Yes. So had he. But now there it was. Reality. The commitment to duty. Honor. Responsibility. The very things that had brought this woman into his life.
There was only one problem.
He had never expected to fall in love with her.
But he had. She was everything to him.
How could that be?
She had been Rami’s.
No. She had said it herself. No one was anyone’s property. Besides, he had told her that the past didn’t matter.
And he meant it.
It didn’t.
What mattered was that he loved Rachel. She was good and kind and honest; he had never let himself even imagine finding a woman like her to complete him, and that was what she did.
She completed him …
The breath caught in his throat.
Suddenly he saw a path ahead of him—one that would enable him to fulfill his duties, maintain his honor, meet his responsibilities to his father, his country, his dead brother and his brother’s child.
In one simple step he could do all those things and keep the promise he’d made to Rachel about finding a way she could keep Ethan …
Be truthful, Karim.
Those things were all important … but they were not the real reason for what he was about to do.
Duty was important.
But love was everything. Everything—
“Karim?”
He blinked, looked into the face of the woman he loved. She looked worried. For him. And wasn’t that amazing? Had he ever thought a woman would care for him, the man, and not for him, the Sheikh?
“Karim. Please, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said—and then he gave a whoop of laughter, tugged her to her feet, whirled her around the room to music only he could hear and, when she was breathless and laughing with him, brought them to a halt and took her in his arms.
“Remember when I promised you I’d find a solution for our problem?”
Their problem.
Ah, God!