frown deepened and she ran a tongue over her lips as she tried to work things out; now that he had said it, she could see that James and Alim were related.
Gabi had started to see that last night as she had watched the couple dance—or rather there had been something in James that had spoken to her.
Now that she knew, Gabi felt almost foolish that she had not seen it more readily.
‘Fleur is my father’s mistress,’ Alim explained.
‘I don’t understand,’ Gabi said.
‘Listen to me.’ Alim’s eyes and his tone told her that what he was saying was very important. ‘Fleur was my father’s lover but his father did not consider her a suitable bride. When she got pregnant with James, my grandfather summoned my father home and arranged his marriage to my mother, even though my father loved Fleur.’
‘Why did he agree to marry a woman if he loved another?’
‘Because he had little choice. His father was the Sultan of Sultans and his word is law; now that title belongs to my father.’
He actually felt the goose-bumps rise on her arm. ‘And so what does that make you?’
‘A sultan, and one day I shall rule.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because my father is here in the hotel and it won’t be long before the staff work out our connection. Soon you would have too.’
‘But why are you telling me now?’ she persisted.
‘Because things back home are changing. My father is unwell, so I am going to have to travel there a lot in the coming months...’ Still she stared at him with a puzzled look in her eyes so he made things a little clearer. ‘I want to spend more time with you when I am here in Rome. Last night I was going to ask you to work for me as the events co-ordinator at the Grande Lucia.’
It was the offer of a lifetime.
Stunning, in fact.
It was the gateway to a shiny future and, Gabi realised, she may well have blown it for one night in his bed.
But still, she thought, she would not change it for anything.
‘Is that offer being reconsidered in the light of certain events?’ Gabi asked.
He smiled. ‘It is being amended.’
And seriously so.
‘What about a one-year contract?’ he said.
‘One year?’
‘That frees you from Bernadetta; you would make many contacts here during that time.’
‘And is sleeping with me a part of that contract?’
‘Gabi.’ Alim heard her indignation but was calm in his response. ‘I think from last night it is clear we are not going to be able to work together and keep things strictly business. Of course, we will be discreet in front of the staff but...’
‘You’ve really got this all worked out, haven’t you?’
‘I’ve given it considerable thought, yes.’
Gabi had walked in here last night without a doubt that it would be over by the morning.
Certain of it.
Reassured by it, in fact.
For Alim was a self-confessed reprobate and her heart could not be dangled on elastic by him, waiting to be hauled to his bedroom one minute, ignored or discarded the next.
She was shaken, seriously so.
‘What happens when someone else comes along?’
She was direct with her questions and he liked that.
‘Alim, I take my career seriously...’
‘And I admire that you do,’ he responded. ‘I shan’t mess with it. And,’ he offered, which for Alim was a great concession, ‘there will be no one else.’
‘Why a year?’
‘Because I will be called home to marry.’
How cruel that he held her as he said that.
‘Gabi.’ He had felt her stiffen. ‘Please, listen to me now. When Fleur fell pregnant my grandfather invoked a pre-marital diktat on my father. It is a harsh law, one intended to bring a reluctant groom to heel. Once invoked there can be no lovers, save for in the desert.’
‘The desert?’ she asked. ‘You mean a harem.’
‘That is what it meant then; they could have worked around it, but Fleur refused to be his desert mistress.’
‘I don’t blame her for that.’
‘By the time James was due to be born my mother was pregnant with me. Fleur gave birth in London; my father could not leave at the time. But later, once he had royal heirs, things were easier for them and my father was more free to travel...’
Gabi didn’t want to hear it. She sat up and clutched the sheet around her ‘This conversation is medieval.’ She did not like what she was hearing—it unnerved her, in fact—but Alim calmly spoke on.
‘Perhaps when you see the doctor this morning you should speak about going on the Pill. I can call and arrange for him to see you here...’
‘I make my own appointments, Alim, and I don’t need to be told what to ask for.’ She shot him a look. ‘I don’t need to go on the Pill because I’m not going to be your mistress...’
‘Lover,’ Alim corrected, for they were two very different roles.
‘I am not going to be your lover for a year until your father summons you home.’
‘I have given it a lot of thought.’
‘Have you, now?’
‘I don’t see the issue.’
‘Your assumption, for a start.’
She got out of bed and headed for the shower.
Gabi was sore from last night and her head was whirling from all she had been told.
And he was wrong about not messing with careers, Gabi thought as she showered.
Wrapping a towel around her, she headed out and told him so.
‘What about Marianna? She’s given the Grande Lucia years of her life and you’d discard her like that.’ She tried to snap wet fingers; it didn’t work.
‘She wants to wind down her hours,’ Alim answered. ‘I would offer her a consulting role.’
She
