Loved by the Sheikh (5 page)

"I'm sorry. I have to go. Work and all..."

"I see," Sadiq bit coldly.

He felt as if his world was crumbling down before his eyes. She didn't love him.

He shook his head wordlessly, speechless. She didn't even
like
her job and she wanted to go back? Had she tired of him already? The thought was unsettling. While he'd barely gotten a taste of her, she'd apparently had enough of him to last a lifetime.

Bitterness filled his mouth. She knew that she didn't have to work for rent or food anymore. She had him, didn't she?

Even though he hadn't given her anything, she had to know that he would've provided for her if she stayed. But she hadn't even asked.

She just wanted out.

Had this just been some kind of adventure for her?

He felt sick at the thought.

Detain her,
a voice inside of him said.

As drastic as it seemed, the idea became more and more tempting as he thought about it. He could easily keep her locked up in the house. It wouldn't be like what they had had this past week, but eventually, she would come around.

No. Damn it. He wasn't going to do anything like that. He had to be strong. If she wanted out, he would let her go. He wouldn't belittle himself by keeping a woman against her will.

She smiled softly. "Maybe when you get back to America," she offered lightly.

He closed his eyes and cursed himself for being the fool that he was. He saw her as the love of his life while she thought of him as some kind of toy that she could prance around to her friends back home.

"No," he said determinedly. He wasn't going to play a fool for her. He was Sadiq Zahin.

The walls seemed to crowd in around him and he knew that he had to get away from her.

"I will get your visa taken cared of," he said as he stood up, not daring to look at her. Because if he did, he might end up begging her to stay.

"Thank you." She shook her head silently as he buttoned his shirt. "This past week has gone by so fast. I hadn't realized it was almost February already."

Not hearing anything, Sadiq nodded. All he knew was that she wanted out. It didn't matter what the excuse was. At the end of the day, she was still leaving. Wordlessly, he finished dressing himself and left the room.

Jenny's heart tightened as she watched the door close.

He wanted nothing to do with her.

Tears swelled up in her eyes as she thought of the way his voice had hardened at the idea of meeting up again in New York. He hadn't even wanted to see her.

Though she knew that it was for the best to have a clean break from him, she couldn't stop the tears from falling. This past week obviously hadn't meant the same for him as it had for her.

Chapter Eight

A week later, Sadiq sat down and stared at the copy of Business Monthly at his desk.

"Sheikh Zahin: The Real Story," graced the headlines along with one of the pictures Jenny had taken.

His lips tightened. After everything that had happened, this was the only thing he had to show for it.

He shook his head. Perhaps after reading the story, he could finally close this chapter of his life and forget her.

Inevitability settling in, he picked up the magazine and flipped to the article. His blood ran cold as he started to read.

Major shareholder unrest has unfolded at Zahin Equity as CEO Sheikh Sadiq Zahin announced that he would run Atal's new trading committee. Zahin has been the head of Zahin Equity since its inception and his daily presence will be greatly missed.

Although it is expected that Sadiq will follow in his father's footsteps, sources close to the family say that due to his growing empire, Mr. Zahin has no intention of running for presidency, but if his recent appointment suggests-

Sadiq's stomach roiled as he threw the magazine across the room. This is why Jenny had agreed to go Atal with him. Because she had wanted information from him.

She hadn't wanted him. All along, she had just been trying to get whatever information she could get out of him.

His stomach dropped at the knowledge that it had all been just work to her. How many times had she done this before?

His vision blurred as he thought of another man knowing her the way he had.

Memories of her smiling in his arms after a night of love making plagued him. Had it all just been an act?

He closed his eyes as he tried to ignore the reality. He didn't want to believe it, but deep inside of him, he knew that it was her who had leaked the information. The only other people who knew about Raja's plan were Raja and his father, both of whom had it in their interests to keep the secret safe.

His heart churned.

He should've realized something was wrong when she kept asking about his businesses and his meetings, but fool that he was, he had thought that she was truly interested in him and wanted to get to know him better.

He didn't even know if she really was a photographer or if it had all just been an act. His lips thinned.

He wasn't going to let her get away with this.

Chapter Nine

"Mr. Higgins, you must see that this is wrong!"

Her boss murmured something unintelligible and continued typing on his computer.

Seeing that he was only half-listening to her, she groaned inwardly as she settled back in her chair.

She didn't know what she was doing. It wasn't as if she could turn back time and stop George from writing the article about Sadiq or to stop the presses somehow. The only good that could come out of this was if the magazine issued an apology in the next issue, which was worthless. The damage was already done. All of Sadiq's efforts to help his brother had gone down the drain.

And besides, judging by Higgins's nonchalance to her presence, an apology or retraction was unlikely. He didn't seem at all bothered that they were ruining lives.

As the in-house photographer, she knew that she had no right to complain about the way they did their stories, but what they had done was wrong. They had taken Sadiq's trust and had thrown it right back at his face. And for what? For more
numbers
? They were turning one of the most respected business magazines into a tabloid for a few extra bucks?

She'd felt sick after reading the article and had immediately confronted George about it, but all he could talk about was how he was going places and how he was the next big thing. And when she'd asked for his source, he hadn't budge, talking about confidentiality and trustworthiness, as if he had any!

But she was just as bad, wasn't she?

Even though there was nothing she could've done to have prevented any of this, she had mentally kicked herself thousands of times after reading the article.

Why hadn't she asked to read the article before it was sent to print? She should've at least made the effort. Considering how proud George was of the article, she was sure he would've shown it to her if she had shown any interest.

But she hadn't. She hadn't even picked up the issue until today. Though she'd constantly thought about Sadiq, she hadn't wanted to see the pictures she'd taken. She'd been feeling on the edge since he'd left their room in Atal and felt like anything could send her off the brink, crying.

She would do anything to go back in time and relive those times in Atal with him. She had missed everything about him - their lovemaking, that cocky smile of his, the way he would bring her body up to a hug and kiss her...

She closed her eyes as she tried to control her feelings. While she was here, moping for him, he had no doubtingly, moved on already. She blinked back the tears at the thought of him in bed with someone else.

"Jenny." Higgins said in a condescending tone that Jenny didn't care for. "I understand your concern." Jenny clenched her fists underneath the table. Higgins had undoubtedly seen the photos of her and Sadiq leaving the restaurant on the night of their first date and thought that her sense of injustice was because of how she felt for Sadiq.

"Mr. Higgins, this isn't about that," she said sternly. "You know that this is wrong. We're exploiting the people who trust us to-"

"You mean the people who are exploiting us for their own means." His eyes lit up in amusement as he stared down at her. "Jenny, you know that these businessmen don't come to us out of the goodness of their hearts, to
help
us with our sales. They want publicity. Good old fashioned publicity to get their business up in the air."

She knew what he was saying was true. Sadiq had tried to use the magazine to get good publicity for Grocer Dan, but that didn't mean that the magazine was right to have done what they had. If someone took the time to sit down for an interview, it was common decency not to say reveal the person's secrets for
one issue
, at the least.

"Mr. Higgins, magazines and businessmen have a symbiotic relationship together. They help us by giving us a story and we give them free publicity."

"Those days are over." Higgins turned his computer screen into her view and she was faced with a graph with a line that shot up.
Way up
. "Jenny, look at our numbers for the month. There are the best numbers we've had in
years
." He pointed at the issue with Sadiq's photo on his desk. "This is what people want, Jenny. Juicy, inside gossip, not some boring old cover about new products."

Jenny felt sick. No matter what she felt about her job, she'd always considered Mr. Higgins as a kind man. He'd taken her under his wing and had given her a job when no one else would.

She shook her head inwardly at how wrong she'd been about him. Now that she'd seen his true colors, she knew that she couldn't continue working for him.

"I quit."

"Jenny," he began in a calm voice and her blood rose. He was talking to her as if she was a child. "I know you're upset. Think this over for a week or so-"

"I don't need the week," she gritted out. "I know what I'm doing and I hope that you realize what you're doing to the magazine before it's too late."

She stood up and left, ignoring his demands to come back.

***

Panic spread through Jenny as she entered her apartment twenty minutes later. Had she really just quit her job? Her quiet, stable job of three years? What on earth had possessed her to do that?

Her knees weakened when she remembered what she'd said to Higgins. She didn't know what she'd been thinking. It was as if someone had taken over her body, letting all her reason fly away.

What was she going to do now? It wasn't like she could go back to being a teacher now and let all these soulless years she'd worked for the magazine be for naught. And even if she
wanted
to go back to teaching, it wasn't as if her old job was waiting for her.

She felt nauseous at the thought of looking for a job. From the news, she knew that unemployment had been rising. All she could hear were how people who had graduated from college were having trouble finding jobs. She had never thought that she would be back in the unemployment pool so soon or she would've never put herself there voluntarily.

Flicking on the lights, she frowned when she saw the mail on her kitchen table. She couldn't have brought them in unless they were from yesterday.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder. Before she could scream, the person had turned her to face him. Excitement replaced fear when she saw who it was.

Sadiq had come back! Happiness spread through her until she saw the harshness in his eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that his anger was because of the article. He couldn't have actually thought that she had anything to do with this, could he? Not after everything...

But even as she thought it, she knew that was fooling herself. He had never felt anything but lust for her.

And of course, he thought she was responsible for the article. He was here, wasn't he? She could never elicit this strong of an emotion from Sadiq. No. He only cared about his business this much.

She felt a twinge of envy at how much he loved his business. It wasn't even
alive
. Why could he never love her the way he loved his business?

"Thought you wouldn't see me again, didn't you?" He asked roughly as he pulled her towards him.

"I don't- I was-"

"What?" He asked as he crushed her body to his, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. "You thought you could get into my life and find out about my business?"

Her anger rose. It was always about
business.
"No. The article was all-"

He interrupted her with a kiss before she could say anymore. Devoid of any tenderness, the kiss was full of raw passion and hunger. His tongue plunged mercilessly into her mouth, ruthlessly demanding.

After missing him for so long, she gave into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him, matching his need with her own. All the emotions and longing she had felt over the past week went into that kiss. But when he began kissing her neck, she remembered that while she craved his touch because of all the love she felt for him, he was only doing this for revenge.

Tears threatened to burst out as she pushed him away. It was as if the kiss was a mockery of what she had felt for him.

But his hold was too strong.

As if it made no difference to him, he kept his hold on her, reigning her in closer. "Don't deny me," he demanded roughly into her ear before placing hot open kisses along her neck. Her traitorous body trembled in pleasure. Unintentionally, she let out a moan when his hands kneaded her breasts. He bit and nibbled her neck. She was sure he was leaving love marks, but instead of scolding him, her heart flipped at the show of possession.

Unaware of anything but how he was making her feel, she placed her head on his shoulder and accepted the wonderful sensations coming from his lips and hands.

She hated herself for not putting up a real fight. But she couldn't deny herself something that she wanted so much, especially when she knew that it would be the last time. Just one more time, her heart and body pleaded with her. Just one more night to remember for the lonely nights she had up ahead when Sadiq was gone. She closed her eyes as the pleasure began to build low in her stomach. "Sadiq..."