shot her a warning look. “Violet,” he said quietly. “We talked about this.”
“Sorry,” she said, clearly not sorry at all. “I was expecting someone else entirely.”
Rafe wanted to laugh. Truthfully, he had been, as well. But he did no such thing. Instead, he said calmly, “Have I come at a bad time?”
Americans had an expression that Rafe had never heard before he’d attended university at Harvard—“If looks could kill.” In his sheikhdom of Al Qunfudhah, no one would dare look at a sheikh with such venom—to do so was to risk dismemberment or even death at the hands of Hassad bin Saleed, who had ruled with an iron fist and an iron blade.
But he was no longer in Al Qunfudhah, and if looks could kill, Violet would have finished him off several minutes ago.
He notched an eyebrow at her. He was more than capable of controlling himself. Could she say the same? Or was that why Mac had gone to speak to her privately—were they getting their stories straight?
You were capable of controlling yourself, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered. Until you met her.
“No, no,” Mac said warmly. “Violet, maybe you should get us something to drink.”
She turned her wrathful gaze to Mac and Rafe decided that, even if Mac had sent Violet to him, she had not told her brother the truth of their evening together. “Excuse me? Do I look like your maid?”
“Violet!” Mac sent another worried grin toward Rafe. “Sorry, Rafe.”
Rafe waved his hand as if Violet’s attitude were nothing. “We are not in Al Qunfudhah,” he said, trying to set Mac at ease even as he enjoyed his old friend’s discomfort. “I remember how things in America are quite different than they are back home. I do not expect to be served by the women in the house.”
But even as he said it, he casually sat back in the middle of the sofa, spreading his arms out along the back and waiting to be served by someone. He took up as much space as he could. I am here, he thought at Violet, catching her eye and lifting his chin in challenge. What are you going to do about it?
Oh, yes. If looks could kill, he would be in extreme pain right now. “That’s where you’re from?”
The bitterness of her tone was somewhat unexpected. The last time he had seen her, she had been asleep in his bed, nude except for the sheets that had twisted around her waist. Her beautiful auburn hair had been fanned out over her shoulder, and even as she slept, her rosebud lips had been curved into a satisfied, if small, smile. She had looked like a woman who had been thoroughly pleasured, and Rafe had almost woken her up with a touch and a kiss.
But she had only asked for a night, so he quietly let himself out of the room, arranged to have breakfast sent up and then met with Nolan to go over his plans for purchasing more of the land around Mac’s Double M ranch. He had tried mightily to put his night of wanton abandon with the beautiful V out of his mind.
Which was not to say he had succeeded. Not for the first time, he replayed their evening together. He had not coerced her—no, he specifically remembered several points where he had given her a respectable out.
It had been her choice to come to his room. Her choice to make it one night. Her choice not to use names or places.
As far as Rafe was concerned, Violet had nothing to be bitter about. He had made sure she had been well satisfied, just as he had been.
“I’ll get us something to drink. Violet, can I talk to you in the kitchen?” Mac said, forgoing subtlety altogether.
“I’ll take some lemonade,” Violet responded, ignoring her brother’s request and sitting in a chair across from Rafe. “Thanks.”
Of course Rafe knew they were not in Al Qunfudhah anymore, but it was something of a surprise to not only see a woman give a man—her guardian, no less—an order, but to see that man heave a weary sigh and obey.
Perhaps if Nasira had felt freer to assert herself as Violet did...
Well, things might have been different. But knowing his father, things would not have been better.
Rafe pushed away those thoughts and focused instead on the woman before him. Violet was seething with barely contained rage, that much was obvious.
Once Mac was out of the room, Violet leaned toward him. “Rafiq bin Saleed?”
He would not let her get to him. She may be a slightly hysterical female, but he was still a sheikh. “It’s lovely to see you again, V. Unexpected, yes, but lovely nonetheless.”
“Oh, it’s unexpected all right. What the hell?”
He ignored her outburst. “You are well, I trust?”
Her eyes got wide—very wide indeed. “Well? Oh, you’re going to care now?”
He bristled at her tone. “For your information, I cared that night. But it was you who asked for just that—a night. Just one. So I honored your wishes. No names, no strings—that was how you put it, was it not?”
She continued to glare at him. “What do I even call you? Not Ben, I assume.”
“Rafe will do for now.”
“Will it? Is that your real name? Or just another alias?”
“My name is Rafiq,” he said stiffly. He did not enjoy being on the defensive. “Rafe is a well-known nickname in my country.”
Her nostrils flared, as if she were getting ready to physically attack him. “Well, Rafe, since you asked, I am not well.”
“No?” Against his will, he felt a plume of concern rise through his belly. He should be glad she was not well. That would only cause Mac more suffering.
But Rafe was concerned. He wanted to pull her into his arms and feel her breath against his skin and make her well. He was a wealthy man. There was nothing he could not provide for her. “Not because of something I have done, I hope.”
She was breathing hard now, as if she were standing on the top of a tall peak and getting ready to jump. “You could say that. I’m pregnant.”
Rafe blinked at her, trying to comprehend the words. Had she just said—pregnant? “Mine?”
She looked much like a lioness ready to pounce on her prey, all coiled energy and focus. “Of course it’s yours. I realize we don’t know very much about each other but I don’t normally pick up men. That was a one time thing. You’re the only man I’ve been with in the last year and you were supposed to use condoms!” She hissed the word but quietly. It was for his ears and his ears alone.
Before he could come up with something reasonable to say—something reasonable to think, even—Mac strode back into the room, carrying a tray with a pitcher and glasses. “Lemonade?”
Rafe just...sat there. For Pete’s sake, he didn’t even blink when Mac walked back into the room. Violet’s whole world was falling apart
