Sheikh's Baby Bombshell Read Online Free PDF

Isham announced that Abby wished to speak to him in private. He had been hoping to steal a few minutes with her. He was aching to be with her.
    To hold her.
    To feel her body respond to his in that totally captivating way that moved him as no other encounter ever had. It was only when he was connected to her physically that he could express the bone-deep longing he felt for her. It wasn’t something he could put easily into words. He wasn’t the type of man to wax lyrical about his feelings, because from a young age he had witnessed the extreme emotional outbursts of his mother. He had learned to suppress what he felt because a lifetime of living in the public eye had taught him to keep such things hidden.
    But he did feel something for Abby. It was something he had never felt before. He had felt it from the first moment he laid eyes on her. The fusion of their gazes had unlocked something inside him. He could never be the same even if he wanted to. Wasn’t that why he had wrestled with himself for the past month?
    ‘I will wait outside the door, Your Highness,’ Isham offered.
    ‘Thank you.’ Talib smiled as Abby came in, but then he frowned when he saw her tote bag. ‘Are you going out, darling?’
    Her small chin came up. ‘I want to go home.’
    Home? Talib controlled his panic. Schooled his features. Locked down. ‘This is your home now.’
    ‘I can’t do this, Talib.’ Her mouth was set in a grim line. ‘You can’t make me live like this. I don’t want to be gossip fodder. I don’t want to be accused of not being good enough for you. They’re saying it already, that I’m the daughter of a drug addict and not worthy of being your wife. I can’t stand it. I won’t stand it.’
    ‘This is nonsense, Abby. You can’t just walk away because of a bit of gossip. That’s the way the press play the game. Just ignore it.’
    ‘I can’t ignore it. I want to leave. I can’t think when there are cameras around every corner. I can’t smile or frown without a flash going off in my face, and now everyone is staring at my belly just waiting for it to pop out. I feel like I’m constantly under a microscope. I want to go home.’
    Talib’s back stiffened. He was not used to people walking out on him. He was not used to caring if they did. His chest pounded hollowly at the thought of not seeing her again. It would be like that morning at the hotel. He had woken and reached for her and found...nothing. Empty space. She had even gone to the trouble of smoothing out the dent in the pillow where her head had lain beside his. That acute sense of loss, of something important missing from his life had plagued him until she had appeared outside the palace.
    But he would not lower himself by begging her to stay.
    If she wanted to go she could go, but he had a trump card and he would use it to get his way.
    ‘You are free to leave, but have you forgotten you are carrying my child? It is the law of this land that any royal heir must be raised with its father if the parents undergo a separation. Once the child is born he or she will be returned to Dharbiri by law.’
    Her face paled, but she had a defiant spark in her gaze. ‘Would you really do that to your child? Take it from its mother as soon as she delivers it?’
    Talib ignored the prick of his conscience. ‘It is my duty to inform you of the law. You are free to do as you wish, but there will be consequences that may not be palatable to you in the long run.’
    She opened and closed her mouth as if she couldn’t quite think of what to say. One of her hands gripped the strap of her bag so tightly he could see the whitened skin of her knuckles.
    ‘Is there anything else you wish to discuss?’ His tone was curt and businesslike, because that was the only way he knew how to handle an emotionally charged situation.
    ‘No.’
    He held her gaze for a moment before returning to the papers on his desk as if they were of greater importance. ‘I will see you at dinner.