the situation. ‘At least tell me her name.’
‘Her name is Zahra.’
‘That’s a pretty name. Does she know you have married me?’
‘No.’ He was brutally frank. Everything about him was designed to repel her gentle attempts to ease closer. ‘There is no easy way to tell a child I have married the daughter of the man responsible for the death of her mother.’
The knife in her ribs twisted. ‘Had I known you had a daughter I never would have suggested this marriage. I had no idea there was a child involved. It changes everything.’
‘It changes nothing. This marriage was never personal so what difference would it have made?’
‘I would not have sacrificed your daughter’s happiness for—’
‘For the future of Tazkhan? And what about your sister’s safety? What about your own marriage to Hassan? Because that’s why you came to me, isn’t it? You wanted my protection.’
‘Yes, that’s all true. I was honest about that right from the start. But I didn’t want those things at the expense of a little girl’s happiness. A little girl who has already suffered a major trauma in her life.’ Layla was shaking so badly she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her. ‘There is no way I would have foisted myself on her as a stranger. At the very least I would have suggested I take time to get to know her. To gain her trust.’
‘That would have created a delay we could not afford, and this was never about building a relationship. And you are assuming you would have gained her trust.’
‘I would certainly have worked hard to do that. I have experience with children. Give me the opportunity and I will prove it to you.’
The shutters came down on those eyes. ‘No. We will wait and see if the night terrors settle and then re-evaluate.’
‘Perhaps they would settle if she had someone she could bond with. Someone she is close to.’
He turned slowly, his eyes like ice. ‘My relationship with my daughter is very close.’
‘Yes, I can see that.’ She thought about the way he’d soothed the child. About the anxiety and love on his face and the patience he’d shown. It had warmed her because she’d never seen a man like that with a child. ‘But you’re away a great deal. You have your business interests—’
‘That is an inevitable part of life. When I can, I take her with me, and when I can’t I make sure I return here as quickly I can.’
‘But when you are away who looks after her?’
He didn’t answer immediately. ‘She is with Nadia, who loves her very much.’
Nadia?
Layla felt as if she were walking on eggshells. This wasn’t the time to point out that Nadia had seemed out of her depth at the moment of crisis. ‘How have you kept Zahra’s existence a secret?’
‘I have the support of many people.’
‘But I don’t.’
He glanced at her with a frown. ‘What does that mean?’
‘No one speaks to me. This marriage has not been welcomed by the people who love you.’ Suddenly she felt overwhelmed by it all. By the distance that couldn’t be closed by physical intimacy alone. ‘How can this possibly work even on the most basic level? If you don’t trust me, why would they?’
‘Because this union was never about trust.’ He towered over her, powerful and imposing. ‘Most of them understand why we did this. They know it is the right thing.’
But not all of them.
Layla thought about the hatred she sensed in Nadia and wondered again if the cause of it didn’t go deeper than dismay at seeing the Sheikh marry the daughter of his enemy.
‘So what happens now? You have a daughter. Are you saying you don’t want me to meet her?’
‘For the time being, no. She is already having night terrors. I don’t want to risk making those worse by introducing you to her.’
His belief that she might make it worse hurt more than she would have thought possible, but how could she, of all people, blame a man for wanting to protect his child?
She’d never had that and she felt the loss of it keenly.
‘Of course, if that is what you prefer.’ Layla’s jaw was stiff, her thoughts a mess of pain as she thought what she would have given to have a father who fought so fiercely to protect her from harm. ‘But I don’t think it’s the right decision.’
‘You think you know better than me what is right for my child?’
‘No, what I think is that you don’t know me at all. You married me with a set of preconceived ideas of who I am, and I don’t blame you for that, but we’re married now and for this to work you have to start seeing me. The real me. I may not be able to swim or ride a horse, but I am good with children. I think if we are to become a family we need to start somewhere.’
‘We have started somewhere.’
His gaze shifted to the rumpled sheets and then back to her and she felt a tiny shiver run through her. Right now he was distant and intimidating but she knew it wasn’t fear that made her knees weak. Looking into those brooding black eyes, gazing at the dangerous curve of his sensual mouth, all she could think of was how it felt to have those lips on her body, how it felt when he filled her, possessed her, drove her mindless. Her skin still burned from his touch. Her head was dizzy with the memory of how he made her feel and she slid her fingers into her hair and shook her head in frustration.
‘A relationship cannot just be about sex.’
His eyes held hers, hard and unsympathetic. ‘It has to be, because I can give you nothing else.’
* * *
In the morning he was gone again.
If she’d thought their shared confidences would have moved their relationship forward, she was disappointed.
And this time when she heard children laughing she knew one of the voices belonged to his daughter.
It felt unnatural not to approach her and build a relationship, but he’d made his wishes clear on that matter so Layla sat in the shade on a smooth rock by the oasis and forced herself not to initiate contact with the little girl. And she seemed happy enough, playing with her friends, laughing as a child should laugh. Laughing without fear that the sound might draw unwanted attention.
The child laughed until darkness fell over the desert.
And then the screams started again.
Instinct drove Layla from her bed. Heart pounding, she came to a screeching halt outside the entrance to the tent.
He didn’t want her near his daughter, did he?
Unless she wanted to create a rift between them she had
