Princess Zayna al-Haydar was, perhaps, the most beautiful baby Taliana Avilla had ever seen.

The first thing Laleh had done upon saying hello and giving Taliana a kiss on each cheek was gently shove the baby into Taliana’s arms. Surprised, she’d taken on Zayna’s weight easily, the baby clutching at the neckline of Taliana’s shirt and staring wide-eyed up into her face. She would have expected the baby to be displeased by the idea of being passed over to a practical stranger, but Zayna seemed to sense that she was in safe hands, despite the awkward grip Taliana had on her.

“Not to sound weird,” Laleh had said after she’d adjusted the way Taliana was holding Zayna. “But sniff her head. If you’re sad, there’s nothing that will make you feel better than the smell of a new baby. Well, as new as a year old can be.”

Though she’d given Laleh a disbelieving glance, she was desperate for any sort of comfort at this point, so she lowered her face to Zayna’s thick, black curls and inhaled.

“You’re right,” she’d said a moment later, vaguely soothed by the sweet scent of the baby wrapped in her arms. “That did make me feel better.”

Laleh had smiled warmly at the sight, a hand sliding over her seemingly flat stomach, which was hidden away by her loose silk top. “I think it was that smell that convinced me to have another one so soon. Or two, as the case would have it. We’re having twins this time.”

In that moment, Taliana’s heart swelled to the point where she couldn’t help but wrap her free arm tightly around Laleh, pleased that there was some good news on such a dark day. “You’re so kind to work towards my wish of twenty beautiful Persian-Arab babies, your royal highness.”

“Obviously. I’m only doing this for you.”

The girls had gone to sit, the waiting room seeming small with the six men in suits standing just off to the side, but with a command from Laleh in Arabic they had fallen away. Now it was just the two of them and the baby, Taliana’s free hand wrapped in Laleh’s as a curious Zayna prodded at Taliana’s sunken in cheeks.

“So how’s he doing?” Laleh asked softly, cautious optimism in her gray-blue eyes. “Any better?”

Taliana shook her head and took a moment to explain the extent of the damage, feeling her chest constrict every time Laleh’s face fell a little bit more with each injury listed off. By the time she was finished, the powerful woman sitting across from her looked more like a lost little girl than anything.

“They have him heavily sedated for now,” Taliana said over Zayna’s soft babbles, the baby’s pudgy fingers still exploring her face. “But they’re going to start easing up on it once the brain swelling goes down to see if we’re dealing with any sort of long-term damage. All the scans they’ve done look okay, but they won’t really know until they get him awake and talking.”

Laleh nodded and reached out to adjust her daughter’s dress, an unnecessary move but one certainly meant to distract from the heaviness of the words. “Can I see him? Will the nurses let me?”

“Of course. They’ve essentially let me decide who can go back there.” She shifted Zayna on her lap, the diamond on her ring finger flashing under the florescent lights. “I told them Michael’s my fiancé, and since no one can get in touch with his parents, they’ve deferred to me.”

“Smart girl,” Laleh murmured as she got to her feet. “Watch Zayna for me, yeah?”

At the idea of being left alone with a baby—and not just any baby, but a Princess of Malikbahr—Taliana couldn’t help but feel a pang of panic. Holding one while its mother sat less than a foot away was one thing, but not being able to immediately hand it back if something happened was a little nerve wracking. Still, she knew that Laleh needed to see Michael, and even if he didn’t know she was there, Talia figured he’d appreciate the fact that she’d come all this way when he woke up.

If he wakes up.

Talia pushed the thought from her head and swallowed hard before nodding. “Yeah, yeah, go on. Me and Zayna will be fine. And tell Brad he can come out here.”

One of Laleh’s perfectly arched brows lifted. “The boyfriend’s here? God, I haven’t seen him since right after you two started dating.”

“I remember,” Taliana chuckled. “We went out for dinner and you spent the entire time interrogating him. Honestly, you were worse than my dad.”

She shrugged, a familiar smirk pulling up the corner of her mouth. “Had to make sure he was good for you. Besides, he passed with flying colors, the guy’s absolutely perfect. Honestly, if I wasn’t a married woman…”

“What, you’d try to steal my boyfriend? Again?”

This time Laleh offered her a full-blown grin. “Don’t tempt me.” With that, she leaned down to brush a kiss across the top of her daughter’s head, nothing but love in her eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

Laleh’s entourage made to follow her, but with the raise of her hand they fell back again, focusing their attention instead on the princess in Taliana’s lap as Laleh stepped through the double doors and into the belly of the ICU.

“Guess it’s just you and me, little one,” Taliana said to the baby who was still staring intently up at her, as if the mysteries of the universe were written across her face. “And, well, all those guys here to keep you safe.”

When Zayna giggled, Taliana couldn’t help but smile. The child’s parents had been right to name her after her father, because she was absolutely the spitting image of Crown Prince Zayn al-Haydar. They shared the same round dark eyes, the impossibly long eyelashes, the same curly hair… honestly, if Taliana hadn’t been there the day Laleh had given birth, she would have just assumed they’d made a female clone of Zayn. But if one thing was for sure, Taliana knew this little girl would grow up to be a heartbreaker just like her mama.

“Uh oh. I hope you’re not getting baby fever already.”

Taliana looked up from the baby to see Brad coming through the doors of the ICU, a joking glint in his eyes. She hadn’t noticed much more than his mere presence earlier, but now that she had a moment to actually admire him, it struck her just how much she’d lucked out.

Brad was heartbreakingly handsome, no if, ands, or buts about it. There was something about him that made her wonder if he’d walked straight out of a classic movie, all sharp lines and shadows that any director would have loved to have on screen. In fact, she’d heard from several of Brad’s fraternity brothers that he’d once been scouted by both a casting director and a modeling agent on the same day, a story they mercilessly teased him with at every party while the tips of his ears turned red. Unfortunately for those scouts, the old-money Fairchild family didn’t believe in making a career of acting or modeling, which was why Brad was going into his second year of law school come the end of August, even though his trust fund would have lasted him several lifetimes over.

Needless to say, his family hadn’t liked her very much, but they at least respected the fact that she was getting a degree despite having appeared on six different covers of Vogue over the years.

Fortunately, Brad hadn’t cared what his family thought of her current career choice, and for the last two years he’d been bringing her up to Connecticut for fall breaks and long weekends, making it clear that she was part of his life whether they liked it or not.

And God, she was grateful for that—she was grateful for him.

“Definitely no baby fever,” Taliana chuckled as Zayna turned her attention to the approaching Brad. “More like slight baby fear.”

Brad grinned as he reached out to take Zayna’s tiny hand, her palm curling around his large index finger as if attempting to formally introduce herself. The princess’s diplomacy training had obviously started early.

“Doesn’t look like you have much to worry about with this one,” Brad said. “She seems pretty content in your arms.”

“Don’t jinx me,” Taliana mumbled, shooting the baby a cautious look from the corner of her eye, but Zayna still appeared happy. She looked back up at Brad a moment later, taking in his perfectly pressed charcoal suit and crisp white shirt. “You heading to work?”

He nodded once, gently pulling his finger out of Zayna’s grasp before she could bring it to her mouth. “I wish I didn’t, but if I want this law firm to hire me once I’m done with school, I have to show up every day and do grunt work.”

“I understand. Thanks for bringing me fresh clothes and chocolate, though.”

“I’ll bring you and Laleh dinner later too. Text me if there’s anything special you want.”

Taliana made to protest, to tell him they’d just get something from the cafeteria downstairs, but Brad leaned down to press a kiss to her lips before she could speak.

“No arguments,” he murmured before kissing her one more time, this one lingering a heartbeat longer. “This is the least I can do for you. I know how hard this is.”

Brad wasn’t just saying that to comfort her in some small way; he truly did know how hard this was.

He’d told her about his older brother one weekend when they’d been visiting his family in Connecticut, after she’d inquired as to who the other boy in one of the Fairchilds’ older family photos was, a face that didn’t appear again in any of the more recent ones. When Brad was a junior in high school, his brother, Jonathan, had been in a motorcycle accident a few days before Thanksgiving. A car had apparently cut him off when he’d been on his way home from a friend’s house, and unable to stop in time, Jonathan hit the back of the car and was thrown from the bike. He’d broken his neck on impact, and had the accident not happened so close to a hospital, he would have died on the scene.

Jonathan was kept on life support for twenty-one days. When it became obvious to the family that there was little to no chance of him ever waking up or being able to lead a full life if he did, they made the choice to let him go, and Brad had held Jonathan’s hand as he died.

Brad understood her grief and her fear better than anyone else could, yet another reason she was so thankful she had him.

“I’ll see you later, yeah?” Brad said as he straightened up, brushing a hand over Zayna’s wild curls in goodbye. “If you need me to come back sooner, just call and I’ll be here.”

Taliana swallowed hard, feeling hot tears press against the back of her eyes again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

As he walked towards the elevators, Taliana buried her face in Zayna’s soft hair and pulled her closer, the baby’s warmth and presence the only thing keeping her from breaking down again. Though Zayna squirmed a bit, she didn’t protest, just continued babbling nonsensically and grabbing at whatever was in reach.

Taliana didn’t pay much attention when she heard the elevator doors open and shut a few times over the next few minutes, but when she heard footsteps coming her way, she assumed it was Brad returning.

“Did you forget something?” she asked as she looked up from the baby.

But it wasn’t her boyfriend standing there. At least, not her current one.

Her heart ceased to beat for a moment as Sebastian Phillips offered her a guarded smile.

“Hey, Stick Girl.”