LITMIR.BIZ

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      Then the relative silence that would descend when they returned to their private lives—his mother would retreat to her wing, his father to his.

      ‘Do I look unhappy, Alim?’ Rina asked.

      He looked over. No, her features were relaxed and, as she often did, Rina smiled her gentle smile.

      ‘You barely communicate,’ Alim pointed out, but his mother shook her head. ‘I have just come from a meeting with your father—we have one each working day.’

      Alim accepted that, but that was for the running of the country—a private life between them did not exist. ‘You sleep in a separate wing of the palace.’

      ‘And we do so at my request,’ Rina said. ‘Alim, I love my country. Growing up, I always knew that I would likely be chosen and that I would one day be queen. I did my duty, I had three beautiful children who I have raised well; I continue to work hard for my country and I live a very privileged life.’

      Rina knew she needed to say more.

      Oh, she was very schooled in the rules, and had studied them closely.

      Yes, Zethlehan was progressive in many ways, for all needs were served.

      Save love, for it was not taken into consideration in the rules.

      Still, it was a delicate topic and Rina took a moment to consider before she spoke on. ‘Alim, just because I don’t have a loving marriage, it does not mean that I don’t know love.’

      Distracted by his thoughts of Gabi, it took a moment for his mother’s words to sink in and he looked up at her.

      Was she telling him that she had a lover?

      That the times her husband was away were not so lonely after all, that she had her own reasons for sleeping in a separate wing of the palace?

      The silence between them was loaded but Rina gave a slight shake of her head. ‘I am saying no more than that.’

      It was as if every grain of desert sand had shifted as his mother told him without detail that she was happy. That somehow their relationship had been made to work for them.

      ‘Your father and I have made it work for everyone...’ Then she saw Alim’s jaw tighten and amended, ‘I do feel sorry for James,’ she admitted. ‘He deserves more of his father.’ It was the first time his name had been spoken within these walls. ‘That should have been handled better, but it is your father who makes the rules.’

      Alim nodded.

      ‘Talk to your love, Alim.’

      ‘I did not say anything about love.’

      ‘Talk to your lover, then. That is the one solution to all ills.’

      ‘How?’ he asked. ‘She would never come to the desert.’

      ‘I have studied this very closely.’ Rina smiled and tapped the hated large, leather-bound file that sat on his desk. ‘There is nowhere in the diktat that mentions phones.’

      Alim smiled.

      ‘If anyone can sort things out, it is you.’

      Alim was not so sure but he knew that neither distance nor silence was working.

      And it was for that reason that he picked up the phone and, rather than chase up Bastiano regarding the sale, he called the reception desk at the Grande Lucia.

      ‘Pronto. May I speak with Gabi?’

      ‘Gabi?’ The female voice that answered was an unfamiliar one and didn’t seem to know to whom Alim was referring.

      ‘She is organising a wedding there,’ he explained.

      ‘Oh, that Gabi!’ came the response, and it was clear that she now knew who Alim meant. ‘I think she is still on maternity leave.’

      ‘Maternity leave?’

      The palace must be sitting on a fault line, Alim thought, because for the second time in an hour the sands seemed to shift.

      ‘I think you have the wrong person,’ he said, but the receptionist wasn’t listening—she was talking to a colleague. Alim could hear his rapid breathing as in the background a male voice spoke and then the receptionist amended her words.

      ‘No, no, my mistake.’

      Alim didn’t even have a chance to register relief before she spoke again.

      ‘Apparently Gabi is back from her leave today.’

      Alim’s mind worked rapidly,

      If indeed Gabi had been on maternity leave then the baby had to be his. It was practically nine months to the day since they had slept together and she had certainly been a virgin then.

      Yet the dates confused him. Alim certainly wasn’t an expert in pregnancy, but this woman was telling him that Gabi was already back from maternity leave.

      Alim thought of the last time he had seen Gabi and she hadn’t looked pregnant, but, then again, he had done all he could not to look at her.

      Alim knew that he had to speak with Gabi.

      Alone.

      But how?

      A possibility was starting to come to mind and when he spoke his voice was even and calm, for Alim rarely revealed his emotions.

      ‘Actually, rather than Gabi, may I speak with Bernadetta?’

      ‘Can I ask who is calling?’

      ‘It is Alim.’

      He heard her nervous gasp. ‘Sultan al—’

      Alim spoke over her, for his patience was running out. ‘Just get Bernadetta on the line.’

      He stood and, just as he had needed air the day his father had invoked the diktat, he walked out of the French windows and onto the large balcony.

      Unlike then, the air was not cool, it was hot and dry, though it was calming to Alim and he gladly breathed it in, his eyes narrowing against the fierce sun as he looked out at the desert.

      He could speak with Gabi there, unheard by others; only there could they discuss things fully.

      There was no doubt a frantic search was under way at the Grande Lucia for the rather elusive Bernadetta and it gave time for Alim’s plans to take better shape.

      ‘Pronto,’ he said when a nervous Bernadetta finally came to the phone.

      ‘Sultan Alim...’ Bernadetta attempted to purr into the phone but it was more of a croak. ‘How lovely to hear from you. It’s been a long time.’

      ‘Indeed. I was wondering,’ Alim said, ‘if Matrimoni di Bernadetta had the necessary skills to co-organise a royal wedding here in Zethlehan.’

      He heard her slight gasp. ‘Of course. It would be not just an honour but a pleasure...’ Bernadetta fawned but Alim swiftly broke in.

      ‘Then I need Gabi here by tomorrow,’

      ‘Gabi? Oh, no, I wouldn’t be sending my assistant!’ Bernadetta immediately responded. ‘I would take care of every detail myself—’

      ‘Bernadetta,’ Alim interrupted her again. ‘You have a good head for business and you hire only the best, but we both know that it is Gabi who turns a wedding into an unforgettable creation.’

      He soothed her vast ego yet he got to the point.

      ‘I want Gabi here.’

      ‘Indeed, she’s excellent, but Gabi might not be available to travel at short notice. You see, she has recently—’

      Alim swiftly cut in. He did not want Bernadetta to reveal that Gabi had just had a baby. Alim was very well aware that should Gabi find out that he knew, there would not be a hope in

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