Chapter Thirteen
“She called,” Cemal said over breakfast with Yasmeena and his mother.
He’d taken to sitting with both women early in the morning. Being near them helped him ease the pain in his heart. They’d cared about Juliana too and were as confused and hurt when she cut them from her life so suddenly. It was a small consolation when who he really wanted was an ocean away. Still, he remembered his mother’s words so many months ago. If he let Juliana go and she came back to him, then they were meant for each other. Well she’d called, damn it. By Allah, that was a sign he needed to go get her.
“Did she?” Yasmeena asked, her face brightening instantly.
“Yes, it was her number. I…she didn’t say anything, but she called me at three in the morning. I know she misses me.”
His mother, her hair already elegantly drawn up in a braid, nodded. “I agree it’s most unusual for anyone to call from half a world away that early for them.”
“So is that your way of saying, Mother, that it’s time for me to go and see her?”
Yasmeena grinned more slyly. “I would say that it’s time for you to go and play Prince Charming.”
“Yasmeena” his mother said. “Can you go and check on the women of the harem?”
The older servant stood and shook her head. “If you needed me to leave the room to speak freely with your son, you merely had to say such things. I always honor the requests of my sheikha,” she said, bowing low. “Still, I wish you luck, Cemal. The palace has been far too empty without her.”
You and I agree on that one, old friend.
“Mother, do you have something left to tell me before I hop on the jet?”
She sighed and stood, walking around the table to place her hand on his cheek. He took in a deep breath and freesia tickled his nose. It was the same scent he’d always experienced, the smell that always seemed safe to him.
“I hope she doesn’t break your heart, but I believe if she called you that you’re right and that she misses you as dearly as you miss her.”
“Is this your way to say that you were right?”
She winked down at him. “I never need to say that. You and I both know that my omniscience goes without a word.”
“Yes, you are all-powerful then. Just you and the Wizard of Oz,” he replied, grinning back at her. “I need to get going. I don’t intend to spend another night without her in my arms.”
“Good, but before you go, allow me to give you something for her, a tiding from all of us, since we’ve all waited so long to have her back.”
“Now that I can agree with.”
***
It wasn’t hard to have his sources find out where Juliana currently lived. He was surprised to find that in the four months since she’d returned home, his intel indicated she’d moved to a town forty-five minutes outside of Palo Alto where the rent was lower. Why would she need a newer place? Maybe something bigger, but did that mean someone else was back in her life?
His throat burned with bile at the thought.
No, she was his. There was no way she’d call him again if she didn’t burn for him as much as he did for her.
He stepped up to the front door of her modest rental home, but almost as soon as he did that evening, Cemal heard a loud crash. Alarmed, he dropped his flowers and shoved his surprise into his pants pocket. There was a second crash then and Juliana screamed from inside. Adrenaline pumped into his heart, and Cemal channeled the reckless youth he’d been, that ne’er-do-well from over a decade ago. It wasn’t hard for him to kick in the door. A few deft strikes and it sprung open.
It was just in time for him to see a good-sized man standing over Juliana and preparing to bring his hand down to strike her.
That was all the motivation he needed. Cemal surged forward and tackled the asshole daring to strike his beloved. They hit the floor together in a tangle of limbs. Rolling around, caught somewhat in the other man’s long legs, Cemal was able to sit up and pin the other man at his hips and thighs with his body weight. Then he pulled back his arm and slammed his fist repeatedly into the asshole’s face. The other guy spit blood first; then there was the satisfying crunch of the man’s face and bones under Cemal’s strikes. A few more hits for good measure, even as the other man’s eye began to swell shut, and Cemal stood. The scum wouldn’t be walking anywhere right now. He had to see if Juliana was okay, and then he was going to call the police and paramedics.
Standing, he surged over to Juliana and his jaw dropped open when he saw her curled on the ground. Her shirttail was up almost to her chest and he saw the expanse of her ivory-skinned belly, the one curved prominently with a child.
But was it his?
Dear Allah, what did it matter right now? All that mattered currently was making sure he could help take care of her—that she recovered from what that monster had tried to do to her. He counted himself lucky that he’d taken her call seriously and gotten here in time. He needed to protect her.
Kneeling down, he scooped the woman he loved into his arms. “Shh, it’s okay.”
“I…I can explain.”
“Shh,” he said again. “Kitten,” Cemal continued as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “All you need to do is get better, and the paramedics are going to help you do that.”
***
Juliana was relieved and scared. Relieved not just because the black eye she had would fade but because her baby was alright. Relieved because she’d kicked Phillip to the curb and finally left that toxic relationship behind her. Relieved because Cemal was back in her life. But the fear still crept through her bones. He’d seen her, seen how pregnant she was. Would he think the baby was Phillip’s?
Why wouldn’t he?
Worse, would he realize she’d hidden his child from him so far?
She just didn’t know. It was like her emotions were a roller coaster doing infinite rounds, and Juliana couldn’t track what she felt from moment to moment. All she wanted was for Cemal to visit her. Ms. Grant and a few friends from work already had today, but the person she wanted to see most hadn’t yet, and it very well could be because she’d lied so much.
Then there was a knock at the door.
She smiled despite her fears. Cemal looked as regal as he always was in his well-cut suit and sparkling cufflinks.
“Hey, you’re way fancier than any hospital needs.”
“I want to look good. For helping you and the baby, they’re getting money from me for a brand-new wing. I was signing the paperwork before I could come see you, and I figured I’d look my business best.”
“Well you do.”
“And I come with a surprise,” he said, disappearing behind the doorframe just long enough to come back to her with a massive bouquet of red roses. There must have been two dozen or more in the bundle. “I think you’ll be able to have a nurse get you water.”
“You don’t have to get me anything,” she said, her voice croaking a bit as he came and sat at her side. “I don’t deserve it.”
He shook his head and set the flowers aside on the food table. Then he took one hand between his. They were so large that they swallowed hers whole. “You deserve to be a queen. That bastard didn’t know that.”
“He was my former fiancé.”
“Well soon he’ll be enjoying the California State penal system. I can make him disappear permanently if you like, be shoved in some prison in the most obscure town in Jordan. It’d give me great pleasure.”
“Nah, we should let Cali take care of it,” she said, even though the offer of Phillip in permanent exile in the desert was awfully tempting. “Besides, you might hate me almost as much when we talk.”
“I missed you,” he said, surprising her utterly by leaning up and kissing her, his tongue playing deftly with her own.
Tears sprang to her eyes, and Juliana had no idea why she’d ever tried to make herself happy with a jerk like Phillip when she had the man she’d always loved so close to her. It no longer mattered what her mother wanted. This was her life, damn it.
“You might not for long.”
“It’s okay if you took Phillip back. I can’t understand why, but I love you, and I’ll raise any child with you as surely as if they were my own.”
“I…my mom and dad basically threatened to disown me if I stayed with you. I just wanted them to love me, and I made the biggest fucking mistake of my life. It took misery to make me realize that they’re small, cruel people and I don’t want to be involved with them. If they disown me for loving you, then they’re not worth it.”
He squeezed her hand again and then kissed her cheek.
God, how she’d missed that sweet sting of saffron in her nose.
“I don’t think they deserve you either.”
“But the baby…he’s yours, Cemal.”
“What?”
“Phillip and I were trying to fix things slowly. He had the guest bedroom. It’s why we got the rental house. The only man I’ve slept with in months is you.”
His eyes widened and she expected it then—the angry tirade about how she’d denied him his child, how she was selfish and terrible and weak. These were all the things she already knew about herself.
Instead, he shocked her by getting to his knees and pulling a small, velvet box from his pants.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“I…your son?”
She patted his shoulder. “Our son. I ran away and then I missed you. Then I figured out what was going on and felt too trapped to tell you anything at all. I am so sorry. I’ll spend our entire lives making up for the four months of morning sickness and my growing baby bump that you missed.”
He kissed her again, ending the ministration with a slight, playful bite of her lower lip. “We’ll never miss anything now,” Cemal continued as he popped open the box. Her eyes widened at the sight of the massive diamond set in filigreed platinum. “This was my mother’s. She wanted you to have it. Both she and Yasmeena say I can’t come back without you in my arms.”
“I…”
“So, what do you say? Will you marry me, kitten? Will you make me the happiest man in the world?”
“The happiest man anywhere,” she said, nodding and grinning widely when he placed the ring over her finger. “I missed you.”
He got back to his chair and stroked her cheek. “Not as much as I’ve missed you, and we’ll never be apart again. I swear it.”
“Good,” she said, even as tears fell down her cheeks. “Because I’m never letting you go.”
THE END
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