‘Rahim...’
He silenced her with a hard kiss, gone almost before it’d arrived, but no less stimulating. ‘No. You’re a modern woman who can work hard and play harder with the best of them. I get it. But you’re carrying my child, Allegra. And if you think I’m going to stay quiet or stand down when it’s obvious you’re unwell, you can think again. You’ll receive the best care from a team of doctors while you’re carrying this baby. That is completely non-negotiable.’ There was a raw and unshakeable resolve in his voice that dried any protests she may have had. But it was the almost too carefully disguised note of fear in his voice that caught and held her attention.
It urged her not to stand in his way. After all, the baby’s health and safety was just as important to her. ‘Okay,’ she conceded.
Nodding, he reached for his phone. After a five-minute conversation conducted in rapid-fire French, he ended the call. ‘The doctors are on their way.’
She also found out just how invested Rahim was in his child when a team of four doctors and two medical technicians walked into the suite an hour later. Allegra’s eyes widened when the sonogram was wheeled in.
Once she’d been quizzed thoroughly on her medical history, Rahim dismissed all but one doctor and technician, then took her hand and led her to the master bedroom.
A medical robe had been left on the bed, and he picked it up, a look of anxiety crossing his face again. ‘I leave for Dar-Aman tonight. Before I do, I’d like to hear my child’s heartbeat. If you don’t mind?’ The guttural request lanced her heart, sparking warmth that radiated outward until it engulfed her whole body. For one blinding second, Allegra hoped for the impossible—that this child had been conceived via the fairy-tale love she’d once dreamed about. Recognising the wish for the foolish act it was, she pushed it away, and embraced the real gift being handed her.
‘I’d really love that, Rahim.’
His smile was blinding, heart-stopping. Nodding, he handed her the robe, left the suite and returned a few minutes later with the doctor and technician.
Allegra had thought Rahim would remain standing, but he got into bed with her, and slid in close. His warmth and scent engulfed her, pushing that wish once again to the fore. When he caught and held her hand as the gel was spread on her stomach, she carefully avoided looking into his face. She was too afraid her own would give too much away. So she held her breath and trained her gaze on the monitor as the probe glided over her belly.
After several minutes of silence, a strong heartbeat filled the room, followed a moment later by a grainy picture on the monitor. Allegra gasped, pure joy racing through her bloodstream.
Rahim made a rough sound, and her head swung to him, the vow not to look at him so much dust in the face of the transcendental moment they were caught in.
‘Is everything all right?’ he jerked out, the hand holding hers almost punishing in his grip.
The doctor nodded. ‘Yes, it’s a little too early to tell the sex, but everything is as it should be, Your Highness.’
Exhaling a breath she hadn’t realised she held, Allegra glanced back at Rahim. A fierce light burned in his eyes as he looked from her face back to the machine. As he stared at the image, a transformation seemed to come over him. The apprehension she’d glimpsed on and off since announcing her pregnancy flashed over his face one last time. Then his features settled into stony determination. Allegra felt his withdrawal seconds before he dropped her hand, slid off the bed and accepted his copy of the ultrasound picture.
‘Rahim?’
He didn’t answer, just continued to stare at the picture as slowly, inexorably, a new and even more terrifying tension enveloped him.
‘Rahim, are you okay?’ She raised her voice, alarm catching hold of her.
His gaze jerked to hers, and his mouth compressed. ‘All will be well. Insh’allah,’ he said, his voice deep and powerfully final. Sliding the Polaroid into his pocket, he walked out of the room.
The vow was still echoing in her head when she’d dressed and left the bedroom ten minutes later. Something urged her to seek an explanation for Rahim’s unsettling reaction. For the fleeting glimpses of fear she’d seen on his face.
Entering the living room, she opened her mouth to ask, then turned in surprise as loud voices, punctuated with several belligerent hammers, sounded on the door.
Rahim exchanged puzzled glances with her before issuing an order in Arabic. A bodyguard entered, followed immediately by a severely irritated Bianca.
Before she could get a word in, her sister emerged from behind the burly minder and spotted her.
‘Oh, thank God, Allegra. I’ve been searching for you everywhere! Zara said you cancelled your afternoon appointments and left with some guy. That was almost eight hours ago. I was worried when you didn’t answer your phone.’
Before Allegra could reassure her, Rahim spoke. ‘Your sister has been otherwise engaged. And as you can see for yourself, she’s completely unharmed.’
The firm authority in Rahim’s tone made Bianca blink. She studied him properly for the first time, her eyes widening as she took in the powerful man before her. ‘Who are you, and why are you holding my sister here?’ she demanded, although her voice was less confrontational.
‘I am Sheikh Rahim Al-Hadi of Dar-Aman. Your future brother-in-law,’ he replied, his voice a steely vibration that coated the words in unmistakeable power.
Bianca’s folded arms dropped, along with her jaw. Swallowing, she shook her head. ‘No way,’ she whispered.
His lips compressed. ‘Perhaps you’d care to seek verification from your sister, and offer her your support once you have done so.’
Bianca turned, wide-eyed, to her. Allegra nodded. ‘It’s true. Rahim and I are getting married.’
For several seconds, silence reigned. Allegra could almost see the questions tearing across Bianca’s mind like the adverts that lit up Times Square. But her sister hadn’t attained stellar success as a PR guru without mastering the art of discretion.
With one final look between Rahim and her, Bianca, still dazed, murmured, ‘Then you have my support. And I guess I’m also going shopping for a new dress?’
RAHIM HAD VERY little recollection of leaving the hotel room and boarding his plane back to Dar-Aman. But he could very much recall Allegra’s face when he’d told her he was leaving. The questions in her eyes which he’d glimpsed on her emergence from the master suite had given way to relief.
He’d known she was curious about his reaction to the picture burning a hole in his pocket. But how could he offer explanation without sounding like a paranoid freak?
How could he tell her that once again he feared his life had been set on a course that could alter his very future? What man would want to tell the woman who carried his child that he was terrified beyond understanding of anything going wrong? Of lightning striking twice and plunging his world once more into darkness?
Besides, what would telling Allegra about his emotions surrounding his mother’s death or the brother he’d lost before he was even born achieve?
What he needed to do was to ensure the preparations for the wedding got under way without delay. Before the relief he’d seen on Allegra’s face coalesced into foundations for doubt about marrying him. Settling back in his seat as his pilot readied for take-off, Rahim wished that he was anonymous and could whisk her off to Vegas for a shotgun wedding performed by an Elvis impersonator.
He smiled