“Nice ring,” he commented, tilting at her hand as he took a long sip of his coffee.

  Maya glanced down at the diamond ring on her finger. It was far more understated than the ring Sandoor had given her so many years ago and she much preferred this one. It was still lovely, but not nearly as gaudy.

  “Thank you.” She took a deep breath, deciding to just ask her question. She was tired of wondering. “Would you tell me about your relationship with Sandoor, please?” she asked.

  Mike stiffened. For a long moment, he stared down into the dark depths of his mug. Then he sighed and looked up. “We were friends,” he said shortly, then turned his back to her, indicating that there was something he didn’t want Maya to see.

  “Mike,” she started off, toying mindlessly with the mug, “there are a lot of things about five years ago that confuse me. But over the past few days, I’ve discovered that some of those assumptions about those years were false.” She considered how to phrase her question. “Were you and Sandoor…in love?” she blurted out.

  Mike spun around, eyes wide with surprise. “What the hell? You two were engaged! Shouldn’t you know if Sandoor was gay?”

  She smiled crookedly. “Yes I was, but we were never intimate.” She considered her next words carefully. “In fact, Sandoor never even really kissed me.”

  Mike scoffed. “He was always touching you.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, nodding her head. “Sandoor was an affectionate friend. But,” she paused, looking directly at Mike, “that’s all we were. We were friends.” She paused again, then shrugged a shoulder. “I think he was in love with you.”

  Pain flashed across Mike’s face and he bowed his head. For a long time, there was silence. Finally, Mike lifted his head and Maya noticed the tears in his eyes. “Yes. Sandoor and I were in love. I loved him…still love him, even now.” He ruthlessly scrubbed the tears away. “I still haven’t gotten over him.” He took a deep breath. “But Sandoor needed to marry a woman. He couldn’t be seen in his country as gay. They would have killed him for it. It’s,” his voice cracked. “It’s illegal.”

  Maya felt the tears burn in her eyes. “So much pain,” she whispered.

  Mike walked over to the window, his coffee forgotten as he thought back to those years. “When you turned Sandoor down the first time, I begged him to stop asking you to marry him,” Mike said, angry now. “But he kept trying to convince you. He said he had to. For his brother.”

  “He was wrong,” Maya replied, trying to blink back the tears. But there were too many of them and they fell down her cheeks like rain. “Mike, I think that Sandoor loved you very much.”

  “He did!” Mike snapped. He bit back the angry words that had been on the tip of his tongue, his body almost vibrating. “But in the end, it wasn’t enough! He didn’t love me enough to tell his brother the truth.”

  “He was scared,” she said gently. “We were just young, stupid kids thinking we were adults and understood the world.” She stood up and walked over to Mike. “I’m sorry that I got in the way of your relationship. Is it any consolation that he never cheated on you with me?”

  “No!” Mike replied. Then he closed his eyes and sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Yes!”

  Maya laughed, but it sounded a bit damp. “I think I know what you’re going through. I’ve loved a man for so long, but I thought that he only saw me as Sandoor’s little sister.”

  “That bastard?” Mike snapped, turning to face her with a righteous fury in his eyes now. “You’re in love with Jahlil? How could you?”

  “Because he changed the laws, Mike,” she whispered. “He’d changed the laws about gay relationships more than ten years ago, as soon as their father died. Sandoor didn’t know, but the laws against homosexual relationships are long gone.”

  Mike’s mouth fell open. “But…!”

  “I know,” she whispered. “I know that Sandoor didn’t realize that. But I don’t know if knowing would have changed anything. He still looked up to Jahlil so much.” She laughed, but it came out harsh and brittle. “Trust me, Jahlil is a difficult man to disappoint!”

  He snorted, and Maya realized that he agreed. “Sandoor loved his brother so much,” he finally said.

  Maya bowed her head. “Yeah. I know. But,” she sighed and stood up, “Jahlil…I’m finding that it’s hard not to love him. He’s–”

  “Don’t!” Mike whispered, pain crackling through his voice now. “Just….” he stopped and shook his head.

  “Thank you for being honest with me,” she said, putting her untouched cup of coffee into the sink. “It clears up one of the mysteries.”

  “Happy to help,” Mike said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

  She smiled, and touched his arm. “Sandoor was an amazing man. I hope that, eventually, you will be able to move on with your life.”

  Mike nodded, but there was still a lot of pain in his eyes. Maya moved to the door and pulled it open. “Good luck Mike,” she said, then walked out. She didn’t look back now, feeling…liberated. Sandoor hadn’t loved her. At least, not in the way a man loves a woman. They’d only been good friends. That meant that her feelings for Jahlil weren’t a betrayal.

  Feeling the guilt lift from her, Maya crossed the parking lot to the subway station, smiling to herself. Yes, this was a good thing. She felt horrible for Mike. But Maya needed to release the past, release Sandoor, and embrace the future! She needed to grab it with both hands!

  And the first thing she needed to do was to call Jahlil and tell him so! She’d said it in her note, but she needed to tell him in person. She owed him that.

  With that in mind, she stepped onto the subway, making her way back to her apartment. It was slow going because the evening commuters were out in force. By the time she stepped out of the subway station near her building, she was more than ready to pack up her house and fly out to find Jahlil.

  But as she reached her building, an ominous presence loomed over her.

  “Where the hell have you been?” a deep, menacing voice demanded. At the same time, her upper arms were grabbed firmly and she was pulled against a hard, familiar chest.

  “Jahlil?” she asked, terrified as she blinked into the dim light of the street light.

  “Were you expecting someone else?” he growled.

  There were more shadows surrounding them, causing her heart to hammer against her ribs. “Who are all these people?” she asked, pressing herself against the only person she knew was safe. Jahlil’s arms wrapped around her, but for some reason, his touch felt different today.

  “They are my guards,” he snapped, then his arms tightened around her. “And yours, Maya! They are your guards! Damn it, how could you leave me a day after we were married?!”

  She pulled back, pressing her hands against his chest. He didn’t release her, but he gave her enough space to look up at him. “I explained in the note,” she said, confused.

  “You said you loved me!” he growled, his hands stroking her back. “And that’s the only reason I’m not bending you over my knee and spanking your adorable ass!”

  She laughed, warmed by his concern, even if it was a bit…okay, she kind of liked the idea. Not that she would tell him though!

  “Jahlil, in the note, I mentioned that I needed to figure some things out.”

  He looked at her, his face shadowed from the descending night. “You said that you loved me. You said you needed to clear up some issues in order to be with me. But you didn’t tell me what those issues might be.”

  She rested a hand against his chest. “I needed to get some more notes for work, Jahlil. I only planned to be away from my office and my clients for a couple days. And I needed more clothes. I’d planned to meet you in Celina, which I explained in the note.”

  He sighed, his forehead resting against hers. “You don’t understand, Maya,” he groaned.

  She lifted up onto her toes. “Would you mind explaining what I don’t understand?” she prompted, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck.

  His fingers tightened on her arms. “I love you!” he whispered, as if it pained him to admit it. “I’ve loved you for so long!”

  The beaming smile that washed over her features was like the sun coming out after a storm. “You…do?” she whispered.

  “Yes!” he pulled her close. “I’ve loved you ever since the first moment I saw you, the day my brother brought you to meet me. But you were off limits.”

  She kissed him lingeringly. “I’ve felt the same way,” she admitted. “But…Sandoor.”

  There was a long silence. “Yes. My brother.” He took her hand and led her into her apartment. Inside, he looked around and a guard immediately stepped forward. He gave Jahlil a nod, then stepped out into the hallway.

  “How long has that man been in my house?” she asked, peering through the windows at the courtyard below. She noticed several more guards tromping through the snow and ice, looking very intimidating. She wondered what her neighbors thought of all this, suspecting that some might call the police.

  “Ever since I realized that you were gone,” he explained. “But don’t worry about the guards, Maya. Explain why you left me. Was it because of Sandoor? Is he always going to stand between us?”

  She turned, startled. “NO! I never loved Sandoor,” she said. “Not the way I should have.”

  His eyes narrowed and she felt his arms tighten. “But you came to Celina engaged to my brother.”

  She smiled, relieved that he was thinking back to the past five years as well. “I know,” she replied, gesturing for him to sit down. He joined her on the small sofa. “The thing is, Sandoor had been trying to convince me to marry him for a while. I’d thought we were just friends. It all started one night over pizza, when he asked me to marry him out of the blue. I laughed, thinking that he was kidding.” She grimaced. “He wasn’t. He thought that we were compatible. When I pointed out that we were just friends, he argued that being friends first was a good thing. That we loved each other enough to build a strong marriage, together.” She took his hand. “The thing is, Sandoor was gay,” she told him, then held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

  Jahlil nodded, rubbing his neck as he looked around the room. “I know.”

  “You know?” she parroted, startled by his reaction. “I mean…you’re not angry?”

  Jahlil laughed. “Of course I’m not angry. I’ve known Sandoor was gay since he was about five years old and he made our GI Joe dolls make out.”

  Maya stared at Jahlil for a long moment, then burst out laughing. “For so long, I’ve felt guilty for not loving Sandoor the way a fiancée should have. But when I started to think about it, I realized that he’d never touched me the way you did. He never even touched me the way he touched Mike. So…”

  He’d been looking out the window, but with her admission, his head swung around, his eyes looking at her intently. “Is that where you’ve been?”

  Maya smiled, nodding for emphasis. “Yes. I went straight to Mike’s apartment after the airport. I knew that I wanted to pack up as many things as I could and come back to you. But I needed to know.” She tightened her hands on Jahlil’s. “Mike still thinks about Sandoor. He’s still in love with your brother. Apparently, they were madly in love.”

  “That’s how I feel about you, Maya,” he said, and pulled her onto his lap. “I’ve lived without you for the past five years. I don’t want to do it any longer.” He kissed her and all of those passionate feelings welled up inside of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in his kiss. When he finally lifted his head, he glared down at her. “But I swear, Maya, if you ever leave without your guards again, I’m going to spank you until you can’t sit down!”

  She stared blankly at him for a long moment. “Guards?”

  “Yes, damn it!” he snapped, lifting her up and setting her back on the sofa. Jahlil stood up and started pacing, rubbing his forehead. “How can I get you to understand that you can’t just go off on your own? You must tell your guards where you’re going. In advance. You’re my wife now! You must be protected!”

  “But, Jahlil, I don’t have–”

  “You do now! From the moment I made love to you, you were my woman, Maya,” he snapped, slicing his hand through the air. “You’re mine and I won’t let you go! And I will protect you from harm!”

  She liked the sound of being his woman. It sounded…a bit sexist, but also extremely nice! “What does being your woman entail?” she asked, standing up and moving closer to him, a sultry look in her eyes.

  He reached out automatically, resting his hands on her waist. “It means that I get to protect you.”

  “And?” she asked, fiddling with a button on his shirt.

  “And you don’t go anywhere without me or your guards.”

  “And?” she prompted again, her fingers sliding between the material to caress his chest. She felt the hiss of his breath and the tightening of his fingers around her waist.

  “And…?” Her finger moved slightly.

  “Oh Maya!” he groaned.

  Maya licked her lips, pressing her soft curves against the hardness of his chest. “I want more than just your protection, Jahlil.”

  “What do you want?”

  She smiled. “First, I want you to tell me again that you love me.”

  “I love you,” he replied, his voice husky as he lowered his head.

  “Then I want you to make love to me. As my husband.”

  He stilled. Maya had closed her eyes, anticipating the touch of his lips. But instead, he pulled back and…Maya shrieked with laughter as he tossed her over his shoulder. “Where’s your bedroom, my woman?”

  “Upstairs!” she announced, pointing the way. “But wouldn’t it be faster if I walked?”

  He swatted her bottom in response, which only made her laugh harder. In the back of her mind, Maya wondered if she should worry about the guards standing out in the cold. Their feet must be blocks of ice by now.

  But then Jahlil kissed her.

  Epilogue

  Maya stepped out onto the balcony, squinting her eyes in the distance. Sure enough, Jahlil was racing along on his horse, tearing across the flat plains. Little puffs of dust spread out behind him as well as behind the smaller horse. For a long moment, Maya held her breath, watching as Jahlil and their seven year old daughter laughed, galloping together until they pulled their horses to a walk. Even from this distance, she could hear their laughter.

  “I’m going to kill him!” Maya muttered, waddling past her guards who merely smiled at her threat to their illustrious leader. It wasn’t the first time she’d uttered those words. But they all knew that she’d never hurt Jahlil.

  Maya waddled down the wide stairs, ignoring the guards who walked closely beside her. She knew that they moved closer now, ready to catch her if she started to tilt off balance.

  She wasn’t in the mood to smile her thanks to her overly protective guards today. At this moment, she wanted to…she was going to…! “Jahlil!” she yelled as soon as he and their daughter, Jayla, walked into the palace.

  Jayla and Jahlil looked at each other, both of them silently cringing at her tone.

  “You promised!” she snapped, coming to an awkward halt in front of the pair.

  “I promised what?” he asked.

  Maya looked at Jayla. “Your French tutor is waiting for you, honey. You’d better hurry up and change your clothes. You know how much your tutor hates the smell of horses.”

  Jayla grinned, eager to tease her tutor. “I do!” she said, then skipped away, flinging a wave goodbye to her parents.

  Maya waited until Jayla and her personal guards were out of range before she turned to glare up at her husband. “You promised!” she hissed.

  Jahlil moved closer, resting his hands on her round tummy. “What was this promise I gave you, love?” he asked gently, leaning closer to kiss her lips.

  “You promised that we wouldn’t have to host that stupid gala!” she hissed. “You know how much I hate Dilaar’s ambassador! He’s such a creep!”

  Jahlil laughed and, because she’d turned her head, he moved his kissed to the side, nibbling on her neck. “Yes. But in this instance, the ambassador won’t be coming. This will be for…”

  Maya pushed away from him, her eyes turning from angry to…excited. “Are Tazir and Zahir coming?” she gasped.

  “Yes, but…”

  “That means that Andi and Brielle will be here as well, right?” she demanded, already turning around, grabbing Jahlil’s hands as she waddled and tugged him towards their suite. “Oh, I can’t wait to see them again.”

  Jahlil laughed, shaking his head. “You know, they used to be our enemies,” he told her with a slight admonishment in his voice.

  Maya waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Oh, don’t you even try it! I know that the three of you sneak away from every official meeting and play cards or shoot pool!”

  Jahlil couldn’t argue with her there because she was right. The two men who used to be his most hated enemies had turned out to be his closest friends. And most of that had been brought about by Maya’s friendships with the men’s wives.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, hoping that she was leading them to their bedroom. She looked especially beautiful in this blue, flowered dress that flowed over her softly rounded belly in a delicious fashion.

  “Stop thinking that,” Maya warned, laughing when he pulled her back around, right into his arms. “Have I mentioned that you’re beautiful?”

  Maya’s surprise shifted into a happy glow. “No. Not today,” she told him, sliding her hands up so that her fingers could loop around his neck.

  “You are,” he said, then kissed her softly.

  “I love you,” she whispered back.

  “I love you too.”

  She smiled, thinking that she was the luckiest woman in the world!

  Message from Elizabeth: