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As soon as Zain had told me about their baby, all of Azmia was waiting to welcome a new child to the Al Latif family. Our family knew the baby was a princess. I couldn’t wait to meet my niece, play with her, and spoil her with affection and anything she wanted. She had everyone wrapped around her tiny little chubby finger, and she wasn’t even born yet.
Zain clinked the glass and gulped down the strong drink. “Nasrin and the baby are well. She is getting ready for breakfast. I heard you brought that special guest with you. I want to meet her.”
I looked away, unable to meet my brother’s teasing eyes. There was something piercing and intense about them. “She would be at breakfast. I checked all the details of royals that would be attending—”
“Why are you changing the topic?” My elder brother narrowed his eyes at me, crossing his arms. He leaned against his desk and spoke. “Is she truly that special as Zara mentioned?”
So he must have talked to Zara before meeting me.
“Precious,” I met his levelling gaze. “Like Nasrin is to you.”
Zain’s face morphed into a big grin at the realization. “You are in love, Khalid.Ha!I can’t believe my player brother is whipped. I have been waiting ages for you to profess your love for someone and—”
“I can’t,” I stopped him. “She is… she istoogood. She is everything that I am not. Sweet, innocent andpure. She reminds me of everything that is good in this world while here I am… filled with every wicked thing—”
“You don’t mean that.”
I glared at him. “I do. You don’t know what it was like to see life leave out of your own father’s eyes while piercing a sword through his heart.”
I took a deep breath to stop myself from shaking, to stop my hands from shaking. Even years of therapy hadn’t erased those memories from me. I could still see the betrayal in my father’s angry face, the warm trickling of his blood coating my palms when I stood in front of Zara to protect her. The look of horror on Zain’s face.
Zain laid a hand on my shoulder. “You did it to protect our sister, Khalid. It was impulsive and reckless, but you did it to protect our Zara from a monster. You are still the kind brother who cried when he stepped over a caterpillar. Don’t let that one thing ruin you from accepting love of others.”
I forced down the overwhelming emotions. I shook my head, “I don’t deserve her.”
Zain scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Don’t make me punch you.”
When I remained silent, Zain continued. “It’s not about deserving each other, Khalid. It’s about accepting each other. And if she is here, in our palace and sleeping in your bed at night, then I am sure shehasaccepted you.Allof you. All you have to do is talk to her.”
We were interrupted by a maid letting us know that the breakfast was ready and everyone was waiting for us.
Zain gave me a hard look. “Talk. To her.”
I nodded, hoping I had the courage to talk to Valeria as soon as I could.
Valeria
(Valeria first person. Khalid third person)
“And when little Khalid didn’t like the food, he would start crying and stay hungry until we ran after him all over the palace to make him eat,” Khalid’s grandma said with a smile in her voice which made me chuckle with others.
I was sitting beside Khalid, holding his hand under the table and having a delicious breakfast. I had met his in-law, Nasrin, who had a melodious husky voice when she hugged me. It seemed that everyone in his family were huggers.
My excitement flew over the moon when I felt the bump on her stomach and she allowed me to feel the baby kick. I almost cried and burst out into a small laugh.
Khalid and his brother had watched the exchange from the hallway with smiles on their faces. Zain was proudly smiling at his wife while Khalid had a gleam in his eyes. How Valeria would look with a pregnant belly and how beautiful their babies would be, with red hair and hazel eyes, running around the palace with paintbrush in their fists, their clothes splattered with paint.
It seemed that they needed to talk as soon as they could. About their relationship and feelings. Not about marriage or babies,pfft, of course not.
I had greeted the Sultan, Zain, with a bow, but he let out a chuckle and told me that there was no need for me to do that. That I was already a part of their family. I had flushed with joy but didn’t know why he had said that with a deep meaning in his tone. Again, I wished I could have my sight to see what he meant and look at Khalid to see the emotions on his face.
I pushed away all those thoughts and focused on the warmth of Khalid’s hand as his fingers entwined with mine. The same fingers which had been cupping my breasts, pinching my nipples and then slipping inside me when he had visited me last night. My core clenched, remembering his hot whispers against my ear when he claimed me against the wall. Although I was sad that I had woken up alone, I knew that he must have his reasons. He was a Prince after all.
“Elena was going to join us for lunch today but couldn’t arrive,” Khalid’s brother, Zain, announced. They had almost similar voice but Khalid’s voice had deeper baritone and turned low when he whispered.
“Oh, I would have loved to meet her. We haven’t met in years,” Khalid replied with ease.
So she must be a friend. A close friend, like Zayed. I knew I shouldn’t be jealous of hearing about his female friend, but I couldn’t help it. I felt guilty because I hadn’t even met the woman and yet, I couldn’t stand the thought of Khalid meeting a woman while I didn’t know what her relationship was with him. My appetite fell as I swallowed the lump in my throat.