“Did you feel that?” she whispered almost as if she didn’t want to disturb our little one.
I was just as awestruck, nodding silently even as my smile widened, my heart knocking in my chest in an entirely new way.
Our linked fingers jumped again, and Roya turned her chin onto my chest to look at me. “Strong.”
“Da.” I found myself whispering too.
There was a smaller prod next, and we both cocked our heads down at her tummy. And it didn’t seem strange to me at all that there was a sudden stinging behind my eyes.
“What will we name her?” I asked quietly.
After a moment’s thought, Roya’s face lit from within. “Athena.”
Athena . . . Perfect. I had to gulp around the constriction in my throat.
It was there again. That odd emotion. Contentment. Strange. Lighter than air or clouds . . . stealing my oxygen as I went on that breathless tumble into love.
We were bringing a new life into this world, our world.
Our daughter.
Athena.
I knew in the depths of my soul I’d guard them both, love them both, with my very being.
I discovered there was something I wanted more than revenge on the Sheikh. I wanted to possess the princess. Marry her. Make a life with her. And, in turn, be hers forever.
I wasn’t a Sheikh of Dubai. But I was the motherfucking king of the underworld. The drugs, the club, the oil.
And Roya was not just my princess, she was my queen.
* * *