Her Surprise Baby Christmas (Evermore Book 4) Read online

  It was Malik who turned, slowly, to face her, Malik whose eyes, so black they were like shining coal, regarded her with the coldness and dislike that had always been a part of his response to her.

  And heat flicked at her spine, the instant, unwelcome recognition a biological response to him she had learned to flatten, to ignore. A response she was glad she didn’t have to fight often – by silent yet mutual consent, they avoided one another as much as possible. She hadn’t seen Malik in at least six months, since he’d come to Addan’s birthday ball with a Swedish supermodel, and danced with her all night, his body cleaved to hers, his eyes promising seduction and heat that had made Sophia blush.

  She blushed now, at the memory, and to cover it, assumed a cross expression. “What are you doing here?” She forgot, in that moment, that she generally attempted to preserve an air of respect. He was, after all, second in line to the throne. Besides which, Addan adored him – and revered him in equal measure.

  “Earlier today, my brother, His Royal Highness Sheikh Addan bin Hazari, died.”

  The words, spoken in her native English, jarred, like stones in the sole of her shoe. They landed against her ears but she couldn’t make sense of them, she couldn’t unravel them. She shook her head, certain she’d misheard. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, lifting a hand to her throat, toying with the necklace there. “What did you say?”

  “My brother is dead.”

  Belatedly, realization hit Sophia and she stumbled backwards, reaching for something, anything to support her. Only there was nothing, just air, and it was not thick enough. She shook her head, unable to accept this, needing him to explain why he would say something so cruel, why he would lie to her.

  But mistaking her anger for something weaker, he crossed the room, lifting her up, holding her to his chest, cradling her and staring down at her with the same resentment she’d always felt from him. “It was an accident,” he said quietly, his face expressionless now, his eyes bitter. “It happened quickly.”

  She wanted to tell him to put her down, but she was quivering from head to toe, and grief splintered through her, tearing her apart. “I don’t believe it.”

  “I understand,” he said, the words loaded with his own sadness. “Nor did I, at first.”

  “It can’t be…”

  “I have seen his body,” he said, and she realized she was being held by the only person on earth who could understand the emptiness of her heart. That Addan’s death bonded them in an awful, horrifying way.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, looking up at him, seeing the pain, the raw despair in his stony features and sobbing suddenly. “What happened?” She asked again.

  “The helicopter he was flying; the blades stalled.”

  “Don’t,” she shuddered, burying her face in Malik’s shirt, his masculine, musky fragrance lacing through her on a biological level. “Don’t tell me he took that damned thing…”

  Addan had been restoring an old helicopter for years, tinkering with it, loving it for its rudimentary nature.

  “It doesn’t matter now. Don’t you understand?” A muscle throbbed, low in his jaw, and he carried her to Addan’s desk chair, placing her down on it. But she didn’t want to sit there. She didn’t want to sit at all, but especially not where Addan had been so at home. She jerked out of it, her body still trembling, her mind slow and weak. “He’s gone. He’s gone.”

  She sobbed, lifting her hands to her lips, the words so cold, so violent for their truth, and the reality they painted.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said again.

  “As am I. My brother was the best man I have ever known. The world is poorer for his loss. The country is poorer without him as its leader.”

  Her eyes lifted to Malik’s face as the full reality of this situation wrapped around her. “You are King,” she said, sitting into Addan’s chair now, collapsing into it, taking in a shaking breath.

  “Yes,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “I will inherit Addan’s throne, and all that entails.”

  She swallowed, his promotion one she knew he didn’t wish for, one she knew he didn’t take any joy in.

  “Your highness,” she said, deferentially, standing uneasily. She couldn’t work out how she wanted to be. “I’d like to be alone now.”

  He didn’t answer, his eyes holding hers for a moment before she spun and moved to the door. But before she could open it, his voice arrested her.

  “You are part of that, Sharafaha.”

  She turned to face him. “Part of what?”

  “When he died, I inherited all that was his. Including you.” He said the words with a hint of disgust. With coldness and disdain.

  A frisson of alarm jolted her spine. “I don’t… understand.” Tears streamed down her cheeks and she dashed at them; more came to take their place.

  “This palace, the title, the country, his duties. All of it. And also, your betrothal to Addan, on his death, passed to me.”

  THE SHEIKH’S INHERITED BRIDE is coming soon, and available for pre-order now.

  THE END

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  BOOKS BY CLARE CONNELLY

  HARLEQUIN TITLES

  Bought for the Billionaire’s Revenge

  Innocent in the Billionaire’s Bed

  Off Limits

  Her Wedding Night Surrender

  Burn Me Once

  Bound by the Billionaire’s Vows

  The Season to Sin

  His Innocent Seduction

  Bound by their Christmas Baby

  Her Guilty Secret

  Shock Heir for the King

  Spaniard’s Baby of Revenge

  SINGLE TITLES

  Her Guardian’s Christmas Seduction

  Stolen by the Desert King

  In the Hands of the Sheikh

  His Nine Month Seduction

  The Sheikh’s Contract Bride

  Seduced by the Vengeful Tycoon

  The Sheikh’s Stolen Bride

  The Sheikh’s Secret Baby

  The Sheikh’s Million Dollar Bride

  The Tycoon’s Virgin Mistress

  The Sheikh’s Virgin Hostage

  Bartered to the Sheikh

  The Sheikh’s Arranged Marriage

  Marrying for his Royal Heir

  The Greek’s Marriage Revenge

  The Velasco Love Child

  The Sultan’s Virgin Bride

  Bound to the Sheikh

  The Medici Mistress

  His Loving Deception

  The Sheikh’s Convenient Mistress

  The Princess’s Forbidden Lover

  Marrying her Enemy

  Rakanti’s Indecent Proposition

  Seducing the Spaniard

  The Italian’s Innocent Bride

  The Greek Tycoon’s Forbidden Affair

  The Terms of their Affair

  A Second Chance at Love

  The Sheikh’s Christmas Mistress

  At the Sheikh’s Command

  The Billionaire’s Christmas Revenge

  Seduced by the Italian Tycoon

  Raising the Soldier’s Son

  Warming the Sheikh’s Bed

  The Tycoon’s Christmas Captive

  The Brazilian’s Forgotten Lover

  Betrayed by the CEO

  The Billionaire’s Ruthless Revenge

  The Italian Billionaire’s Betrayal

  The Sultan’s Reluctant Princess

  Love in the Fast Lane

  Bought by the Sheikh

  The Tycoon’s Summer Seduction

  All She Wants for Christmas

  One Night with the Sheikh

  A Bed of Broken Promises

  Tempted by the Billionaire

  The Sheikh’s Christmas Wish

  To the Highest Bidder

  The Tycoon’s Secret Baby

  Bedding His Innocent Mistress

  The Sheikh’s Baby Bargain

  The Greek’
s Virgin Captive

  Claiming His Secret Baby

  Blackmailed by the Spaniard

  COMPENDIUMS

  Casacelli Brides

  Mediterranean Tycoons

  Desert Rulers

  Billionaire Bad Boys

  Too Hot to Handle

  Desert Kings

  Happily Ever After

  The Darling Buds of May Café

  Royal Weddings

  The Evermore Series