of her hotel suite, across a beautiful park alive with flowers—and a terrible feeling of isolation came over her.
She could see couples openly walking together—their arms looped around each other as they kissed. A young child chased a dog and, behind him, a woman wheeled a pram. Everyone seemed part of the world which lay before her eyes—all except her. And Leila couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so alone as she did right then.
Knowing she couldn’t keep putting off the dreaded moment much longer, she picked up the hotel phone and dialled Gabe’s office, her heart pounding with apprehension. She had to go through two different people before his voice came on the line, and when it did—he sounded distant.
Wary.
Terror gripped her as she realised she was about to drop a live grenade into his perfect life.
‘Leila?’
‘Yes, it’s me. How...how are you, Gabe?’
‘I am well.’ There was a pause. ‘This is a surprise.’
‘I imagine it is.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘Look, I need to see you.’
‘I thought we’d agreed that wasn’t such a good idea. And anyway, I’m back in England now and I’m not planning to return to Qurhah for a while.’
Leila stared out of the window. The child which had been chasing the dog had fallen over and a woman—presumably the child’s mother—was picking him up and comforting him. She realised how hopelessly ill-prepared she was to become a mother and her heart clenched. ‘I’m in England too,’ she said. ‘In fact, I’m in London.’
She could hear so much more in that second pause. She imagined his mind working overtime as he tried to figure out what the hell she was doing in England and why she was calling him. And if he asked her outright—would she have the guts to tell him on the phone?
‘What are you doing in London?’
For a moment, she didn’t answer. He asked the question so casually. Did he think, with the arrogance which seemed to be second nature to all alpha males, that her desire for him was so great that she was prepared to trample over her pride in order to seek him out? Didn’t he have a clue what she might be about to say? That their rash act of passion might have yielded this very result? ‘That’s what I’d like to talk to you about.’
‘Where are you staying?’ he asked. ‘I’ll come over.’
Her gaze drifted down to the traffic which was clogging the park road, knowing it would be much easier if he came here than having to negotiate her way round this strange new city. But if Gabe wanted nothing to do with this new life...then might that not complicate matters further? Why implicate him to her retinue as the father of her baby, unless he was willing to accept that role?’
‘I’m at the Granchester. But I don’t want you to come here. It’s too...public.’ She gripped the phone more tightly. ‘Can I come to your place?’
At the other end of the line, Gabe listened to her hesitant words, and his eyes narrowed. It was a presumptuous question and one he would usually have deflected. Invitations to his home were rare and he was the one who did the inviting. His apartment was his refuge. His sanctuary. It was where he went to escape. If ever he spent the night with someone, he preferred somewhere which provided him with a clearly marked exit route. Where he could be the one doing the leaving.
But Leila was different. Her royal status set her apart from other women. It made people break rules for her. Unwillingly, he felt the quickened beat of desire as he remembered her blue eyes and the silky texture of her olive skin. His mouth dried as he recalled her hot, tight body. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Why the hell hadn’t she told him who she really was at the time?
‘This is all very mysterious,’ he said. ‘Do you want to tell me what it’s all about?’
‘I’d rather do it in person.’
Oh, would you, my presumptuous princess? With a flicker of irritation, Gabe waved an impatient hand at Alice, his newly promoted assistant, who had just stuck her head around his office door. ‘Very well. I’ll send a car for you at seven.’
‘No,’ answered Leila flatly. ‘That won’t be possible.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘My bodyguards will not permit me to visit a man’s apartment. It must be done in total secrecy. Will you be there tonight—at two a.m.?’
‘Two a.m.?’ His deep voice reverberated with incredulity. ‘Are you out of your mind? Some of us have work to go to in the morning.’
‘I’m afraid that the cover of darkness is the only solution to ensure I won’t be seen, and I can’t afford to be seen,’ she said, a note of determination entering her voice. ‘It will be best if you send the car for me then. But I need to know if you’ll...if you’ll be alone?’
‘Yes, I’ll be alone,’ said Gabe coldly—and gave her the address.
Leila’s heart was racing as she replaced the phone, but she couldn’t shake off her feeling of apprehension—and hurt—as he cut the connection without even the politeness of a formal goodbye. Was he always this cool towards the women he’d slept with—as if he couldn’t wait to put as much distance between them as possible? And how the hell was he going to react when she told him?
She told her retinue that she intended to rest for the remainder of the evening and instructed them to order themselves food from room service. Then she phoned Sara, cutting through the princess’s delighted exclamations by telling her that she needed a favour.
‘What kind of a favour?’ asked Sara.
‘Just that if my brother calls and asks if we’re having a good time together, you tell him yes.’
‘I think it’s unlikely that your brother will call me himself,’ said Sara drily. ‘Is there something going on, Leila? And does that something have to do with a man?’
‘How did you guess?’
‘Because with most of my girlfriends, it’s usually a man,’ answered Sara with a wry tone. ‘Don’t suppose it’s anyone I know?’
Leila hesitated. In a way she was wary of saying anything, but part of her wanted to blurt it out. ‘Actually, you do. You used to work for him and he came to your wedding.’
There was a long silence. ‘I hope you don’t mean Gabe Steel?’ said Sara, her voice low and disbelieving.
‘That’s exactly who I mean.’ Leila could feel a skitter of panic washing over her skin. ‘Why, what’s the matter with him?’
‘There’s nothing the matter with him—that’s the trouble. Just about every woman in London is or has been in love with him at some point. He’s gorgeous, but he’s a heartbreaker, Leila—and my advice is to stay away from him.’
It’s too late for that now.
‘I can’t,’ said Leila slowly. ‘Will you cover for me, Sara?’
Sara’s sigh came heaving down the phone. ‘Okay, I’ll cover for you—just so long as you promise me you won’t do anything stupid.’
I already have, thought Leila, but she injected a breezy note into her voice.
‘I promise,’ she said as she put the phone down.
She could hear the sound of the room-service trolleys being trundled along the corridor towards the rooms of her retinue. Praying that their attention would be occupied by the novelty of eating Western food and that they would eat too much of it, she settled down to wait.
Shortly before ten, she allowed her servants into the room to turn down the bed and generally fuss around while she did a lot of exaggerated yawning.
The next few hours seemed to tick by with agonising