A Bride For The Sheikh (10 page)

“What are all these papers?” she asked. She threw the files down on the unmade bed.

Rashid looked at a few of the documents. His face dropped. “Where did you find these?”

“They were on the desk in the other room, on top, in plain view. I wasn’t rummaging around, spying, though it looks like you have been.”

“I was trying to find you. You left the party before I could get your phone number.”

“So you did a full investigation of me and my family? There’s even stuff here about my mother’s last holiday!”

“Our head of security is very thorough, maybe a little bit too thorough. However, if we’re going to be married, I have to do some checks. I could hardly marry someone who turned out to be the daughter of a terrorist, could I?” Rashid laughed, but Angelina didn’t laugh back. “However, the main thing is I found you, and we’re together.” He came towards her, but she backed away.

“And what about this?” She lifted up the letter asking for her father to be promoted. “Did security do this as well?”

“Your father’s promotion? I thought you’d be pleased. He did get it, didn’t he?”

“Rashid, you can’t play around with people’s lives like this. What do you think we are? Puppets? Playthings for you to control and do what you want with? You can’t do this. It’s not right. I’m going home. I’m sure one of your millions of servants can call me a cab.”

She ran out of the room, down the corridor and through another set of rooms as fast as she could. However, it wasn’t long before she was hopelessly lost. Most of the rooms, with their marble floors and gilt furniture, looked almost exactly the same as each other and they had taken such a roundabout route to his bedroom that she couldn’t work out where the exit was. She saw a couple of men in long white robes chatting in one of the rooms and she asked them where the main door was, but they just shrugged and carried on chatting in Arabic. Eventually, she came to a section of the house that she recognised: the bedroom with the four-poster bed. She’d been going round in circles.

She entered the room. Rashid was on his phone. “It’s okay. She’s here now,” she heard him say to the person at the other end of the line, followed by something in Arabic.

“I’m so glad you came back. I was worried,” he said as soon as he hung up. “I tried to follow you, but you lost me. My security guards have been looking everywhere for you.”

“What, so you can have me locked up?”

“No! To make sure you were okay and to take you back home, if that’s what you still want.”

“I don’t know what I want.” Angelina sat down on a chair near the door. “But it’s not this.” She pointed to the bed, the carpets, and paintings. “I don’t want the money, the servants, the security guards, the fancy cars. I just want you, the Rashid I first met and fell in love with before I knew that you were a stupidly rich sheikh.”

“I just want you too. Nothing else matters. Nothing.”

“Hello? Rashid? Are you there?”

“Hamad, do you have any idea what time it is?” It was the middle of the night in Bezira.

“If I wanted the time, I would have phoned the speaking clock! Man, I need your help.”

“Okay, one minute.” Rashid climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb Angelina. They were in a small, one-bedroom apartment in the centre of the city, Zakir, and the bed was smaller than he was used to. “What have you done now?” he asked his cousin once he was in the living area with the bedroom door shut.

“I’ve really messed up this time.”

“It can’t be as bad as the time you were playing cricket indoors in your father’s house and you smashed a Picasso with your cricket ball.” Rashid couldn’t imagine Hamad had done anything worse than that.

“That was nothing. This is really bad.”

Rashid thought that Hamad sounded as if he were about to cry. “What is it this time?”

“You remember that Hollywood actress I told you about?”

“Yes,” Rashid replied, trying to make himself comfortable on a very uncomfortable, black plastic sofa.

“She invited me to a party last night, but this wasn’t any regular sort of party. This had naked girls and everything.”

“Not my kind of party, but sounds like just the sort of thing you’d enjoy.”

“When I say naked girls, I mean a lot of naked girls and men, too. This was like some kind of orgy and there were drugs, large open bowls full of drugs. The actress I was with was soon as high as a kite.”

“You didn’t take any, did you?”

“No, of course not! You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?” Rashid asked. The party sounded horrible, but he couldn’t understand why his friend was so upset.

“I did, but not before someone took some photos.”

Rashid’s stomach churned. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“They’re all over today’s papers,” Hamad continued. “They’ve made me look really bad. I didn’t do the things they said I did. They’ve messed with the pictures. It’s not me in them. I mean, it is me, but I never did the things you can see in the pictures.”

Rashid did some quick thinking. “The first thing you have to remember is that none of it will be published here and I’ll make sure it’s blocked on the TV. I can promise that. I’ll even try to get any related websites blocked in the country.”

“Thank you. You’re a real friend. But if my parents somehow hear about it, you’ll stand up for me, won’t you?”

“Of course, I’ll do everything I can. Don’t worry, Hamad.”

“Thank you. You know, this place is crazy. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”

“Why don’t you get on the next flight and come back home?”

“That was the other thing I wanted to ask you. Could you send your pilot over to get me? You know how much I hate flying commercially and now with my face all over the press in the States, everyone’s going to be staring at me and saying nasty things.”

“I’m really sorry. I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Just one of your small planes would be fine. We can refuel in London. You don’t have to send me a jumbo jet.”

“I can’t. I haven’t got any planes to send. I haven’t got anything anymore.”

“Rashid, what are you talking about?”

“I’ve given up everything for the one thing that’s really important to me, Angelina.”

“Angelina? Who’s that? You’re not making any sense. Maybe you’ve been taking drugs!”

Rashid explained who Angelina was and how the night before at his palace—his ex-palace—she had said that she didn’t want his money and his status, so the next morning he had written to his father, renouncing his titles and returning all of his money back to his family, along with all his assets. He’d then moved into a small apartment, paying the rent out of the salary he earned as a journalist. When he finished explaining, he said, “So you see, I can’t send you a plane. I can’t even send you a car, but I’m sure you’ll be fine if you fly first class and take a limo to the airport.”

“Have you gone mad? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Hamad yelled.

Rashid held his phone away from his ear. “Yes,” he replied once Hamad had stopped shouting. “For the first time in my life, I feel free. I’ve got everything I could possibly need in life. I’ve got the woman I love and a great job. With my journalist connections, I can stop news about you getting out here in Bezira, but I can’t do anything for you as a royal anymore. I’m just plain Rashid now, a normal person.”

“You’re in bigger trouble than I am. I’m getting on the next plane home and coming to sort you out.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Just get back here safely and stay away from any more movie stars.” Rashid said goodbye and went back to bed.

“Who was that?” Angelina asked, half asleep.

“Just my cousin. He’s got himself in a bit of a fix. Nothing for you to worry about. Go back to sleep.”

However, half an hour later the alarm went off. Even though it was still dark outside, Angelina insisted on getting home before her father woke up. Rashid respected that, so even though he would have liked nothing more than to stay in bed with her all night, he got up and got ready to drive her back to her father’s house. They used the silver Mercedes as it was the only car they had, because Rashid had given all of his cars back to his father. He argued that because the car was in Angelina’s name, it didn’t have to be returned, even though it had royal number plates.

When they reached her house, he gave her a long kiss goodbye. “Once we’re married, we’ll spend the whole night together, every night for the rest of our lives,” he whispered, stealing one more kiss.

“Let’s just take this one step at a time,” she replied.

She hadn’t yet agreed to marry him, which worried him, but she hadn’t said that she wouldn’t. He had less than eight days left until he had to present his bride to his father, but he guessed that since he’d renounced his inheritance, the arrangement no longer held, so now he had all the time in the world to win her over, though he would still prefer to marry her sooner rather than later. The sooner she moved in with him, the better and in a conservative country like Bezira, that couldn’t happen until they were married.

He gave her one last kiss goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“When can you come over?” she asked.

Rashid thought about all he had to do for Hamad to make sure his story didn’t get into the local press. “I have a bunch of stuff I have to sort out at work, but as soon as I’m finished, I’ll come over and see you. It’ll be late afternoon at the latest. I love you.”

“I love you too. Until tomorrow.” She kissed him and then got out of the car.

Rashid drove away into the night, thinking that he’d never tasted anything as sweet as Angelina’s lips on his.

The next morning, Angelina got up and after she had breakfast with her dad, she spent her day studying. Now that Rashid wasn’t going to pay her way through law school, she knew she had to go back to her original plan of making sure that she did as much studying as possible before she started so she could take on a part-time job during term-time and not have it affect her studies too much. Rashid would earn a good salary as a foreign correspondent in London and if they were lucky, the job might even come with accommodations. But Angelina still had to pay her course fees and she was under no illusions about how expensive London was.

When Rashid had first offered to give up everything for her, she had begged him not to. She didn’t want him to sacrifice everything just for her. However, he’d promised her that it was no sacrifice. He said that he was quite happy to live simply; his sparse bedroom was proof of that. He said that he just lived in a fancy palace because that’s what everyone in his family did. When he’d turned eighteen, he’d been given his share of the family wealth and an extremely generous annual allowance. Then, when he’d returned from studying in the UK, he’d been given the mansion, complete with all the furnishings. The only part he’d decorated himself was the small bedroom that he’d shown her.

Finally, Angelina had agreed and he’d written a letter to his father, outlining his decision. After he’d given it to the sultan, Angelina felt like a great weight had been lifted from her. Now they were just a normal couple, leading normal lives. Her father had been behind them one hundred per cent, although Angelina had been tempted at one point to ask whether Rashid could just give her dad a little bit before handing it all back. However, she’d resisted asking. She knew it was all or nothing, so she’d kept quiet and watched as Rashid handed back his fortune.

Thinking about Rashid, and how he’d given everything up for her, made it hard for her to concentrate on her law books. Eventually she gave up, fixed herself a light lunch and then decided to go for a quick swim. She pinned a note to the front door for Rashid, saying that she was at the pool just in case he came to see her while she was out, and walked off to the swimming pool as Rashid had the car. At that time of day, with the strong midday sun above her, she expected to have the place to herself, so she was surprised to see two of the sun beds already occupied.

“Hi, Angelina! I haven’t seen you for a couple of days. How are you?” Carla asked. Next to her was Chrystal, wearing a minuscule gold bikini.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Angelina thought about turning back, but the heat was oppressive and she was desperate to get in and cool off. Also, she wasn’t going to let someone like Chrystal scare her off. “Nice to see you here, Chrystal. How are you?” she asked. She could feel Chrystal glaring at her through her designer sunglasses and Angelina wanted to show her that she wasn’t intimidated by her.

“Chrystal’s got the pool men in today doing maintenance, so I said she could come and swim here,” Carla explained.

Chrystal didn’t look like she was planning to do any swimming. Her hair was perfectly blow-dried and she was wearing full make-up. “Why don’t you join us?” Chrystal asked. “I was just telling Carla all about my wedding plans. Sheikh Rashid was over at my place the other afternoon and we had such fun together talking about it all.”

“Really?” Angelina refused to let herself be taken in by more of Chrystal’s lies. “That’s strange, because I’m pretty sure he wants to marry me.”

“He does. He told me,” Chrystal replied.

Both Angelina and Carla looked at her in shock.

“So why do you still think he’s engaged to you?” Angelina asked.

“You really don’t know anything about the local customs round here, do you?” Chrystal smiled, baring two rows of large, polished teeth. “First, he’ll marry me and then he’ll take you on as a second, or possibly third, wife. I told him that I didn’t mind. You see, it’s their way here. As a very rich sheikh, Rashid will expect to have his full quota of four wives and I understand that.”

“But he’s not rich anymore and he’s not a sheikh. He’s given it all up,” Angelina replied. She knew Chrystal was lying and didn’t have a clue about what Rashid had done the day before.

“That’s impossible. Why on earth would he do a thing like that?”

“Because he loves me and we plan to be just an ordinary couple, living off an ordinary salary,” Angelina said. She could feel the sun beating down on her back.

Chrystal laughed. “You seem to have some very fanciful notions in your head. Rashid would never give away his money. He can’t. He wouldn’t.”

“I can and I have.” Rashid was standing at the entrance to the pool, looking cool and elegant in his white robes. “It’s you, Chrystal, who seems to have some very silly ideas in your head.”

“Your Highness.” Carla got up and wrapped a towel around herself.

“I’m not ‘Your Highness’ anymore. Please, just call me Rashid.”

“So it’s true,” Chrystal said. “You’re not royal now. And the money?”

“Gone, all gone. I’ve given everything back to my family.” Rashid smiled as if he were announcing the happiest moment of his life.

“You can’t expect me to marry you now,” Chrystal said.

“Good,” Rashid replied. “I don’t want to marry you. I never have. It was my father’s idea, not mine. I’m going to marry Angelina.”

Chrystal turned to face Angelina. “You’re welcome to him now that he’s poor.” She spat out the last word as if it were the vilest insult she could think of. “There are plenty more rich sheikhs out there. I don’t need to waste my time talking to a poor Arab. Come on, Carla, we’re going.” She grabbed Carla’s hand and walked out without saying goodbye to either Angelina or Rashid.

“I seem to have finally got her off my back,” Rashid said with relief as soon as Chrystal had gone. “I wonder who she’ll stalk next.”

“Who cares,” Angelina replied.

“She’s desperate to get her hands on my family’s money. As long as her father is in control and doing a great job with the finances, she knows her life’s secure. However, her father won’t live forever and if anything happened, what would she do then? I can’t see her getting a job, can you?”

“People like her will always find a way to get by.” Angelina was sick of talking about the woman. “It’s hot. I’m going for a swim. Coming?”

“One minute. I’ll just go and get changed.”

A few minutes later, they were in the pool, laughing and giggling together, and had both completely forgotten about Chrystal Longhorn.

However, that evening at Rashid’s new apartment, after they’d had dinner together, his phone rang.

“Rashid, I’m back!” It was Hamad.

“Great,” Rashid replied. “When did your plane get in?”

“Two o’clock this afternoon.”

“Why didn’t you call sooner? Still getting over the shock of flying commercially? First class wasn’t that bad, was it?” As a millionaire, Hamad could easily afford first class, but he wasn’t a billionaire who could afford to run his own planes. Nor was Rashid anymore. He wondered whether he’d even be able to afford business class now.

“The flight was fine. There was a very pretty air steward on board. I’ve got her number. However, I haven’t phoned you to talk about her.”

“Don’t worry about that other stuff. I’ve made sure that all the newspapers here won’t print the story and it’s been blocked on the country’s Internet. But Hamad, at that party, did you really—”

“No, I didn’t!” Hamad interrupted him. “You know as well as I do that you can’t believe what you read in the press, but thank you for sorting things out here in Bezira. I’m actually phoning to talk to you about something else.”

“What?” Rashid sat, ready to hear all about another one of his cousin’s adventures.

“It’s about Chrystal.”

Rashid groaned. “What has she done now?”

“It’s not really what she’s done. It’s what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done anything! I’ve tried my very best to keep as far away from her as possible.”

“That’s the problem. She says you were very mean to her this afternoon at some swimming pool somewhere and that you’ve given away all your money to spite her.”

“I’ve already told you, I did that because I want to marry Angelina and lead a normal life. I told Chrystal that I didn’t want to marry her. I wasn’t being mean. I was just telling her the truth and the sooner she accepts it, the better.”

“Okay, but I want you to know that she’s very upset. She’s been at my place all evening, in tears.”

“I’m sure you managed to console her,” Rashid replied.

After he said goodbye to Hamad, with promises to meet up the next day, Rashid walked into the kitchen to help Angelina finish clearing away the dinner things.

“I think I’ve found out which wealthy sheikh Chrystal’s got her eyes on now,” he said to Angelina.

“I don’t care. As long as it’s not you.” She kissed him on the cheek.

Rashid’s phone rang again. It was Hamad.

“Let me guess,” Rashid said. “You’re calling back to tell me that you want to marry Chrystal?”

“No, but now you mention it...I’m not sure, but I think her tits have gotten bigger since I last saw her. She’s one hell of a woman.”

“You haven’t phoned me again to talk about Chrystal’s body, have you?”

“No, there’s something I forgot to mention just now.”

“What?”

“I didn’t fly back alone.”

Rashid thought that Hamad sounded as if he was embarrassed to tell him something. “What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?”

“Your mother came with me. She’s here in Bezira. She wants to see you, urgently.”