Page 28 of Forbidden Passion

Ciara smothered a smile and gently shook her head. “Maggie, I don’t think that you understand what’s happening here. You married a very important man whose net worth is…”

“I don’t care about his money, Ciara. I just…,” Maggie stopped, unable to finish her sentence.

Ciara reached out and touched Maggie’s hand. “I know. And that makes you even more special.” She leaned back and tapped a manicured fingernail against the sketch. “However, I think that this idea is perfect. It’s something that the palace staff can accomplish quickly, since Ramit won’t give us six or seven months to plan. Because your wedding was done in secret, your new Hubbie wants you established in everyone’s eyes as his wife, with no questions asked about Nadia’s birth or Ramit’s complete support of his new wife.”

Maggie frowned, then rubbed her forehead. “Good grief, this all seems so…outside of my normal world!” she laughed.She glanced over at Astra, who was smiling at the back and forth. “Will these events truly help?”

“Without a doubt,” Ramit announced, stepping into the room and striding over to Maggie. Without hesitation, he took her hand and lifted her out of the chair. She hit his chest with a small thud. “You are my wife and I want the world to know it.” He kissed her softly. “Just get through a few more events so that the world can get to know you, and then we can get back to a normal life.”

Maggie blushed, but Ciara noticed that her arms slipped around Ramit’s neck.

She pulled her eyes away from the happy couple, only to lock gazes with Falk. He still looked grumpy, but with all of the new questions spinning around in her head, she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

Turning back to her friend, she tapped the drawing again. “Astra, these ideas are brilliant. Thank you!” She cleared her throat, feeling a tingling heat from Falk’s steady gaze. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, so she clasped them in front of her and looked around for an excuse to escape. “I’d better speak with the chef about tonight’s dinner,” she announced. Then Ciara moved towards the other door, keeping her distance from Falk. She didn’t understand why she’d run so hard to reach him earlier. And until she understood, she needed to keep a clear head so that she could avoid that kind of revealing action in the future.

Chapter 24

Myala kept a steady watch on the bitch. She hated the way Princess Ciara walked, how she spoke, and even the way her hair was a sleek caress from the top of her head well past her shoulders. It wasn’t fair that one woman had so much while Myala didn’t have anything.

Oh, she had a good home and a wonderful father! Yes, her father was much better than Ciara’s papa. But a better parent was the only thing she could really count as an advantage. Her father would do anything for her!

Humming, she followed Ciara down the hallway. As soon as she started humming the old childhood song, Ciara seemed to stumble. What in the world? Myala stopped and quickly stepped to the side, out of sight, but in a place where she could still observe.

Princess Ciara seemed to shake off whatever had bothered her and started moving again, her shoulders pulled back and her snobby head held high. Oh, how Myala wanted to bring her down! She wanted to stomp on that beautiful face and make her ugly! She wanted to hurt her, to wound her, to make her hurt in the same way that Myala hurt.

Humming soothed her so she started humming again, following closer this time, but staying near to the pillars so that if the bitch stopped again, there would be a place where she could hide. Myala’s plan was to find the other woman’s weakness and use it to bring her down so that Sheik Falk wouldn’t want her any more. As soon as he realized that Ciara wasn’t the perfect princess that everyone thought she was, then surely, he’d move on to a more appropriate choice.

However, as soon as Myala got closer, still humming, Ciara stopped and looked around. What was wrong with her? Why was she being so…weird? Even her bodyguards were looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.

Myala hid again, then waited until Ciara started walking again. But this time, the bitch wasn’t as confident.

Was it the humming? Myala started walking as soon as Ciara did, and this time, she hummed a bit louder. But this time, Ciara didn’t hesitate. She just kept walking and gaining strength.

Was it the song? Myala went back to her original song. Sure enough, the princess stumbled to a halt, her hand moving to her neck as if trying to swat a bug.

It must be the song! Myala couldn’t remember all of the words. The song had been something that her nanny had sung to her years ago. It was just a pretty little song. Something silly. She’d have to look up the words and figure out a better way to use this against the princess.

Chapter 25

Ciara couldn’t stop the trembling as the song started and stopped. She hated that song! It was the song her nanny had sung when she’d…when she’d…!

Ciara forced the painful memories from her mind. Unfortunately, the sounds stopped, but the memories remained. She continued walking, trying to pretend that she wasn’t a trembling mass of tension now. She’d only gone five steps when the song started again. Looking behind her, she tried to see who was singing that song. But there was no one in the hallway except her two bodyguards. They looked around as well, then back at her, their eyebrows lifted in polite curiosity.

“Your Highness?” one of them prompted.

Was she losing her mind? There was no one there! The hallway was completely empty. Not even a servant was in view! Of course, the servants usually used the hidden hallways. They weren’t normally allowed in the main hallways, but she knew from hiding in those back hallways that the servants preferred them. It was a space where they could relax and be themselves, laugh and joke about whatever was happening in other parts of the palace, or gripe about their jobs, the annoying guests, their obnoxious supervisors, or whatever was on their minds.

Ciara had always preferred those hallways. They were warm and happy places, filled with light and laughter. The family and guest hallways were always so formal and dignified. She could never let her guard down. Even in her private suite, she had to be the “princess”. Having observed the palace staff relaxing in those servant access hallways, she’d wondered what it would be like to be normal. To not be a princess. To not havesomeone always watching everything she did, judging her for every damn mistake!

Breathing in slowly, she turned forward and started walking again. For several blissful moments, there was no sound other than the tapping of her heels against the marble floor. Not even her bodyguards made a sound since their shoes were designed for silent and speedy protection.

Walking quickly, needing to get somewhere safe, she hurried down the hallway. Away from that awful song!

As soon as she reached her private suite, she nearly fell onto the nearest chair, burying her face in her hands as the tension turned into sobs. The painfully brutal memories of that time in her life should have been locked away. But that song! Where had it come from? Or had the music just popped into her mind because of the tension of navigating the plans for her brother while also trying to avoid Falk? Or maybe it was because of those long moments in that miserable closet?

“What’s wrong?” a deep voice demanded.

Ciara jerked her head up and watched as Falk stalked towards her, his rugged features a mask of fury. “Who hurt you? Where are you hurt?”