none of which ended up being what they claimed.”
“You decided Aaliyah’s was?”
“She left the locket. I’d given it to her mother. Nothing more than a trinket to me, but she kept it all those years and passed it on to her daughter.” Gene swallowed, as if emotion was getting the best of him. “She’d left my picture behind hers. I looked when I remembered.”
“If you need further proof, Aaliyah’s DNA report is there, as well. Running your own will provide an undeniable match.”
“You know I will, because in my position I cannot afford to take anything on word alone.”
“Yes.”
“But I’m confident of what the test will tell us.”
“As am I.”
“I would like to see my daughter,” Gene said with hope. “Is she working for you now?”
“We are getting married next month.”
“What? How is that possible? Is she pregnant?”
“No, she does not yet carry my child. As to how and why, you do not have a place in her life that affords you personal answers of that nature.”
A practical man of the world, Gene didn’t flinch at the reminder. “I would like to.”
“You will have to apologize,” Sayed warned.
“Of course.”
Sayed wasn’t prepared to let it go at that. “Well enough that she believes you are sincere.”
“Whatever you may think of me, my children matter to me.”
“You will get one opportunity to prove that.”
“And if I don’t to your satisfaction, I never see my daughter again?”
“You are a man of discernment.”
“And you have a reputation for ruthlessness. Does Aaliyah know that, I wonder?”
“She loves me despite my flaws.” The satisfaction he felt saying those words was immense.
“I’m very glad to hear that.”
“Really?”
“I would not like to think my daughter was marrying for anything but honest emotion and hope for a future.”
“Come to Zeena Sahra and tell her that.”
“When?”
“Yusuf is waiting to take you to our jet.”
“You expect me to drop everything and come now?” Gene asked, showing dismay for the first time.
“Yes. You may bring your fiancé.”
The older man waved that off. “She is busy with wedding preparations.”
“Then it is the ideal time for you to make this trip.”
“You don’t lack arrogance, do you?”
“Aaliyah will tell you I do not.”
Gene smiled. “Give me a couple of days and I will fly out commercial.”
“No. Your visit must be kept under wraps. Your place in Aaliyah’s life will not be announced until if and when she is prepared to recognize you as her father.”
“I cannot come on a moment’s notice.”
“With Giatrakos at the helm? I think you can.”
Gene frowned. “Fine. She deserves a little sacrifice on my part.”
“More than a little, I think, but luckily for you she has me now and no major sacrifices on your part will be necessary.”
* * *
“You called my father?” Aaliyah jumped up and paced across his mother’s receiving room. “And he’s going to be here within the hour?”
“Give or take, yes.”
“But why?”
“Because you deserve an apology for his idiocy.”
“What did you threaten him with to force the apology?” she asked suspiciously.
“No threats were required. He was already trying to find you.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“Yes.”
“I doubt it.”
“I’d already hired a private detective and have the retainer receipt and first reports to prove it,” Gene Chatsfield said, having entered the room with Yusuf through the side entrance, indicating the bodyguard had brought him into the palace discreetly. “How he missed your location when your engagement is all over the media, I don’t know.”
Aaliyah spun around to face her father, her face blanching before her expression turned wooden.
Sayed crossed the room and put his arm around her waist. “All will be well. You are not alone.”
Gene smiled at them. “You look very good together.”
“Why are you here?” Aaliyah asked baldly.
“I owe you an apology. I should have heard you out to begin with, but I’m a suspicious man. I made mistakes in the past and they made me vulnerable to a certain type of people. You were not like them, but I was blinded to that at first.”
Sayed was impressed with the older man’s openness and sincerity.
Aaliyah didn’t look quite as taken with her father’s words. “So, you acknowledge I’m your daughter now?” she asked suspiciously.
“Oh, yes.”
“Don’t you want a DNA test, or something?”
Gene glanced at Sayed and then back to Aaliyah. “Already done. Your fiancé provided your results.”
“From the blood test?” Aaliyah asked quietly.
“Yes.”
She scanned his face, as if looking for something. “You planned this.”
“I did.”
“What if he’d kept acting like a bastard about it?” she asked, her vulnerability to that eventuality in her tone.
Though Sayed doubted anyone else would have heard it.
He let her see how serious he was before he promised,
