neither of them made a move to depart, a tension as thick as smoky mountain haze hung between them. The craving to kiss Tarek settled over Kira, and to counteract that desire, she started toward the door to his back, intent on a quick escape. Yet as she brushed past him, Tarek clasped her wrist, halting her progress. “If I establish nothing else during our time together, Kira,” he began, “I am determined to win your trust again.”
Kira responded with a shaky smile and, after he released her, left him standing alone in the courtyard.
Trust between them was a slippery slope, for if Tarek Azzmar eventually learned what she’d been withholding from him, he would probably never trust her again.
She couldn’t worry about that now. First, she had to finish her duties for the night and pack for the trip. Hopefully she wouldn’t be disturbed.
* * *
“Are you busy, cara?”
Sequestered in her quaint but comfortable live-in quarters, Kira looked up from the suitcase to find sixty-something, Italian-born Elena Battelli hovering inside the bedroom doorway sporting her neatly coiffed silver hairdo, standard palace-issued navy suit and trademark kind smile. “I always have time for you, Elena. Come in.”
“Good. This will take only a few minutes.”
After placing the last of her clothing into the bag, Kira zipped it closed, lifted it from the cream-colored bench and set it on the floor at her feet. “All done. Did I forget something when we met earlier today to go over the schedules?”
“You covered everything in regard to business, but I do have an important question.”
“And that is?”
Elena strolled into the room and roosted on the edge of the bed. “How well do you know this Tarek Azzmar?”
That she hadn’t expected. Time to bring out a half-truth. “I’ve met him a few times during social gatherings. Why?”
“Several rumors have been circulating among the staff that perhaps you and Mr. Azzmar are...how do I say this? Lovers?”
If it were truly possible to swallow one’s tongue, Kira would have accomplished that feat following the verbal bombshell. “You know how people talk, Elena,” she said once she’d recovered her ability to speak. “Gossip is as common as morning coffee in this place. You can’t believe everything you hear.”
“Then why are you blushing, cara?”
Her hands automatically went to her flushed face before she quickly dropped them to her sides. “It’s embarrassing to think you’re the butt of false hearsay.”
“Then you and Mr. Azzmar are not romantically involved?”
“No, we’re not.” At least not anymore.
“Then he is not the father of your unborn child?”
Kira collapsed onto the bench from absolute shock. Did she already look pregnant? Had Maysa breached doctor-patient privilege and mentioned it to Elena? Both theories were utterly preposterous. “I have no idea where you would get the idea I’m pregnant.”
After reaching into her blazer pocket, Elena withdrew a large white plastic bottle. “These fell out of your bag when you hurried out of the office following our meeting.”
Kira remained frozen on the spot as she eyed the prenatal vitamins. She chastised herself for being so careless, or perhaps she’d subconsciously wanted Elena to find out. Consciously, she thought, for the time being, it was best to rack her brain for some plausible explanation that didn’t involve the truth. “I’ve heard they’re good for your hair and nails.”
Elena presented a cynical smile. “I know several good herbal supplements that would suffice without expense. I also know when a young woman is concealing the truth from a presumed naïve senior citizen.”
She should have known better than to attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the wisest person she’d ever known. Resigned to the fact she couldn’t wriggle out of this, and tired of denying a truth that should be bringing her joy, Kira collapsed onto the bench and sighed. “All right. I am pregnant. But I can’t risk everyone knowing before I tell the baby’s father.” And her poor, clueless parents.
Elena pushed off the bed, claimed the spot beside Kira, and took her hand. “You are under no obligation to reveal the identity of the man who knocked you up.”
Hearing “knocked up” coming from the woman’s mouth sent Kira into a fit of laughter. Once she recovered, unwelcome and unexpected tears began to flow. They only increased when Elena handed her a handkerchief and patted her arm. “I don’t know what to do, Elena. I’m so afraid of how Tarek is going to react to this news.” A moment passed before awareness dawned that she’d let the truth tiger out of the cage. “And I’m sorry I lied to you about him in the beginning.”
“That is understandable, cara,” Elena replied, sincere sympathy in her tone. “This is not something that should be broadcast throughout the palace before you have spoken with the appropriate parties. You do plan to tell him while you’re away together, don’t you?”
She swiped the moisture from her cheeks. “I’m not sure I’m going to tell him at all. I agreed to this trip in part to find out more about him, and hopefully to gauge how he would react to the news. Maybe even to discover if he’s fit to be a father to my child.”
“Then you are planning to keep the baby?”
She couldn’t think much past the upcoming two weeks and deciding whether to inform Tarek. “Maysa and I briefly discussed adoption, but I don’t know if I could let my baby go. Does that make me selfish?”
“No, cara mia. That makes you a mother.”
When Elena went silent, stared off into space and smiled, Kira’s curiosity overcame her. “What are you thinking about?”
“The day your parents brought you back to Bajul after their return from a lengthy trip to Canada. Most people assumed Chandra had hidden her pregnancy from everyone, but I suspected you were a precious gift they had received while they were away. Your mother confided in me not long after.”
One more stunning revelation in a long line of many within the palace’s hallowed halls. “You knew about my adoption?”
“Yes, I did, and I have kept the secret since your birth. You can trust me with yours as well.”
She knew Elena’s word was good as gold, but she wondered what other secrets the woman might be privy to. “Do you know anything about my birth parents other than they were very young? Mother and Father would never talk about them when I asked, and when I tried to contact my biological mother, she wasn’t willing to speak with me.”
Elena shook her head. “I am sorry I do not. I am also sorry they have not been forthcoming with that information, though I do understand their reasoning on some level. My son can attest to that. Adan spent his life believing another woman to be his mother.”
Kira wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “You had no choice in the matter, Elena. From what you’ve said, you were following
