He wondered why she hadn’t tried to contact him before this. Well, that was obvious. She’d thought Rami would come back to her.
Was this the reason he’d left her? Because she’d become pregnant?
It was an ugly thought, that his brother would have abandoned his own child, but nothing about Rami surprised him anymore.
Assuming, of course, the child was his.
How had his brother let this happen? Drunk or sober, how could he have forgotten to use a condom?
Had the woman seduced him into forgetting? That was always a possibility.
Karim wasn’t naïve. A man who was born to a title and a fortune learned early how things went.
Women set snares; his own mother had been pregnant with him before his father had married her.
He wasn’t supposed to know that, but any fool could count. And once he’d figured it out he’d had a better idea of why his parents’ marriage had failed.
You chose a wife—especially if you had the responsibilities of a prince—because she met certain criteria. Common interests and backgrounds. Common goals and expectations.
You chose her; you didn’t put yourself in a position where fate or expediency or, even worse, a foolish night of passion became the deciding factor—
A small fist hit his shoulder. Karim blinked in surprise. The woman had moved right up to him. Her eyes flashed with anger.
“Are you deaf? Give—me—the—baby!”
The child made an unhappy sound. Its mouth, that mouth that was the image of hers, began to tremble.
Karim narrowed his eyes.
“Whose child is this?”
“What is this? An interrogation? Give Ethan to me and then get the hell out!”
“Ethan?”
Dammit, Rachel thought, she hadn’t intended to give him anything—not even the baby’s name.
“Yes. And he’s wary of strangers.”
Karim’s mouth twisted. “Was he wary of my brother?”
“I’d tell you that you’ve overstayed your welcome, Your Sheikhiness, but you were not welcome here in the first place.”
“Do not,” Karim said grimly, “call me that.”
He regretted the words even as he said them. It was a mistake to let her know she was annoying him because that was damned well what she wanted to do.
“I’ll ask you again,” he said, struggling to control his temper. “Who does this child belong to?”
“He belongs to himself. Unlike you and your countrymen, Americans don’t believe people can be owned like property.”
“A charming speech. I’m sure it will win applause on your Fourth of July holiday. But it hasn’t got a damned thing to do with my question. Once again, then. Whose child is this?”
Rachel chewed on her lip.
Whose, indeed?
Suki and Rami had created Ethan.
But from the very beginning he’d been hers.
For Suki, the bump in her belly had been a nine-month annoyance, especially once she’d realized she couldn’t use her pregnancy to convince Rami to marry her.
He’d packed his things and taken off well before Ethan’s birth.
It had been Rachel who’d held Suki’s hand during labor, Rachel who’d cut the baby’s umbilical cord.
When Suki and her son had come home from the hospital, the baby had cried endlessly. He’d been hungry; Suki had refused to nurse him.
“What,” she’d said in horror, “and ruin my boobs?”
The formula hadn’t agreed with him. He’d kept spitting up; his tiny diaper had always been full and foul-smelling. Suki had shuddered, and left his care to Rachel.
Rachel had been fine with that.
She’d changed his formula. Changed his diapers. The baby thrived.
And Rachel adored him.
She’d loved him even before he was born. It was she who’d come up with a name, who’d bought a crib and baby clothes. He was hers, not Suki’s. And when Suki had finally left, Rachel was almost ashamed to admit she’d been happy to see her go.
Now everything was falling apart.
She had never worried that Rami might return and claim his son—even if he had, she’d sensed that he was a coward underneath the charm and good looks.
She could have faced him down.
But if this arrogant bully wanted Ethan …
“Ms. Donnelly. I asked a simple question.”
The baby began to whimper.
“That’s it,” Rachel said. “Raise your voice. Terrify the baby. Is that your specialty? Walking into places you aren’t welcome? Scaring small children?”
“I asked you a simple question, and you will answer it! Whose child is he?”
“You,” Rachel said, stalling for time, “you are an awful man!”
His teeth showed in a wolfish grin.
“I’m heartbroken to hear it.”
“What will it take to get you out of here?”
“The truth,” he snapped. “Whose baby is this?”
Rachel looked straight into his cold eyes.
“Mine,” she said, without hesitation, forcing the lie through a suddenly constricted throat, because Ethan was hers.
It was just that she hadn’t given birth to him.
“Don’t play games with me, madam. You know what I’m asking. Who is the father?”
There.
They’d reached the impasse she’d been dreading. Now what? She should have known he wouldn’t be satisfied with her answer.
The Sheikh, the Prince, whatever you were supposed to call him, was not a fool.
Ethan looked like his parents. He had Rami’s coloring and eyes, Suki’s chin and mouth. Well, hers, too, because she and Suki resembled each other, but the Sheikh wouldn’t know that.
He didn’t even know Suki existed.
And she had to keep it that way.
“Answer me!”
“Lower your voice. You keep yelling—”
“You think I’m yelling?” the Sheikh yelled.
Predictably, Ethan began to cry.
The mighty Prince looked stunned. Evidently not even infants were permitted to interrupt a royal tirade.
“Now see what you’ve done,” Rachel snapped, and scooped Ethan into her arms.
His cries became wails; his little body shook with outrage. The look on the Sheikh’s face was priceless.
Under other circumstances she’d have laughed, but there was nothing to laugh at in this situation.
Instead, she walked slowly around the small living room, cooing to the baby, stroking his back, pressing kisses to his forehead.
His cries lessened, became soft sobs.
“Good baby,” she whispered.
She felt Karim’s eyes following