Desert Prince's Stolen Bride

Which was what Olivia had wanted when she’d chosen to surrender to Zayed that first magical night. ‘And what happened at the party?’ Olivia asked in a hollow voice. She had a feeling she could guess, yet she could scarcely believe it.

‘I met someone. A man. A handsome devil of a man.’ Halina sniffed. ‘Olivia, I spent the night with him,’ she confessed in a near wail. ‘I slept with him. Lost my virginity to...to a stranger! I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t even thinking. I thought I could handle it all, handle him, and of course I couldn’t.’

‘You don’t mean he—’

‘Forced me?’ Halina gave a bitter laugh. ‘Not a bit of it. I was completely willing—eager, even—and spinning stories in my head of I don’t know what.’ She shook her head. ‘And then one of the royal guards found us.’

‘Oh, Halina,’ Olivia murmured, full of sympathy for her friend, yet finding it hard to believe they’d both succumbed to the same kind of overwhelming temptation. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘That’s not the worst of it,’ Halina returned grimly. She sank onto a sofa, her head in her hands. ‘Father made me take a pregnancy test a few days ago and guess what?’ She let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. ‘I’m pregnant.’

‘Oh, my goodness.’ Shocked, Olivia sat onto the sofa next to Halina and put her arm around her. Halina leaned her head against Olivia’s shoulder, drawing in a few ragged breaths.

‘He was so, so angry, and I can’t even blame him,’ Halina said in a tear-filled voice. ‘I’ve made a mess of everything.’

‘And what of this man in Italy? Surely he has something to do with it?’

‘He doesn’t even know I’m pregnant,’ Halina admitted. ‘And Father won’t tell him.’

‘Why not?’

She lifted her head, wiping the tears from her long-lashed eyes. ‘Because he wants Prince Zayed to accept the child as his own,’ she said. ‘What is he like, Olivia? Is he a savage? To think he wanted to kidnap me.’ She shuddered. ‘And now I’m meant to marry him.’

Abruptly Olivia rose from the sofa and crossed to the window, not wanting Halina to see the expression on her face. Not knowing how she felt about any of it: Zayed to pass off another child as his own, and marry Halina when he didn’t love her and she obviously didn’t even know him. It was so awful, so unjust, but it was what Zayed had chosen. It was what he wanted. Not love, and not her.

‘What is it?’ Halina asked after a moment. ‘You’ve gone all strange and silent. What are you not telling me, Olivia?’

‘Nothing.’ Even to her own ears Olivia’s voice sounded distant and strained.

‘No, there’s something; I can tell. I know you, Olivia. I’ve known you since we were both eleven years old. What are you not telling me about Prince Zayed? Is it something terrible?’

‘No, nothing like that.’ Olivia dragged a breath into her lungs. ‘He’s...he’s a good man, Halina.’

There was a tense moment of silence, and Olivia willed Halina to believe her, to be satisfied and for this conversation finally to be over, because she didn’t think she could manage much more.

‘You love him,’ Halina said slowly. ‘It’s so obvious now that I can see it. You’ve fallen in love with him.’

‘I haven’t,’ Olivia said, but her denial was so feeble she knew it wouldn’t fool anyone, not even a child.

‘You’re in love with him, and he’s meant to marry me!’ Halina exclaimed, her voice filled with dismay. ‘This is awful.’

‘Zayed wants your marriage to go forward,’ Olivia insisted. ‘What I feel doesn’t matter. Trust me, Halina, I know that.’

‘Matter to whom?’ Halina demanded. ‘It matters to you, and it matters to me. And, if you love him, it should matter to Zayed.’

‘It doesn’t,’ Olivia said wretchedly. ‘He’s made that clear.’

‘I haven’t defied my father over this because I knew I brought shame to him. But it’s different now.’

‘It isn’t.’ Alarm filled Olivia and she whirled around. ‘Halina, please don’t break the engagement. Please. Zayed needs the alliance with your country. Your father will have told him what happened in Italy and he will have accepted it. I know. Please don’t do anything rash.’

‘You love him,’ Halina said slowly, ‘and you still want him to marry me?’

‘He doesn’t love me,’ Olivia answered flatly, ‘and I don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t love me. So think of it this way, if you must—I’m choosing not to be with him.’

‘Except it doesn’t seem as if you have much choice in the matter.’

‘Let things be, Halina, please.’ Olivia’s whole body sagged; she felt as if she could barely stand. ‘I can’t talk about this any more. I was ill recently, and I need to rest. But promise me you won’t say anything to Zayed.’