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      ‘Never,’ Kedah said again.

      ‘Some also say that I am the rightful heir.’

      ‘Name them,’ Kedah responded with a challenge.

      Mohammed shook his head. ‘I cannot do that. However, should an Accession Council meeting be called...’

      ‘Why would that happen? Our father has stated that once I choose my bride I will have his full support.’

      ‘Kedah, we don’t want it go to the Accession Council. You know as well as I do that there are things that should be left unsaid. You have the power to halt the elders.’

      And Kedah saw his brother’s game plan then. Mohammed wanted the threat of his mother’s exposure to force Kedah aside.

      He had chosen the wrong man, though, for Kedah would never be bullied.

      ‘You really think I would step aside to appease the elders?’

      ‘No, but I feel you would for the sake of our mother’s integrity...’

      Mohammed had intended to prompt his brother finally to back down. Instead Kedah picked up his phone and called the palace. He was through to the King in a matter of moments.

      ‘I am calling a meeting of the Accession Council,’ he said to his father, and he stared his brother in the eyes as he did so. ‘This shall be dealt with once and for all. Do I have your support or do I not?’

      ‘Kedah...’ The King had known his youngest son had flown out and had been waiting for this call. ‘There is no need to call for a meeting. I have told you—return to Zazinia and choose your bride, appease the elders...’

      Kedah had heard enough.

      ‘The meeting will be held at sunset on Friday. You shall stand in support of your eldest son or not. If Mohammed is chosen it will not be left there. I shall take the decision to the people.’

      He threw down the phone and looked to his brother. ‘I mean it,’ Kedah warned him.

      ‘The elders say that if pushed they will demand a DNA test...’

      He waited for Kedah to crumble, for the Crown Prince to pale, but his brother gave a black laugh.

      ‘They embrace technology when it suits them.’ He dismissed the threat with a flick of his wrist, though privately he fought to keep that hand steady. ‘I am returning to Zazinia...’

      ‘Even though you know what it might do to our mother?’

      ‘Don’t turn this onto me,’ Kedah warned, and now he stood. ‘Don’t pretend for a minute that you are not behind this too. If and when I choose a bride—’

      ‘You cannot!’ Mohammed frowned, but backed off slightly as his brother approached. ‘Why would you do that to her?’

      ‘To whom?’ Kedah frowned too.

      ‘To your wife.’ Mohammed had stopped even pretending he wasn’t the one leading this coup. ‘I was just saying yesterday to Kumu—she married a prince who might one day be King. Whereas your bride will marry the Crown Prince who might one day be a commoner. You are in no position to choose a wife.’

      Kedah just gave another black laugh as he took his brother by the throat. He, too, had stopped pretending.

      ‘If my mother’s name is ever discredited I shall have you thrown in prison.’

      ‘You don’t seem to understand, Kedah. The power won’t be yours.’

      And Kedah’s response...?

      It had been banter when he had said it to Felicia, but there was no hint of that now, and he watched Mohammed pale as he delivered his threat. ‘Then I shall deal with you outside of the law.’

       CHAPTER TEN

      FELICIA SAT IN her office as Kedah’s other world intervened.

      Or rather his real world.

      This was all temporary. They had always had a use-by date and she had to remind herself of that.

      Not any more, though, for now there was no hiding from the truth.

      From her office she could see Mohammed striding out, one hand massaging his neck, and she guessed there had been a tussle.

      Felicia honestly could not deal with it now. She had been going through her calendar and trying to work out when her last period had been. Her world was a blur since she’d been working for Kedah.

      She couldn’t be pregnant?

      Surely!

      ‘Hey.’

      Felicia looked up and there he was. ‘How did it go?’ she asked.

      ‘He stated his case.’

      And, after weeks of wanting to know more, and a career based on revelation, suddenly Felicia didn’t want to know what had been said. She did not want to hear that their time was running out.

      ‘Shall we go and get dinner?’ Kedah suggested.

      ‘It’s not even five.’

      ‘Let’s go back to my apartment, then. We need to talk.’

      ‘I have a meeting with Vadia soon.’

      ‘Well, cancel it,’ he said. ‘We need to talk. Things are coming to a head back home. My brother has spoken with the elders. They want him as Crown Prince.’

      She said nothing.

      ‘My father seems to think if I choose a bride then we can put things off...’

      Very deliberately, Felicia did not flinch.

      ‘I have called for a meeting of the Accession Council this Friday at sunset.’ For once the arrogant Kedah was pale. ‘I shall leave on Thursday.’

      ‘For how long?’

      ‘I doubt it will be dealt with quickly. If the vote is in my favour I expect that things will get dirty, and the elders will do their best to question my lineage. I shall be busy there for the foreseeable future.’

      ‘Where does that leave me?’

      It was the neediest she had ever been, but thankfully Kedah took her at her selfish, career-focused best.

      ‘Your contract is for a year. Whatever happens to me.’

      It was like a slap on the cheek, but a necessary one, and it put her back in business mode.

      ‘And if it goes in your favour?’

      ‘Then it is time for me to step up.’

      And, whatever way it went, Felicia knew things would never be the same.

      ‘We need to sort out—’ Kedah started, but she interrupted him.

      ‘Not now.’

      Felicia wanted to curl up on her sofa and hide from the building panic. She wanted a night spent with chocolate, convincing herself that she couldn’t possibly be pregnant.

      She had been right never to mix business with pleasure, because she was finding it impossible to think objectively now—and that was what he had hired her to do after all.

      ‘I need to go home and think this through.’

      ‘You can think it through with me.’

      ‘No.’

      She couldn’t.

      Because when she was with him feelings clouded the issue. A part of her didn’t even want Kedah to be the rightful King, because if he was not that meant there might a chance for them.

      Oh, surely not?

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