Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [107]
Leave it to his friend to remind him of the farce he had orchestrated. “I don’t know,” Rasheed said. “We will share ten days together and then I will return her to New York. I will tell her then.”
“And I will hate to be in your shoes when you do. She will feel betrayed.”
Betrayed. At that single word Rasheed glanced back to the patio to find Johari was no longer standing there. He turned back to Santini and said, “Betrayed is a strong wrong, isn’t it? Given the fact that she is the one out of place. She should be back in Tahran planning for our wedding. Instead she is here being seduced by a stranger. The way I see it, I am the one who should be feeling betrayed. I told you how I walked into that nightclub and found her dancing on the tables, Santini. That type of behavior from a woman who is destined to be my future queen is not acceptable.”
“Yes,” Santini said and smiled. “But when you saw her she evidently fired your blood. Even now you can’t stop looking at her. I couldn’t help noticing.”
Rasheed frowned, slightly agitated. “You notice too much.”
“Yes, but in this case I couldn’t help it. And I still say that she will feel betrayed.”
Rasheed shrugged. “Then she will just have to get over it. I would not have taken such drastic measures had she followed protocol. As far as I’m concerned, whatever happens she has brought on herself.”
“So a wedding will take place regardless?”
“Yes, a wedding will take place regardless,” Rasheed said. He would marry Johari. Once she discovered his true identity she would feel the sting of betrayal, but like he said to Santini, as far as he was concerned she had brought it on herself. She would be sharing a man’s bed. She had been given her first orgasm by another man. It meant nothing that the other man had been him. The bottom line was that Johari didn’t know it. And how she would feel once she found out the truth didn’t matter to him. She had initiated this mockery; however, he was more than happy to bring it to an end, but not until he had his way with her. He would gladly prove to her that no matter how experienced, a wife and a mistress were two separate entities and as far as not being able to accept him having a mistress, she would not have any choice in the matter.
“I wish you luck, Monty.”
He glanced back at Santini. “Luck?”
“Yes, because you’re going to need it. No matter what brought this on and no matter how she might have contributed to it, she will resent what you’re doing. She is not just one of your other women.”
Rasheed chuckled. “No, she definitely is not that.” His mistresses weren’t exactly the innocent types. The last one he brought here had liked wearing next to nothing and hadn’t minded flaunting her attributes in front of him, Santini or anyone else caring to look. But Johari was different. Even his staff had noticed the difference the moment Johari had entered his home. She had greeted them with kindness, and she possessed an air of innocence that any woman he dealt with before could not come close to claiming. For Pete’s sake, she was still a virgin. When was the last time he had bothered to rid any woman of her virginity? Anyone who knew him knew that he much preferred experienced women.
And another thing Rasheed was sure his house staff had noticed was the fact that Johari was a lot younger than the women he usually had affairs with. Another giveaway was that he’d asked that she be given a separate bedroom. Juanita, his housekeeper, had stared at him in surprise before escorting Johari up the stairs to one of the guest suites.
“Will you be staying for dinner?” he asked Santini.
Raul Santini smiled. “Thanks for the invitation, but I have a strong feeling that you would like to be alone tonight with your future wife.”
“Johari, have you lost your mind?”
Johari placed the phone from her ear, convinced Cel had burst her eardrums. “No, my mind is very much intact,” she responded.
“Then what are you doing on some island off the coast of Argentina instead