Grime stained his golden skin, particles of shattered windscreen lodged in his dark hair, but he was alive—gloriously alive.
‘Sapphire,’ he said, looking at her, ‘I’m so relieved to see you.’ He touched his hand to her face. ‘But you are hurt.’
She covered his hand with her own, relishing the touch of his strong fingers, feeling his heat replace her earlier chill. Feeling his strength renew her own. She shook her head. ‘It’s nothing. Your guard saved my life. I don’t think I need to go to hospital.’
‘You’ve been through a great deal,’ he said. ‘You should be looked after properly.’
She felt the tremors start then. Tremors from the shock. From the fear of losing Khaled. From the wave of relief on discovering he was alive. He held her tight, rocking her, soothing her fears.
‘I was so scared,’ he said. ‘When I heard the helicopter fire on the jet, I was so damned scared. But you are safe.’ He hugged her closer, burying his face into her hair. ‘I cannot believe it.’
His lips brushed kisses over her forehead, down the line of her nose.
‘I heard the explosion,’ she said, her fingers clutching his shirt. ‘And I—’ She broke off, her voice cracking. ‘I was so afraid.’
Something shifted in his eyes, peeling away a layer so that something below shone through, burnished like copper lights, alive with hope.
‘The helicopter. It came in close but by then it was already too late. A mortar from the airport guards brought it down. It crashed alongside the road.’
She swallowed. It must have been close, for the car’s paint to be blistered with the heat, the tyres all but melted from the rims. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish those pictures. They didn’t matter now. Not with Khaled alive, holding her.
‘I saw the pilot,’ he said. ‘I recognised her.’
‘Her? Who was it?’
‘Azizah.’
She gasped, unable to grasp the concept of her meek servant being capable of committing acts of terrorism. ‘I can’t believe it. She was so sweet, so helpful.’
He sighed deeply, shaking his head. ‘Saleem began to suspect something was not right and he tried to tell me to get rid of her because he was worried for your safety. But I didn’t listen. She came from a good family, with a long and loyal history with the palace. I could not believe she would betray us. By the time we had discovered the truth, she had fled.’
Saleem had been concerned for her welfare? And yet she had been so suspicious of him, so afraid of the way he watched her and of his abrupt manner. It was Azizah—timid, shy Azizah—who’d been the real danger. How she had made a mess of everything.
‘But why?’ she asked. ‘What did she have against you?’
‘Her parents were my parents’ closest aides. It was they who died along with my parents in the avalanche. Azizah was only five years old at the time. We paid a pension and for her upbringing, it was the only thing we could do, and relatives in Jamalbad brought her up. But it seems they never forgave me for what had happened to their family and their hatred fed into her for twelve years until she became their vehicle for retribution.’
He hugged her closer. ‘I cannot believe I entrusted you to such a dangerous woman. Can you ever forgive me?’
She shivered, wondering how much further the bitter tentacles of revenge could reach. There had to be an end to the pain, to the anguish. Somewhere the cycle had to be broken.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered and she trembled again, remembering the last time he had used that expression.
‘Do you still want me to leave?’ she asked, her voice soft and uncertain.
‘What do you mean? You’re going straight to hospital.’
‘I mean afterwards. The last time you told me you were sorry, you put me on the plane and walked away.’ She swallowed deeply, trying to force down the fear of revealing the truth, steeling herself to go on because she knew she had no choice. ‘Because if that’s what you still want, I’ll live with it, but there’s something I must tell you first.’
His brows pulled together, his eyes unsure. ‘I thought you wanted to leave. I thought you couldn’t wait to see the back of me.’
‘At one time that was true, but not for the reason you might think.’
‘Then why?’
‘Because I was scared of the way you made me feel. From the start I felt an attraction to you. Even when I knew I shouldn’t. Even though I knew you were marrying someone else. I knew that if I stayed too long then I wouldn’t want to leave. I knew that the longer I stayed, the more I came to know you, then the more I was in danger of falling in love with you.’
Silence stretched out between them, tension and expectation heightening against the backdrop of the wailing siren, and she feared she’d already said too much.