Commanded by the sheikh

‘I told my father about Daniel,’ she went on quietly. ‘I asked, I begged him to support me. Sort of like you begged your father to love you, Aziz. And my father, my adored father, turned away from me. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t even want to look at me. And when I pleaded with him to help me keep my baby he just patted my head and told me to do what my mother said.’ Her voice cracked. ‘And then he asked me to play the piano for him.’ She shook her head, half-amazed that such an old memory could still hurt so much. ‘And you know what I did right then?’ she finished sadly.

‘You played the piano,’ Aziz said softly and she nodded jerkily. ‘It’s what I would have done. What I have done, trying endlessly to please someone who didn’t care about me. Trying to earn his love a thousand times over.’ He reached for her then, pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. ‘When you asked if I wanted to annul the marriage I felt as if you’d just yanked my heart right out of my chest. I was trying to work up the courage to tell you I loved you—’

‘And I made you think I wanted out. I’m sorry, Aziz.’

‘We’ve both let old fears and hurts control our actions,’ Aziz said, holding her tightly. ‘But not any more. This is a new start for both of us, Olivia.’

‘I want that. I want that so much.’

He eased back, framing her face with his hands as he gazed down at her. ‘Tell me what happened after you told your father.’

She swallowed past the tightness in her throat. ‘I did what he said. I went to the clinic and gave up my baby. And then I went to university and pretended nothing was wrong.’ She still remembered how surreal it had felt, going to lectures and writing essays as if her world hadn’t fallen right off its axis. Her stomach had been saggy, milk still leaking from her breasts just three weeks after giving birth. And she’d been in a fog, pretending it was normal, that she was okay. ‘When I went home for Christmas, my parents acted as if nothing had happened,’ she told Aziz. ‘They seemed so jolly, pretending this was a normal Christmas. Or maybe they weren’t even pretending. Maybe they really believed it was.’

‘People believe what they want to believe,’ he reminded her quietly. ‘You told me you knew that was true. Were you thinking of them?’

‘Yes.’ She sniffed, let out another shuddering breath. ‘I flew back to England and took a train to my university, but when it was time to get off I just didn’t. I stayed on the train until the last stop and ended up in a run-down seaside town. I got a job working in a bed and breakfast for a while, then kept moving from place to place over the years, just existing. Anything to keep from feeling.’

‘But you feel now.’

‘I feel so much, and you made that happen, Aziz. You’re like Prince Charming, waking me up with a kiss.’

He kissed her then, sweetly and softly. ‘And you woke me up, Olivia. You took away my mask and kept me from hiding myself. My fears. And you believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.’

‘Do you believe now, Aziz? Because I know you’ll be a good ruler. A wonderful ruler.’ She gazed at him seriously. ‘Malik told me when I first arrived in Kadar that you didn’t believe the people would support you. I see now it’s because you haven’t given them the chance.’

‘I’ve been afraid to,’ Aziz admitted quietly.

‘You need to give them that chance, Aziz. I think you’ll be surprised at how they take it.’

He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. ‘With you by my side, I feel like I can do anything.’

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. ‘You can,’ she said. ‘We can.’

Together, she knew, they could do anything.

EPILOGUE

SUN STREAMED THROUGH the palace windows as Olivia gave her reflection one last final check. Nerves fluttered in her stomach, but excitement did too. It had been six weeks since her wedding to Aziz and they were making a formal appearance on the balcony of the palace in Siyad, along with Khalil and Elena.

As soon as they’d left the coastal palace, Aziz had issued a press statement announcing the news. There had been a few whispers, a few raised eyebrows, but things were thankfully starting to settle down. When people had realised he and Olivia loved each other, just as Khalil and Elena did, they’d been enchanted. There were two happily-ever-afters instead of one.

Aziz had made Khalil his chief advisor and together they’d travelled around Kadar, visiting the desert tribes, sowing loyalty and support rather than discord.

The country was becoming united. Strong.

The door opened and Aziz stood there, smiling with an ease and sincerity that shone out of him. No longer the Gentleman Playboy, his charm was still devastating and not a mask. He was his real, wonderful self...just as she was. Aziz had helped her to recapture her hope, her joy. He’d brought out the best in her, made her see and feel the happiness and wonder of life again, and for that she would always be thankful.

Together they made each other stronger and more whole. Complete.

‘Ready?’ he asked. ‘They’re waiting for us to go out.’

‘What about Khalil and Elena?’

‘They’re waiting, too.’

Khalil and Elena, Olivia knew, were just as happy as she and Aziz were. They divided their time between Thallia and Kadar and, if Olivia wasn’t mistaken, they would be making an announcement about a future prince or princess some time soon.

Just as she hoped to, one day.

She slid her hand into Aziz’s and they left the room for the salon that led to the palace’s main balcony. Khalil and Elena were already there, heads bent together as Khalil whispered in Elena’s ear. She giggled and smiled and Olivia’s heart swelled with the happiness she knew they all felt.

Aziz and Khalil had found a solid, working relationship; they’d become allies and perhaps even friends. Almost brothers—bound by so much, if not by blood.

And Olivia liked Elena; they’d become friends too, as well as sisters-in-law of a sort.

‘Ready?’ Aziz said and everyone nodded. Olivia could feel the expectation in the room, the tension in Aziz. This was the first time they would all be appearing together in public.

An aide threw open the doors to the balcony and Olivia stepped out with Aziz, both of them blinking in the bright sunlight.

Below them the palace courtyard was thronged with people and the noise was incredible. They were chanting, Olivia realised, although it took a few seconds for her to realise what they were saying.

Sheikh Aziz! Sheikh Aziz!

She turned to her husband with a radiant smile. ‘They love you,’ she said softly, and he smiled back.

‘They love us both. Shall we satisfy them?’ She nodded and he drew her towards him for a kiss of both promise and thanksgiving, the sweetest kiss she’d ever known.

On her other side Khalil and Elena had come out, and they were both smiling and waving to the crowds.

Drawing back, his heart in his eyes, Aziz kept his hand tightly in hers as he turned to address his people.