exchanged puzzled glances with her before issuing an order in Arabic. A bodyguard entered, followed immediately by a severely irritated Bianca.
Before she could get a word in, her sister emerged from behind the burly minder and spotted her.
‘Oh, thank God, Allegra. I’ve been searching for you everywhere! Zara said you cancelled your afternoon appointments and left with some guy. That was almost eight hours ago. I was worried when you didn’t answer your phone.’
Before Allegra could reassure her, Rahim spoke. ‘Your sister has been otherwise engaged. And as you can see for yourself, she’s completely unharmed.’
The firm authority in Rahim’s tone made Bianca blink. She studied him properly for the first time, her eyes widening as she took in the powerful man before her. ‘Who are you, and why are you holding my sister here?’ she demanded, although her voice was less confrontational.
‘I am Sheikh Rahim Al-Hadi of Dar-Aman. Your future brother-in-law,’ he replied, his voice a steely vibration that coated the words in unmistakeable power.
Bianca’s folded arms dropped, along with her jaw. Swallowing, she shook her head. ‘No way,’ she whispered.
His lips compressed. ‘Perhaps you’d care to seek verification from your sister, and offer her your support once you have done so.’
Bianca turned, wide-eyed, to her. Allegra nodded. ‘It’s true. Rahim and I are getting married.’
For several seconds, silence reigned. Allegra could almost see the questions tearing across Bianca’s mind like the adverts that lit up Times Square. But her sister hadn’t attained stellar success as a PR guru without mastering the art of discretion.
With one final look between Rahim and her, Bianca, still dazed, murmured, ‘Then you have my support. And I guess I’m also going shopping for a new dress?’
RAHIM HAD VERY little recollection of leaving the hotel room and boarding his plane back to Dar-Aman. But he could very much recall Allegra’s face when he’d told her he was leaving. The questions in her eyes which he’d glimpsed on her emergence from the master suite had given way to relief.
He’d known she was curious about his reaction to the picture burning a hole in his pocket. But how could he offer explanation without sounding like a paranoid freak?
How could he tell her that once again he feared his life had been set on a course that could alter his very future? What man would want to tell the woman who carried his child that he was terrified beyond understanding of anything going wrong? Of lightning striking twice and plunging his world once more into darkness?
Besides, what would telling Allegra about his emotions surrounding his mother’s death or the brother he’d lost before he was even born achieve?
What he needed to do was to ensure the preparations for the wedding got under way without delay. Before the relief he’d seen on Allegra’s face coalesced into foundations for doubt about marrying him. Settling back in his seat as his pilot readied for take-off, Rahim wished that he was anonymous and could whisk her off to Vegas for a shotgun wedding performed by an Elvis impersonator.
He smiled grimly. He wished for many things, but each one was tossed aside for the futile nonsense it was.
He wasn’t an ordinary man, and nothing but a Dar-Aman marriage ceremony, undertaken according to his ancestors’ coronation laws and duly consummated, would ensure his child’s legitimacy. He hadn’t planned on becoming a father this soon. Truth be told, he’d pushed that particular fulfilment of his duty to the bottom of his list when, with each liaison, he’d doubted his ability to find a woman worthy of being his queen. No woman had been worthy of being what the Dar-Aman people deserved.
But Allegra would be.
He’d seen how much the Nur-Aman people had taken to her. And her belligerent anger over the neglect his kingdom had suffered pointed to a care and concern that wasn’t a disguise.
On top of that, she wasn’t distracted by fairy-tale stories of profound love and loss the way some women were. Allegra Di Sione was practical, her breeding and intelligence grounding forces which would be nothing but a huge benefit for Dar-Aman. For him.
Slowly, he pulled the ultrasound scan from his pocket. He examined each pixel of the frame, then started over again, passing his thumb several times over the smooth surface.
As for the fierce pounding of his heart, he thought as his thumb caressed the glossy image one last time, it was adequate concern for the well-being of his child. A natural reaction to the frailty Allegra had exhibited.
What had happened to his mother wouldn’t happen to Allegra. Or their child.
All will be well. Insh’allah.
* * *
‘You brought Alessandro with you?’
Bianca grimaced and carefully avoided Allegra’s eyes in the mirror. Her other siblings had called over the past six days in answer to the news of her impending marriage. Each call had expressed their woefully disguised surprise at her uncharacteristic decision. Alessandro had been particularly sceptical, but Allegra had dealt with her lone-wolf brother for long enough to know the right words to say to him to curb any suspicions he might have.
She’d thought she’d succeeded. Alessandro’s presence here indicated otherwise.
Bianca shrugged and adjusted the heavy gold necklace adorning Allegra’s neck a careful fraction. ‘He just gave me a ride on his jet. He was...in the area.’
‘Bianca...’
‘What? Ally, come on, give me a break. You’ve always been the practical, head-screwed-on-straight one out of all of us. And yet you’ve known this guy for, what, five minutes? And you’re marrying him? Something’s obviously up, but I know better than to judge.’
Something was definitely up. For one thing, Rahim had been avoiding her since she reached Dar-Aman. She didn’t understand why, nor could she deal with the almost physical pain not seeing him brought her. ‘So you brought Alessandro to do it for you?’ she demanded.
Her sister shrugged again. ‘He’s just giving him a quick once-over.’
Allegra disguised the shaking in her hand by unnecessarily tweaking her headdress. ‘Rahim’s the sheikh of Dar-Aman, not a racehorse.’
Bianca tutted. ‘He’s also scary, in a drop-dead hot sort of way. I needed backup in case you were being strong-armed into doing this. How well do you know him anyway?’
It was Allegra’s turn to avoid her sister’s gaze. ‘I’m not being strong-armed.’ Not much anyway. She feared her unknown future as a wife, a queen and a mother. But the first step—marrying Rahim—was now an inevitability she couldn’t alter. The ceremony itself was daunting enough without borrowing future trouble.
Like answering how well she knew her future husband.
Her heart lurched as she silently
