A Bride For The Sheikh by Katheryn Lane

would’ve had a few drinks together, but here in the Middle East that wasn’t an option.
    Once she’d brought in some more refreshments, she went back to the kitchen and sat down at the table, where she could hear every word they were saying in the next room.
    “James, may I get straight to the point? May I tell you my reason for coming to see you this evening?” she heard Rashid saying.
    “Of course, Your Highness, I mean, Rashid,” her father replied.
    “Your daughter is a wonderful person. As I’m sure you know, Angelina is beautiful, clever, good, and honest.”
    “She is. I’m very proud of her. She means everything to me.”
    Angelina smiled to hear the two people she loved most in all the world talk about her like this.
    “She means a lot to me, too,” Rashid replied. “She has all the qualities that one could possibly desire in a wife.”
    “A wife? What are you getting at?” Her father sounded confused.
    “What I am trying to say is that I would like to marry your daughter.”
    “Marry her? You barely know her! Don’t you think this is all a bit quick?”
    “In my country, people get married who have never even met each other. My own father met his wife on the day of their wedding. I love your daughter deeply and I know that she is the one I want to marry. I would never be happy with anyone else.”
    “I don’t know. This is all a bit sudden,” her father said.
    Angelina was as surprised as her father was. Rashid had talked about marrying her, but she’d thought it was just one of those things that people say when they’re in love. She didn’t actually think that he’d ask her father for her hand in marriage that very evening.
    “I promise you that I will look after her, cherish her, and do everything in my power to make her happy. I will also, of course, provide you with compensation for your loss.”
    “What do you mean?” James asked the question that was also going through Angelina’s mind as well.
    She could hear someone writing something on a piece of paper.
    “Please accept this check as her bride price,” Rashid said.
    “I can’t accept this. You can’t come in here and buy my daughter!”
    She heard the sound of paper being ripped and assumed it was the check. She wondered how much it had been for.
    “Of course not. How stupid of me. I wasn’t thinking.” Rashid sounded flustered. “I’ve dishonoured you with such a gesture. Please accept my sincere apologies. Is this a more acceptable amount?”
    Angelina heard Rashid writing again and then there was silence. After a bit, her father said, “If you’ll excuse me for a minute, I think I need to speak to my daughter.”
    A moment later and her father was standing in the kitchen, looking very pale. He was holding a piece of paper.
    “Your friend out there, Rashid, has just written me a check for ten million dollars.”
    Angelina thought of all the things her father could do with so much money. He could pay off all his debts, he could set up a new business—he could even retire as he’d never have to work again.
    “What are you going to say to him, Dad?”
    “It’s not up to me, love. I ripped up the first check and I’ll rip up this one, too, if you don’t want to marry him.”
    “You can’t throw away ten million dollars!”
    “And he can’t come in here thinking he can buy you like you’re some kind of object in a shop.”
    “To be honest, I think it’s the custom here. When a couple get married, the groom gives gifts to the bride’s family. Traditionally, it was things like camels or a new tent, but I don’t think we’d have much use for that, would we? Nowadays, most people just give a check.”
    “How do you know all this?” he asked.
    “I read a bit about Bezira and the Middle East before I came out. I brought the book with me. You can have a look if you want.”
    “Always with your head in a book.” Her father laughed. “However, I don’t think we’ll find the answer to this in a book.