A movement at Mackenzie’s elbow caught her eye, and she turned just as she was embraced by a short woman in the loveliest blue abaya she’d ever seen. “You must be Mackenzie. I’m Daya, and this is Zafir. We’re so happy to have you with us today, and so delighted that—”
“Mother.” A younger woman with dancing eyes and shining hair that spilled down her back pulled on Daya’s shoulder—Adira. “Don’t overwhelm Issam’s new fiancée.”
The word was pure pleasure, though Mackenzie worked fast to tamp it down.
“Well?” Adira prodded Issam in the ribs. “Aren’t you going to introduce her? We’re all here.”
“Now we’re all here.” Rami, Issam’s other brother, was taller than Issam but lean, giving him a regal grace as he approached the group.
Issam’s shoulders relaxed, and the shock melted away from his face. “Beloved family,” he said, and for the first time Mackenzie heard laughter in his voice. “This is my fiancée, Mackenzie Peters.”
They all started talking at once, and then Inan ran up and wrapped his arms around Issam’s legs. “Did you get her out of trouble, Uncle Issam?”
He scooped the boy up in his arms. “I got her out of trouble or my name isn’t Mohammad.”
Inan screeched with laughter. “Your name isn’t Mohammad!”
Mackenzie couldn’t help staring. This was not the stone-faced man she’d sat across from in his private living room, or the man who’d faced down the imam at the mosque with cool confidence. He was a loving uncle, son, and brother.
He would probably be a kind husband and a good father.
No. She couldn’t think of that. Things likely wouldn’t get that far. Why would they? It was only a marriage of convenience.
“Now, now,” Daya said, hands in the air, as if that alone could silence the rest of the partygoers. “We have an announcement to make.”
Issam sighed. “Please tell me you’re not going abroad again. The last arrangements were a security nightmare.”
“We’ve set a date for the wedding,” Daya said, ignoring him.
Mackenzie’s mouth dropped open.
Daya waggled a finger at her sons. “You’ve deprived me of two other royal weddings, and I will not stand for it. Not with my youngest son. This time, the planning is up to me.” She remembered herself at the last moment. “Of course—I should ask permission from your bride.” Daya looked longingly at Mackenzie as if she were already her daughter.
Mackenzie laughed out loud, another wave of relief moving through her. This wasn’t going to be so bad. A lavish wedding? Becoming royalty? Staying alive another day to fight for the people who needed her?
It could not get any better.
“The bigger the better,” Mackenzie said and clapped her hands.
Daya threw her arms around Mackenzie’s shoulders, laughing. “My sons have given me such wonderful daughters,” she said, voice filled with excitement.
“Oh, thank you,” said Adira with a quick roll of her eyes. “Now, quick, Mother. We have to make plans. Before she cuts and runs!”
6
Issam craved a quiet room.
The party was wonderful. That wasn’t it. He could hardly complain about the trouble his family had gone to in arranging it so quickly. His mother, more than anyone else, had scrambled to make it happen. He could tell by the excited gleam in her eyes that she had come in just under the wire, even with all the resources available to the royal family.
Yes, it had been wonderful. But after two hours, he was ready to go.
He turned away from the table he’d been standing at to find Mackenzie.
She was in a little clutch with Adira and some other friends of the family, but the moment he moved into her field of vision, her gaze snapped to him. Even after the day she had had, energy radiated from her. She stepped over to him.
“What is it, Issam?”
“It’s time to get out of here.”