Free A Marriage of Convenience (Married to a Prince) by Kat Attalla Page B

yours.”
    “It was supposed to be a declaration of commitment , Honor.”
    “No. It was a reminder that I am just another one of your possessions. From sunset to sunrise for the next year you own me. I made the deal so I can’t complain.”
    “Now you really sound ridiculous.”
    “Look around Yousef. There is not one thing in this room, in the palace or in the entire country t hat is mine. Except my son. I am going to him now.” She turned and exited the room. An empty ache washed over her. She sprinted down one long corridor before she realized she was once again lost. She’d be damned if she would go back to the suite and ask Yousef for help. Learning to depend on herself became her first priority.
     
     
    * * * *
     
    Yo usef picked through the paperwork covering his desk. He needed to get back to work, but concentration eluded him. He kept replaying his conversation with Honor the other day. Feminine logic was an oxy-moron. He put one hundred and fifty percent into making their wedding night special and she was further from his than on the day she arrived.
    Despite her warning not to blame her mood swings on hormones, she had been on a roller coaster of emotions for the last ten days. He promised Sean that he would not hurt Honor, but Yousef had no idea how to make her happy. Determined to build a wall, she looked for reasons to keep him at a distance. Except in bed. From sunset to sunrise Honor joined him in the suite. By morning his wife was gone and a stranger replaced her.
    He tried to get his mind back on work. If he didn’t resume the negations between the Bedouins and the Oil Companies, he would have an uprising in the desert. One at home was enough.”
    The door to his office opened and his mother walked in, holding Joey.
    “Where’s Honor?”
    “Good morning to you too, my son.”
    He stood and joined her. “Forgive me. Have a seat.”
    He was curious to know how his mother got Honor to give up Joey for even a few minutes. Brushing his thumb over the baby’s cheek, he received a babble of appreciation. Why couldn’t Honor be so easy to please?
    His mother settled in a club chair with the baby in her lap and let him play with her onyx prayer beads. “Not going as you expected, is it?”
    “Did she say something to you?” That wasn’t Honor’s style. She kept things bottled up.
    “No, but there is a loneliness in her eyes that should not plague a new bride.”
    A dagger-like stab pierced his heart. “I am not hurting her for sport, Mother. I can’t reach her. She won’t let me.”
    After a long thoughtful pause his mother said, “Maybe you are going about it wrong.”
    He loosened the silk tie that choked him. “Then tell me the right way. I am open to suggestions. Because right now, she just avoids me.”
    “She is with the Minister of Education and the administrators for the American Schools. I asked her to sit in on the meeting and give me her impression. She lit up like a Ramadan lantern.”
    “And?”
    His mother grinned broadly. “I got an afternoon with my grandson.”
    Good for her perhaps , but it didn’t help him.
    “I don’t want to be the kind of mother who interferes in her children’s marriages…”
    “Interfere with my blessing, Mother.” She couldn’t make things any worse at this point.
    “She is out of her element and needs to find her place here . And as someone more than your wife. If you wanted a princess, pardon the joke, you should have married a Nadiarian woman who found your title and your credit card your most endearing qualities.”
    He laughed but felt no humor. “So where do I begin?”
    “Try to make her feel at home. She was not prepared for a long stay. Just this morning she asked where the laundry facilities are. And I am ashamed to say, I don’t know. I haven’t washed my own clothes since I married your father.”
    Honor had arrived with only one suitcase of clothing . No wonder she rarely left the suite unless she had to. “I will take