Free Sheikh's Scandalous Mistress by Jessica Brooke, Ella Brooke

everything they could think of, and he was glad for her eager attitude. Oddly, for the first time in a long time, he was even thrilled by the prospect of her perhaps taking a long vacation before she returned to DC to continue her investigation of Senator Jackson. Usually, he’d avoid entanglements, but there was something in Amanda that called to him, and he couldn’t wait to have her with him at the palace for even more sessions to enjoy together.
    It was then that his mother swept in.
    Part of him wanted to roll his eyes. She was smiling at him and positively buzzing around the room. With effort, he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes—the rest of him knew that it was a sign of disrespect to the current sheikh and inappropriate for a son to behave. Still, she’d been hinting so gleefully about his attraction to Amanda the other day, and now she was venturing into his office in order to speak with him. As if that didn’t seem highly suspicious at all.
    “Mother,” he said, standing and going to kiss her cheeks. “How are you?”
    “I’m splendid, darling,” she said, continuing to flit about the room as if she were a hummingbird. Her sleek, graying hair was pulled back in a long braid and she was wearing her tennis skirt. Clearly, she was about to meet some of her friends for a game. Never be fooled; it was blood sport between the wealthy elite of Abu Dhabi. “But I wanted to see how you were.”
    “I’m doing quite well myself.”
    She smiled, a Mona Lisa expression that let him know she understood exactly what he’d been doing lately. “I can see. I heard that the chef was preparing a breakfast for two this morning.”
    “You’re too nosy,” he added, leaning back against his desk. “Miss Sinclair and I…”
    “You may have found a woman to hold your attention for more than five minutes.”
    “I think it’s a far stretch from there,” he said. “You don’t have to be so excited to see me settled off and married.”
    “You’re in your mid-thirties now, and it’s not just me. I’m told every day by your nieces and nephews the same thing. They all want to know when they’ll have a little cousin to play with.”
    Furrowing his brow back at her, Amir also crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t need this same routine. I happen to have found a potential girlfriend…maybe. She’ll be staying here for a few weeks. This is not about wedding bells or children. I don’t feel ready for that yet.”
    “All of your brothers…they moved on from Farana’s loss.”
    He stiffened. “She wasn’t their twin. This isn’t about her.”
    “I think it is. You were both so young. After she died, I was scared to have children again, to ever be open to that kind of pain again. I didn’t want to risk inviting that pain in again. But I did, and then I had three other sons I love so much. If you’re scared of having a family again because they might be gone one day, then you’ll miss out on everything else.”
    “I feel it’s still my fault. I wanted to explore that part of the palace, all the disused places and old antiques. I didn’t realize she’d get that mold in her lungs.”
    His mother crossed to him and put a hand on his forearm. “We never blamed you. You were a child.”
    “And it hurts. The loss of her hurts. I can deal with fun and maybe even something once in a while a bit more stable, but I can’t lose people I love. It’s the biggest agony of all. Besides, the reporter and I have a certain repartee. She has business in the States, and I have…”
    “A country to think of and a duty. You’re not just helping build our financial and building empire, but there’s a country and a lineage you owe. Besides, darling,” she said, stroking his cheek, her brown eyes brimming with concern, “I hate to think of you alone forever. You block the chance of pain out, and you end up blocking all the good out as well.”
    “Maybe, Mother, but protection is what I’m interested in. I want