time, she’d been overwhelmed by everything about him and the way he made her feel.
She sank down into the one of the kitchen chairs, lowering her head onto her palm, trying to calm down enough to go back to work. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the limousine pull away and drive out of the parking lot and thought she even saw two dark SUVs in front of and following the long car. Yet another mystery, she thought.
Wiping the tears away, she pushed herself up and forced herself to walk down to Mary’s office. “Is payroll ready yet?” she asked, trying for an even tone.
Mary did a double take when she saw Siri’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Siri shook her head and smiled. “Nothing. I just had a bad memory but it’s gone now. Everything is fine.”
They went through the payroll issues, but Siri’s mind was stuck on Malik and his parting words. What did he mean about not being finished ? Did he mean that he wasn’t gone?
It didn’t matter if he decided that things weren’t finished between the two of them. She wasn’t some powerless college kid just hanging out waiting for her big shot boyfriend to sweep into town and pick her up. She was a business woman with things to do, children to raise and….
Oh no! What would Malik do if he realized that Jacob and Samuel were his sons? Hadn’t the paper mentioned something about him not being able to conceive with his first wife? What would he do if he realized he had a ready made heir already set to be trained?
“I need to go, Mary,” Siri said quickly , fighting the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her and left the office. “Wait, did you need me to sign anything?”
“Here,” Mary replied, pointing to the end of month payroll statement. She pointed out several items that needed Siri’s approval, explained a few other issues and then nodded when all was signed at the bottom, allowing the payroll to be disbursed. Normally they went through the statement more thoroughly, but Siri simply couldn’t focus on the numbers today. Not after Malik’s visit!
“Thanks Mary. I’m sorry I was so distracted today.”
“No problem. We can go over the details tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” Siri said and rushed out of the building. She was a little earlier than normal to pick up her boys, but not abnormally so. Sometimes she would pick them up and just go to the park. She’d do that today, just to spend some time with them, to make sure they were okay which was completely ridiculous except that she knew of the imminent threat to their compact little world .
The thought of Malik finding out about them was so terrifying, she couldn’t even conceive of what would happen. He needed heirs, and apparently, there was a great deal of pressure for him to marry immediately and have sons to carry on his legacy and the prosperity of Malik’s reign . But the man didn’t know that he already had two perfectly healthy children, who were absolutely wonderful and spirited and intelligent and….
No, she wouldn’t allow them to be taken away from her. He’d rejected them four years ago , he could just go have children with someone other female ! Let those kids be his heir, away from everything that was normal to them. She didn’t want her boys to have that kind of royal pressure and to have their future choices taken away from them at the tender age of three . She wanted them to be raised with hugs and kisses and the fear of asking out a girl for the first time, of football games and soccer and she might even torture them with piano lessons.
She automatically stopped at a red light and rested her head on the hard, unforgiving steering wheel. Was she doing the right thing? If the roles were reversed, how would she feel if he hid her children from him?
It didn’t matter if it was a ridiculous argument, she knew exactly how she would feel if her children were hidden from her knowledge. She’d
She sank down into the one of the kitchen chairs, lowering her head onto her palm, trying to calm down enough to go back to work. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the limousine pull away and drive out of the parking lot and thought she even saw two dark SUVs in front of and following the long car. Yet another mystery, she thought.
Wiping the tears away, she pushed herself up and forced herself to walk down to Mary’s office. “Is payroll ready yet?” she asked, trying for an even tone.
Mary did a double take when she saw Siri’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Siri shook her head and smiled. “Nothing. I just had a bad memory but it’s gone now. Everything is fine.”
They went through the payroll issues, but Siri’s mind was stuck on Malik and his parting words. What did he mean about not being finished ? Did he mean that he wasn’t gone?
It didn’t matter if he decided that things weren’t finished between the two of them. She wasn’t some powerless college kid just hanging out waiting for her big shot boyfriend to sweep into town and pick her up. She was a business woman with things to do, children to raise and….
Oh no! What would Malik do if he realized that Jacob and Samuel were his sons? Hadn’t the paper mentioned something about him not being able to conceive with his first wife? What would he do if he realized he had a ready made heir already set to be trained?
“I need to go, Mary,” Siri said quickly , fighting the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her and left the office. “Wait, did you need me to sign anything?”
“Here,” Mary replied, pointing to the end of month payroll statement. She pointed out several items that needed Siri’s approval, explained a few other issues and then nodded when all was signed at the bottom, allowing the payroll to be disbursed. Normally they went through the statement more thoroughly, but Siri simply couldn’t focus on the numbers today. Not after Malik’s visit!
“Thanks Mary. I’m sorry I was so distracted today.”
“No problem. We can go over the details tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” Siri said and rushed out of the building. She was a little earlier than normal to pick up her boys, but not abnormally so. Sometimes she would pick them up and just go to the park. She’d do that today, just to spend some time with them, to make sure they were okay which was completely ridiculous except that she knew of the imminent threat to their compact little world .
The thought of Malik finding out about them was so terrifying, she couldn’t even conceive of what would happen. He needed heirs, and apparently, there was a great deal of pressure for him to marry immediately and have sons to carry on his legacy and the prosperity of Malik’s reign . But the man didn’t know that he already had two perfectly healthy children, who were absolutely wonderful and spirited and intelligent and….
No, she wouldn’t allow them to be taken away from her. He’d rejected them four years ago , he could just go have children with someone other female ! Let those kids be his heir, away from everything that was normal to them. She didn’t want her boys to have that kind of royal pressure and to have their future choices taken away from them at the tender age of three . She wanted them to be raised with hugs and kisses and the fear of asking out a girl for the first time, of football games and soccer and she might even torture them with piano lessons.
She automatically stopped at a red light and rested her head on the hard, unforgiving steering wheel. Was she doing the right thing? If the roles were reversed, how would she feel if he hid her children from him?
It didn’t matter if it was a ridiculous argument, she knew exactly how she would feel if her children were hidden from her knowledge. She’d
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