LITMIR.BIZ

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interested in anything about me and what I do, or where I live.’

      ‘You are the mother of my child,’ he said as if that answered everything.

      And then she remembered why she was here and could have laughed at her own stupidity. This wasn’t about some romantic reunion of past lovers. This was about a man with self-preservation on his mind. ‘We’ve already established that you don’t care about that.’

      ‘I care.’

      Imogen curled her lip. What he meant was that he cared about how much cash she was going to hit him up for.

      ‘I get it,’ she said tonelessly. ‘And while I think it’s incredibly selfish of you not to want to provide for your own flesh and blood you’ll no doubt be relieved to know that I don’t want anything from you and I never will.’

      ‘Excuse me?’

      ‘Nor do I expect that you will want to see her and that’s more than okay with me as well.’

      He started to laugh and she felt even more disgusted with him. ‘I don’t see what’s so amusing. It’s a travesty if you really think about it too much. Which I try not to do.’

      ‘You’re serious.’

      ‘I certainly don’t think abandoning your own child is something to laugh about, but maybe that’s just me.’

      ‘Except I didn’t abandon her—you took her.’

      ‘Are we back to that again?’

      His eyebrow rose. ‘Did we ever leave it?’

      ‘I want to go home, Nadir.’

      ‘That’s not possible,’ he said briskly. ‘I should have already left for Bakaan by now.’

       His homeland?

      ‘Please don’t let me stop you.’

      One corner of his mouth quirked in a parody of a smile. ‘I don’t intend to. But unfortunately we have run out of time to get things you might need from your house. If you write me a list I’ll make sure you have everything on hand when we arrive. We shouldn’t be gone long. A day at the most.’

      Imogen blinked. ‘We?’

      ‘That’s what I said.’

      ‘You must be mad.’

      He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started dialling as if he hadn’t heard her.

      ‘Nadir, what are you doing?’

      He looked up at her. ‘Claiming what is mine.’

      Imogen waited a beat before responding. Waited for the punchline. When he stared back with all the confidence of a man used to getting his own way she felt dizzy.

      ‘I am not yours and I never was!’

      He raised an eyebrow. ‘I meant Nadeena.’

       Sanctimonious bastard.

      Embarrassed at her gaffe, Imogen hauled the baby bag over her shoulder. ‘Didn’t you just hear me? I said I don’t want anything from you.’

      ‘I heard you.’

      She shook her head. ‘I’m going.’

      Before she had time to reach Nadeena, Nadir abandoned his call and yanked the bag off her shoulder, spinning her around to face him. ‘You’ve stolen the first five months of my daughter’s life from me.’ His voice seemed to harden with every word even though its tenor didn’t change. ‘You won’t be stealing any more.’

      Stolen? Imogen’s knees started to shake and the sense of dread from earlier returned with force. ‘I haven’t stolen anything. And how do you know she’s even really yours?’

      A grim smile crooked the corner of his mouth. ‘She has my eyes.’

      ‘Lots of people have silvery-blue eyes,’ she said on a rush. ‘They’re as common as mice.’ Rats.

      One dark eyebrow rose. ‘You gave her an Arabic name.’

      ‘Nadeena was a great-aunt of mine.’

      ‘And you’re proving to be a terrible liar. Which is in your favour.’

      ‘I don’t understand this at all.’ She threw her arms up in front of her. ‘You don’t even want children. Why would you want us to go with you?’

      He widened his stance and her eyes couldn’t help but notice his strong legs and lean torso. God, did he have to be quite so damned virile?

      ‘How do you know that?’

      Gossip, mainly. She lifted her chin and focused on his hard face, which wasn’t much better. ‘Well, do you?’ she asked coolly.

      ‘I’d say that’s a moot point now, wouldn’t you?’

      ‘No, I most definitely would not. I’d say it’s very relevant considering the way you’re behaving.’

      ‘Sometimes, Imogen, life throws us curve balls but that doesn’t mean we have to drop them. I don’t need a DNA test to confirm that I have a child.’

      Frustration made her voice sharper than usual. ‘Of course you need to do a DNA test. What kind of crazy talk is that? No rich man in his right mind would take on a child as his own without doing a DNA test.’

      Nadir laughed and this time it rang with genuine amusement. ‘You always were just that little bit different from the pack, habibi.’ His voice, so gentle and deep, brought a rush of memories back into her dizzy brain. ‘But you need not worry. I plan to do my duty by her.’

       His duty?

      A sense of terror entered her heart. Was that what he meant by saying he’d be claiming what was his? She didn’t want to know. Not right now. ‘I don’t need you to do the right thing by Nadeena.’ She’d been looking out for herself for a long time now and she could look out for her child as well.

      Nadir raked an impatient hand through his hair. ‘Nevertheless, I will.’ His striking eyes narrowed. ‘Now quit arguing and give me a list of things you will need for our flight to Bakaan.’

      Striving for calm, Imogen tried to slow down her heart that was banging away inside her chest so loudly he must surely be able to hear it. Right now she felt as if she was trying to survive a fierce gale that was corralling her towards the edge of a very high cliff. Then a horrible thought froze the blood inside her veins. ‘I won’t let you take my baby, Nadir.’ She hated that her voice rang with fear. ‘If that’s your plan.’ She’d never even considered it before but now that she had she couldn’t push it from her mind.

      He glanced at her impatiently. ‘If I wanted that then you couldn’t stop me.’

      ‘I could. I’d...’ Panic clawed inside her throat. ‘I’ll...’

      ‘But I don’t want that.’ He made an impatient gesture with his hands. ‘I am not so callous that I don’t realise that a baby needs its mother. That is why I plan to marry you.’

       Marry her!

      She shook her head, biting back a rising sense of hysteria. She needed time to make sense of everything that was happening and she couldn’t because her mind didn’t know which way to turn.

      ‘Breathe, Imogen.’ Nadir went to put his hands on her shoulders and she jerked back, wondering how he had got so close to her without her being aware of it.

      Imogen shook her head, fear spiking inside her like a flash of lightning. ‘You’re crazy to think that I’d marry you after the way you treated me.’

      Nadir’s mouth thinned and he stepped closer to her, contained anger emanating from every taut line of his body. ‘I can assure you that I’m not. I’ve

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