gave him a faint smile. ‘You’re a sly old dog, Staph. I hope your faith in me isn’t misplaced.’
‘I would say not, My Lord.’
‘And Imogen and my daughter?’ He cleared his throat. ‘Where are they?’
‘In your suite.’
* * *
Imogen sorted out what she would need for Nadeena for the plane trip back to London and searched around for some sort of bag to put it into. Nadir had luggage in his dressing room but no way was she going back into his bedroom ever again.
What he had said to her before...she still couldn’t digest it because it felt as if he’d ripped a hole in her heart and inserted a stick of dynamite for good measure.
The only thing she was thankful for was that her daughter would never know how it felt to have an absent father because she would be used to having him part-time in her life and Imogen only hoped he would be good to her when he had her. That he wouldn’t have a string of stick-thin models parading through his house who— Oh, God. Imogen felt her stomach heave and leant against a chest of drawers to steady herself.
It was so ridiculous to feel like this because she had known all along that once the reality of marriage and parenthood set in then he would run a mile and she’d been proven right. And the prize? She shook her head at her reflection in the mirror. Her prize was a broken heart the size of Asia.
‘Imogen? Habibi? Are you all right?’
Imogen swung around at the sound of his voice, fire pouring out of her eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’
He stopped short and she was thankful that she had wiped all her make-up off after her initial crying fit and dressed in her T-shirt and jeans. She intended to go home exactly the way she had arrived. Well, almost.
‘I needed to see you.’
To make sure she was all right? She couldn’t fault his manners. ‘Well, now you’ve seen me, please go.’
‘Habibi, I—’
‘Do not call me habibi.’
‘Okay—fine.’ He held up his hands as if she were a wild thing about to pounce on him and maul him to death. What a pity, she thought, that shape-shifting was pure fantasy. ‘I know I’m the reason you’re upset and I just want to talk.’
‘No.’ Imogen shook her head for emphasis. ‘No more talking. I’m done here, Nadir.’
He looked around the room and frowned when he saw the minuscule amount of clothing on the bed. The empty cot. ‘Where’s Nadeena? Isn’t she due for a sleep?’
‘Yes, but since we’re leaving, Minh is trying to keep her awake so that she’ll sleep on the—oh, this is not important. Could you please just go?’ The last thing she wanted to do was break down and sob in front of him and the longer he stayed the more likely that was to happen. It was too painful to see him. Too painful to be near him.
He cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. ‘It’s probably good that we talk about him and get it out of the way.’
‘Talk about whom?’
‘Your friend, Minh.’
‘What about him?’
He looked at her and his throat worked as he swallowed. ‘Do you love him?’
Did she love him? ‘Why are you asking me that?’
‘Because I need to make sure I’ve done the right thing in letting you go.’
‘Letting me go?’ She shot him a fulminating look. ‘You told me to go. You’ve reconsidered, remember—you don’t want to marry me.’
‘Of course I still want to marry you. I only reconsidered the reason for our marriage.’
Imogen shook her head. ‘You’re not making any sense. You cancelled the ceremony.’
‘Yes, but I didn’t want to.’
‘Then why do it?’
‘Because you told me the reason you were marrying me was because we had Nadeena and I wanted more.’
‘More?’
‘Hell.’ He swiped a hand across his face. ‘I need to start again. What I’m trying to tell you is that I love you.’
‘You love me?’
Her shock must have registered on her face because his expression turned grim. ‘Yes, but if you prefer Minh then I’ll walk away.’
‘Nadir, Minh is gay.’
‘Gay!’ The look on his face was priceless and Imogen would have laughed if she hadn’t felt so ill. Had he seriously thought that Minh was her lover? Looking back, she supposed he might have got that impression initially but... ‘How could you think that I could be in love with him and make love to you?’ she demanded hotly.
‘As I explained to our daughter this morning, I’m an ass. Particularly where you’re concerned. I can’t seem to keep my head on straight when you’re in the room and every male who looks at you sideways is a threat.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes. If you knew how many ways I wanted to hurt them—’
‘No.’ She gazed up at him, not really daring to believe this was happening. ‘The part about loving me.’
Nadir cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her deeply. Imogen moaned and pulled back. ‘Stop that—it will only confuse things.’
‘On the contrary, our physical relationship is the only thing that’s not confused. Imogen, habibi, can you ever forgive me for being so stupid this afternoon? My only excuse is that when I saw you crying in the arms of your... friend I assumed it was because you didn’t want to marry me and I couldn’t bear the thought of hurting you.’
‘But why would you think I didn’t want to marry you?’
‘Because I realised today that I’m more like my father than I would like to think I am and that I was forcing you to bend to my will and I couldn’t do it. I wanted to set you free, to give you a choice.’
Imogen dashed at the tears on her face. ‘I thought you had decided that you didn’t want me. That I wasn’t enough for you.’
‘Oh, habibi, you’re too much for me. You’re too wonderful, too beautiful, too giving. I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you the minute I saw you in Paris because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since, only I didn’t want to see it because I was so afraid of getting hurt.’
Imogen sniffed back more tears. ‘I’m guilty of the same thing and oh, Nadir, I feel exactly the same way. I fell in love with you the minute I saw you and I’ve never stopped. I love
