to secure us a marriage license and it’s all in order for the ceremony to take place this weekend.”
Her throat tightened, her mouth going dry. “I imagine your connection with the sheikh helped on this one.”
“It didn’t hurt.”
Why was the room spinning now? It seemed like it was spinning. “This morning, I woke up and got ready to go to the courthouse to finally get this adoption finalized. I thought, there’s no way he’ll get here in time and they’ll just rule him as absentee. Now, I’m in a foreign country with a man I barely know, and I’m marrying him in three days.” She said it all out loud, like it might help make it real. And if it wasn’t real, maybe speaking out loud would wake her up from this bizarre dream.
“And this morning,” he said, his voice quiet, “I got word that the hearing date had been changed and I went to a courthouse in another country, to make sure that I didn’t lose the chance of ever seeing my own child. Knowing if I missed it, I may never even get a chance to look at her.”
For the first time, she realized that Alik’s life had been upended, too. Even if the upending was a result of his own actions. “I suppose we’ve both had a strange day.”
He straightened. “To say the least.” The gravity was now absent from his tone. “One of the strangest I’ve had, and if you were aware of my past history you would know that’s saying something.”
“I get that vibe from you.”
“Do you?”
“Nothing about you seems typical.”
Not even close. He was like a predatory animal in human form. Easy grace and harnessed power. But with the ability to spring into action and tear out someone’s throat in the blink of an eye. He’d looked at home in his denim and rumpled shirt, tattoos on display, and just as comfortable in a custom-tailored suit. He was a man who shifted identities as easily as breathing.
“I suppose not,” he said. His words were oddly flat.
“So what is it you do?” she asked.
He looked surprised. For the first time since all of this had happened, since she’d met him, he actually looked caught off guard. “What do I do?”
“For work. For money. Other than…having sheikhs be indebted to you and gifting you palaces, that is.”
“Right now? I’m a tactical expert. I go into corporations and help with strategies. How to take out the competition. Plans to increase productivity and profit. Whatever they need.”
“Taking out the competition?”
A half smile curved his lips. Wicked. Wicked was the only word for that smile of his. “It’s a clever little take on what I used to do, but that’s another story.”
“And do you do this for everyone? At some point aren’t you working both sides?”
“Sometimes. But I am always one hundred percent loyal to whoever is paying for my services at a given time. It suits me. I don’t want to man a massive corporation—I prefer to be a free agent. This allows me to move as I please.”
“Given the financial information mentioned at the hearing you do very well at this.”
“I do all right,” he said.
Yeah. Eight figures of all right, but she wasn’t going to say that. It was crass to talk about money, at least that’s what her parents had always said.
“I’m just…I’m very tired,” she said.
He looked down at Leena. “Will she sleep for you or shall I send one of my staff to help you?”
She felt drained suddenly. Incapable of doing anything but crawling into bed, pulling the covers over her head and trying to forget the entire day had happened. Trying to forget that this was her life.
She recognized this. Shock. Grief in a way. It was the loss of the life she’d planned for her and Leena.
“She’ll be fine,” she said. No way was she letting her daughter out of her sight. In fact, she doubted she’d even be using the adjoining room for her. She had a feeling she’d just pull the crib in and place it by her bed.
“As long as you’re certain.”
“I need her with me.”
“Of course,” he said. It was strange how he said it. His words lacked emotion. They lacked understanding. As though he didn’t really get why she might need Leena close.
“I guess we’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“Yes. We will need to discuss wedding plans.”
“I don’t care about them,” she said. “Hire someone else to do it.”
“I was planning on it, but still, someone will have