insensitive, brutal, cold.
No doubt she’d be thrown into the depths of Port Jahfar’s dankest prison, should she raise a hand to their king, and yet that wasn’t what stopped her. It was the thought of her baby.
“You are the vilest person I know, do you realize that? Why did you bring me here? Why did you ever come find me if all you wanted to do was shatter my heart like this? You lied when you said I was in love with you. I could never,
ever
have loved a man like you.”
“That’s a very charming speech,” he said. “But you know why you’re here. If I had not come for you, I would be committing a terrible fraud when I take a new wife and queen.”
“Of course,” she said bitterly. “It’s all about
you.
About your feelings and your wants. You could care less about mine. And you damn sure could care less about our little boy’s!”
“Be careful what you say to me, Isabella,” he growled. “Jahfar is not so modern as you might wish, and if you continue to push me, you will find out precisely how ruthless I can be.”
“I think I already know,” she flung at him.
“You really don’t,” he said silkily. “What could be more ruthless than separating a mother and child?”
His eyes narrowed, the corners crinkling with years of sun and wind. She could see the harshness of the desert in his face, the struggle for survival that punctuated life in that wilderness. He was a king, but he wasn’t tame by any standard—would never be tame. She shivered, as if in premonition. His words were coated in ice. “Abandoning a child to grow up without a mother is far more ruthless than anything I have ever done.”
CHAPTER FIVE
A DAN sat at the large carved desk in his office and stared stonily at his private solicitor. “What do you mean, my divorce will take
some
time?”
The solicitor cleared his throat. “The marriage contract with Isabella Maro is very clear, Your Excellency. If she does not agree to the divorce, then only if she is barren can you set aside the contract. This is not an issue, clearly.”
Adan’s blood pressure skyrocketed.
“But there are extenuating circumstances,” the man continued, “and those will be a factor in presenting our case that your marriage should be dissolved, with or without her agreement.”
Adan tossed his pen down on the desk with a sharp crack. Damn her! She was proving to be nothing but trouble after all. He’d read the contract before he’d ever signed it, but, of course, nothing about it had been out of the ordinary. Though it was true that Jahfaran men had much of the power, women were not without protection. He could not divorce her for no reason.
He shoved to his feet and paced over to the window. “What about the coronation?”
The solicitor cleared his throat. “You are married andcan proceed. But no crowned king of Jahfar has ever divorced his queen.”
Adan turned to look at the man. “But
can
it be done?”
He was determined that Isabella was not going to win this battle by default. She was not the sort of woman he wanted to mother his son. Rafiq’s welfare was paramount. There was nothing more important to him.
“I am not certain of it, Your Excellency. There is no precedent to go by.”
“Keep me informed,” Adan said by way of dismissal. The solicitor bowed and Mahmoud showed him out.
Adan’s gut burned with rage at the predicament he now found himself in. But there was something more swirling inside him, some other feeling that had an edge of … anticipation?
He shoved the thought aside. What was there to anticipate? Isabella infuriated him and the longer he spent in her company, the more he wanted to grasp her by the shoulders and …
Kiss her.
No.
He wanted to shake her, not kiss her.
But you do want to kiss her. Everywhere.
No,
he thought.
No.
He’d kissed her once, and that had been enough. She was poisonous; he would not risk bringing her into Rafiq’s life again. He did not know why she’d left them, but it
No doubt she’d be thrown into the depths of Port Jahfar’s dankest prison, should she raise a hand to their king, and yet that wasn’t what stopped her. It was the thought of her baby.
“You are the vilest person I know, do you realize that? Why did you bring me here? Why did you ever come find me if all you wanted to do was shatter my heart like this? You lied when you said I was in love with you. I could never,
ever
have loved a man like you.”
“That’s a very charming speech,” he said. “But you know why you’re here. If I had not come for you, I would be committing a terrible fraud when I take a new wife and queen.”
“Of course,” she said bitterly. “It’s all about
you.
About your feelings and your wants. You could care less about mine. And you damn sure could care less about our little boy’s!”
“Be careful what you say to me, Isabella,” he growled. “Jahfar is not so modern as you might wish, and if you continue to push me, you will find out precisely how ruthless I can be.”
“I think I already know,” she flung at him.
“You really don’t,” he said silkily. “What could be more ruthless than separating a mother and child?”
His eyes narrowed, the corners crinkling with years of sun and wind. She could see the harshness of the desert in his face, the struggle for survival that punctuated life in that wilderness. He was a king, but he wasn’t tame by any standard—would never be tame. She shivered, as if in premonition. His words were coated in ice. “Abandoning a child to grow up without a mother is far more ruthless than anything I have ever done.”
CHAPTER FIVE
A DAN sat at the large carved desk in his office and stared stonily at his private solicitor. “What do you mean, my divorce will take
some
time?”
The solicitor cleared his throat. “The marriage contract with Isabella Maro is very clear, Your Excellency. If she does not agree to the divorce, then only if she is barren can you set aside the contract. This is not an issue, clearly.”
Adan’s blood pressure skyrocketed.
“But there are extenuating circumstances,” the man continued, “and those will be a factor in presenting our case that your marriage should be dissolved, with or without her agreement.”
Adan tossed his pen down on the desk with a sharp crack. Damn her! She was proving to be nothing but trouble after all. He’d read the contract before he’d ever signed it, but, of course, nothing about it had been out of the ordinary. Though it was true that Jahfaran men had much of the power, women were not without protection. He could not divorce her for no reason.
He shoved to his feet and paced over to the window. “What about the coronation?”
The solicitor cleared his throat. “You are married andcan proceed. But no crowned king of Jahfar has ever divorced his queen.”
Adan turned to look at the man. “But
can
it be done?”
He was determined that Isabella was not going to win this battle by default. She was not the sort of woman he wanted to mother his son. Rafiq’s welfare was paramount. There was nothing more important to him.
“I am not certain of it, Your Excellency. There is no precedent to go by.”
“Keep me informed,” Adan said by way of dismissal. The solicitor bowed and Mahmoud showed him out.
Adan’s gut burned with rage at the predicament he now found himself in. But there was something more swirling inside him, some other feeling that had an edge of … anticipation?
He shoved the thought aside. What was there to anticipate? Isabella infuriated him and the longer he spent in her company, the more he wanted to grasp her by the shoulders and …
Kiss her.
No.
He wanted to shake her, not kiss her.
But you do want to kiss her. Everywhere.
No,
he thought.
No.
He’d kissed her once, and that had been enough. She was poisonous; he would not risk bringing her into Rafiq’s life again. He did not know why she’d left them, but it
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