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He moved his lips to her forehead and pressed a kiss against the soft flesh beneath her hairline. “Julia, I need to know how bad this is for us,” he said honestly.
Julia relaxed her body against his. To herself, she acknowledged there was nowhere else she wanted to be in the world. But she wasn’t sure she could completely trust her heart to his man yet. “What do you mean?” She asked, fixing him with a quizzical stare.
He let out a gruff noise of complaint. “You are really going to ask me to demean myself, aren’t you?”
Her lips formed an impish grin. “I think you owe me a little groveling, don’t you?”
“Fine,” he said with a smile of surrender. “I love you, Julia. With all my he
art. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the matter.”
She pretended to consider it. “Well, I’m flattered, naturally. I mean, you are, after all, the great Sheikh of Naman. A natural born womanizer…”
“Not anymore,” he contradicted gruffly.
“Mmm, well in that case,” she said, finger posed on her lips as she pretended to think things through.
“Julia?” Adina’s voice broke into their private conversation, drifting in from the hallway beyond, and Zayn swore softly.
“Saved by the bell. For now.” His eyes shone with promise.
Julia gave him a small wink and then moved away from him, out of the study. Zayn watched her go, a small frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. He was almost positive that she loved him back. That she would, in time, forgive him for his foolish behavior. But she still didn’t have the full story, and Adina and Amal were the two people on the planet who could spoil it for him.
With another oath, he realized he needed to speak to her properly, before Amal let it slip that Zayn had formally agreed to take over the rule of Naman. Julia had made it clear that she didn’t want that life for herself. If she thought he’d gone ahead and blithely arranged it anyway, then she would be furious. And he couldn’t keep expecting her to forgive and forget. Even the most generous of natures could be tested by too many incursions against it.
He moved swiftly, but Julia had already joined Adina and Amal in the lounge area of his home. And a third guest sat prettily between them.
“Hello, Maysan,” he greeted the child in English, for Julia’s benefit.
Adina’s smile spread from ear to ear. “We were just telling Julia,” Adina said with so much happiness it was almost contagious, “that we’ve expedited our adoption of Maysan. How can we ever thank you for finding our beautiful daughter, Julia?”
Somehow, Julia managed to look genuinely delighted as she congratulated Amal and Adina. Only the glance she quickly flicked in Zayn’s direction betrayed that she understood the deeper ramifications of their decision to adopt. For Adina had been explicit. They couldn’t adopt while Amal was ruling. “I had hoped it would work out like this,” Julia said truthfully, squeezing the little girl’s hand.
“Adina says you are to be my aunt,” Maysan spoke in her own language and was translated by Adina.
Julia smiled in agreement. “I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect niece,” she responded, reaching down and kissing the top of Maysan’s head.
Moments later and Maysan went to play with a box of toys Amal had seen brought to Zayn’s home. “How she’s changed in such a short time,” Julia said with true contentment, as she watched the child happily investigating the brightly colored array of amusements in the box.
Maysan was rounder and fleshier, and the pallor of poverty was gone completely. Her skin glowed with pleasure and health; her hair was soft, silky, washed and brushed, and her clothes were without stain. But most importantly of all, she seemed to carry herself with an air of confidence that could only have been inspired by the total adoration of her adoptive parents.
“I’m very happy for you both,” Julia repeated, turning to face her sister in law.
“I am sorry that we have rushed you,” Adina spoke, impervious to the thunderous look on Zayn’s face. “But we had to adopt her swiftly, to ensure she didn’t go into foster care. Even we aren’t above those adoption laws, it would seem.”
Julia nodded, as the explanation served to confirm her suspicions. “You’re abdicating the throne,” she said to Amal.
Behind her, Zayn was completely still.
“Yes. I am.” He lifted his eyes to Zayn. “It should always have been Zayn.”
“I think you do yourself a disservice,” Julia said quietly. Inside, she was a whirlpool of emotion. The earlier conversation was still raw, and now this knowledge that Zayn had acted without her opinion or consent was like a match being struck and held to a tin of kerosene. She had hoped he had changed. That his high-handed tactics were slowly giving way to cooperation and trust, but he had so much to learn.
It was a long night, but finally, it drew to a close. Once the newly formed family had departed, and Zayn and Julia were alone again, he spoke immediately. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said honestly.
Julia lifted her eyes thoughtfully. “You know how I feel about being in the spotlight. About being in Adina’s role … And yet you went ahead with it anyway.”
He stiffened as he registered that she really was enraged, in a dangerous, silent kind of way. Despite the performance of the century, convincing Adina and Amal that her emotions were completely positive, she was angry with him, and had been nursing her temper all night.
