RashidWe stood in silence, the only sound around us was the AC kicking on above us, drowning out the noise of my beating heart.Lyla was tucking in a thin jacket, the front of it parted and open to show the loose-fitted t-shirt she was wearing underneath. She had sweatpants on and rubber shoes that were a bright and obnoxious yellow color. Gone was the glamorous woman I'd seen earlier this evening and here was the woman I'd fallen in love with over the course of a maddening two weeks.Her basket was clutched to her side protectively, snacks piled to the top of it that made it hard not to smile; even though the crushing realization that it was most likely because of her pregnancy that she was out here so late.I forced myself to stay in place, even though I desperately wanted to go over to her and shake her while demanding answers. I had every right to after her leaving so abruptly as she had."You're out late," is all I could think to say.She fr
LylaMy heart sank once the car pulled away from the curb with Rashid safely tucked inside.I hated that I instantly missed him. It did nothing for me but make this entire process ten times worse than it already had been. Never did I think for a second that I would be seeing him in such a bizarre fashion and in a convenience store of all places. What were the chances? And why the fuck had he been wandering around in the middle of L.A. without his escort service?It made me wonder why he'd looked so ragged in the first place. Something had happened, but it didn't seem like he'd been mugged or anything. Actually, I know for a fact he wasn't because he still had his damn black card on him.That had me rolling my eyes. Heading away from the window and over to the kitchen, I set my bag of goodies down and parted the flaps of the bag to pull them all out one by one. A part of me was a little nervous that Rashid now knew where I lived. Though, I guess
Rashid The call from the downstairs concierge came far too early.It had been nearly the crack of dawn before I'd been able to settle down and fall asleep after spending the hours after being dropped off pacing around my suite and trying to come to terms with how different—and yet similar—talking to Lyla had been.No longer was she the naive and shy woman I'd known back in Dubai. She had blossomed into a woman, capable of taking care of herself and her future baby that seemed far too close to already being here. I'd kicked myself over and over again the moment I'd gotten into that car and driven toward the hotel for not asking her how far along she was. It wasn't that I was dying to know about her current relationship with the man that I assumed was her boyfriend from the restaurant. But I was dying to know how long into her being back had they gotten together.Since I'd gotten closer to her in the convenience store, it gave me a better idea of how far along
RashidMy eyes immediately pinballed around the bar, searching for Lyla among the strangers but she wasn't anywhere to be found. What the fuck was he doing here without her?The man smiled when one of the bartenders came over to grab his card, leaning across the bar in order to hear what he was ordering. She nodded to him, pulling herself back and grabbing two separate glasses. As she put them under the tap and let them fill, she turned and swiped his card on the machine behind her, tapping a few times on the screen.He waited patiently, leaning against the bar while his head slightly bobbed to the music overhead. Some kind of trance nightclub beat that I'm sure Zayed would love if he were here.The bartender handed Lyla's boyfriend his card and grabbed both glasses from under the tap. She slid them over to him, nodding when he mouthed a thank you. I watched him with narrowed eyes, seeing him bring one of the glasses up to his mouth and take a sip. Wi
LylaPulling the dishes out of the dishwasher was more of a pain than I thought it would be as I got up from my nap. It was a little late in the day to be taking one, but ever since Rashid's visit, it had been hard for me to sleep for more than a few hours. I'd gotten a good chunk in after going through some of my online classes and finishing one of my projects early for submission, and now I felt a little more energized than I had been in a few days.It wasn't so much that the baby was taking a toll on me as it was that Rashid had been thrown back into my life. On top of that, the stress of my strained feelings with Melanie was making it hard for me to focus on anything that wasn't schoolwork. That had been my only solace since coming back from Dubai and it seemed to be the one distraction that allowed me to feel productive.I rubbed my hand over my belly, feeling the fluttering of the baby moving as I readjusted myself in order to set my ceramic plates into th
Lyla"You're going to want to sit down, Lyla."I frowned. "What? Why?""Please."His words were garbled with the fat lip and his jaw being as fucked up as it was. I didn't have the heart to argue with him, especially not since it was taking such a great deal of effort to talk to me in the first place. Grabbing one of the chairs over by the doorway, I dragged it over to the foot of his bed and slowly lowered myself into it. Charlie sat up slowly, positioning himself carefully in order to avoid all of the wires hooked around Shane's body."Can I get you anything?" I ran a gentle hand down Shane's cheek."I'm okay, love." My heart ached at seeing them like this. "Shane, whoever did this to you is going to rot in jail. I'm going to hire you the best lawyer so that we can bury this fucker."At my words, Charlie turned to me, his eyes shining slightly with unshed tears. "You mean that, Lyla?"I smiled. "Of course, I do."That seemed
RashidLyla looked as beautiful as ever, standing there in her untied sweats and an oversized t-shirt that showed only the hints of the round belly hidden underneath. She had a jacket thrown over with the front of it unzipped that she'd seemed to have pulled over herself in a hurry. Her long hair had been pulled away from her face, half-tied messily with pieces of it framing her face.Her eyes were wide, staring at me in surprise while her hand rested on the side of the door frame to steady herself. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.My knuckles stung when I flexed my hands in my lap, the cuts have already scabbed over while I'd been sitting in jail. No one had given me anything to clean my hands with, but I suspected that was more out of lack of supplies rather than outright disrespect."He's cheating on you, Lyla."Her face changed at my words, morphing into a complicated expression that I'd never seen before. She looke
LylaA gasp left my mouth without warning when the bulge in Rashid's pants brushed up against my thigh again. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I hadn't been so turned on in… well, forever. Since I'd come back from Dubai. Over the last few months, my body had gone into hibernation. I no longer felt those sexual urges like I once had—too focused on my future and my baby to dedicate any time toward it.But now that Rashid was here, in the flesh, tempting me so badly… I wanted it.I wanted him.Fuck, I missed having a hard cock in me. Stroking my inner walls to the point where I felt like I was going insane. I missed milking him dry and feeling the way he shuddered against me as he lost control of himself. The ever-stoic prince coming undone from my touches and the way I could drive him just as crazy as he had me. My legs parted almost immediately, wanting to feel that hard part of him rubbing against me like we were some horny teenagers scr
RashidThree Months Later…"Rashid! Can you come grab the milk out of the microwave!" Lyla called out through the house.I looked up from the laptop resting in my lap, my eyes readjusting from looking at the screen for too long and watering slightly. "I got it," my sister said, pulling herself up from the floor."Thanks." I stretched my arms over my head, feeling my shoulders crack as I did so. Who knew trying to find accommodations for a former princess was going to be this much of a hassle?Salama and I had been working on finding her a place to live on her own while Lyla and I's house was being built. After her breakup with Javier, my parents had disowned her as well, cutting her off before she had a chance to explain that he'd masterminded an entire campaign into trying to steal my wife away to Spain with him.According to our parents, Salama was just as much of a failure as I was and since she'd gotten back into contact with me and come ov
LylaJavier smiled at me. "I told you that. Remember?"I shook my head at him, trying to move backward but was only met with the hard bodies of the guards surrounding me. In my arms, Nasir began to cry. The sound made my heart ache. It fucking sucks that my newborn child has been put into this situation. It's not fair. "What is going on!" Salama tried to jerk away from the guards surrounding her too. "Javier, what are you doing!"He sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you, but I have to break off our engagement. Don't worry, I won't make it look like you were at fault.""I don't care about that!" she snapped back. "You're not actually taking her back to Spain with you, right?""I am, actually."I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Javier. You know that."He frowned at me. "Lyla, we had a deal. I help you get your baby back and you come with me to Spain. You agreed to that.""I got my own baby back! No thanks to you!" I cried, holding m
RashidI wasn't completely familiar with the palace but I had a general sense of where things were from the copious amount of times my father had gone into great detail about the intricacies of how this palace had been rebuilt after he'd become king.Why my father had been so obsessed with discussing architecture with me was beyond my comprehension at the time, but today I was grateful for it. Thankful even. Maybe I'd send the old bastard a thank you card after this was all said and done.After we'd closed Hafsa inside the nursery, we hurried down the hallway on the opposite side of where we'd come up from the staircase. I remembered there being a door to the outside toward the back of the palace, used for any of the waitstaff that came and went as they needed to.I didn't have any worries getting past them. By the time any of them realized who we were and what we were doing in order to call someone, we'd be long gone in a car to my jet sitting in the hangar w
LylaI instantly wanted to cry.All of my emotions over the past few days that I'd bottled down in favor of trying to remain headstrong were finally coming up to the surface at the mere thought of finally being able to see my child again. Was this it? Was this really it?"Is he…?" Rashid asked from across the room.Before I actually broke down though, I reached over the side of the crib and gently folded my hands under the bundle lying there, lifting him gently until I had him out of the crib and tucked into my chest. He made a small noise as he readjusted himself, pressing his face into my neck and sighing softly against my skin.Oh my god.Finally.My hand came up to curl around the back of his head, my entire body folding around him to protect him from everything. Like I was his own personal human meat shield. My baby. My son.Finally, back in my arms.I rocked him gently, feeling that familiar weight I remembered on my chest
LylaDucking and weaving around corners to remain hidden was more annoying than I thought it would be.With Salama guiding us through the palace, she was constantly grabbing my arm and yanking me into a dark room, the sounds of others passing by or even the remnants of someone moving down a corridor had us both spooked beyond belief.I wasn't sure as to why Salama's parents wanted her back just as badly as they wanted Rashid, but I tried to stop understanding them a long time ago. It was easier to just assume the worst at this point.We wandered around what felt like every single damn hallway we could find. Having no clue as to how we were supposed to get out of here, or where to find Rashid in all of this as well as where Hafsa had run off to. Both of us were slowly growing more frustrated with each hallway we stumbled upon."This place is so horribly mapped," she spat as she dragged me down another corridor. "Who in their right mind would design a palace like
LylaI had no idea how long I sat there on the floor before I remembered I had my phone still tucked into my jeans pocket.Sometimes past-me really had future-me's back. That was for sure. I had no idea who the hell I was going to call, but I had to try someone.Pulling my phone out, I dialed Melanie first. Her groggy voice answered me only a moment later."Mmm… Lyla?"I gasped into the phone. "They have me locked in a room!""What?" There was rustling on the other end. I sobbed into the phone, my entire body shaking as I spoke. "They locked me in a room! They took Salama away too! Javier's going to take me to Spain with him and I'm never going to get to see my baby again!""Hold on, I can't—hold on." There was a groan on the other end from Zayed before Melanie came back on the phone. "Lyla, where are you?""The palace in Abu Dhabi," I choked out. "They… I don't know, had this plan to give me to Javier to take back to Spain. I don't k
LylaI pushed past Salama to get into the room, a gasp leaving me the moment I laid my eyes on the scene in front of me.My heart pounded so wildly in my chest that I was afraid it was going to split my ribcage open and jump out. It felt like a dream to see what was in front of me—to finally lay my eyes on the one person who'd completely ruined my life and the one that had completely changed it too.There was Hafsa, seated in a large round chair with her arms cradling a small bundle. She smiled down at it, rocking slightly as she murmured something softly. The scene was so domestic and sweet looking that for a moment I felt delusional. There was no way that someone looking that content with life could have done all of this.But as soon as I heard a soft cooing sound, my dream-like state crumbled, forcing me back into the reality that was and not the one that my brain wanted me to believe in.I stumbled forward toward her, a hand quickly jerking me back from the
RashidWe followed the attendant to an unmarked room away from the waiting room we'd been kept in for a little over half an hour. I wasn't surprised they were all taking their time. It was normal for officials to draw these kinds of things out, either for their own benefit by starving their clients, or making them too aggravated to think properly.And while normally it had the potential to work, both Javier and I were above falling for such things. We'd been trained in it, after all.Although, I am becoming a little jittering having to wait for so long. Because I know that if all goes well with this meeting, I'll be one step closer to getting my son back and holding him in my arms, and witnessing Lyla be a wonderful mother to him like it's second nature and she was born to do it.We're missing out on so many firsts with our newborn baby all because of that selfish fucking woman. The thought of Hafsa with Nasir caring for him like Lyla and I should be at this t
Lyla Waking up the next day to Rashid's grave face sent me into a small panic attack that I ended up locking myself inside of my bathroom to deal with it while he got the rest of our stuff ready to head out.I didn't want to bother him with more of my head-shit, having seen him stressed way too much about the other things on his plate he had very little control over. It wasn't fair of me to monopolize him with all of my problems when he had his own to sort out too. Dumping everything onto him, especially right before we were going to be heading out, was a shitty thing to do.Finally, after what felt like an hour, I gathered myself and splashed some water on my face before finally leaving the bathroom and heading out to join the rest of our group in the living room. Surprisingly enough, they all looked just as stressed as I felt, even Salama who I'd suspected only came on this trip to supervise her fiance looked like she'd barely slept all night. I didn't know whet