The Sheikh's Unforgettable Lover (The Sharqi Sheikhs Series Book 1) Read online

  “Why are you giving me money?” she asked. She really hoped he wasn’t buying her off. It was insulting.

  “I will give you this money if you agree to leave Karim alone and return to the states.” He said calmly as if he was speaking wise words. This was all just business to him. Kim was disgusted at how cruelly his father was behaving.

  “I do not want your money,” Kim replied as she returned the cheque.

  “I see, you want more money.” He wrote out another cheque for one hundred thousand dollars. “Is this enough?” he asked her.

  “Sheik, I do not want your money. Please keep it.”

  “Is this not enough? You western women are all so materialistic.”

  Kim was growing increasingly furious that he was generalising western women who were not all the same. She certainly was not materialistic. No matter how much money Saeed was going to offer, she was not going to take it.

  If he were not much older than she was, she probably would have slapped him across the face. Sadly, he was old enough to be her father, and she was taught to respect her elders.

  “I resent the fact that you think all western women are the same. Please keep your money; I do not want a dime of it.”

  “I know that you want more money. Stop pretending not to and take it. You are wasting my time.” Saeed was getting agitated and impatient.

  “I think I will leave now.” Kim could no longer sit there and continue such a pointless conversation. She stood up and Saeed rose along with her.

  “You do not leave until I tell you to,” he shouted and banged his fist on his desk.

  Looking at him, she backed slowly toward the door, “I am sorry; sir, but I will not continue this conversation with you. I will happily leave you.”

  “You spoilt American brat! You are so stubborn and disrespectful. I wish I had never hired you. You only came here to seduce my son and poison him with your western ways!” he shouted.

  Staring at him, Kim’s back bumped against the door as she reached around with her hand to find the handle. Not wanting to turn her back on him, she managed to open the door and slide out, shutting it behind her. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths as she fought the urge to cry.

  The man was completely insane; she thought as she walked quickly back to her quarters glad that she didn’t run into anyone. As she walked, she thought about all the things that she wanted to say to him but she knew that if she did, she would only somehow be proving him right.

  She burst into tears as soon as she walked into her room. Was it so wrong for her to love Karim? It was 2015 for goodness sake. All the bullshit about races not mixing should have died years ago. To Saeed, she was not good enough to be with his son because she was not Arabic. Taking a shuddering breath, she realised that there was no hope for a relationship with Karim if his father was so adamantly opposed to her.

  Kim flipped open her suitcase and began throwing her clothes in. She had to get out of that house as fast as her legs could carry her. If Saeed did not want her around, she was going to leave as quickly and as quietly as possible. While she would miss both Amare and Karim, no job or relationship was worth putting up with that man.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Amare was in his study room preparing for his English exam when he heard voices coming from his father’s office. His study was positioned between his father’s and Karim’s. When he heard the voices, he picked up a glass beaker and went to eavesdrop; the way he had seen Kim do. He listened to the entire conversation as he wondered how his father had found out about Karim and Kim in the first place.

  He was shocked at what he had heard from his father’s office. He could not believe that his father disliked Kim being with Karim that much. Amare was aware of how traditional his father was but he did not think that he would try to pay her off.

  Amare knew that Kim did not deserve to be treated that way. He waited for a few moments after he had heard her leave his father’s office before he went to speak with him.

  Saeed was in the middle of venting to his friend, Kareef, when Amare walked in. Amare looked at Kareef and then at his father.

  “Father, may I have a word?”

  “Not now,” Saeed snapped.

  “It has to be right now.”

  “What is so important that it cannot wait?”

  “I overheard your conversation with Kim.” Amare was not that bothered that Kareef was in there as he was his father’s closest friend and knew his personal business. He probably already knew about them.

  “That does not concern you.”

  “Father, I think you are being too harsh.”

  Saeed looked at Amare as if he had lost his mind. Kareef just raised his eyebrows.

  “Are all my sons bent on disobeying me now? All because of a mere woman?” Saeed laughed sarcastically.

  “It is not that I am here to disobey you. I simply think that you are being too harsh. Kim has done nothing wrong.”

  “Given how quickly your sons jump to her defence, it seems that this Kim is special,” Kareef commented as he looked at his old friend.

  “She really is. She is a great tutor and a great person. Ever since she moved in, Karim has been much happier,” Amare answered Kareef.

  “If Karim loves her, given that he is your son, I do not see him readily giving her up,” Kareef replied, hoping that his friend would see reason.

  “That is why she must leave,” Saeed demanded.

  “Father that makes no sense; she is the best thing that has ever happened to him. Why on earth would you want him to give that up?”

  “She is a western woman!”

  “So what? Times have changed.”

  “I know.” Saeed sighed and fell back in his chair. After a long few minutes he finally spoke. “This world is changing fast and I do not know how to handle it.”

  Amare raised his eyebrows. He’d never expected his father to say something like that. He had been fuming when Kim left his office. Kareef looked at Amare. Even he was shocked at Saeed’s sudden change of mood.

  “There is nothing you can do to stop the world from changing. You just have to accept it,” Amare said. Saeed looked up at him.

  “Is Karim really happy around her?” he asked.

  “Yes, father, he really is. He is a different man; he is the better version of himself.”

  Kareef laughed, “I never thought I would see the day that Karim changes because of a woman.” Amare agreed. He had never thought he would see that day too.

  Amare first teased Kim about Karim when he saw her watching him working out in the courtyard. He later saw Karim stealing glances at her when he thought that she wasn’t looking.

  Whenever she was around him, even though he was not talking to her, he seemed happier. He had even taken her advice and computerised their accounting system because of her recommendation. The old him would have never listened to her.

  “I never thought I would see that day either,” Saeed replied.

  “So, will you allow Kim to stay and be with Karim? Who knows, they might not work out but shouldn’t they be at least given the opportunity to try?” Saeed was silent for a few moments.

  “Fine,” he said at last, exhaling loudly.

  “What? You are really going to agree?” Kareef asked in shock. Saeed’s reputation preceded him. Everyone knew how traditional and rigid he was. He even had problems with the Tazeems because of it.

  He had strongly disliked Adilah Tazeem for her western ways. She may have been born of Arabic blood but she behaved like a westerner, which had made Saeed’s blood boil. He had always expressed how grateful he was that she was not his daughter.

  “Yes,” Saeed nodded. “He refused to part ways with her. She also refused, no matter how much money I offered her.”

  “Father, offering her money to leave Karim was just wrong.”

  “I am aware of that.”

  “How much did you offer her?” Kareef asked her. Amare and Saeed both looked at him as if he was crazy.
“I am just curious,” he told them as he shrugged his shoulders.

  “One hundred thousand,” Saeed said quietly.

  “You’re worth hundreds of millions. Is that all you could offer her?” Kareef demanded.

  “This isn’t a situation to joke about.”

  “Even in your attempts to buy her off, you are still stingy,” Kareef told him as he laughed. Saeed narrowed his gaze at him and Amare shook his head. Even he was smart enough to know that it was too early to joke about it. “Anyway, now that you are going to let her stay, I suppose you should go have a word with her.”

  “I guess so.”

  “And offer an apology. It is the right thing to do,” Amare added.

  Saeed rose from his seat. “This woman must be an angel. I have never seen you and your brother defend one person so much.”

  “She is an amazing person and she deserves it.”

  Saeed nodded. He left his office and headed to Kim’s room. He had lost to both his sons. It was only right that he went to apologise to her for his inconsiderate and rude behaviour. He hoped that she would accept and agree to stay.

  When Saeed reached her room, this time he knocked before he entered. The last thing he wanted was to see his naked son splayed across her bed again. Saeed walked into her room, but Kim was nowhere to be found. He quickly searched the room before calling out to the maid.

  “Where is Miss Atkins?” he asked her. The maid bowed her head before she spoke.

  “Sir, Miss Atkins has left the residence with her luggage.” the maid replied.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kim rushed out of the Sharqi residence as fast as her clumsy legs could carry her. Saeed’s words kept echoing in her head and she knew that she had to leave that place immediately or risk saying something that she would regret. When she saw all those zeros on that cheque, a thousand thoughts ran through her mind.

  She felt insulted. That was all Saeed saw her as; a materialistic woman that could be bought off just like that. It showed that Saeed did not believe that Kim had genuine feelings for Karim even though she truly cared for him and only wanted what was best for him.

  For a split second, part of her considered taking the money and using it to keep the orphanage open. Those girls had nowhere else to go and the money would have gone a long way toward securing their futures.

  She felt bad for considering the money but it was for a good cause. She was also unclear about how Karim felt about her. Maybe she was fighting a losing battle. Either way, she knew that if she took that money, then there was never going to be any hope for them.

  As Kim was pulling her suitcase toward the car, she bumped into something and almost lost her balance. She looked up and saw Karim standing in front of her. “Where’s the fire?” he asked her.

  “Sorry,” she apologised.

  “Where are you off to? You stood me up when I asked you to meet me in your room.”

  “I did not mean to.” Kim tucked her hair behind her ear in agitation.

  “I waited and waited for you.”

  Kim raised her eyebrows and then looked at the ground. When she had finally made it back to her room, he wasn’t there. She had not realised that he waited for her. She wished that she had gone to him as they could have enjoyed their last moments together before she left.

  “I didn’t realise. I was prepping Amare and his friends for their exam,” she said quietly. Karim moved closer to her and touched her waist.

  “Never mind, the damage is already done now. How will you make it up to me?” he asked her. The feeling of his hand on her waist made her shatter inside. She knew that she would never feel his touch again. She so badly wanted to walk into his arms and just cry on his chest.

  “I am afraid I cannot make it up to you. You’ll have to forgive me,” she told him unable to look him in the eyes.

  “You have to. You cannot leave me hanging like that and not try to make it up to me.” Karim pulled Kim closer and kissed her on the cheek expecting her to melt in his arms. While she would have liked nothing better, it made her realise how much she was going to miss him.

  “You are quiet today,” Karim said. “What is the matter?”

  “I am going back home, Karim.”

  “Home? What do you mean?” Karim looked down and saw the suitcase next to her. He looked back at her waiting for an answer.

  “I am going back to the States. Your father does not want me around you, and he is right. We could never work.”

  “I don’t understand. Why would you suddenly leave without talking to me first?”

  “I was never going to stay here forever anyway. It’s best that I return now before we do something that we will both regret.”

  “Kimberly, you are not making any sense!”

  “Amare has learned a great deal. He will be fine without me here.”

  “And what about me? Will I be fine without you here?”

  Kim fought back the tears. She wished that she could stay there with him but she could not. He would soon find someone more appropriate to his status.

  “You will be fine. We would have never worked anyway.”

  “What does that mean? We would not have worked?” Karim placed his hands on his hips and waited for her response. Kim reached out and touched his face for the last time.

  “We are too different. You are Arabic and I am not. You are a sheik, and I am a clumsy school teacher,” she said to him as she bit her lip to keep from crying.

  “So what?” he asked.

  “I am just a spoilt American brat. We can never be together, Karim.” Kim caressed his cheek with the back of her hand and then walked off leaving Karim standing there speechless, as his father’s words played in his head.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Karim watched Kim get into the car. He knew that he had been remiss in not sharing his feelings with her, but in truth, until he had lashed out at his father, he didn’t know how he felt about her and now, it may be too late. No, it can’t be too late! She was needed here. Amare still needed her to get him through his studies. And he needed her, at his side.

  She had said that they were too different and it would have never worked. He liked the fact that she was different from all the women he had ever been with. He found her smart, funny and when she smiled at him, the whole room lit up.

  A spoilt American brat. The words echoed in his head. That was what his father called her. Karim frowned as he remembered their argument. He suddenly realised that his father had something to do with her sudden departure. Nothing else made sense.

  The sound of the car’s engine snapped him out of his thoughts as he watche the car moving swiftly out of the driveway and Kim, out of his life forever.

  “Khara!” Karim swore in Arabic. He started running after the car but it was too far away. “Kim!” he shouted as he ran after the car. It was right there in front of him. She only needed to hear him calling her name.

  He dropped to his knees. This was it. Kim was gone and he had lost her.

  Karim heard the sound of a car behind him. “Karim!” It was Amare’s voice. He turned his head and saw his brother and father pull up in a car. “Get in!” Amare shouted as Karim jumped to his feet.

  Running around to the side of the car, he pulled open the door and slid into the backseat as his father put his foot on the gas before he had the door shut. Holding on, he reached for his seatbelt as he caught his father’s eye in the rear view mirror.

  “This is my fault and I plan to fix this,” his father told him as he drove.

  Holding tight to the side of the car, Karim couldn’t remember the last time his father drove as he always had a driver to take him places. He coughed to mask his yelp when his father hit a large pothole.

  “Sorry, didn’t see it,” his father said cheerfully as he smacked his hand on the car horn and swerved around slower cars as the drivers waved their fists in anger. Waving merrily at them, “Truth be told, I haven’t had this much fun in decades,” he commented as he la
ughed. The brothers looked at each other in shock wondering who this strange man was masquerading as their father.

  “Taleb is not going to believe this,” Amare said over his shoulder as they bounced over another pothole.

  “What won’t Taleb believe?” Saeed asked as he turned to look at his son.

  “Father, the road!” Karim called out in alarm as Saeed quickly straightened out the wheel.

  “My son, I was driving long before you were born,” his father chastised him as he drove.

  “Yes, but now the cars have engines,” Amare shot back as his father turned to glare at him. “Watch the road,” Amare called out in alarm as he tightened his hold on his seatbelt.

  Taking the next rise a bit too fast, the car bounced heavily on the asphalt as the airport came into view. As his father sped down the hill, they could see that all the gates already had planes waiting for passengers.

  “Which one is it?” Karim asked as he worried that the plane would take off before they get there.

  Tapping at his phone, Amare found which flight was taking off for the States as he pointed the plane out. “That one!” he shouted as his father drove toward the runway.

  “Father, the parking lot is that way,” Karim pointed out as his father kept driving.

  “Look!” his father pointed. “The passengers are already walking to the plane. We won’t make it if we park the car.” Speeding up, he began wildly honking the horn as he headed for the service gate. A guard came out and was madly waving his arms, but Saeed sped up and crashed through the barrier as the guard dove for cover. “Send me the bill,” he shouted out the window at the frightened guard.

  Driving toward the plane, Saeed finally slowed down as the car rolled to a stop. Leaping out of the car, the brothers ran toward the passengers calling out Kim’s name.

  “Kim Atkins!” they shouted. “Kimberly Atkins!”

  As the passengers turned to stare at the two men, they finally saw her head pop out from inside the plane, as she stared at them dumbfounded.