The Sheik's Love Child

Chapter 1

The lightening flashed outside as an electric storm huddled over Danibe, the capitol city of Asham. Every once in a while, the thunder would boom, sometimes causing the glasses on the table to shake precipitously. The mood inside the elaborately decorated room within the palace of Asham matched the ferociousness of the outside storm. Kalil Asidua Benoit the Third, Sheik of Asham sat at the end of the highly polished wooden table and listened as the angry voices argued across the table, some men standing up in their efforts to be heard, angry fists and pointing fingers.

“Enough,” Kalil said, his black, intense gaze taking in every man in the room to see if any would challenge him. None dared. The moment he spoke, silence descended on the group and twenty pairs of eyes turned to look at him expectantly.

“I’ve heard both sides of this argument and I believe we should move forward with the purchase,” he said firmly. Turning to Jasir, his personal secretary who shadowed him almost always, he said, “Make the arrangements to travel to London. We’ll leave tomorrow afternoon.” Without another word, he stood up to leave and twenty men also rose hurriedly to their feet as well, protocol dictating that no one sat when the Crown Prince was not sitting.

Without a backwards glance, Kalil left the room, his thoughts immediately moving on to the next meeting and the issues it would present.

“What’s next, Jasir?” Kalil asked, walking quickly down the hallway.

Jasir had to rush to keep up with the prince. Jasir was a small man, only five feet six inches which made it difficult to keep up with the man he served who was nine inches taller and was much more muscular which meant Kalil’s strong body ate up the distance wherever he went.

Slightly out of breath already, Jasir consulted his schedule. “You have a one o’clock meeting with the Minister of the Interior, then a two o’clock meeting with your father. Also, your mother has requested your presence at dinner tonight,” he said but this last was delivered with more hesitancy.

“Will my fiancée be there?” he asked.

Jasir nodded but because Kalil was already three feet ahead of him, Kalil couldn’t see the affirmation. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“And will my brother?” Kalil asked, stopping with one hand on the door to the conference room.

“I don’t believe he will be,” Jasir said.

Kalil thought for only a moment. “Be sure Jasim is in attendance.” Kalil disappeared into the room, leaving Jasir to follow or take care of the order for dinner.

Five hours later, Kalil walked into the family dining room. He immediately noted the tension between the two other occupants and smiled slightly. “Fighting again, Jasim? And with such a lovely lady?” he asked, walking over to where Jalla was standing by a sofa looking flushed and aggravated.

“I’d never argue with such loveliness,” Jasim said but there was an edge to his voice as he replied, betraying the truth behind his words.

Jalla ignored Jasim’s dig and turned to smile gently up at Kalil. “How are you tonight?” she asked, accepting the kiss Kalil bestowed on her hand.

“Very well, and you?” Kalil returned with equal civility.

“Fine, thank you,” she said evenly but Kalil didn’t miss the glare she shot over to Jasim as if to challenge her assertion that she was fine.

“Am I missing something?” Kalil asked in a steady voice and walked over to the bar to pour himself a drink.

“Nothing at all,” Jasim said. “How is that new stallion that arrived yesterday?” he asked, changing the subject. Kalil and Jasim talked about horses until their parents arrived. The dinner was uneventful and afterwards, Kalil walked Jalla down the hallway to the suite of rooms she used whenever she stayed within the palace. Jalla had grown up in the palace and had been named Kalil’s betrothed at birth. Kalil knew that they would work out well together once they were married.

“Why don’t you want to set a date for the wedding?” she asked when they’d reached the doors to her suite.

Kalil smiled benignly down into her soft brown eyes. “Because I don’t think it is the right time,” Kalil said, standing in front of her and taking her hands in his. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” he asked.

Jalla’s eyes clouded over and she started to speak, only to stop and shake her head. “No. I was just hoping to start our marriage and give you the children you need for the future.”

Kalil smiled gently down at her. “That is very generous of you but the time will be right for your wedding soon enough. I promise.” With those words, he lifted her hand and kissed her gently on the fingers. Then stepped away to wait until she was safely inside her suite.

Chapter 2

Quickly unlocking the door, Dani dropped her small bag of groceries onto the counter and grabbed the ringing phone. Groaning loudly in frustration, she forced herself to ignore the broken egg that oozed out of the carton and stepped back so the mess wouldn’t get onto her shoes. It had been a long day and all she wanted to do was curl up in the corner of her sofa and read a good book.

Some instinct told her not to answer the phone. But the insistent sound forced her to answer it only so it would stop. “Hello?” she asked, out of breath from rushing up the narrow staircase and pushing the brown curls off her face and out of the way.

“Danielle? It’s Mike down at the restaurant. I hope you don’t have plans tonight because I need you to fill in for Chuck.”

Dani looked at the clock on the mantle and her groceries on the floor. She wished she could say no but she really needed the extra money for the wedding. Biting her lip in indecision, she stared around at her empty apartment. The mystery she’d been reading the previous night lay open on the chipped coffee table and she knew that the only thing she had in her refrigerator to eat was bread, ketchup and now some broken eggs. “Okay, what time do you need me?” she asked, pushing her fatigue and hunger to the back of her mind. She told herself that whatever she could scrounge up to eat at the restaurant would be much better than what she would eat here at home.

Mike let out a whoosh of relief. “Thanks, Dani! I promise you won’t regret this. I’ll put in an extra few euros for you. Can you be here in an hour?” he asked.

Dani nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Sure. I’ll be there. What’s the occasion?” Closing her blue eyes against the sight of the beaten up but comfortable couch, she resigned herself to a night of being on her feet and smiling at people she didn’t particularly like.

“I don’t know. I just know that Chuck, the guy normally scheduled to work tonight, didn’t pass the background check and so I submitted your name and you passed, of course,” he chuckled.

“Background check?” Dani didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded a little invasive. It was just waitressing work. Why in the world would a background check be required, she wondered.

“Yeah, there’s some big shin dig with a lot of dignitaries here tonight. I don’t know anything else since they wouldn’t tell me more but everyone working tonight had to have a quick background check.”

“Interesting,” she said, but she didn’t really think so. In fact, she wasn’t even mildly curious.

“I’ll give you the bar so it will be easier tonight,” he said, letting her know she’d be bar tending instead of serving food which was more difficult.

“Thanks, Mike. I’ll be there in an hour,” she replied unenthusiastically.

“You’re a doll!” he exclaimed and rung off.

Dani picked up the groceries that had fallen from the counter to the floor and sighed heavily. The last thing she wanted to do after a full week of teaching first graders was to mind the bar, pouring drinks for spoiled, wealthy clientele but if it would mean a little extra money, she was all for it. Every euro she saved brought her that much closer to her wedding date.

She and Mark had dated for a year and almost engaged for another six months but he didn’t want to commit to a wedding date until they had enough to pay for the wedding themselves. She loved him but didn’t understand his desire to pay for an elaborate wedding they could ill afford. She was a school teacher and he an accountant so it wasn’t as if either of them could afford the extravagance.

In her mind, it made more sense to work towards buying a small house. She was fine with this small apartment but it only had one bedroom. Dani wanted to have children as soon as possible and it would be difficult if they were still living in a small, one bedroom apartment. Mark had his own place which was even smaller than hers so neither was a good option for having children.

Dani wished Mark felt the same way about kids. She didn’t understand his need to have things financially secure before venturing out into something. Didn’t he know that kids needed love and security much more than they needed fancy clothes and designer shoes?

Dani quickly put her groceries away and changed for her evening. Since her hair was already pulled back from her day of teaching, she just pulled on a pair of black slacks, white, starched shirt and carried the requisite tie in her purse as she rode the subway to the posh restaurant.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Mike said as soon as she walked into his office. “The guests are already arriving so you’ll have to hurry. I’ve checked the bar and put in extra supplies,” he said, his face red with worry and exertion. Then he stopped a moment to look at her. “You look fantastic, by the way. No one would think you were a school teacher,” he joked, looking over her black and white uniform that barely hid her voluptuous figure and slim hips. But it wasn’t really her petite, curvy frame that made men stop and stare. It was her eyes. She had the most incredible blue eyes that captured and held onto an observer. They were surrounded by long, black lashes and high cheekbones with the most incredible translucent skin.

Mike reminded himself that he was a married man and cleared his throat. “Sorry. I was distracted,” he said shortly and turned away. “Follow me and I’ll help you set up the bar for the night.

“What’s going on?” she asked again as he hurried her into the private dining room. As soon as she walked through the kitchen, the smell of roasting beef and chicken mixed in with garlic and butter struck her with a powerful aroma. Her stomach started protesting her lack of dinner and she grabbed a dinner roll to tide her over until she could grab something more substantial.

Mike picked up a roll himself and took a bite, shaking his head in response to her question. “I don’t know and I don’t care. If I survive tonight, I’ll count myself lucky,” he whispered.

She was about to ask why he was so nervous but then she saw the tall, serious men standing on the outside of the private dining room, their backs against the mahogany doors. “Who are they?” she asked, feeling like she was being watched as she walked through the dining room doors.

They looked to Mike before they moved out of the way, holding the door for her politely.

“Guards,” he said and left her standing in the middle of the dining room alone as he hurried off to ensure that the kitchen staff was organized.

Dani didn’t understand the worry. The restaurant regularly hosted many dignitaries, even heads of state on occasion. Dani had never worked those dinners since they were during the week usually but she’d heard about them. She only worked on Friday and Saturday nights, reserving the other evenings for preparing or reviewing her lesson plans. She was able to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings so she didn’t mind the fatigue. It meant she didn’t get to see Mark as often as she’d like though. That concerned her a little, she thought as she slipped behind the beautifully carved and polished bar, organizing the bottles for quick service.

Within five minutes, she had several men lined up demanding drinks. She quickly and efficiently served them their cocktails and so it went for over an hour. Dani had no idea what was being discussed since they were speaking in Arabic or some other Middle Eastern language she couldn’t even guess at.

She kept her head bent most of the time searching for bottles anyway. She wasn’t sure, but she sensed that several of them were talking about her. A small part of her wished they would move on and conduct their conversations somewhere else but the night became too busy to be worried about a couple of rude men who leered at her.

She was busily searching for the tonic water when a sudden silence fell over the room. A loud voice seemed to announce something. But since it was still in another language, she just continued to search for the extra bottles of tonic. Everyone around bowed just as Dani stood up victoriously, a large grin spreading across her rosebud lips. Her blue eyes looked around, trying to figure out what was going on and why it became quiet so suddenly when her eyes slashed across the room, right into the eyes of the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Dani’s smile of victory quickly dissolved as the man’s eyebrow went up and he looked over at her. She felt as if she were being stripped naked. His eyes took in her starched shirt that was now pulled tightly across her voluptuous breasts and her slacks that fit her slim hips, tapering down to her ankles.