The Sheik's Secret Twins (11 page)

He seemed breathless and all the anger was gone.  He shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the news. 
“I didn’t know…”

“Of course you didn’t know.  Because you rejected my letter when I tried to tell you,” she said and reached behind her to the large desk filled with all her important papers.  She pulled out the well worn envelope, still sealed with the postmark date and the “return to sender” stamped on the outside. 

Malik looked down at the envelope, then back up at her.  When his fingers moved to unseal the envelope, Siri’s stomach twisted with the memory of what she’d written.  There had been no emotion left
which would have enabled her
to give him any details
other than the pertinent ones like a due date, the schedule and any additional information the doctor had provided to her
. 
The opening words had been simple
, “I’m pregnant with our child.  If you’d like to be a part of this child’s life, please contact me through our lawyers.”  And
then
she’d given the name of her father’s attorney and his contact information.  A simple signature, no greeting or salutation
, a few facts about the pregnancy and that was it
.  She’d been too sick, both physically and emotionally to write anything else.  When the letter had been returned, the attorney had advised that she store it in a safe place, for just such a moment like this. 

“I
didn’t
get this,” he said.  Glancing at the date, he shook his head.  “They never would have sent this to me.
  Not during this time period.  Things in Duban were….chaotic.
”

She didn’t care about his minions and how they’d harmed her and her life. 
In response, she crossed her arms over her chest and watched him, waiting for his next move. 

“That’s what yo
u wanted to talk about tonight,”
he said and
shifted uncomfortably
on the sofa, his hands still holding the letter and envelope as he absorbed all of the news. 

“Yes.  I wanted to talk.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Okay, so we’re talking.”

Siri took a seat as well and curled her legs underneath her. 
Trying to be fair, she considered the situation from his perspective and knew that she might have jumped to the same conclusion.  It was yet
another reason they shouldn’t become intimate since their trust in each other was completely destroyed. 
“They’re really wonderful boys,” she said softly.  The anger was gone now, and all that was left was her joy in her sons.  “They are painfully smart, well ahead of their class in school.”

“What are their names?” he asked. 

“Jacob and Samuel.  I picked those names
because the
y
sounded strong and tough.  I didn’t want anyone messing with my kids.”

He nodded and looked at the wall, seeing their baby pictures framed and hung with pride.  “What were they like as babies?” he asked. 

She told him about their birth and what they were like, described their personalities and their accomplishments.  Malik continued to listen, asking questions and only pausing for a moment to make a terse phone call.  It must have been to his driver who was outside her house waiting because he spoke rapidly in Arabic, then snapped the phone shut, turning back to her for more questions.

For the next several hours, Malik asked questions and she answered them, not holding anything back as she talked about her favorite subject.  She told him funny stories about their antics, pulled out their baby books and showed him photos.  They sat on the sofa together and she caught him up on their sons’ lives. 

She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, she fell asleep.  She woke up the next morning with Jacob and Sam playing “softly” beside her bed.  They were trying to be quiet, but each one was building something with
Legos
, and it was a little hard to be quiet when arguing about who got which piece of the
L
e
gos
set. 

“Mom’s awake,” Jacob whispered to Sam. 

“Yes.  I’m awake,”
she replied, pushing her hair out of her eyes and looking for Malik. 

“He’s gone, momma.  He left a note.” 
Sam picked up the piece of paper beside him and handed it to her, all without looking away from his L
e
gos
bridge
which he was trying to figure out how to make longer without making it taller as well. 
“It says he’ll be back with breakfast.” 

Siri looked at the note and read the words.  Simple and to the point.  “I’ll be back with breakfast.  M.” 

She looked down at her son, eyebrows raised and her head spinning with both fatigue and surprise.  “Sam, did you read this note?”

“Yes.”  He pulled his concentration away from the bridge and looked up at his mother
with a confused expression
.  “Was I not supposed to?”

Siri shook her head, dumbfounded that her three year old son was reading already.  “When did you learn your letters?”

He looked back down at his bridge, shrugging his shoulders. 

“We figured those out last month, momma,” Jacob replied.  “Ms. Tennley kept spelling things and it was irritating.  So we decided to figure out what she was spelling.”  Jacob looked up from his building, his eyes puzzled.  “What does ‘incessant’ mean?” he asked.

Siri laughed and shook her head.  “Never ending,” she explained.  “I’m guessing that you were asking her questions, huh?”

He shrugged and went back to his building.  “Sam asked more,” he replied in his defense
but he didn’t seem overly concerned about being curious and asking multiple questions
. 

Siri rested her head in her hand for a moment, overawed once again by their intelligence. 
“I’m going to shower.  Can you two behave while I get dressed?”

“Yes, but what’s for breakfast?  And aren’t we going to be late for school?”

Siri glanced at her clock and sighed.  “I think we need to skip school today,” she said and picked up the phone to let their school know they wouldn’t be in today.  She suspected that Malik would want to spend some time with them and she didn’t blame him. 

As she walked into the bathroom, she told herself that she wasn’t jealous of her sons’ day ahead.  She didn’t want to spend time with Malik, she needed to get some work done and he was off limits to her anyway. 

As she showered, she felt her whole body tingle with awareness.  She’d always felt this way when she knew that Malik was going to be back and she shook her head, refusing to become excited, both emotionally and physically, just because the guy was coming to see their sons.  She had to be firm, to stay away from him and not fall back into his arms.  If she just kept herself an
arm’s
length away, she should be safe. 

She added a bit more makeup, telling herself it was only because she looked so tired and wasn’t because she wanted to impress Malik.  He was nothing but the father to her sons and if she wanted to keep her children here with her, and not in some foreign country, she had to be firm.  No charm, no kissing, no making love ever again. 

She walked out to the kitchen, needing coffee pretty desperately at this point.  She looked out the window as she filled up the coffee pot with water, intending to make double what she would normally brew since Malik would probably need some as well. 

As she looked at her yard, her mind wondered where those frogs had hopped off to during the night.  She laughed softly, thinking about Sam’s expression when he saw all of his little treasures hopping around the kitchen and his sad little face when she put them outside instead of ‘safely’ back in the fridge. 

Something to the right caught her eye and she focused her attention.  When she didn’t see anything again, she relaxed and assumed she was just seeing things because she was so tired. 

Then she caught another movement, this time on the opposite side of her fence.  Was it a cat?  No, that was definitely too large to be a cat!  As she watched, she saw a man standing on the corner of her yard. 

Picking up the phone, she scrambled to find the on button, frantically trying to call the police.  Someone was in her back yard and they weren’t from this neighborhood.  She knew all the neighbors and large men with dark suits were not neighborly!

The doorbell rang at the same time she found the on button but she ran to the door, thinking that maybe it was Malik and he was in danger.  Sure enough, as soon as she peered through the peep hole, she saw him standing there. 

She whipped open the door and grabbed him by the middle of his shirt, then slammed the door shut behind him, leaning against it as she tried to dial, but her fingers were shaking so badly she couldn’t find the numbers.

“What’s wrong?” Malik demanded, putting a hand to her phone and stopping her fingers. 

“
Someone
…!” she tried to speak but she was too terrified.  “Out back!”

She tried to push his hand away but he stoppe
d her by grabbing her wrists.  “Are you telling me that t
here’s someone in the back yard?” 
h
e
clarified.

She nodded frantically. 
“Yes.
  Two men, I think.  They’re big
.  I don’t know them.  We need to call the police.”

He was already shaking his head before she finished her statement, putting
a reassuring hand over her own that were
trying to dial the phone. 
“Relax, Siri.  Those are my body guards.  Or at
least
part of the team.”

“Why are they in my back yard?” she gasped.  “You weren’t here!  They should be with you!”

He was already shaking his head.  “Siri, as soon as I realized that my sons were in this house, I had my team split up and surround the house.  They’ve been here all night long.  You heard me make the call
last night
.”

She stopped trying to press the buttons and looked up at him.  “Security? 
Body guards?”
  She looked around, trying to understand what he was telling her but the meaning of his words escaped her.  “But why are they here?”

He tried to be reassuring, but firm.  Having his children guarded was a non-negotiable issue.  And he wouldn’t allow her to be in danger either.  She was going to be his
wife,
she just didn’t know it yet. 
“Yes.  It’s necessary.  The boys can’t be without
body guards ever again
.  Nor can you, actually.”

She stood there, staring at him for a long moment. 
“What do you mean?”
  She really didn’t like where her thoughts were leading her at his statement. 

He raised an eyebrow.  “One of them will be my heir, Siri.  You had to know that this would happen.”

She was shaking her head and backing up.  “No,” she whispered.  “You can’t do that to them!”

“It’s the natural order of things,” he said, trying to calm her down.

She backed up, forgetting about the cell phone in her hands when he was telling her that one of her sons would be his heir while the other would be left behind, superfluous unless the first born died.  The possibility was horrible and divisive to her children.  They were great friends and raising them in this way would tear that bond apart. 
“Then stop the order!  Change it!”
  She didn’t even want them being rulers, much less one of them being Malik’s heir.  She’d known it was a possibility, but now with the reality of the future being shoved down her throat, she didn’t like it one little bit. 

“I can’t.  They’re my sons.  They’ll need to come back to
Duban
and learn to rule the country.  My people will demand it.”

“Then tell them no!  They aren’t going anywhere.”
  She stepped back, refusing the reassurance of his arms.  “If you’re in charge, then make them find someone else to rule when you’re….” she couldn’t say ‘dead’ or ‘gone’ or anything else that might force her to face this man’s mortality. 

He sighed and bowed his head, then raised it once again to look directly at her. 
“We’ll also have to marry.”

She gasped and stepped backwards.  “Marry?  You?”

“Of course.  You’re the mother of my children.  We have to marry.”

He said it like the marriage was a foregone conclusion.  In her mind, it was far from her future.  Not even a remote possibility! 
“Y
ou married some other woman!
”  She looked him up and down with disgust and frustration.  “Not only that, you married her
days
after…..sleeping with me!
  I won’t
marry you now.”

He shook his head.  “You’re tired from last night
and probably not thinking clearly
.  I shouldn’t have kept you up talking so long but let’s just put this issue aside until we can think more clearly about this.  Okay?”