Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
The savage self-contempt in the sheikh’s voice made Harper dug her fingers deeper into her palms, made her wish she had sharper, longer nails that could hurt her more – hurt her so much that she would no longer notice the way her battered heart had started to beat again, and just because he was here—-
When they both knew he couldn’t stay.
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she whispered.
“You didn’t have to. You would never have to—-”
“I don’t want to wake up one day and have you hate me because of what you lost.”
“It would never happen.” She started shaking her head and Khalil’s tone became fiercer. “Did you think I didn’t try to see if I could live without you? I tried. I fucking tried. I had to. Being the king was all that meant to me my entire life, but the two months you were gone—-”
“I don’t want to hear any more!”
Harper tried to run away, but the sheikh hauled her into his arms.
“No more!”
She shoved him away, and when it didn’t work, she beat his chest as hard as he could, forcing him to capture her wrists and lock them behind her wrists.
“Harper—-”
She was crying, the tears silently rushing down her cheeks, and the sheikh flinched.
“I know it would be better if I leave you alone,” he said roughly. “I know you’re going to suffer more when you’re with me. But I just can’t live without you—-”
Harper squeezed her eyes shut. “Please. Please stop this.”
“Every time I tried to thought of another day without you by my side, the fucking air around me changes—-”
“PLEASE STOP.”
“And I can’t breathe—-”
“Please.” Harper was sobbing now. “Please stop doing this—-”
“My heart doesn’t beat right—-”
“I don’t want to go back,” Harper screamed.
The sheikh turned ashen, and she nearly broke apart at the look of devastation on his face. She didn’t want to hurt him like this. She loved him, loved him more than she loved anything. But she also knew he could only be himself when he was king—-
“Y-you heard me, so stop this. I don’t want to go back—-”
The sheikh started shaking his head.
Harper bit her lip hard. “I will never want to go back—-”
He released her wrists to grip her shoulders hard. “YOU DO. You do, damn you.” But the desperation in his tone, the wildness in his gaze, told both of them he didn’t seem to believe this any more than she did. “You have to come back to me because I love you—-” He stared at her, willing her to say the words that would tell him he still had hope.
But she only cried as she shook her head—-
And the sheikh slid to his knees.
A painful gasp escaped her. “Khalil, no—-”
He stared up at her. “You’re my other half, Harper.”
Her hands flew to her mouth.
“Not the throne. Not the kingdom. But you. Just you.”
But this time, the sheikh’s tone was dull, and pain strangled her throat at the sound of it. He wasn’t supposed to be this hurt. He was supposed to be able to move on because he had the kingdom, and wasn’t that the most precious thing to him?
“So I’ll say it again.”
His own voice shook, and a shuddering sob wrecked her body at the sound of it.
“And this time – this time, your answer will be different.”
But in his eyes, she could see only emptiness, could see that the sheikh no longer believed in what he was saying—-
“I love you.”
Words that were whispered as if it was the only thing the sheikh could live for, words spoken with such pain that it vanquished all her fears and made her legs give out.
Oh God.
He had meant it.
This man loved her more than his throne, his kingdom—-
More than everything—-
And Harper threw her arms around him. I love you. She cupped his face and wept harder at the sight of his own tear-stained eyes. I love you. She pressed her lips to his own. I love you.
Epilogue
One moment later
News channels all over the world were celebrating. For the first time in history, they were televising something that was watched more than the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Oscars’ Red Carpet combined.
“And its global reach is just unbelievable,” a CNN reporter exclaimed. “The 2008 Summer Olympics is nothing compared to the numbers we’re seeing. It seems like the whole world truly believes the results of this election can prove whether two cultures can exist peacefully.”
“It doesn’t hurt at all that the people who have flown in to show their support for Emir Sheikh Khalil Al-Atassi are very familiar faces to the public,” an E! program host remarked.
“You can say that again,” the show’s correspondent agreed fervently.
“Can you give us a rundown on who’s showed up so far?”
“Sure can do.”
“There’s the newly formed Greek Coalition, made up by Stavros Manolis, Kyrillos Gazis, Damen Leventis, Ioniko Vlahos, Acheron Simonides, and Mykolas Sallis. I heard from very good authority that this extremely powerful group of businessmen has stated they’d be withdrawing their support for the Ramilian government if the council votes for the Emir Sheikh’s abdication.”