‘Come and see for yourself.’ He stalked out of the room.
Liyah scrambled to find something to wear, pulling on Sharif’s robe, which was hanging on the back of the bathroom door. She didn’t even know where he had gone, but she heard the sound of the TV and went into the lounge. Where they had been last night... Until she had fallen asleep and woken in Sharif’s arms...
Not now.
The TV was on. A news channel. Sharif stood before it, remote in one hand, his other hand in his pocket. She went and stood beside him. And her innards froze when she realised what she was watching.
As if she couldn’t make sense of what the reporter was saying, she read the text that ran at the bottom of the screen.
Sharif Marchetti decides to sell the Marchetti Group... Brothers and fellow board members Nikos and Maks Marchetti...unaware of this development... An emergency meeting of the board is due to take place...
The reporter was talking again. ‘Only days ago, Marchetti Group shares were at an all-time high. The company had the Midas touch. It could do no wrong. The question on everyone’s lips is why on earth would Sharif Marchetti destroy his own company like this?’
Sharif switched off the TV. He faced Liyah, who was in shock.
‘Well?’
She looked at him. She found it hard to speak. To articulate anything. ‘How...how did they find out?’
‘Really? You’re really going to pretend it wasn’t you? When Callaghan was the one who got the scoop? You met him—right under my nose in London.’
Liyah’s brain felt sluggish as she recalled the man approaching her, trying to give her his card. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Sharif. Of course I didn’t say anything to him. I didn’t even take his card. Why would I say anything?’
‘Because you disapprove? Because you feel I’m not being fair to my brothers? Maybe you contacted Nikos and he called Callaghan, hoping to cause a bit of chaos so that I wouldn’t go through with it. But I think it was because I gave you privileged information and that was an irresistible currency for you. A way to negotiate the end of our marriage well before time so you could get your precious independence early.’
Liyah’s legs felt like jelly. She sat down on the chair behind her. ‘That’s such a twisted theory... I didn’t do this, Sharif. I swear. Whatever I felt about your decision, your motives...that’s between you and your brothers.’
‘Not any more. It’s now between me, my brothers and the entire world. Our stock has plummeted.’
‘But...wouldn’t this have happened anyway, when you made your announcement?’
‘No, it would have been controlled. And I was always going to tell Nikos and Maks before I did anything. I just wasn’t going to involve them until the last moment.’ Sharif looked at his watch. ‘I have to go. I have to give a press conference this afternoon and then I’m flying to Paris. I don’t know when I’ll be back.’
He went to walk out of the room and Liyah stood up. Before he disappeared, she said, ‘You really believe it was me?’
Sharif stopped. He turned around. ‘You’re the only one who knew the full extent of my plans. I hadn’t even revealed them to my own staff. They were kept in a safe in my office, and the only person who has the code is me.’
Liyah felt sick. Sharif walked out. She stared at the empty space for a long moment. Until she heard Sharif speak with Thomas and then the ping of the elevator doors.
He was gone.
Liyah was too numb to process what had just happened. She showered, dressed... Sat on the couch in the lounge and watched Sharif give his press conference a couple of hours later, trying to limit the damage.
Thomas enquired if she wanted to eat, but she had no appetite. At some point she went out and walked the streets for blocks and blocks. Always aware of the security man tailing her. She was almost surprised he was still there...
The speed with which Sharif had turned on her, choosing to believe that she could have possibly—Her stomach roiled.
When she finally returned to the apartment it was empty. She slept in her own bed for the first time since that first week she’d arrived in Manhattan.
When she woke at dawn she was gritty-eyed. She checked her phone. No calls, no messages.
Days passed in a hazy blur. Liyah saw news reports about how the board of the Marchetti Group were holding crisis meetings. She saw pictures of Nikos and Maks leaving the Paris office, as grim-looking as Sharif, and her heart ached.
They would hate him for not trusting them. The damage would be irreparable.
And then, just like a few months ago, when her sister had called her and begged her for help, Samara needed Liyah again.
And Liyah saw no reason not to go to her—because there was nothing for her here any more.
When Sharif arrived back at his Manhattan apartment all was quiet. He knew Liyah wasn’t there. He knew she was in Taraq with her family. Her sister was getting married within the next fortnight, sooner than expected. He’d been invited, but he’d declined.
He shrugged off his jacket and undid his tie. He went straight to his drinks cabinet and poured himself a stiff whisky. Not that whisky had done much to help in the last two weeks since he’d left. But it had blurred the edges and helped him forget the dreams that haunted him most nights. Dreams of her. And of treachery.
The liquid burnt its way down his throat. He poured another. The world was in flames around him. Everything he’d worked so hard to achieve was ruined. His father was laughing at him from his grave. His mother... His heart constricted. He’d failed her.
And all because he’d lost his focus. He’d let his brain migrate to his pants. He’d forgotten a lifetime of lessons in trusting no one but
