Pregnant With the Sheik's Heir (The Abbot Sisters Book 2) Read online

  Pregnant with the

  Sheik’s Heir

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2020

  ISBN13: 9781950451234

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from The Tycoon’s Unexpected Baby

  Chapter 1

  Holding her breath, Rayne watched the two small plastic cubes dancing down the felt covered table, wondering if she was imagining things. As the crowd around her faded away, she watched as the plastic die rattled and tumbled, slowly coming to a stop, their dotted faces smiling benignly up at the eagerly waiting spectators. Rayne blinked, waited that additional tense, horrible moment for her stunned brain to process the results, then the crowd around the table exclaimed with shouts of triumph. “Did we win?” she whispered to her younger sister, Pepper, who was standing beside her.

  “We won!” Pepper exclaimed, jumping up and down. Pepper’s normal exuberance seemed to be on steroids. While Rayne’s stomach roiled with a vague sense of nausea, Pepper bounced, holding onto Rayne’s arm. Rayne was jerked out of her dumbfounded stupor and looked across the elegant room….

  Right into the darkly intense eyes of a tall, dangerously attractive stranger. Her heart lurched and her stomach tightened as she stared into those eyes. Instantly, the world receded. Gone were the crowds of beautifully dressed patrons or the soft background music. She didn’t even see the elegant atmosphere of the exclusive casino.

  Her mind could only focus on him. On the man. His dark eyes captured her, held her still as Pepper jumped excitedly beside her.

  It wasn’t fear…at least, not the fear of a stranger. No, this tension was different. This feeling centered in her stomach and…lower. Pulse pounding, stomach tightening, irrational and illogical sensations caught and held her as she stared back at the impossibly tall man.

  It definitely wasn’t fear, she realized. It was…awareness. Yes, it was awareness of a man. Of a man who’s gaze felt like a sensually powerful caress. Dark eyes that seemed to know her deepest, darkest secrets…and then smile with approval at those secrets.

  Rayne had noticed the darkly mysterious stranger earlier this evening. He’d been in the hotel bar a half hour ago, which was why she’d escaped into the casino. It was on the opposite side of the building.

  “Do it again, Rayne!” Pepper exclaimed, her enthusiasm distracting Rayne and, thankfully, easing the seemingly palpable tension in the air.

  Rayne gratefully pulled her eyes away from the magnetic allure of the stranger’s gaze and looked around. There had been three people surrounding the table a moment ago, but with their latest win, there were more, perhaps ten people now watching the game. Several of the glittering patrons placed bets along the table, but Rayne had no idea how to play “craps”, so she just left her chips where they were.

  It wasn’t as if this was real money, she told herself. Josh Starke, her sister’s boss and the man who had brought her and her two sisters here to the shockingly glamorous casino in Monaco, had assured her that each of the chips was only worth a dollar each. Gambling was a horrible, miserable pastime, but Rayne had spent too much time with her nose in a book over the past several years or staring at test tubes and chemical reactions lately. Spending a bit of time with humans, even if it was doing something she didn’t really enjoy, such as gambling, had originally seemed like an intellectual challenge to her.

  That was before Pepper had dragged her here to this craps table. A game neither of them understood, but the increasingly large stack of chips indicated that she and her sister were playing the game exceedingly well.

  Her sister grabbed her hand and placed the two small die into her palm, pressing her fingers closed. “Come on, roll a four!” Pepper urged, practically dancing with her excitement.

  Rayne blinked at her incredibly lovely and exuberant sister. “A four?”

  “Yes!” Pepper laughed, clapping her hands as she bounced again, grinning from ear to ear and her blue eyes dancing with excitement.

  Of the three Abbot sisters, Rayne was the middle child, and the most cerebral. So the instruction to roll a specific set of numbers in a game of chance didn’t compute. “I can’t will myself to roll a four,” she muttered, but since everyone was watching her with determined expectation, and the casino employee with the long, L shaped stick was waiting. There was nothing to do but play along, she thought. Rayne sighed, shook her hand and tossed the dice down the table. Another moment of tense, anticipatory silence as everyone watched the dice and then…more screaming!

  Rayne had no idea what the big deal was because she’d forgotten to watch the dice. As soon as she’d released them, her gaze had found its way back to the man. The scary man. She supposed that he was handsome enough to someone else, but to Rayne, he looked…terrifying. The tanned skin, almost black eyes, hawk-like nose, and firm chin all combined to create a look of danger. He was more than a head taller than those around him, which made it easy to spot him in the crowd.

  Too easy, she thought with simmering irritation.

  “You did it!” Pepper yelled, laughing and dancing a victory jig. Rayne barely acknowledged at her sister, wishing that Pepper would calm down just a little. It wasn’t as if they were winning huge sums of money. The chips were only worth a dollar each so, she pulled her eyes down to the table and counted the chips. Unfortunately, they were a different color now.

  “What happened to our chips?” she whispered to Pepper, not wanting anyone standing around the table to know that she didn’t understand the game or the value of the chips in front of them.

  Pepper waved the issue aside as if it wasn’t important. “The dealer changed them out for a different color. Since the others were worth a dollar, these must be worth five dollars.”

  That made sense, but Rayne still didn’t enjoy gambling and she absolutely hated feeling stupid. She preferred a more logical path. Gambling seemed stupid and irresponsible. Not to mention wasteful.

  “We should stop,” Rayne said to Pepper.

  Pepper’s head swiveled around, eyes wide with surprise. “But Josh told us to spend this ten dollars and have fun. We’re having fun, aren’t we?”

  Pepper didn’t bother to wait for Rayne’s answer, so she didn’t see Rayne’s gaze search for the man. Unfortunately, he seemed to have disappeared and a small bubble of panic welled up inside of her. Where had he gone? Her eyes scanned the room but…she couldn’t find him.

  Rayne ignored the sharp stab of panic and…disappointment? Surely not!

  She wasn’t interested in a mysteriously dangerous stranger,
she told herself firmly. She’d just finished graduate school and was scheduled to start her new job in a couple of days. Josh had brought the three of them here to celebrate before Rayne and Pepper started their new jobs.

  “Okay, do it again!” Pepper laughed, bringing Rayne’s attention back to the ridiculous game. Craps, she thought with increasing disdain. What a stupid name for a stupid game where no one had any control.

  But Pepper seemed insistent. “Again?”

  Rayne didn’t bother to tell her sister that rolling the dice to achieve a certain number was impossible. That’s why they called it gambling, because there was no control in the roll of a dice. It was pure luck.

  As she glanced down at her chips, she realized that there was a stack of ten red chips. If they were each worth five dollars, then she was betting fifty dollars. Fifty dollars? That seemed crazy! She didn’t like this! Not one little bit!

  The dealer called out to her and, although she didn’t understand French, she knew that he was ordering her to roll the dice again. The others around the table were standing there, looking at her as if she were set to perform some insane miracle. Gambling! This was crazy! And fifty dollars was not worth this sick sense of fear in her stomach! What if they lost the fifty dollars?

  In exasperation and a desire to be done with the game, she impatiently picked up the dice and tossed them away. The gesture was more reminiscent of someone throwing a pillow rather than rolling the dice on a bet.

  Another silence, then exclamations as the increasing crowd cheered excitedly and applauded.

  “You did it again!” Pepper laughed, no longer bouncing because she was too stunned at their shocking win.

  “This is ridiculous!” Rayne snapped. “Come on, we’re getting away from here,” she told Pepper. A moment later, she grabbed their now-enormous stack of chips and, with a nod to the dealer, walked away, dragging Pepper with her.

  Her lovely, vivacious sister trailed behind her as Rayne slipped her way through the crowd, smiling her thanks as the glittering spectators shifted out of their way.

  Pepper obviously disagreed with Rayne’s departure and tugged them both to a halt. “But…why? Why did we stop?”

  Rayne paused and showed her sister the chips. “Because this is about a hundred dollars, Pepper,” she explained with a calm demeanor that she didn’t really feel. She was nervous and felt silly for gambling. “We can’t repay Josh if we lose all of his money.”

  Pepper’s huge, blue eyes blinked. “True, but he flew us here to Monaco as a graduation present.”

  “Right,” Rayne agreed, softening her tone. Pepper just…she loved life and embraced it with arms outstretched. Sometimes, Rayne wished that she could be more excited like Pepper, or more quietly determined like their older sister, Sloane.

  Instead, Rayne usually just…well, she was the one who liked to read and study and understand the world. Rayne never embraced life. She picked it apart, needed to understand how life worked. Her joy wasn’t in everyday things, like winning a dollar at a craps table or smelling a flower. Nope, Rayne had to calculate the odds on a roll of the dice or figure out the chemicals that made the flower smell.

  Seeing Pepper’s wounded look, she relented. “You got your Bachelor’s degree and I got my Master’s degree. All that means is that we’re employable now. That doesn’t mean we should learn to throw money away. The lessons of our past, the way that horrible man illegally evicted us from our apartment after Momma’s funeral and the weeks in a homeless shelter was too painful to ignore.”

  She paused and noticed the excitement die out of Pepper’s blue eyes. For a moment, Rayne felt horrible. As if she’d just admonished a kitten for playing happily with a ball of yarn. But this was money! And money meant security. They couldn’t just “play” with it.

  With a more gentle tone, Rayne continued, “Nor should we throw Josh’s money away. He was incredibly kind to bring us here to Monaco to celebrate. Let’s show our gratitude by not wasting his money.”

  Pepper looked contrite, her long, dark lashes, the exact shade of her hair, lowered over those bright, blue eyes. “You’re right,” she replied, subdued for a moment. But Pepper’s normal resilience surged unrelentingly and, a moment later, Rayne was treated to Pepper’s bright, gamin smile once again. “But can you believe that we won? We started out with ten dollars and we turned that into one hundred!”

  Rayne smiled, linking her free arm through Pepper’s. “You’re right. It’s pretty nice. Why don’t we spend some of our winnings on a drink?”

  Pepper tilted her head to the side, then covered her mouth with a yawn. A moment ago, Pepper had been bouncing around with excitement and now she was yawning? Rayne blinked, once again startled by her younger sister’s lightning quick changes in moods.

  “You slept straight through on the flight over here,” she explained with a rueful smile. “I think I’m going to head on up to the room and get some sleep. We’re going to some garden tomorrow and I don’t want to be too tired to enjoy seeing everything.”

  Josh appeared by their side. “Seems like you ladies did well at the craps table,” he said, looking at the chips in both of their hands. “If you give your chips to this man,” he explained, referring to a waiter with a beautiful wooden box, “he will have the casino submit a check for your winnings.”

  Pepper bounced over to Josh’s side and lifted up onto her toes, kissing his cheek lightly. “Oh, you’re so wonderful to do this for us! But we’re not taking your money. You gave us chips earlier in the night, so this is all for you!”

  “Nonsense,” Josh argued, looking tall and dapper in a tuxedo with Sloane by his side. Sloane, their older sister, was always by Josh’s side. Rayne and Pepper knew their sister and understood that Sloane had a powerful crush on Josh, her employer for the past eight years. Neither of them said a word to Sloane about it, knowing that their oldest sister was the responsible one. She’d never be so weak as to fall for her employer. Or more accurately, she’d never admit that she had feelings for her employer. Sloane probably didn’t even know it herself!

  Pepper smothered another yawn.

  “You look tired,” Sloane instantly said. “Why don’t we go back up to the room and get some rest?” she offered.

  A moment ago, Rayne might have suggested the same thing. But now that Sloane was going up, Rayne decided that she’d rather stay down here. Sloane was a wonderful sister, but she tended to mother both her and Pepper too much. It could be a wee bit smothering at times.

  “I’ll be up in a few minutes,” she said, watching as the servant closed the box with all of their chips inside and walked away.

  Sloane’s eyes looked at Rayne worriedly. “What are you going to do?”

  “She’s going to wander around and relax, Sloane,” Josh told her, adding a wink in Rayne’s direction.

  Rayne smiled, warmed by Josh’s protective attitude and generosity. She also appreciated that he understood that she needed just a few moments alone.

  “Okay, but don’t be long, okay?” Sloane called out, but Josh already had a hand to the small of Sloane’s back, guiding her towards the elevators.

  Rayne watched, noting that Josh only touched Pepper’s arm occasionally, while he kept a hand on Sloane’s back the whole time.

  Another woman might be jealous because Josh was disgustingly wealthy, impossibly suave and crazy handsome. He was the ultimate tall, dark and handsome man that every woman dreamed of falling in love with.

  But Rayne simply didn’t think of Josh as a romantic possibility. After eight years, Josh was more like an older brother. He was kind and generous, but could be a bit overbearing at times. Especially when he suspected she or Pepper might be in danger.

  Which was crazy, because Rayne never put herself in danger. She was comfortable in her routines and excited about her upcoming job with a tech company. She’d earned her degree as a chemical engineer, loving the logic of it all. Chemicals reacted predictably and, when they didn’t, when they surprised h
er, that meant she got to investigate why and come up with an explanation as to why they hadn’t reacted as expected.

  In a few days, she’d start her new job in San Diego with a tech company that is working to build a lighter, stronger material that could be used in cars and planes. Creating something stronger would keep passengers safer, and making that material lighter meant that less fuel needed to be used. It was exactly what she’d always dreamed of doing. Making a difference in people’s lives. That’s her ideal. She didn’t want to be a paper pusher or someone who repaired something. She wanted to create! She wanted to invent!

  But that was for the future. At this particular moment, she wanted a glass of wine, she thought.

  Waiting until the doors to the elevator closed on the trio heading back up the stairs, Rayne breathed a sigh of relief when her sister finally disappeared.

  “Free at last,” she thought and spun around…right into the hard chest of her dark stranger.

  No, not “her” dark stranger. Just a stranger, she corrected quickly.

  “You!” she hissed and stepped back, but she moved too quickly and her feet weren’t placed correctly. She had to shift and…her stranger reached out to steady her, keeping her from falling onto the luxurious red carpeting.

  “Careful,” her stranger soothed.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered, then cleared her throat. “I’m fine,” she repeated in a firmer voice, then stepped back and looked up at the man. He was so tall and, up close, he was much more dangerous.

  Plus, the touch of his hands on her arms felt uncomfortably hot. And what in the world was that tingly sensation that wouldn’t go away?

  Rayne didn’t like mysteries. She didn’t like sensations that couldn’t be explained away by science. So whatever was happening between her and this stranger was not good.

  “Yes, you’re very fine,” he replied, his voice deep and sexy while his eyes…goodness his eyes seemed to see into her soul!

  Once again, her body heated and she glared up at him, refusing to allow any odd sensations to muddle her mind.