What could she say to that? If Jana was good enough for Tali, then she must have had background checks. She must have gone through an even more stringent approval process to be able to work in the palace at all. And there was a difference between maintaining boundaries with Raed and being difficult just because. Lise felt pulled in a hundred different directions. Focus on the choice at hand. Palace or no palace? Nanny or no nanny? The palace decision had essentially been made for her.
“Just while I’m working,” she said. “I’ll let her be with Jake while I’m working.”
Raed’s eyes searched hers, and that old electric heat spread out across her chest. “You don’t want any free time after work?”
Lise’s breath caught. “No,” she blurted out. “No, I don’t.” Steady, steady. “I’m a mother now. Jake comes first in everything I do, and part of that is working hard to secure our future. I don’t have any time for a dalliance and no intention of making time for it.”
Raed looked around as if there could possibly be anyone else in the garden with them. “A dalliance with me?”
“It’s not happening,” she said flatly, her heart pounding.
“What makes you think I don’t have a girlfriend already?” His smile was a tease, a taunt, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Jake toddled between them, reaching up for Lise, and she picked him up. No, something in her cried. No, I don’t want you to have a girlfriend. By the time he was in her arms, Raed was gone, disappearing around a corner in the garden.
“Ma’am?” The security guard had appeared from nowhere. “Your bags have arrived.”
4
“The foundation is going to be my top priority for the coming years,” Raed said into the phone. He had it on speaker so his assistant Stephen could hear the conversation as well. It had been two days since Lise moved into the palace, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The defiant lift of her chin. The fall of her blonde hair from her ponytail. More than anything, he wanted to walk out to that guest house and stay all day. But his professional life beckoned. “Any donation you’d like to make is going to go directly toward furthering my goals for the Bahir Foundation.”
Paddy O’Connor was the creator of the Harlequin hedge fund and a very rich man. He was in a position to donate a lot of money to the Bahir Foundation. It also helped that he’d gone to school at Georgetown University, Raed’s own alma mater. “And those goals are?”
“We want to promote the study of the natural and social sciences,” Raed said. Stephen hovered at the edge of the desk, moving papers into place so Raed could use them for notes. “We’re looking for ways to bolster our public health systems. There’s room for improvement in science education, society and culture, international relations—”
“Scholarships,” said Paddy. “I like the idea of scholarships.”
“So do I.” Stephen scribbled scholarships on one of the pages. “I’m very interested in education on every level. If we can improve education, the rest of the world will rise along with it.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, Raed slipping in details about the foundation wherever he could, and as soon as he hung up the call there was a knock at the door. Stephen bowed low at the sight of Nenet in the doorway and excused himself.
“Hello, Mother,” Raed said as Nenet swept into the room. She took a seat across from Raed and stared at him as if the act of looking would uncover new information. “Is there something you wanted?”
Nenet gave him a smile that sent a shiver of awe through him. “Just a talk with my son,” she said, folding her hands neatly in her lap. “About recent events.”
He’d buried himself in work since Lise arrived at the palace, not wanting to have this particular conversation. His playboy lifestyle hadn’t seemed like such a big deal when he was younger—after all, it was Hamid who would run the country and bear the brunt of the moral scrutiny. Now, with his mother watching him like that and the weight of his biggest project on his shoulders, he realized it had always been a big deal, and was just going to get bigger. Raed got up from his desk and closed the office door, then sat back down again.
“Recent events are in motion because of a dalliance I had when I was abroad. I have had the odd dalliance over the years, Mother.” Guilt tightened his throat. “I didn’t always use my real name when doing so.”
Nenet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Deception, Raed?”
“For everyone’s good,” he countered.
“For your good.” He could hear the anger around the edges of her voice. “You hid those women from the world, as if they were something to be ashamed of. You hid them from me. You’ve had public relationships before. Katharine Seaton comes to mind.” Nenet reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded paper. “In a magazine this week—see? It speculates that you and Katharine might be codirecting the foundation, since the two of you have a high-powered relationship.”
“It’s been a few dates. That’s all. And yes, I thought of asking her to co-lead the foundation.”
“Because of her family connections?”
“Of course,” he said. “And her professional accomplishments. Why else? It’s not about love. It’s never been about love.” The pressure that he’d put on himself seemed especially heavy now. What right did his mother have to talk about feelings like this, to bring up advantageous marriages? Her own marriage had been arranged and advantageous. “I didn’t know that Lise was pregnant. Obviously. Otherwise I’d have brought her here long ago. I met her in London, and I—I didn’t know.”
Nenet faced him, jaw set. “She went through pregnancy and raising that little boy by herself.” Guilt struck him like a bolt of lightning. “I’ll spoil her now. She has us now.” Nenet gathered the skirt of her dress and swept from the room.
The breath went out of him, and it took a long minute to get it back. His mother had been thrilled at the addition of a new grandson, but her anger was palpable—and Raed deserved it. But there was not much use in dwelling on the past. He couldn’t go back now and tell Lise who he really was. He could only go forward. And at this moment in time, the workday was over.
He made his way out of the office, sending the rest of his staff home, and found himself wandering through the garden to Lise’s house. She had informed him two days ago that she’d stop work at five every day and take over from Jana. By the time he got to her yard, it was ten after, and that was exactly what Lise was doing. Jana and Lise were both there with Jake. Five balloons were scattered across the green lawn, and Jake toddled between them.
“Red!” called Lise, and Jake bent down and tapped the red balloon. “Good job, buddy. Blue!” She watched as Jake made his way to the blue balloon and tapped it with a tiny hand. Lise turned to Jana. “Thanks for helping me blow these up. See you tomorrow?”
“I can’t wait.” Jana gave Jake a little wave and went out of the yard through the back.
It gave Raed a minute to look at her—to really look at Lise. At the warmth radiating from her face. She had changed out of her business clothes and into a sundress, comfortable and beautiful at the same time. It touched him, how widely she smiled at Jake, how enthusiastically she clapped for him.