe that you’ll start now.”
As he left his suite, he realized that she was right. Even if he wanted to give up, he knew that he couldn’t. He needed, at the very least, to find her and talk to her.
To make her understand.
The ring still in his pocket, he decided to swing by one more time and talk to Sahaar. She was the weak link. The old woman still liked him, he could tell. He’d admit to her how he really felt about Mila, and Sahaar would break down and tell him where to find her.
At his private entrance, he threw open the door and froze. To his surprise, Mila stood on the other side, her finger poised above the call button.
“Mila?” he asked incredulously. “You’re here.”
She’d been crying. He could see the red rims around her eyes. It tore him up to think that he was the cause of those tears.
“I know that you don’t want to see me,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I just needed to apologize, and then I’ll go.”
She was going to apologize to him? Stunned, he waited.
Rubbing her nose, she sniffed. “I’m sorry, Rashid. You’re right. I am too trusting and naive. I think that’s sort of been our problem all along. I knew why you wanted me for your wife, and I was in denial about it. I thought that maybe, eventually, you might come to love me the way that I loved you. That’s why I threw the party. I didn’t know about your friends. I wasn’t out to ruin you. I just wanted to be involved in your life. I wanted to be something other than merely the woman you lusted after. I should have just accepted you for who you were and let things go. For that, I’m sorry.”
