But it could lurch wildly. And it did when Rahim took her wrists in his hands and determinedly pulled her hands from his face.
‘No. This cannot happen.’
Her heart in tatters, she stepped away, removing herself from his path. ‘Go, then. But don’t expect me to be here when you come back.’
His eyes darkened until they were almost black. ‘I’m disappointed you feel that way,’ he said stonily.
He walked away, leaving her broken and defeated against the wall.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RAHIM BARELY MADE it to the guest suite before his legs gave out. He’d taken a secret staircase to evade his bodyguards and to prevent being caught up in the royal baby fever sweeping the palace and Dar-Aman.
His bodyguards would find him eventually—they were too efficiently trained not to—but for now he had a few minutes to himself. A few minutes to replay Allegra’s words. A few minutes to lose his mind.
There’d been a time when he would’ve shrugged off a woman’s threat to leave him.
But she wasn’t just any woman. This was Allegra, proud woman of breeding.
His wife. His queen.
Stumbling to the well-stocked bar, he poured himself a drink from a bottle whose label he didn’t read. The drink was bracing, so he poured himself another. His hand froze halfway to his mouth.
Allegra had never made an idle threat. He’d followed her new foundation’s progress for the past few weeks. Each time a course of action was curtailed or bureaucratic red tape thrown up, she found another way. Each time she came up against a male opponent who made the mistake of underestimating her, she promised to get her way. And she did.
He slammed the drink on the bar and caught his head in his hands. His wife had begged him to stay, to work on a marriage he’d pushed on her in the first place. And he’d answered her by walking away like a coward. She was carrying his child, a baby for whom her heart shone through her eyes.
Slowly he lifted his head. If he wasn’t mistaken he’d caught a trace of that same look for him in her eyes. Even if he was mistaken and dreamed up scenarios that weren’t there, every doctor he’d seen regarding Allegra’s and their baby’s health had told him the same thing—the likelihood of something going wrong was low. He’d listened to the advice but he hadn’t believed, not deep down.
All he’d been able to recall was the blood and Allegra’s screams when she’d thought she was losing their son. But she had rallied.
He’d hurt her deeply. And she’d stayed, giving of herself to whomever asked, loving his people. Perhaps even loving him?
His heart jumped.
His phone beeped. Tugging it from his pocket, he flung it on the counter without looking at the screen. His mind was sifting through the expressions he’d seen on Allegra’s face.
Each one made him hope a little more...
The phone beeped again. About to fling it across the room, he glanced at the message. With a dark curse, he sprinted for the door.
He arrived in the royal suite ninety seconds later. The room was impeccably neat. And deathly quiet.
Panic flared through him. ‘Allegra? Allegra!’ When his voice echoed back to him, he dug frantically for his phone. Each second felt like a year before his head of security picked up.
‘She’s not here! Where is she?’ he demanded, his soul tearing in two. ‘Well, she’s not here. Watch the gates. And don’t let her leave!’
His grip tight around the phone, he turned to lunge back out the door.
‘Don’t let who leave?’
Rahim whirled around, his heart banging wildly against his ribs at the sight of Allegra framed in the dressing room doorway. Behind her, clothes were strewn on the floor and two suitcases stood open. He didn’t think twice before he acted. Racing to the door, he slammed it shut and turned the key in the lock. Taking it out, he closed his fist over it, hard enough to cause him pain.
‘Don’t let who leave, Rahim?’ she demanded again. Her voice was a husky croak.
‘You, Allegra. My bodyguards alerted me that you’d summoned a car to take you to the airport. I told them not to let you leave.’
Her pain-soaked eyes went from his closed fist to the door. ‘And you think a locked door is going to stop me?’