Chapter 8

"Who the hell was that?"

She jumped at his livid voice. She had totally forgotten he was sitting right beside her.

Did he recognize she was talking to their baby?

What if he realized?

Oh goodness! How is she going to deal with him if he discovers the secret.

Zayed was fuming!!!

Who the hell was she talking to?

And how dare she talk like that. That too sitting right next to him.

"Huh??" She looked confused for a moment and he realised she had forgotten he was sitting beside her, which infuriated him further.

Then a look of panic came into her eyes.

"That is not how you talk to your mother. Who was it on the call" he asked through his clenched teeth.

"I don't think it is any of your business Mr Ahmed" she said and turned away from him leaving him fuming.

Zayed felt like punching someone, preferably the 'baby' she wants to cuddle to.

Zayed looked at her and saw her looking out of the window panes. Totally blocking him out

For, whatever troubled her, and however her mind worked, she was closing him out again, fleeing from him in mind and spirit.

Was this her tactic, then, to stay silent in the hopes he would leave her alone?

Not a chance.

He hadn't dragged her out here simply so she could cower in a corner and pretend he wasn't here.

There is no way he would let her do that.

"How long have you been with my grandfather's company" he asked though he know the answer to the question.

That was not the question he wanted to ask.

What he really wanted to do was ,to shake her until she blurt out who it was on the call.

Could it be Arif Mehboob?

He caught her sigh, felt her resignation and more than a hint of resentment that she would not be able to avoid answering his questions, and was simultaneously delighted that his tactic was working and annoyed at her reaction.

Was it such a chore for her to be with him? Such an imposition? Once upon a time she would have turned and smiled with delight at the sound of his voice.

Once upon a time?

Since when did nightmares start with 'once upon a time'?

"How long?" he demanded, when she took too long to answer.

Tentatively she turned her head towards him, her gaze still hovering somewhere around his knees.

"A month. Maybe a little longer" She said.

The long dark curve of her lashes fluttered down. She was all about long lines, he realised. Always had been. Still was. The long sweep of her lashes, the smooth line of her high cheekbones and the sweeping curve to her jaw, the generous symmetry of her lips.

And maybe for now the rest of her was hidden under her loose fitting kurti, but he remembered how she looked. How she felt under his hands and the way she moved. Though the kurti covered her completely, he knew she hass eye catchingly changed from those days.

His head rocked back, his hands raking through his hair as he was overcome by the sheer power of the memories of the past.

She could have been his. She should have been. She had already been part of him, as much a part of him as breathing, and he could have had her-all of her.

But she had given herself to someone else. While still married to him. How could she?

God, what kind of madness had made him think he was ready to face again the woman who'd done that to him?

He brought his head back down on an exhale, opened his eyes and saw her watching him, her hazel brown eyes so filled with concern that his fingers stalled in his hair.

Damn it, he didn't want her sympathy! He let his hands drop into his lap.

Her eyes followed the movement, a frown marring her perfect brow.

"Are you all right?"

And it took him a breath or two until he was sure he was back in control, until he'd clamped down on the memories of the heated kisses they shared ,of silken smoothness of her skin that had come surging back in such a tidal force of emotion, the feelings that had lain buried for so long under a concrete-thick layer of hatred.

"I'm fine" he lied, his voice coarse and thick, and designed to close off all conversation as he turned away to stare unseeingly out of his window.

****

September 2021 ,Zidra

A group of people were having a heated discussion in a warehouse in the outer skirts of Zidra

"New equipments are getting installed. Fifty percent of the budget for oil rigs allocated by Zidra government is utilized for the work. The rest of the fifty percent is transferred to your personal account" one man said to the head of the group

"Great. Keep up the work. The fact that low quality pipes and gears are used should be kept under wraps. Under no circumstances should it come to light. Zayed is in London. So it will be easier to carry on with our plan now"

"Everything is under control"

"Basim is the in charge for now. Keep him away from the oil rig. You know how to distract Basim ,don't you?" The head asked with a smirk

"Yes. Beautiful ladies are a weakness for our playboy sheikh. It is known all over Zidra"

"Good. Keep me updated. And ask someone to shadow Zayed in London"

"Sheikh Zayed is in India right now. For some business deal with an Indian company"

"Let's wait until he gets back. Try to get someone from his security team into our group." The head of the group ordered

"Will do"

"Also try to get someone working in Maxwell Corporation to work for us" came the next order

The group of people nodded for each order that came their way

"Remember? If anything comes out ,the blame should go on Zayed." With that said ,the head of the group walked out of the abandoned warehouse.