“Apparently, she’s showing no inclination to marry. Quite the opposite, in fact. Shame really. She’d be a great match for you.”
Xander was so incensed he couldn’t speak immediately. Roshan gave him a double take and then calmly took another sip of his coffee.
“Perfect,” Roshan added with a smile.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Roshan’s grin widened. “Maybe. It makes a change from me being the subject of matrimonial gossip and conjecture.”
“Well you can stop conjecturing about me and Elaheh. She’s made it quite clear she can’t stand me.”
Roshan tilted his head to one side and pursed his lips. “I’m not so sure. Sometimes, I think the way she looks at you and makes you a target of her cutting remarks reveals an uncommon interest.”
Xander tossed down his phone in irritation and looked over Roshan’s shoulder at the woman in question. “You’re crazy,” he muttered, his eyes lingering on the upright way Elaheh stood, her back ramrod straight, and her thick dark hair pulled severely into an elaborate hairstyle. For a moment he wondered how long it would be when released from its tight bindings—if it were ever released. He couldn’t imagine Queen Elaheh ever being anything other than perfectly groomed. He smiled to himself; she probably went to sleep with her hair like that. But it did have a certain luster and fullness suggesting it was long. It probably fell to her bottom. His eyes lingered at where that bottom would be, hidden beneath a swathe of white robes. Then she turned to him and caught his eye. And for a moment their gazes clashed and tangled, and there was a flare of something he couldn’t put his finger on. In ordinary circumstances he’d have known what to call it—attraction. But these were definitely not ordinary circumstances, and she was definitely no ordinary woman. This was a woman who hated him, he reminded himself. A woman who couldn’t speak to him without either insulting or criticizing him. A woman who he hated right back.
He scowled at her and she looked away. Xander turned back to Roshan. “I repeat, Elaheh has no interest in me, and I have no interest in her.”
“But you will marry, won’t you?”
“Of course. I know my duty. I will marry and produce heirs as is expected.”
Roshan nodded. “Good. Shakira asked me to ask you if you had anyone in mind.”
His gaze shifted to Elaheh and, annoyed at his weakness, he glared at her back. “Yes, as it happens and she’s nothing like Elaheh.”
Roshan raised his eyebrow. “You have? Who?”
Xander ran a finger around his collar as if it were suddenly too tight. “A friend of mine from university. She’s an expert on historical architecture. She’d be most suitable.”
“Most suitable? That doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven.”
Xander glared at his brother. “We can’t all fall in love like you did with Shakira. That’s a one-off.”
Roshan shook his head. “No, it’s not. Look at Amir and Ruby, look at Zavian and Gabrielle. Two other couples who are crazy about each other.
It was Xander’s turn to grunt. “I don’t do crazy. I don’twantcrazy.” He cleared his throat. “Ashley is an academic—more interested in her feminist research than falling crazy in love.”
“Sounds a riot,” murmured Roshan, rolling his eyes.
“There you go again! ‘Riot’, ‘crazy’—these are things I refuse to have in my life.”
Silence stretched and thickened and Xander knew what his brother was thinking.
“You used to, Xander, when you were young. Before—”
Xander shot his hand out, his palm flat against his brother’s words, determined to stop their flow. He refused to hear any more. “Don’t go there, Roshan.”
Roshan pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. “Okay, for now. But you have to some time, if you’re ever to move forward.”
Xander shifted his gaze away from Roshan, away from Elaheh, to the window which looked out toward the empty desert—a constant reminder of everything he didn’t wish to remember. Move forward? Xander felt as if he’d moved backward. Back to this place, his country, the only place in the world it seemed he couldn’t avoid, and which was full of harsh memories which he was determined to suppress. He gave an ambiguous grunt, which Roshan took for agreement.
“Okay. So this Ashley is a possibility. Why don’t you describe to me your ideal wife and Shakira and I’ll see if we can’t help with some introductions.”
“I’m fine with Ashley.”
“Does she know yet?”
Xander shook his head once. “But she will. She’s coming to visit in a few months.”