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‘I am good at this!’ she said.
‘You are.’ Mikael smiled. ‘But I’m better.’ He wasn’t pulling rank. ‘I’ve played a lot.’ And, as naturally as breathing, he told her a bit about his time on the streets and how chess had saved his sanity.
He didn’t want pity, and he didn’t get it from Layla.
‘I have played a lot too,’ she said. ‘I would be out of my mind otherwise. Before I had my students, chess was the best company I had.’
Mikael looked up. ‘Have you ever heard the saying, “at the end of the day the pawn and the king go back in the same box”?’
‘No.’
She thought about it for a moment too long.
‘Checkmate.’ He smiled. ‘You are too easily distracted. You need focus.’
‘I will beat you one day,’ she warned, and then he saw her jaw clamp down, because no matter how they hid from the world and got lost in their own they were constantly reminded that the clock was counting down on them.
But instead of dwelling on that Layla focused on the game. She opened differently and awaited his response.
‘I’m thirsty, Mikael.’
‘Then get a drink.’
She didn’t. She moved into attack again and again, and suddenly they were game on.
‘I’m very thirsty, Mikael.’
‘Good,’ he said, refusing to allow her to distract him. ‘Shall I get up and run a tap?’
She shot him a look and stood up. Usually nothing distracted Mikael, yet as she returned and repositioned herself a very ripe nipple might have done. Had he had his time again he would not have made the move that he did. Not that his face told her that, and he hoped she wouldn’t see the opening he had given her, but as he watched her fork him with her knight he realised she had.
‘Your phone is ringing,’ Layla pointed out as she sacrificed her queen.
‘So?’
He let it go to voicemail as they played on, and soon her pawn had crossed the board and Layla had reclaimed her queen.
She smiled at him, but it wasn’t returned for his phone was ringing again.
‘What the hell does Demyan want?’ Mikael’s voice was irritated.
‘How do you know it is Demyan?’ she asked as he stood.
‘He has his own ringtone.’
‘That’s sweet!’ she said, and watched as he took the call.
The vague irritation in his expression disappeared and his face snapped to impassivity. She had a growing sense of unease as Mikael spoke in length to Demyan in Russian.
‘What did he want?’ she asked when he ended the call, and when he did not answer her straight away she knew that something was wrong. ‘Is it the baby?’
‘The baby’s fine,’ Mikael said.
But just as she relaxed he took her hands, and she knew she was going to hear bad news.
‘Layla, Demyan and Alina were so curious about you that they looked you up. Your disappearance has just hit the press. The police are looking for you…’
‘No…’ she whimpered. ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘They won’t find me here.’
‘Yes, Layla, they will,’ he said. ‘The staff at the hotel will recognise you, and the booking was under my name. This is serious now.’
He let go of her hands, turned on the television and found the news.
There she was: black eyes, black hair, and a face that was unforgettable.
The police could be there in a matter of moments.
‘We need to get you back.’
When she didn’t respond he elaborated.
‘Layla, it will be better for you if you return under your own steam than have the police find you.’
‘One more night,’ Layla begged. ‘Mikael, please, I just want one more night.’
She was not manipulating him now; instead she was pleading.
‘Just one more night and then I promise that I will go back happy. I will never interrupt your life again, Mikael, if you will please just give me one more night.’
‘One more night…’ he said. ‘We’ll take out my yacht…’
He was already loading a cool bag with supplies: champagne, fine food—anything he could think of to give Layla the very best final night.
‘Go and get dressed and sort out the clothes that you’ll return to your family in.’
‘Mikael?’ She frowned. ‘I’ll get changed here, tomorrow, after our night.’
‘We won’t be coming back here, Layla. If we’re going to leave then it has to be now.’
It was the most horrible thing she had ever heard, and she simply did not now how to respond.
‘Layla?’ He was very calm; he could see how much she was struggling. ‘Come on,’ he said, deciding to find clothes for her. Just now it had nothing to do with her being a princess that she could not dress herself.
She was simply trying not to break down.
They were heading to his car in a matter of moments.
‘Mikael…?’ She said as he opened the passenger door for her.
‘You’re not driving.’
‘No, of course not.’ She was suddenly serious. ‘Tonight, if I tell you to make love to me, if I plead with you that I don’t care, please…’
‘You’ll be fine, Layla.’
She would be—he knew that.
But only for as long as she was in his care.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#udf5bcffa-daff-5220-88df-914fbf2b1eb6)
IT FELT LIKE the last night on earth.
Mikael sailed the yacht till it was far enough from his home that he was satisfied they would not easily be found, and then dropped anchor in a pretty cove.
He looked over to where she stood, leaning on the rail and looking out to the view, and he wondered how he could possibly give her the night of her dreams while knowing that tomorrow she’d be gone.
She could feel his eyes on her as she looked out at the view, at the gorgeous red sky. The next sunset she saw would no doubt be on her way back to Ishla.
Why had Zahid let her father know?
Tears stung her eyes because she had not wanted to hurt her father.
She remembered her threats to Zahid and Trinity that she would go to an embassy—she would never have done that, though. All she had wanted was a week.
‘It is beautiful,’ she said as Mikael came and joined her. But not even a sunset could soothe the hurt. Instead it made her want to cry. ‘Why did they have to tell my father? Why did the police have to get involved?’
‘I would guess they were very worried last night, when I didn’t text and say that you were okay until so late.’
‘I should have called and let you know that I was safe,’ Layla admitted. ‘It truly never entered my head. If I had had a phone there were a few times I would have liked to call you to tell you what was happening, but I don’t have one.’
‘I know,’ he said, and put his arm around her shoulders. He looked out to the night and wished he could take away their row.
It had been no one’s fault—she didn’t know about public phones and, after all, he had told her not to ring him unless it was an emergency.
For Mikael, not wanting his day to be interrupted by her felt like a very long time ago.
‘You were right to text Zahid, though,’ she said. ‘I was thinking about it after you left me alone last night. I believe that had you not texted him the first night to say that I was safe then my father would have been informed by the morning. At least we had some time.’
‘You didn’t get a week,’ Mikael said, ‘but have you had a nice few days?’
‘They have been wonderful,’ she said. ‘You have been wonderful to me.’
Mikael made her favourite dinner—without setting the kitchen on fire—and she sat on the bench and watched him.
‘Sick of prawns yet?’ he asked.
‘Never.’
They took their dinner up on deck and washed it down with champagne, and Layla shivered a bit when he asked her what would happen when she went back to Ishla.
‘I know you said there would be trouble for you, but can I ask what sort?’
‘I expect that my father will ban my computer,’ Layla said, ‘and I will have to apologise to Trinity and Zahid, and perhaps I will not be allowed to teach…’ She ran a hand through her hair and thought of the smiling faces of her students and how much they would miss her. ‘I was selfish, I suppose. They will miss out because of me…’
‘It might not be for long,’ Mikael offered, but she shook her head.
‘My father has already told me that my future husband might find it offensive if I work…I expect that decision will be made for him.’ She told Mikael the truth then. ‘My father will bring my wedding forward, I expect. I have been trying to avoid it, but he will say I have given him no choice.’
‘Layla…’
‘Please don’t ask that question again.’
He let out a tense breath in exasperation, but she had not finished speaking yet.
‘I am so loved and so happy at home,’ she said. ‘I wanted adventure—just one big adventure—and I have had that, I just forgot the first rule of chess.’
‘Tell me.’
‘To look to more than the next move,’ she said. ‘I planned and researched escaping, being here, and all the things I wanted to do, but I forgot to consider the leaving part. I never thought it would hurt—it never even entered my head that I might prefer to live life here.’ As Mikael went to speak she shook her head. ‘I would never do that to my father, to my country, to my people.’
‘Even if you won’t be happy?’
‘Of course I will be happy. I will just miss things here,’ she said, and tried to hold back on just how much she would miss Mikael. It would not be fair to either of them.
She had not lied to him that first day. Revealing her thoughts always got her into trouble, and possibly never more so than now. It was imperative that she did not break down and tell him just how she was feeling.
‘I wanted tonight to be wonderful,’ she said, ‘but all I feel like doing is crying.’
‘Come here,’ Mikael said and led her to the day bed where they lay for a lovely while.
‘Do you have any regrets?’ Mikael asked and she shook her head.
‘You?’
‘None,’ Mikael said and then thought for a moment. ‘I wish that I’d got you that joint.’
‘I don’t need it now,’ Layla said because lying here next to Mikael with the stars shining so brightly and the feel of being in his arms she had her high. It was a gorgeous navy sky, so dark except for the stars and just the tiniest sliver of moon.
‘That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw you,’ Mikael said, gazing up at the moon and remembering walking into his office and seeing her standing there in her silver dress. ‘Make a wish on the new moon,’ he said.
Perhaps he should not have said that, because he had just managed to get her to smile.
‘I just made it,’ Layla said, and turned her head and looked at him.
‘You can’t tell me what your wish is,’ he warned.
‘Okay.’
