Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
The sheikh caught hold of her arm and slowly spun her back to face him, and the bleak look she glimpsed in his dark eyes made Kyria draw her breath. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.
“You misunderstood, Ky.”
“About what?”
“I’m flying back to Ramil today.”
Oh.
“But you’re staying here.”
“I see.” But that wasn’t quite the truth. She stared down at the fingers that were still wrapped around her wrist as her mind started to break. She worked hard to make sense of what he was saying but she just couldn’t. Without lifting her head, she whispered, “Was it all a lie?”
Malik whitened. “God, no. Never.”
And yet—-
“Then why won’t you say the words now?”
The sheikh didn’t speak.
She raised her head. “M-Malik?” And when he simply looked at her, Kyria could feel her eyes start to sting. “Malik, I don’t understand.”
“Not just yet,” the sheikh said hoarsely. “I can’t say the words just yet.”
Ah.
“Do you understand now?”
She bit her lip hard, but it didn’t work. Her lip just kept trembling, and she was miserably certain she would do something embarrassing any moment now.
“Yesterday, someone from my staff brought to my attention about certain actions your university was taking. They planned to have you attend a disciplinary hearing concerning your relationship with me.”
His words swirled around her. A part of her knew they were important, but the larger part of her didn’t care.
“I pre-empted things. I contacted them last night and made it clear that nothing’s happening between us. I told them I was leaving today, and Farica de Konigh is the one I’m interested in.”
She tried. God knew how hard she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.
“You, on the other hand, would remain here and continue your studies as an ordinary student.”
But all she could think about was the way his fingers around her wrist was starting to loosen—-
“Sametanira?” Did you hear me?
And when his fingers were gone and her arm had to fall against her side, she felt as if Malik had just pushed her away.
“Kyria?”
She forced herself to meet his eyes.
The sheikh whitened.
So much pain.
Too much damn pain.
And when she started to speak, he realized why—-
“It’s j-just like—-” Kyria wetted her lips. “This is just like when my parents died.”
“God, Kyria—-” He tried to reach for her, and the sheikh’s chest tightened in pain when she jerked away from him. “
“One moment we were happy, we were c-complete, and then s-suddenly, they were just gone.”
He watched her work hard to make herself smile, and the sight gutted him.
“And this...this is like that. E-exactly like that. One moment, you’re telling me I’m all you were waiting for, but when I became yours—-”
He saw her blink fast to keep the tears back, and it nearly drove him to his knees.
“You don’t want me anymore—-”
“No.” The word was torn from Malik’s throat. “Kyria, no. You know it’s not like that. You know it’s not.” His voice became ragged. “You have to know it’s not like that. Even without the words – you have to fucking know—-”
Even as her own pain ate her alive, she couldn’t bear to see the torment on Malik’s face, and she let out a choking, despairing laugh. “Oh, Malik.” And she found herself stumbling forward—-
He caught her in his arms. “Please,” he said hoarsely. “Please tell me you understand I’m doing this for you.”
Heaven to be in the arms of the man she loved...
But it was also hell, because the man she loved didn’t believe she loved him.
She cupped his face with trembling hands. “I know,” she said shakily. “It’s as you think. It’s impossible for me not to know that you’re doing this for me. That you’re hurting yourself for me. But Malik—-” Her voice caught. “Can’t you also see that if you let them win now, it will be the same again and again? Can’t you believe me now...when I tell you I love you? Can’t you trust me now?”
“I’m sorry.”
And when the sheikh slowly took hold of her hands to pull it down, she found herself crying.
“But I have to do this.”
Because she knew she had lost.
“Two years,” he said dully. “Let’s give it two years, until you graduate. If you don’t want to give us two more years, then this could be the other way around, too – perhaps you don’t trust yourself to keep loving me while we’re apart?”
He waited for her to speak, but all she did was cry.
“Is that it, Kyria?” His voice was harsh with all the fears he had started to harbor, ever since a seven-year-old girl came to his life.
The silence continued, as painful as the tears that flowed endlessly down her face.
But when she finally spoke, it was not what he had ever imagined she would say.
“Oh, Malik.”
It was the saddest way he had ever heard his name said, and the sound haunted him every moment after. There were no goodbyes when it was time for him to leave the hotel. Kyria had returned to her dorm, and even though he knew he was a fool for hoping, he had waited for her to show up at the airport for one last glimpse –