The Sheikh’s Stubborn Bride by Leslie North
11
Kadir came down to breakfast with a bounce in his step. Watching Stella get dressed had delayed his own morning preparations, so she’d beaten him to the main dining room, but he didn’t mind. “Helping” her in the morning had become a favorite ritual over the last few weeks. As he bent to kiss her cheek, he picked up the buzz of excitement in the air. He took his seat and began to fill his plate, glancing over at his wife.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a review of my new game,” she said, looking up from her phone.
“Really?” He bit into a slice of pita and waggled his fingers. “Let me see.”
She handed him her phone, and he scrolled through the article. From what he could see, mostly it was an ode to the graphics and music and general artistry of what she’d designed. His chest swelled with pride. “Very good, habibi. I’m glad the world recognizes what I’ve known all along—just how talented you are.”
Stella blushed, fairly glowing from his compliment. “Thank you.”
Then he got to the end of the review and noticed the author agreed with Stella’s sentiments about the beauty of the old city. Kadir’s smile morphed into a frown as he checked the writer’s bio. It was a man from right there in Al-Fatha. Worse, the guy went on to share his personal insights as a resident who’d been displaced by the construction of the planetarium. He told of how he’d been forced to move back in with his parents—a situation the author felt would become more and more common with Kadir’s push for more new businesses and tech companies to come to the area.
The article went on to say that the release of Stella’s game was well-timed to bring more awareness to the beauty of the old city and the memories tied to that area. He hoped it would perhaps make people question the wisdom of choosing progress over history and how much would be lost to the future king’s ideas.
Kadir handed the phone back to Stella and concentrated on his breakfast, staring down at his plate as if it held the secrets of the universe instead of just his food. The author of the article should have reached out to him for a comment as well, given him a chance to defend his plans. If the people of Al-Fatha would just listen and understand what he was trying to do, they’d see that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
Sensing his shift in mood, Stella reached over to place her hand on his forearm as the rest of the family launched into conversation about their father’s latest crop of cucumbers.
She leaned in closer and whispered, “I hope you’re not upset about the ending of that review.”
When he didn’t respond, Stella continued. “Honestly, I doubt many people will see it anyway. It’s just a small gaming magazine, not a national newspaper or a political blog or anything.”
“Did you know what he was going to write?” he asked, spending far too much time spreading hummus on his bread than was necessary, knowing he shouldn’t be upset with her about it, but hurt just the same. “Perhaps you gave him a review copy of your game knowing his past and what he would say?”
“What? No, of course not.” She exhaled slow and sat back. “Why would I do that?”
He took a bite of food and chewed slowly, swallowing before answering. “Well, you’ve made your views clear, and I’d think you’d have to go out of your way to find someone who agrees with you.”
“Seriously?” She raised a brow at him. “Out of my way?”
“Yes. Everyone I’ve talked to about my projects has nothing but positive things to say. This minority of detractors is small, if vocal. Did you screen the list of reviewers to make sure none of them had an agenda or opinion that would reflect poorly on the royal family?”
“Perhaps she didn’t know to do that, brother.” This from Salah, who was now focused on his and Stella’s conversation intently. Perfect. A quick glance around the table showed Kadir his whole family was giving them their full attention at that point. Salah snorted. “Just because it’s standard operating procedure for us doesn’t mean the rest of the world thinks that way.”
Kadir scowled. Dammit. He hadn’t considered that and realized now that he probably should have. He'd just been so busy with work and his plans to move Al-Fatha forward that he hadn’t thought about how Stella was handling her adjustment to royal life. Guilt stole his appetite, and he shoved his plate away and stood. “Excuse me.”
He returned to the suite, not ready yet to face the business of the day. Stella followed him a short time later, closing the door behind her.
“I’m sorry about the review. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine.” It’s not. “I’m not upset with you. What bothers me is that it started as a good review of your game and devolved into a cheap stunt to bash my plans.” He paced the small sitting area. “As a member of the royal family, there are ways to handle certain interactions with the public and the press. It was my responsibility to teach you those, and I failed.”
“What do you want me to do?” Stella asked, leaning back against the closed door, arms crossed and expression guarded. “Honestly, I’m not comfortable telling reviewers what to write. That’s kind of against the whole point of reviews.”
“True. And the review itself is not the problem. It’s what he wrote after that, that had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with my plans.” He stopped and stared at her. “Perhaps there’s a way to fix this. You can issue a statement saying that your game is meant to celebrate the city’s history, not freeze it in time. You can say that while we disagree on some issues, you still support the majority of my plans.”
“But that’s the thing, Kadir,” she said, pushing away from the door and moving closer to him so he could see the tension in her gaze. “I don’t disagree with the author’s assessment about the future of your country. And I won’t try to suppress people’s opinions, even if they disagree with the official family position.”
“What?” He gave her an incredulous, unblinking stare. “So, you’re happy he’s skewered my life’s work?”
“No, of course not.” Color rose in her cheeks, and her tone rose to match his louder one. “I had no idea he was going to write that, and I had nothing to do with distributing those review copies. That’s all handled through my promotional agency, not me. I have no say in who gets one.”
“No say at all? You expect me to believe that, Stella?” He fumed, his voice notching louder. “Because I find it highly unlikely that they wouldn’t give out a few extra copies if you asked them too, maybe to friends or professionals you thought might—”
A knock sounded on the door, and soon his siblings piled into the suite, all looking guilty as hell. Well, except for Salah, who looked like he was enjoying the chaos he’d started just fine.
“What?” Kadir glowered at his family. “We’re in the middle of something here.”
“We need you break a stalemate, brother,” Yusef said, taking Kadir by the arm and leading him to one corner of the suite, while Naziha guided Stella to the opposite side of the room to calm her down. His brother pulled two cucumbers out of his pocket and held them up. “Which one is better? The one that looks like a C or the one that’s shaped like a…”
The abrupt change of subject jarred Kadir out of his foul mood, and the absurdity of his brother’s raunchy joke made him laugh despite himself. As his brothers cajoled him further, Kadir watched his wife from across the room. Dammit. He hadn’t wanted to fight with her, especially when things were going well between them. She still didn’t look happy, though, and it was probably best for both of them if he cleared out for a while and gave them each space and time to cool off.
He smacked each of his brothers on the shoulder, then moved around them toward the door, saying to Stella over his shoulder, “I’ve got work to do. We’ll talk again later. Don’t forget we have the opera tonight.”
As he stood on the threshold, it was clear from his wife’s defiant gaze that she wasn’t backing down. Kadir stepped into the hall then took a deep breath to calm his frazzled nerves. Fine. Good. He wasn’t budging an inch either.
