The Untamed Sheikh (a Fazza novel)

Chapter 4: The Two

Hamdan's POV:

I was lying down, thinking about the woman I had no choice but to let go nearly twenty years ago. She was a timeless beauty and was like a fine wine that only got better with age. Her daughter Piper was just as beautiful and the boy, Faisal, was also a handsome young man with sharp handsome features and big innocent brown eyes. I could not believe how much he had grown from the last time I saw him, but it was sad he had no idea who I was, other than the fact that I was the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Futtaim walked in, smiling.

"Sabah El-Kheir!" I said.

"Sabah El-Nour!" she replied. "You're looking chipper."

"That's because I am" I chuckled. "I can't believe how much he's grown."

"Faisal is a sharp and handsome young man. He definitely picks up after his father."

"You think so?" I looked at her.

"He looks just like you. He has big brown eyes that are laced with innocence and he looks just like you. He's just as handsome as you are."

"I'm glad he picks up after me, in the looks part, but looking at him I realized I don't know him at all. How can a father not know his own son?"

"You never quite told any of us what happened between you two."

"A lot happened. We met as kids, as our parents had a rather close friendship being that they too were in Equestrian Endurance. Then Isabella and I fell I love, but our relationship kept getting hindered because our parents did not approve of me dating a commoner."

"What else happened?"

"She ended up meeting Piper's father. She became pregnant at a very early age."

"So she was a teen mom?"

"Yeah."

"And then what happened?"

"Things between her and her then-boyfriend Tarik..."

"Piper's father?"

"Yes, things did not work out between them and so we got back together, not caring she had a child because to me she was my one and only."

"You still love her, don't you?"

"Yes, I still do. I'm just sad that other circumstances stood between us. It kept us from raising our son together. I couldn't stand the idea that my son did not even recognize me nor does he know I am his father."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Does Maryam or our brothers know?"

"No, they don't. Rashid was the only one who knew, and now you."

"But why now? Why after eighteen years?"

"Because Isabella told me she could no longer bear the weight of this secret. She insisted it was time we told him the truth and that she now wishes for him to live here with me."

"She's giving up her son?"

"She says she's been having problems with him."

"What kind of problems?"

"Nothing harsh like drugs or anything like that. They don't always get along and always argue and disagree. He always goes out on his own, with his cousins and she's told me he oftentimes crosses the border to Mexico without her consent."