The Sheikh's Bartered Bride

“I’m not rejecting you,” she screamed, out of control and in emotional pain, “I’m rejecting being lied to, being betrayed by the man I love.”

How could he not understand that? “How would you like knowing I had colluded with your family behind your back? How would you like knowing you’d been made a total fool of?”

“How did we make a fool of you? Do you consider it folly to have married me?”

They stood facing each other, two combatants on a battlefield of emotional carnage.

Her shoulders slumped, all energy draining from her as she acknowledged the truth that came from knowing he had been dishonest with her. “Yes, if it meant tying myself to a man I cannot trust.”

“You are making more of this than it is,” he retorted coolly.

“Am I?” Two words whispered so low, she didn’t know if he heard them, but he moved.

“Yes.”

She shook her head. Denial? Confusion? She didn’t know, but it served to loosen the hot wetness gritting behind her eyes. He pulled her into his body again as she started to cry, great gulping sobs that sounded as awful as they felt. She struggled, but he was too strong and she gave in, letting the grief take over. He didn’t try to quiet her, but just held her, seeming to realize she had to have this emotional outburst.

Eventually the tears subsided and he handed her a handkerchief to mop herself up. She stepped away from him to do so.

He watched her broodingly. “How we came together is no longer important. You must believe this. We are husband and wife. Your father’s interference has no bearing on our future. We make of our marriage what we choose to make of it.”

The crying had calmed her enough to really take in what he was saying and his words made her stop and think.

She’d been rebelling against her dad’s interference in her life since reaching adulthood, but could she really regret meeting Hakim just because Harold Benning had a hand in it? Or even his uncle for that matter? Two old men had played matchmaker and discussed private affairs of hers they had no business discussing, but in the end she had married the man she loved. No one had coerced her.

Unlike the other men her father had fixed her up with, Hakim didn’t need anything from Harold Benning.

No matter what had brought them together, he had married he for her own sake and he loved her. But a man who loved her would not have lied to her, would he?

“It hurts that you hid this form me, that you didn’t trust my love enough to believe I wouldn’t let it matter. A-And… a lie by omission is still a lie.” She was trying not to cry again and her words came out stuttered.

“It was not my intention to hurt you.”

“But you did.”

“This I can see. I made a mistake.” She could sense this was not easy for him to admit.

“You didn’t trust my love.”

“I did not see it that way.”

If he hadn’t seen it that way, then, “Why did you lie to me?”

“It was your father’s wish.”

It was chauvinism at its worse for her dad to think he had the right to ask Hakim to keep the secret and for Hakim to believe he had an obligation to do so. Maybe how they met wasn’t so important, but where she stood in his list of priorities was. So was knowing he would never lie to her again.

“My wishes should come first with you. I’m your wife and you made promises to love and cherish me. My father has no place in our relationship.”

“That is what I have been saying.”

“Then promise me that from now on I come first in your considerations.” She meant between her and her father. She knew she could not come first over everything for a man in Hakim’s position.

“This I will do.”

“Do you promise?” He always kept his promises.

He brushed the wetness from under her eyes with his thumbs. “I promise.”

“You’re big on keeping your promises. I remember you telling me that.”

“This is true.”

“Then promise me one more thing.”

He looked wary. “What?”

“That you will never lie to me again.”

He hesitated and she glared at him. “I don’t care if you think the truth will upset me. I can’t trust you if I believe you’ll lie to me, even if it is to protect my feelings.”

“Then I promise this also.”

She nodded, feeling a sense of relief that he had agreed so easily. If she couldn’t trust him, she could not stay with him, no matter how much she loved him. “I need to fix my makeup.”

He drew her forward and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. It felt like an apology and she took it as such.

He released her. “Be quick. The dinner will have started without the guests of honor.”