Chapter 16—Sheiks IX by CJ

He should have been prepared for the onslaught.  He should have braced himself for the impact of Rafee’s fist.  But he was so stunned, so floored that Rafee had quickly discovered about his visit to Europe, that Marcus could do nothing but stand there and take the punch that connected with this jaw and rattled his teeth.

There was something extraordinarily fierce in Rafee’s punch.  Something bone-jarring.  Marcus’s head whipped back and he fell into the banister, the wrought-iron unforgiving and bruising his back and ribs in the process.

Then Rafee had a hold of Marcus’s jacket and flung him into a leather couch.  All the while Marcus could see those evil eyes, those golden orbs, burning into him with hatred and revenge.

It took another punch before Marcus snapped out of his shock and he was able to block the next one.  Then using pressure points on Rafee’s joints, he was able to counter and lock Rafee’s wrist in his grasp.

“Damn!  Why do we have to fight about this?” Marcus asked.  “I could have killed you in the garage.  I didn’t.”

“Well, you should have,” Rafee ground out, “because I’m going to kill you now.”

Marcus felt his legs swept out from under him and he was falling onto his back.  He had enough focus about him, however, to keep hold of Rafee’s wrist and drag him down with him.  The man fell with a thud, part-way on top of Marcus, causing him to lose his breath.  Marcus gasped and Rafee rolled, yanking Marcus with him.  They overturned a table.  A lamp crashed to the floor.  Lights in the hallway flicked on and suddenly voices were shouting, insisting they stop.

Someone grabbed Rafee and tried to haul him away.  It didn’t work.

Two pairs of hands then grabbed Marcus and tried to tug him from Rafee.  They were unsuccessful.

Then Shawna’s voice broke into the melee and she insisted with force, “So help me, if you two don’t knock it off, I’m going to beat you both senseless myself.”

They halted their attacks and both men looked up at Shawna.

“Now, get up, both of you,” she ordered and slowly they disengaged.

Rafee slapped Marcus’s leg away in his attempt to stand and Marcus gave him one final jab with his heal.  They glared at one another and Shawna boldly stepped between them.

“You’ve woken nearly all the children and broken Nik’s expensive lamp.  Now tell me what this is all about,” Shawna said as her eyes swept back and forth between the men.

Rafee spoke first.  “He betrayed our family, Shawna.  He went against the Armanjanis.”

With a shake of his head, Marcus retorted, “If you haven’t figured it out yet, Rafee, I’m not an Armanjani.  And I have every right to operate in my own best interests and in the interests of my own family.”

“Yes, your uncle, Senator John Banes,” Rafee snarled and shook his head with disgust.

“News flash, Rafee, the entire world doesn’t revolve around the Armanjanis.  And once you get that through your thick skull, the sooner you’ll be able to get over yourself,” Marcus insulted.

Rafee’s jaw clench tight and Marcus was positive another punch was coming, but Shawna put her hands on Rafee’s arms and said firmly, “Rafee, let’s separate you two for a while and talk about this.  Please, before you two hurt each other.”

“Yes,” Aria suddenly cut in, her hair and robe a bit askew as if she had raced down the stairs in a hurry when the fight broke out.  “Let me get some ice on that face of yours, Agent Snow.  We can all talk about this later.”

She was leading him off, her hand gripping his elbow before he could even protest.  He threw a look over his shoulder at Rafee.  The man was glaring and Marcus feared he had made an enemy for life.  He was sorry, he really was, because he and Rafee could have been such good friends.  Especially after Marcus gave him the information he had on his uncle.  But now…well, Marcus doubted he’d do anything for the man.  It was over.

**

Leave it to his cousin Samad to have the most impeccable timing in the world.  Rafee had barely made it down the long gravel road off Villa Serena, when his phone had rang and Samad had filled Rafee in on the news Leonardo from Rome had given him.  An American, a man suspiciously fitting the description of one Marcus Snow, had been snooping around, asking questions about Nikash’s son.  It hadn’t taken long for word to get to Leonardo that the American had also made it to Belgium and that there were a few friends of Nico’s deceased mother, who were willing to talk…for a price.

Damn it, but Rafee was angry.  When Samad had given him an earful, he’d returned to Villa Serena, found Marcus standing on the stairs and commenced to pummeling him.  At first the man had done little, then he’d skillfully fought back and Rafee had to give him credit—it was the best fight he’d had in ages.  Compared to the pansies the Americans had been sending his way the past few days, Marcus was a true challenge.

It had felt good to unleash all his anger over Senator Banes and his meddling on Marcus.  It had also felt good to pummel the man who Shawna loved.  Granted, Rafee had been understanding and patient over that entire fiasco.  He had been “dead.”  And to her credit, Shawna didn’t seem to be pinning away for the other man; so jealously had not been all-consuming.  But tonight, some of those jealous feelings had been unleashed…just a bit…and it had felt good.

But now, Rafee felt guilty.  Marcus had been a comrade in arms.  A fellow soldier didn’t ambush one of his own, and that was exactly what Rafee had done.  And Marcus was right, the Armanjanis weren’t the only family in the world.  Marcus had his own alliances and allegiances…Rafee just wanted to know why Marcus would give away information that could harm a child.  Why?

Shawna was stomping up the stairs ahead of him, grumbling about how immature and egotistical the men were.  How dare they fight like babies and wake up the children!  How dare they refuse to stop and nearly take Nikash down with them!

Granted, Rafee’s aim had not been to wake anyone, nor had he realized his brother had almost gotten taken down in the tussle.  He had thought the only victim had been the lamp and table.  Shawna, however, was pissed and as soon as they were in their bedroom, she slammed the door and turned on him.

“How dare you act like that inside this house, Rafee!” Shawna scolded and Rafee simply moved forward, took her in his arms and kissed her.

She turned her head.

“Don’t start that crap with me thinking a little affection will make it all right.  It’s not all right,” she told him.

Not letting her go, Rafee asked, “Would it have been all right had it been anyone other than Marcus?”

“It wouldn’t have been all right had it been anyone other than an intruder,” she quipped and he felt better having heard her answer.

“Okay then,” he replied, “I’ll apologize to everyone.  Even to Marcus.”

Shawna sighed and Rafee took advantage of her seemingly calm state to pull her closer once more.  She laid her head on his shoulder.

“Why did you fight him?  Was it over me?” she asked.

“Not really.  It was over Nico.  He’s the one who leaked the information to Banes.  I lost my head.”

“I’m disappointed that he did that, but not surprised.  He has his own agenda.  He has feelings of duty toward his uncle.  John Banes helped raise Marcus at times.  And Marcus…well, he feels he has to take care of those close to him.  You would have done the same for Laxman or Aarif.”

“True.  I can’t fault the man for that.  He’s a lot like me in that regard.  I suppose then I’ll say I hit him because he once tried to marry you.  Because for months, he had you at his disposal.  Held you.  Kissed you.  Played father to my children.  Then he took you to war.  I suppose I hit him for that.”

Shawna shook her head.  “Rafee, you’re incorrigible.  And out of all the times I’ve seen you fight, this time it hurt me the most.  Watching both you and Marcus try to kill each other…”  She took in a deep breath, obviously trying to quell her tears and bit at her bottom lip.  “Well, I don’t ever want to see that again, honey.  Promise me.”

“I promise.  I’ll just try and take out Marcus’s uncle, not him.”

He was rewarded with a swift kick to the shin and good thing Shawna was barefoot, because it hurt.

“No more killing people!  No more fighting.  Rafee, the war is over.  I would never want another to feel loss like I did.  Never,” Shawna insisted.

Rafee rubbed his shin then limped over to the bed.

“So, you just want me to give it up?  You do know they’ve sent people after me, don’t you, Shawna?  The car accident…there was no deer, just a black sedan with two big dumb brutes in it.”

Shawna gasped.  “What?  You never told me?”  She gritted her teeth and began pacing.  “I swear, Rafee, one of these days I’m going to really hurt you for keeping things from me.  Remember how the Samad fiasco turned out?  You never told me about him.  And let’s not forget the ten months we thought you were dead because you didn’t want to tell me you were alive!  And now…some government agents have been following you, trying to kill you, and you just…just keep it to yourself?  Damn, I could smack you.”

“Darling, I can take care of it myself.  The American agents never worried me.  And they couldn’t get me.  That’s why they sent in Marcus,” Rafee said.

Shawna’s jaw dropped.  “Marcus tried to kill you?”

“Supposed to kill me.  He didn’t.  He went to see you instead and I took a drive.  That’s when Samad called and told me that Marcus had been in Europe snooping around about Nico.”

Something he said must have sparked a fire in Shawna, because she turned on her bare foot and ran out of the room.  He heard her feet on the tile stairs before he decided to rush after her.

**

“You know, fighting with my brother is not a good idea,” Aria chastised gently as she dabbed at the cut on Marcus’s cheek.  He winced, it stung, but she simply gripped Marcus’s jaw tighter and pulled his face back towards her.

“I know it’s not a good idea,” Marcus agreed.  “Ouch!”  He tried to pull free, but Aria’s grip was too tight.  “But I didn’t start it.  He did.”

“Why?  I thought you two were friends?”

She halted her ministrations and looked at him with a slightly cocked head.  Her long black hair fell in a curtain around her face and Marcus smiled.  He could enjoy the sight of a beautiful woman as much as the next man.  Shawna or no Shawna.

“We are…were.  I don’t know,” he replied and took the ice Aria offered him.

“I try not to get in my brother’s way,” Aria said, “and I think you should do the same.  Rafee is not someone you want as your enemy, Agent Snow.”

“It’s Marcus,” he insisted, “and I didn’t want him as my enemy either.  But now…”  He gave a shrug.  “Now, it looks like he wants a fight.  I can give him a fight.  I never did when it came to Shawna and the kids, but I can now if he wants.”

“Please, don’t fight,” Aria insisted and that saddened look invaded her eyes again.  That look that said she had lost too much in life already.  “Enough fighting took place in Johar.  Enough of us lost in that war.  We don’t need another war in this family.  Be the bigger man, talk with Rafee, don’t fight.”

Marcus had not wanted to be the bigger man only a few minutes before.  No, then he had been ready to wage war for life against Prince Rafee.  But after hearing Aria’s pleas and seeing the haunted look in her eyes, he had to admit he was caving.  This was a woman who, like Shawna, had lost during the Johar War.  Seeing her brother fight hurt her all over again and Marcus didn’t want to be the man who brought pain to Aria or Shawna again.  Not again.

He had just come to that conclusion when Shawna burst into the kitchen, rushed at him and smacked him a hard one across the face.  Her hand connected with the same spot Rafee’s punch had and it nearly knocked Marcus on his ass from the pain.

“You son-of-a-bitch!” Shawna snarled.  “How could you have done it?  How could you have come here with the intent to kill my husband after what you knew I went through just a few months ago?  How could you?”

“Shawna…” Aria tried to plead but Shawna didn’t even see the woman.  Her green eyes were only focused on Marcus and they were filled with a rage that panicked him.

“I thought you cared for me, for the children?” Shawna continued.

“I do,” Marcus attempted to explain, but Shawna just kept on shouting, her finger poking him in the chest, her eyes never letting that rage slip away.

“How could you try and take away my husband, their father, Marcus?  How?”

Rafee stomped into the kitchen behind Shawna and interjected, “Shawna, darling, please…”

She ignored him too, so finally Marcus took Shawna by the shoulders and gave her a hard shake.

“Listen to me!” he demanded and just like that dump in the lake so long ago, he got her attention with an uncharacteristic move.  “I was never going to hurt Rafee.  Never.”

“But you came here to,” Shawna argued.

Marcus put his hand on Shawna’s cheek.  It was purely a reaction, a habit from when they had been together.

“Baby, I was sent to, but that didn’t mean I was ever going to follow through on it.  I thought you knew me better than that.  I thought you knew I’d never do something to hurt you or the kids.”

Tears began streaming down Shawna’s face and Marcus reached out and used his thumbs to wipe them away.

“Don’t cry, doll, you know it kills me,” he said in a soft voice and it was then that Aria took his arm and tugged him away from Shawna.

“It’s late.  I think we should all get some rest and talk about things in the morning,” Aria was insisting calmly yet with something quite firm in her voice.  She was literally tugging Marcus out of the kitchen adding, “I’ll find you a room for the night, Agent Snow.”

He never looked at Aria, his eyes remained trained on Shawna, but she never looked back at him.  Her shoulders shook with sobs and the last image he saw was Rafee walking up behind her and enveloping her in his arms.  It tore him apart once more, just like seeing the prince at his lake house had torn him up weeks before and he realized it had been way too soon for him to make this journey to see Shawna.

Aria halted at a small downstairs room and opened the door.

“Its small, but you don’t mind, do you?” she asked him and he had to admit that despite all that had happened and the dark circles of exhaustion that were ringing her light colored eyes, she remained the perfectly polite hostess.

“I don’t think I should stay.  I think I should just go say my good-byes,” he insisted.

Aria’s hand kept a firm hold on his arm and something very commanding entered her eyes.  She may be a spoiled princess, but she was a princess with lots of practice ordering her two older brothers around for her tone left no room for argument.

“No, you will not say your good-byes tonight.  You will say them tomorrow when everyone is rested.  Besides, I know my brother, Agent Snow, and I believe you pushed his limits about as far as any man dares tonight.  You lay claim to Shawna like she is still yours.  And though Rafee can be a generous man when it comes to his friends, his generosity is limited since he has returned from the war—especially where sharing his wife and kids is concerned.”

“I know they’re not mine anymore,” Marcus blurted out.  “But it’s a painful thing to see what you so dearly love right in front of you and not ever be able to touch it again.”

Aria’s eyes, once resolute and determined to have her way, shuttered away and she replied quietly, “Yes, it is difficult, but it is more painful never to see what you love ever again.  To know that it…that he or she is dead forever.”  She looked back up at him and her eyes were determined once more.  “Would you rather be in my shoes?”

Marcus shook his head and realized suddenly that his pain was tolerable.  Surely Aria’s would never be something tolerable.  Instinctually he touched her cheek, offering comfort. 

“I suppose I should be thankful that I can still see them, still talk to them.  It does give me joy to know the kids have their father back and that Shawna has the man back that she so dearly loves,” Marcus said.

“And she does love him dearly, Agent Snow.”

“Marcus,” he corrected again.

“Marcus,” Aria whispered, and looked him in the eye for a brief, fleeting moment of mutual understanding, then stepped away from his hand.  “Rest well.  I will see you in the morning.”

Marcus gave a nod and caught the door before Aria could close it.

“Thank you, Aria.  You are too kind to me,” he said.

She smiled, closed the door and disappeared.  Marcus fell onto the twin bed with a groan and was out before he knew it.

**

The rumors had circulated quite efficiently, Billy noticed, as he sat at his desk in the precinct and watched Detective Will Barnes of the Missing Persons Division saunter toward him with a teasing grin.  Obviously Will would have something to say about Claire…he just knew it.

Will plopped a hip down on the edge of Billy’s desk and took a pencil out of the cup sitting on the desk.  He waved the pencil around like a wizard and declared, “I heard it wasn’t the hot Claire you got in dispatch but the one that looks like a kid.  And I heard you two were making-out in the parking lot right here.”

“People gossip too much,” Billy drawled.

“So, you’re not even going to deny it, huh?” Will asked.

“Deny what?  That I met a nice girl and had a good weekend.  Deny that I kissed her?  Why should I?” Billy replied.

“Because a gal like that could spoil your reputation.”

“My reputation?”

“Yes, you’re reputation for dating only hot chicks,” Will teased.  “She’s not hot.”

“No, she’s not.  She’s beautiful.  I suppose that’s even better than hot.  Oh, and did I mention she’s lots of fun and mouthy and has a barbed-wire tattoo?”

Will’s face pinched up in horror.

“Detective Patrick, what planet are you visiting?  Claire might be cute, but that’s about as far as it goes in my eyes.”

“Yes, in your eyes,” Billy said and wondered how it had only taken one weekend and a week of phone calls back and forth with Claire to change his perspective on women so drastically.  He stood, slipped on his jacket and yanked the pencil away from Detective Barnes.  “Now, are you here to help me track down that missing prostitute, or not?”

Will frowned, said nothing more about Billy’s love life, and they left.

**

They’d talked on the phone every day for a week.  Not necessarily long phone calls, but just quick “hellos” and conversations about when they could actually find time to get together.  Claire still remembered their kiss out in the precinct parking lot and the hot, lingering kiss Billy had given her in his car as he’d dropped her off at her uncle’s bar.  The boy could kiss!  And then he’d dazzled her with those bedroom eyes of his and told her he’d see her soon.

“See you soon, babe,” he’d promised and Claire had winked at him and waved good-bye.  And though they had not seen each other yet, Billy had maintained contact via phone ensuring Claire that he was still most definitely interested.

The girls at work eyed her suspiciously because she was bouncing around like a giddy teen.  That had never been her way before.  But apparently the rumor about her and Detective Patrick hadn’t hit the Dispatch Center yet, because no one was making comments.

Then she heard two dispatchers giggle after hanging up on a call with a police officer and one sighed saying, “He is just so hot.  Have you met him before, June?”

June, the dispatcher with a bit of a pear-shaped body and fire red hair who was always so dang nice to everyone, shook her head. 

“Oh, that would be because he only dates hot women,” Mary Jane Clemmons, the bitchiest of the bitchy dispatchers spoke up from her post across the room.

“Stuff it, Mary Jane,” Claire shot out and she was rewarded with a shy smile from June.

“What I meant,” Mary Jane said without wavering as she unhooked her headset from her phone line and slunk across the room in her impossibly high heels and tight skirt, “is that Detective Billy Patrick can have his pick of ladies in this city and he doesn’t need to date anyone...less than hot.  You know…plain.”  Then her dark, evil eyes gave a sweep around the room to each of the ladies on duty and she added, “None of you would have a chance with him.”

“But you think you would?” Claire asked bluntly.

Mary Jane smiled deviously and swung the cord attached to her headphones.  “Well, sure.  Why wouldn’t I?”

Claire lifted an indifferent shoulder and made a show of looking Mary Jane over.  “I don’t know…perhaps he’s given up his slutty ways.  I heard he was interested in someone now.  Someone….plain.”

Their supervisor walked in the room and the dowdy woman with the stern face, honest words and no-nonsense attitude looked at everyone not working and asked, “What is this?  A group therapy session?  Get back to work, all of you.”

She turned to leave, then halted and looked over her shoulder.  “Oh, and by the way, Mary Jane, Claire is dating Detective Patrick now.  The way I hear it, he’s head over heals.”

The woman left and Mary Jane’s mouth hung open.  June gave a little laugh and turned back to her work.  Claire shrugged at Mary Jane and remarked, “What can I say?  He likes us plain girls now,” and went back to work.

**

Rafee slept in much longer than he had anticipated.  Shawna was gone when he awoke.  So were Kess and Alexi.  Kadeem was sitting alone in the kitchen eating breakfast and flipping through an American fashion magazine, no doubt trying to improve his English skills and not ogling the rail-thin models in the skimpy outfits, and Nikash was in his office with Tara fussing over his new injuries.

“You know, Rafee, your brawling last night gave Nikash another gash on his head,” Tara complained as she looked over the cut just along Nikash’s hairline and insisted he probably needed stitches.  “It won’t stop bleeding.”

Rafee gave it the once over and declared, “He’ll live.”

When Tara glared at him he added defensively, “He was always too pretty.  It’ll add some rough character to his face.”

She rolled her eyes and before she could retort he asked quickly, “Where are my wife and kids?”

Nikash threw a hand toward the now repaired French doors and as Rafee moved to look, Nikash warned, “Don’t smash them.  I just got them fixed.”

Rafee halted at the glass doors and gazed down on the stable paddock in the distance.  Shawna was standing just inside the fence and Marcus was leading Kess on her little fuzzy pony.  Just like when he had seen them from a distance at the cabin in Minnesota more than a month ago he was struck with how utterly all-American they looked together.  The picture-perfect, model family.  But they weren’t a family and he knew that Shawna didn’t think of them as a family any longer.  And last night he might have been filled with rage at Marcus for the information he’d given the Senator on Nico and a bit of jealousy as he’d watched Marcus wipe away Shawna’s tears like she was still his.  But this morning, he just felt sympathy—sympathy for a man who had to watch while the woman and children he loved were happy with someone else.

“You’re not going to break my door?” Nikash asked from the desk.

Tara had left after Nikash had refused any more doctoring and the two brothers were alone.  Rafee turned away from the paddock scene and said, “No.”

“You’re over last night?”

“Over it.  And I understand how Marcus feels.  I missed my family for nearly a year too.  He’s more than likely in a lot of pain.”

At first Nikash gaped at his brother.  Then he frowned.

“What are you up to, Rafee?” Nikash asked.

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you empathizing with Agent Snow’s plight?”

“Because I know what its like to love Shawna and the kids.  And I know what its like to miss them.  And…because they are mine and I have nothing to worry about.  Despite everything else, I like Marcus.  He’s a brave man.”

Nikash took a moment to mull that over, then he gave a shake of his head.  “I suppose if I could come to terms with liking Emir, you can come to terms with having Agent Snow as a friend despite all that happened.”

“That is exactly correct.  See, I am not an unreasonable man,” Rafee declared.  Then he picked up the phone, called Doctor Chen to come to the mansion to look at Nikash’s head again and refused to take no for an answer.  He hung up the phone and smiled deviously at his brother.  “See, I am not unreasonable at all.”

**

The woman Shawna called Abra had taken the baby back to the house and Marcus was now leading the fuzzy pony that Kess refused to dismount down the gravel drive toward the house Shawna and Rafee were renovating.  It was the house he had seen in the pictures Agent Banks had brought him and it was a place he had not wanted to set eyes upon.  But Shawna had wanted to show him and he would not begrudge her such a simple pleasure.

“Besides,” she’d teased, “we have Kess and the pony for chaperones.”

He’d laughed.  He doubted Shawna needed a chaperon around him anymore.  And he still thought of Aria’s words from the night before—Rafee was only so generous with sharing his family these days.  But the entire time they’d been down by the stables the mighty sheik warrior had not come sprinting down the hill armed and ready to fight, so Marcus figured he was being allowed this time alone with Shawna and the kids.  He was grateful.

The walk wasn’t too long and when they came upon the house under heavy construction, Marcus joked asking Shawna why her insanely rich husband couldn’t afford to buy her a new house?  Or better yet, her own palace?

“Because,” Shawna replied with a small smile, “I don’t want any of those things.  I wanted something…homey.  And Calistoga is my home and Tara is here and Nik is here and Zak is just next door.  So we can be near family and friends while still having our own privacy.”

The sky cracked and Marcus looked up to see the dark clouds that were moving in.

“It’s going to rain.  I hope the roof is up on your new master bedroom,” he drawled.

Shawna frowned and peered up at the darkening sky.  “Ick!  Rain.”

Marcus grinned at her and declared, “You won’t melt, darlin’.  Its just water.”

Shawna laughed and the instinct to reach out and touch her was too strong.  But he held the reins to the pony tightly in his grasp instead.

“New house,” Kess spoke up, pointing toward her soon-to-be new home.

“Yep, angel, that’s going to be your new house,” he said to her.

Kess smiled at him and his heart tightened painfully.  He should have left the night before.  Damn.  It would have been easier.  Kess and Alexi had been asleep.  Shawna had given him back his ring and sent him on his way.  It would have just been easier!

“Marcus, if this is too hard…you don’t have to stay just to be nice and chat,” Shawna spoke up, no doubt knowing his moods too well.

“Its not too hard,” he fibbed and when she glared at him with disbelief, he reached out and tugged on the ends of her ponytail.  “Honestly, babe, I can handle it.  I’m thankful for this time.  I’m lucky.”

Shawna smiled at him and Kess laughed as the first raindrop fell.  The storm didn’t let loose right away and they were able to jog back to the stables with only getting partially wet.  But as they halted at the stables, the clouds opened up something fierce.

“Oh, hell,” Shawna whined and she wiped at her face and pulled Kess off her pony, holding the child in her arms.

“I’ll put the pony up, you get Kess up to the house,” Marcus offered.

“Perhaps we should just wait it out inside the stables,” Shawna began to argue and Marcus eyed the clouds in the distance.

“No, this storm isn’t going anywhere.  Just get Kess up to the house, get dry and I’ll see you later.”

Shawna hesitated.  Something in her eyes was wary.

“Later?  Marcus, you’re leaving, aren’t you?” she insisted.

Marcus lifted an indifferent shoulder.  “I left something in my room for Rafee.  Tell him I had to spill the news on Nico to even the score.  I have this thing about there always being a balance of power.  Sorta keeps the world sane, you know?”

Shawna was just staring at him; staring at him with a look he knew he would have seen had he stuck around the day Rafee first arrived at the lake house.  There was pity and sympathy and pain in her eyes and those were emotions he didn’t want to see.

“I’ve gotta go, Shawna.  I’ll see you all in the future sometime.  I promise,” he added.

“Marcus…” Shawna tried to argue, but he reached out, caught her around the back of the neck and pulled her face toward his.  He kissed her, passionately.  He kissed her with all his regrets, with all his love and with everything he had wanted to tell her for so long.  He kissed her good-bye.

“I’ll see you again sometime, doll.  I promise you.  But I will never kiss you again.  And I will never feel sorry for myself again.  I should have said good-bye to you the first time, Shawna.  I’m sorry I didn’t.  Good-bye.  Have a good life.  You deserve it,” Marcus told her.  The rain hit them both fiercely now.  They ignored it.  Kess, however, wailed in protest.

“Good-bye, Marcus,” Shawna then said and as Kess waved farewell, she began to walk away.  Marcus coaxed the pony toward the stable door, then he heard his name called out.  It was Shawna and she was smiling at him.  “Marcus,” she said again, “part of me will always love you.  And I will always be grateful for what you did for me.  Always.”

And with that, she jogged up the hill with her child in her arms.  She would return to her mansion, to her incredible husband and she would live a good life.

**

Walking helped her.  Walking for miles upon miles upon miles helped her.  And when she really felt claustrophobic, when the pain of losing Aasim tore at her too harshly, she ran until she couldn’t move any more.

Today, she’d wandered along the tree line of Villa Serena’s estate.  She’d found the creek and the edge of the property that met up with Zaki’s Canterbury Estate.  She’d been gone for too long, she knew, but she had needed the time.  Talking with Agent Snow, with Marcus, about loss last night had done her in.  It had been months since Aasim had died, but she had yet to heal.

She had a good mile back to the house when the clouds opened up and the rain poured down.  At first, Aria laughed.  It was just her luck these days to be caught in a rain storm.  But a rain storm was a lot less lethal than losing a husband.  She splashed in the puddles and trudged along slowly until she was drenched from head to toe.

Then she remembered the time she and Aasim had been caught in a storm in Paris.  They’d been married a few years, had one child already, and were just discussing when to conceive a second when the clouds had bombarded them with water.  They’d run toward their hotel, laughing the entire way.  They’d held hands as they’d sprinted the last block together.  They nearly slipped as they’d burst into the posh hotel and their wet feet had made contact on the perfectly polished marble floor.  But they’d ignored the disapproving stares from the hotel staff and by the time they were in the elevator, they were in each other’s arms.  That night, Kareem, their now eight-year-old boy, had been conceived and they had thought they had their entire lives ahead of them.

That had all been before the war.  Before that damnable war!

Aria sprinted, trying to outrun her sorrow.  If she just ran fast enough, she could get rid of the hurt and the pain.  She could stop hurting each time she thought about the past and what she had lost when Aasim had died.

But it didn’t work.  She tired and the rain pelted her harder.  She could barely move and now she was still sad and exhausted to boot.

She saw the stable up ahead and she forced her legs to keep going.  She was strong in character, but she had never been the fierce athlete her brothers had been.  She lacked the strength and stamina of their bodies, but she was determined.  And her determination often made-up for what she lacked in physical prowess.

She made it to the door of the stables and was just starting to yank it open when it opened on its own volition.  Standing there, frowning, was Agent Marcus Snow.

Aria gasped.  Then her eyes traveled the length of him in jeans and a sweatshirt.  He too was wet from the rain and she remembered his lightness last night when they had first met on the stairs and his understanding when she had spoken of loss.  He was a man with many sides to his personality and he was a man who carried as much pain inside as she did.

Then she remembered her husband again and all that she had lost, all that she missed.  Without thinking, without speaking, she launched herself into Marcus’s arms, planted her lips and his and then felt him drag her inside the stables where he didn’t let her go.

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The Sheiks of Kumar IX: Family Reunion – Chapter 17