Claimed by the Sheikh. Rachael Thomas

this is where I belong.’

      Amber opened the front door of the flat and stood back, her chin held high, waiting for Kazim to leave. She had nothing more to say. Their marriage was over.

      He walked towards her and stopped. In hushed tones, he threw everything into turmoil. ‘The child will have the operations he needs; I will see to that.’

      Kazim’s words rushed at her and she could hardly take them in. Claude was going to get the help he needed—from Kazim?

      Amber’s breath shuddered in and she clutched the door for support. ‘You mean you will help us?’ Hope soared inside her. Claude was going to be able to walk.

      ‘On one condition.’

      She frowned, her eyes searching his handsome face. ‘Condition?’

      ‘That you return to Barazbin with me.’

      She shook her head, small frantic movements of disbelief. ‘No.’ How could he ask that of her?

      Kazim stepped so close that he towered over her, dominating the very air she breathed. ‘He will have all the operations he needs as quickly as possible and I will set him and his mother up in a home, wherever she wants to be. They will be secure and safe whilst the child grows up.’

      ‘But...’ She couldn’t even put a sentence together. To be given everything she wanted and to have all she’d fled from forced on her at the same time was too much.

      Finally she could breathe and think. Would he be so ruthless? ‘What if I say no?’

      ‘Then I will walk away from here. We will have nothing more to do with each other—apart from a divorce.’ There wasn’t a second’s pause before he answered. He was as mercenary as ever.

      ‘That’s blackmail.’ Her fingertips touched her lips as she looked at him, totally unable to believe he could be so callous, so unfeeling.

      ‘No, Amber. It’s just a way of getting what we both want.’

      ‘You’re unbelievable.’ She fought hard against the urge to pummel her fists on his chest as frustration erupted like a volcano inside her. How could he put her in such a position? Claude would be well and Annie would have a home, but it wasn’t just Kazim who would give them that. It was her too.

      ‘The decision is yours, Amber. I will return at first light and I expect you to be ready to leave.’