The Sheikh's Mistaken Twin - Completed.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Maybe she had been too hasty about ripping up the envelope.

Not that she cared about the cheque. She didn't, even if it would've given her the freedom to live on her own. Knowing Kaden, he probably gave her enough to buy her own place and pay off her sister's.

A hand scrubbing over his face caught her gaze. She had never seen him like this. Her stomach tightened up in knots, torn in two, hands clenched together on her lap. "Because I couldn't. If I said goodbye, that would make it far too real."

"I needed that, Kaden, for closure, so I could accept it. I'm so angry at you." Causing a grimace from him, when he used to be shut down on his emotions, perhaps... "I didn't want to, but you gave me no choice on that."

Releasing a heavy sigh, his shoulders sunk, tugging at her heart, holding back on the urge to reach out, exhaling slowly. "If there had been a choice, it wouldn't be letting you walk out of my life."

She watched him warily, chin quivering no matter how she tried to stop it.

Kaden sank back into his seat.

He knew this wouldn't be easy, yet it's what had kept him going, thinking of this day he would have her back in his life. Yet they sealed his fate with that note, one she hadn't read. Hoping she would see beyond the words, ones he would've never written.

Foolish when in reality their time had been so short, yet connected as he never connected to anyone before. He worked on facts, and logic, not emotions. Elnora had turned his world upside down upon his head, and he wanted it back.

There was one promise he had kept.

"Billy misses you. He's grown so big." Her head lowered, her face falling, biting her lip, eyes shimmering. Oh, shit. He jerked forward, reaching out his hand towards her. "I'm sorry, Elnora. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Shaking her head, she wiped at her cheeks. "Is he still head-butting you?" There was a catch in her voice.

"No, we became friends. I visit him every night. I have photos if you like to see them."

She peered up at him from under spiky wet lashes. "I would like that."

Removing his phone, Kaden went to the gallery and opened the app up, shifting the phone across the table that she took with a trembling hand and leaning forward, flicking through the pictures, wiping at her cheek again. "He has grown so much," she sniffed. "Thank you for looking after him." Pushing the phone back across, her hands falling back under the table, keeping her distance, not quite looking him in the eye.

"You asked me to. I'm sorry you missed that."

"That would have never happened." Her tone sounded defeated, hating it.

"Well, I had hoped you would have stayed longer," he admitted, finding it hard to swallow. 

She blinked up at him, looking startled. "What do you mean? Why would you do that?"

Can she honestly say that to him, after what they shared?

Kaden leaned forward again, and this time she didn't flinch away, giving him hope. "I thought that was obvious after our last trip in the desert." Giving her an encouraging smile. "I don't normally take beautiful women in the desert, so I can be alone with them."

With brows creased down, she tilted her face. "I asked to go in," she reminded him.

"And a perfect opportunity for us to be alone. I would've found a way to be alone with you, even had a job lined up as an enticer to stay."

Her eyes lowered, biting her lip, then eyed him under her lashes. He could see her mind churning over, not sure of her reaction to the job offer. Then there was her Gran. That was always against him. Something he did understand, heart sinking at her shaking head. "I have responsibilities, so I couldn't stay," she answered simply.