Claimed by the Sheikh

She shook her head slowly, drawing on new reserves of determination. ‘No, Kazim, I can’t; this is where I belong.’

Amber opened the front door of the flat and stood back, her chin held high, waiting for Kazim to leave. She had nothing more to say. Their marriage was over.

He walked towards her and stopped. In hushed tones, he threw everything into turmoil. ‘The child will have the operations he needs; I will see to that.’

Kazim’s words rushed at her and she could hardly take them in. Claude was going to get the help he needed—from Kazim?

Amber’s breath shuddered in and she clutched the door for support. ‘You mean you will help us?’ Hope soared inside her. Claude was going to be able to walk.

‘On one condition.’

She frowned, her eyes searching his handsome face. ‘Condition?’

‘That you return to Barazbin with me.’

She shook her head, small frantic movements of disbelief. ‘No.’ How could he ask that of her?

Kazim stepped so close that he towered over her, dominating the very air she breathed. ‘He will have all the operations he needs as quickly as possible and I will set him and his mother up in a home, wherever she wants to be. They will be secure and safe whilst the child grows up.’

‘But...’ She couldn’t even put a sentence together. To be given everything she wanted and to have all she’d fled from forced on her at the same time was too much.

Finally she could breathe and think. Would he be so ruthless? ‘What if I say no?’

‘Then I will walk away from here. We will have nothing more to do with each other—apart from a divorce.’ There wasn’t a second’s pause before he answered. He was as mercenary as ever.

‘That’s blackmail.’ Her fingertips touched her lips as she looked at him, totally unable to believe he could be so callous, so unfeeling.

‘No, Amber. It’s just a way of getting what we both want.’

‘You’re unbelievable.’ She fought hard against the urge to pummel her fists on his chest as frustration erupted like a volcano inside her. How could he put her in such a position? Claude would be well and Annie would have a home, but it wasn’t just Kazim who would give them that. It was her too.

‘The decision is yours, Amber. I will return at first light and I expect you to be ready to leave.’

CHAPTER THREE (#u4ec43346-3acd-5b0b-953f-614413ba879c)

AS THE SKY lightened over Paris, Amber quietly closed the door of the flat. She’d left a note for Annie, explaining she had to go away for a while but saying nothing about Kazim’s promise or, rather, his blackmail. She hadn’t known what else to tell her. How did you explain a husband you’d never mentioned, let alone that you were a princess and far from an ordinary girl?

As if conjured up by her thoughts, what could only be Kazim’s sleek black car purred to a stop in the narrow street. She swallowed down the guilt of running out on Annie, which mixed with the nerves of what she’d agreed to do. Was she really about to go back to Barazbin?

She took a deep breath of early morning air and blew out softly, trying to still her nerves. She was going back, but it would only be for a while; of that she was certain. Just until Claude was well enough to return home, then she would too.

Amber looked at the car and what it represented—her return to a life she’d thought she’d turned her back on. Ever since the day she’d left, she’d thought that if she ever heard from Kazim again it would be to arrange their divorce. Although secretly she’d wished he would turn up and whisk her back to his kingdom with declarations of true love.

The thought that he’d turn into a ruthless blackmailer hadn’t entered into the equation at all. She stood on the steps and looked down at the car, its darkened windows preventing prying eyes, and for a moment she had to fight the urge to run away, as far and as fast as she could from the hand that fate had dealt her.

‘Good morning, Princess.’ The driver got out and walked around the car to her, his greeting rasping her already jittery nerves. Where was Kazim? Was he so sure she’d go back with him that he hadn’t even considered it necessary to fetch her personally?

For a moment she wanted to bolt back inside the flat. If he couldn’t be bothered to greet her himself why was she even thinking of going with him? Did he assume he could just pack her up like a parcel and send her back to the desert?

The driver took her bag and opened the back door of the car. Apprehension skittered over her as she stepped into the spacious interior. But it was already occupied. A startled gasp escaped her before she had a chance of regaining composure as Kazim sat, full of regal command, watching her.

Calm, completely sure of himself and devilishly handsome, he sat and watched her as she froze, unable to sit or turn back. She could see the question in his eyes and wondered if he sensed the turmoil racing through her at top speed. Warily, she sat opposite him, not daring to get too close to the commanding presence that radiated from him and was sapping her strength.

Nerves mixed with anxiety, making her irrationally angry. He hadn’t bothered to get out of the car, much less speak to her. She shot him a glare. ‘You could at least say good morning.’

He smiled. A slow sexy smile that deepened his eyes to the colour of the midnight sky. He was far too sure of himself. ‘If it makes you feel better, I will. Good morning, Amber.’ His voice sounded deeper, more intense than she had ever noticed before. ‘It is, however, not long since we parted.’

She refused to rise further to the bait and focused instead on the streets of Paris, the daily life she’d found so entertaining beginning around them. As the car moved silently, like a predator stealing her away, she glanced up at the magnificent buildings. Then the chic cafés that she’d always promised herself she’d visit passed before her, teasing her with all she hadn’t yet done.

It didn’t seem possible that this man had managed to turn her life upside down again. Worse still was the fact that she’d given him all the ammunition he’d needed, by telling him about Claude. He wouldn’t have had any kind of lever if she’d said nothing. She should have just refused to go back with him. Insisted on a divorce.

‘Not long enough,’ she said quickly, her tone flippant. ‘I just wish our next meeting had been for the purpose it should have been for—to arrange a divorce.’ She turned to look at his face and tried not to pay any attention to the way her body reacted to being so close to him. Those childish dreams of passion and happy endings needed to be stamped out once and for all—and quickly.

‘Things have changed.’ He leant forward in the seat, coming too close to her, serving only to increase her irritation. His heady aftershave, potent within the confines of the car, caused her heartbeat to accelerate rapidly. She couldn’t allow him to affect her like this, to turn her insides to molten lava with just a look. She had to maintain control.

‘It’s you who came to find me, Kazim. It’s you