She was going to have to tell him.

There was no way around it. She didn’t know what the consequences might be, but she had too much respect for Masoud. She cared for him. He deserved to know that he was going to be a father.

Before she even left the hospital, Eloise had decided that she would be keeping the babies. The fear she’d felt when looking at the sonogram wasn’t gone—far from it—but these were her children. Her twins. As scary as it was, she already felt connected to them.

But, someday, they would want to know who their father was, and she didn’t want to have to lie about it. And she knew she couldn’t live with herself if she concealed the truth from Masoud. After all, if the situation were somehow reversed, she would want to be told.

She’d tried several times to call the phone number he’d left on Patrick’s voicemail, but his assistant kept picking up. The first few times, Eloise had panicked and hung up immediately. Eventually, working up her courage, she’d asked to speak with the Sheikh himself, only to be told that he wasn’t available and that she could leave a message.

She couldn’t do it. This wasn’t news you left in a message through an assistant. She thought of telling the assistant to have Masoud call her, but doubted that that message would get through. The woman sounded harried and frustrated, and besides, Masoud probably got a lot of phone calls from random people who had no business speaking to him. His assistant would filter her message out, Eloise was sure.

But she had another idea.

She hadn’t exchanged contact information with Masoud—theirs was supposed to be a one-night adventure, she thought darkly, so why would she?—but in setting up their original visit to Khan Capital, she had emailed back and forth with several of the board members. In doing so, she had noticed that all the employees’ email accounts were formatted the same way. It was always first initial, last name, @khancaptial.com.

It was worth a shot. And so, she wrote:

Dear Masoud,

I hope you’re doing well, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again. I’m hoping we’ll be able to work out the differences between our companies so that we can do business together.

She paused. How did one break this news?

I don’t know quite how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it—I’m pregnant. And it’s yours. They’re yours, I mean. Apparently, I’m expecting twins.

I’m not asking you for anything, I just thought you deserved to know. I know this is all really complicated, but I hope this news makes you happy. If you want to call me and talk about it, I’d like that, but if not, I understand.

Thank you again for a wonderful night, and for everything.

Yours,

Eloise

She hesitated, reading it over. Was it any good? God, was it horrible? Was he going to hate her as soon as he read it?

“Eloise!”

She jumped.

“Get in here!” Patrick yelled.

“I’m just finishing up an email.”

“Well, hurry it up! I don’t have all day! We have to get to the airport!”

“One minute.”

“Oh my God, just hit send!”

Eloise did so. An alert popped up on her screen.

Message sent to Patrick Gainsborough.

She stared, horrified, disbelieving. Patrick?

Eloise clicked over to her sent messages folder. Sure enough, the message had been delivered to Patrick. The office email program must have autofilled his name when she’d opened the new message, and in her rush she’d forgotten to delete it.

Oh, no.

“Eloise!”

She had to stop Patrick from reading it. If he knew the truth, she and Masoud would both be completely screwed.

Eloise ran into Patrick’s office just in time to hear the ding of a new message arriving in his email inbox.

“Patrick, wait.”

He regarded her patiently, as if to say, “for what?”

“Don’t read that.” It was all she could think to say. “It’s a personal message. I meant to send it to someone else, but I accidentally put in your name. Please delete it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not supposed to send personal emails at work.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I…”

“That’s what you were doing out there? While I was calling you?”

“Patrick.” She hated this, hated putting herself at his mercy. “Please.”

Patrick shook his head and clicked open the message.

For several minutes, the room was utterly silent as his eyes moved back and forth across the screen, taking in what she had written.

“You’re pregnant.”

Eloise couldn’t respond.

“Masoud. The prince of Khan Capital.” Patrick shook his head. “No wonder you didn’t bring me anything useful on him. You’re sleeping with the enemy.”

“He’s not the enemy,” Eloise protested. “And I’m not. It was one night. We haven’t even spoken since then. There isn’t anything between us.”

He looked pointedly at her midsection. “Seems like there is. Twins! That’s a hell of a thing.”

Eloise sighed. “Patrick, look, you know how badly I need this job. I think I’ve been a good assistant.”

Patrick laughed. “What are you worried about? That I’m going to fire you?”

“Well.” Eloise hated to give voice to it, but of course she had been worried about that. “I just want you to know that I’m as committed to the company and to you as I ever was. This doesn’t have to change anything.”

“Are you kidding?” Patrick chortled. “This changes everything! We finally have the information we need on Khan.”

Eloise froze. “What? What are you talking about?”

“This is just what I was looking for. That code of conduct is full of rules about fraternizing with business associates. You were there to meet with him in a professional capacity, and he took advantage of his wealth and power to lure you into bed! It’s a scandal.”

“That isn’t what happened,” Eloise said. “He didn’t take advantage of me.”

“Who cares? That’s how it looks. You were just trying to make the most of some extra face-time with the CEO, to help sew up the deal for your boss, and instead of respecting the bounds of professionalism, he got you pregnant. Oh, it’s too perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than this.”

“Wait a minute,” Eloise said. “This is taking advantage. You can’t use me like this. You can’t leverage my life for personal gain!”

“Oh?” Patrick leaned over the desk. “Why can’t I?”

“Because you need my cooperation, and I won’t let you,” Eloise said. “Nobody’s just going to take your word for it that I’m pregnant and the babies are his. The only chance you’d have of being believed would be for me to back up your story. And I won’t do it.”

She was proud of herself. Finally, finally, she was able to take a stand against Patrick’s twisted agenda.

But the pride was fleeting.

“You have to do it,” Patrick said. “You’re going to need money to raise those kiddos.”

“What are you saying?”

“You’re my assistant, so assist. Keep doing your job for as long as you can. Help me pull this off. Then, when it’s time for you to take your leave, I’ll let you go with a nice little severance package. We’re talking enough to float you through the first few years of the little ones’ lives.”

He winked, and Eloise suppressed a shudder.

“But if you don’t help me, I’ll fire you for violation of contract.” He tapped his computer screen. “And there won’t be any severance.”

Eloise stared. She had always known Patrick was selfish and unethical, but she had never imagined how deep it went. She had been a loyal member of his staff for years, had traveled around the world with him and assisted him on all kinds of projects, both menial and vital. It was Eloise who picked out Patrick’s wife’s gifts on their anniversary. She was the one who took his car to be serviced regularly, made sure the office fridge was always stocked with his favorite energy drinks, and organized all the company parties. She’d even helped him with an epinephrine pen once when he’d accidentally eaten shellfish at a restaurant.

They weren’t friends, she knew, but they were colleagues. They had a relationship that meant something.

So how could he do this to her? How could he treat her like a bargaining chip, like the only thing she was good for was getting what he wanted from Masoud? Would he seriously turn her away with nothing after all these years, as if her children didn’t matter?

Eloise pressed a protective hand to her abdomen. What was she going to do?

She was going to have to go along with him. There was nothing else to it. She didn’t want to betray Masoud—he had done nothing to deserve it, and it was awful, but her babies were helpless. They were depending on her. If she incurred Patrick’s wrath, they would have nothing.

Eloise had always depended on this job to help her support her parents, but this was something else entirely. Her parents, at least, would have been able to take care of themselves if she’d lost her income. They’d have had to move to a worse apartment, but that wouldn’t have been the end of the world. But the babies…they wouldn’t be able to do anything without her. They needed her.

So, she needed Patrick.

She hated him. She hated the position he was putting her in. But there was nothing to be done about it.

“Okay,” she said, grudgingly. “I’ll help you.”

Patrick nodded as if that had never been in question.

“Good. Go on and gather the paperwork from your doctor, then. We’re going to want to be able to back up our story with evidence once we get over there.”

Eloise left the office and returned to her desk. The sonogram picture was in her purse, and she pulled it out now and looked at it. She still couldn’t make out her twins in the static blur of the image, but she knew they were there.

She rested her fingertips on the picture. This would do for evidence. She hated to use it, hated the idea of her twins being a bargaining chip against their own father like this. But what else could she do?