nothing. No magic bond.
He gritted his teeth. “Yes, I think having you as a wife actually suits my purposes well. I’ve had a career change in the past few years and it will sometimes be good for me to have a wife to attend galas and things of that nature with me.”
“Galas?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t sign on to attend galas. I signed on to be a mother to my own child.” He noticed that she adamantly continued to refuse to call Leena his child, “and to be left alone in one of your penthouses. In a location of my choosing, if I remember correctly.”
“Perhaps I have changed what I expect. I ought to get something additional out of the deal, don’t you think? And since sex isn’t on offer I think the least you can do is put on a ball gown and hang on my arm at business functions.”
She lifted her chin, lioness eyes glittering with deadly intent. “Whatever you wish, of course.”
Such a dangerous acquiescence. He could tell she meant none of it, but that she was willing to play along with anything at this point. Anything to keep Leena close to her.
That realization made his chest burn, as though her conviction was so strong it had lit a spark within him. His child deserved that. This intense protectiveness, born of love, that Jada wore so proudly. And Leena would not get it from him. He could not give it.
All the better that Jada would be in residence.
“Somehow, I don’t believe that,” he said. “But I don’t require your obedience.”
“Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “No. Where’s the fun in that? I prefer women who like a challenge.”
“I prefer you not think of me as a woman.”
He looked over her petite figure. Small, perfectly formed breasts, gently rounded hips. “It’s a bit late for that. It’s the curves. They give you away.”
She lifted her chin, golden eyes burning with fire. “I’m ready to see my room now.”
“Then I shall call Adira.”
Jada had been forbidden from putting her own things away by Alik’s very stern head of the household. There were people for that sort of thing, and she was not to trouble herself. That extended to Leena’s things. Both of which had arrived, inexplicably, only hours after they did.
Alik had made good on his every promise so far, which made it truly difficult to hate him too much.
Leena was his daughter, after all, and regardless of how she felt about his behavior, about how irresponsible one had to be to get into such a situation, she couldn’t deny that he was Leena’s father.
How could she deny Leena a chance to know him? That Jada had been the one to love her and care for her did make her more important in her estimation, but the biological connection between Alik and Leena wasn’t nothing.
The morality of the entire situation was sticky and horrible.
Jada sank onto her bed and watched Leena, toddling around the exterior of her blanket before sitting down a little bit too hard, her movements wobbly and clumsy. She didn’t cry. She just clapped her chubby hands.
Jada slid off the edge of the bed and clasped one of Leena’s hands in hers, ran a finger along the little dimples that disguised her knuckles. The price for this, for being with her daughter, wasn’t too high.
There would never be a price too high. If she hadn’t agreed to the marriage, to coming here with him, then she would have lost her child forever.
And if she’d agreed to be the nanny, she would have lost the position that was rightfully hers. After the doctors, she’d been the first person to hold Leena. She’d been the one who’d spent countless sleepless nights pacing the halls with a squalling child in her arms.
She was Leena’s mother in every way that mattered. Marrying a stranger, leaving her home, her country, it was a small sacrifice for moments like these, and every moment in the future.
Leena was her life. Nothing else mattered.
“Settling in, I see.”
Jada turned and saw Alik standing in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him approach, hadn’t heard the door to the bedroom open. He was almost supernaturally stealthy. It was a bit unnerving. But then, the man was unnerving in general.
“Yes. We are. I don’t think Leena is fazed at all by the different surroundings.”
“I think it would be different if you weren’t here.”
She blinked, not expecting the compliment. Not expecting him to understand. “You’re very right about that.”
“I made some calls. I was able