The Sheik's Surprise Donor, page 1
The Sheik’s Surprise Donor
The Arabian Heirs Series Book 1
Erin Snihur
Copyright © 2020 by Erin Snihur
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Copy edited by Rainlyt Editing
Created with Vellum
For my Family
Also by Erin Snihur
The Arabian Heirs Series
The Sheik’s Surprise Donor (Book 1)
The Sheik’s Bombshell Secret (Book 2)
The Sheik’s Expecting Bride (Book 3)
The Sheiks of the Arabian Coast Series
The Sheik’s Missing Mistress (Book 1)
The Sheik’s Forced Bride (Book 2)
The Sheik’s Pregnant Paramour (Book 3)
The Sheik’s Forgotten Princes (Book 4)
The Sheik’s Beautiful Thief (Book 5)
The Sheikha’s of the Arabian Mountains Series
The Sheikha’s Determined Prince (Book 1)
The Sheikha's Unforgettable Lover (Book 2)
The Sheikha’s Seductive Protector (Book 3)
The Sheikha’s Fierce Attraction (Book 4)
The Sheikha’s Billionaire Advisor (Book 5)
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
Curse of the InBetween (Book 1 of the InBetween Series)
Hero of the InBetween (Book 2 of the InBetween Series)
His Angelic Queen (Book 3 of the InBetween Series)
About the Author
Erin Snihur is a proud Canadian Indie Author with a love for reading and writing. While working full-time you can often find Erin writing her next romance novel or hiking with her dog!
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Contents
Also by Erin Snihur
About the Author
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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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Epilogue
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Also by Erin Snihur
About the Author
1
“Impudent boy. Why do you constantly seek to humiliate me?”
Prince Razeen el-Qazi fights to control the urge to roll his eyes as he glares upwards and meets the infuriated gaze of his own father, Sharaf el-Qazi. Even though his father is Sheik of their home country, Kuwa, Raz holds no respect for his sire.
“Did you ever think, dear Father, that my reluctance in allowing you to force me into an arranged marriage has nothing to do with you? That I simply do not want to marry the woman?”
His father snorts and collapses back into his gold and wood carved throne before shifting in his seat to turn his fury on his heir, Crown Prince Abdul el-Qazi. “Are you just going to stand there while your brother ignores his royal duty?”
Sighing, tiredness obvious in his face, Abdul takes a step down off the dais and meets Raz’s gaze imploringly. “Brother, you know I would not ask this of you if I did not think it would benefit you.”
Seething, Raz growls, “You mean the Crown’s benefit, don’t you? I doubt either of you considered how I would feel about the matter.”
When Abdul doesn’t deny his words, Raz loses control and rolls his eyes. “I won’t marry some princess for political reasons.”
“You will!” Sheik Sharaf cries out, his voice echoing across the hall. At his back, Raz can sense the guards tensing.
“I won’t.”
Even though his face grows disappointed, Sheik Sharaf smirks evilly, as if he is playing with a full deck. Not today, old man, Raz inwardly hums. I will not roll over for you again.
“You will, or else.”
Abdul spins about and quickly protests, his eyes wide as he raises his hands to reassure their father, “Baba, you can’t.”
“I can and I will.” Sheik Sharaf stands as he ignores Abdul and keeps his gaze locked on Raz.
“From this moment on, boy, if you refuse to marry a woman of my choosing, then you will no longer lay claim as my son.”
“No!”
Two voices cry out upon his father’s proclamation. Abdul and their mother, Jaleela, who stands hidden by the doorway.
Jaleela enters and marches up to the dais, her hands shaking into fists as her robes and hair covering flutters with her rushed movements. “I will not let you take my son away.”
“Silence, woman. This is not your concern,” Sheik Sharaf booms in response, his hand raising in an unspoken threat that quickly quiets Jaleela.
“Now, boy.” Raz’s father coolly smirks. “What will be your decision?”
All eyes are cast onto Raz. Feeling the prickle of awareness as the silence that fills the room grows heated, he sighs and shrugs his shoulders. Sheik Sharaf’s face brightens, as if sensing that Raz is about to concede to his father’s whim like he has in the past.
Not today, old man.
“I won’t do it,” Raz murmurs, his eyes taking in the shocked look from his father and the disappointed wince when Sheik Sharaf jumps from his throne and throws himself into a vocal rage.
Ignoring his father’s temper tantrum, Raz glances over at his mother, whose eyes glisten with tears as she clutches her hands to her mouth to smother her sobs. Nodding to his mother, Raz takes a step towards her and clutches her hands in his.
Pressing a kiss to her hands, Raz whispers with a hesitant smile, “Everything is going to be fine, Mama.”
“Not for a disrespectful cur like yourself!” his father screeches, and snaps his fingers at his guards. “Take him out of my sight. You are cut off, Razeen, and will never be a part of this family ever again.”
Shifting his gaze from his father and mother, Raz nods to his brother. “Good thing you have your heir.”
Spitting on the floor in front of him, Sheik Sharaf waves his hand towards the doors. “Take him away.”
Raz shakes off the guards as they attempt to escort him away. Ignoring his father, Raz meets Abdul’s concerned but silent gaze.
“Rethink this decision, brother, please,” Abdul pleads.
Shaking his head, Raz smirks at his brother, knowing the look will cut like a dagger through his heart. “Don’t trouble yourself, brother. I’ve been taking care of myself for a hell of a long time.”
With that, Raz spins around, completely ignoring his mother’s sobs and father’s cursing. As he exits the throne room into the hallway, servants and patrol guards stop in their steps at the sounds of their Sheik raging and their Sheikha weeping.
He will never try to control my life again.
2
Two years later...
“Meeting your best friend while you are selling bodily fluids isn’t the norm,” the deep, echoing voice of Marcus Rollins jokes at the head of the table of the crowded five-star restaurant. The guests at his table and in the surrounding tables laugh joyfully, and some even call out in shock at the thought of their CEO and his second-in-command ever engaging in such a ludicrous notion.
Razeen had thought it ludicrous at the time too. Four years had passed since Raz was forced from his family home and in that time, ludicrous had become commonplace.
Nodding along with the shock, Marcus laughs and pats one hand on Razeen’s shoulder. Grinning up at his friend, Raz takes a sip of his scotch. Shaking his head at the amused and shocked glances that surround him at their table, Raz grumbles humorously, “It certainly wasn’t blood they were interested in buying from us.”
Marcus chuckles and calls out once again to the crowd they’ve drawn, “Yes, yes. Well, after that moment, my best friend reveals to me, over a bite to eat, that he wants to start a company and use my geeky mind to do it. Well, I didn’t believe him. One year later, Razeen and I were sitting inside our first tech studio, after selling our first patent. Now, here we are, on the night of our company’s two-year anniversary with employees in the double digits and investors who wouldn’t even have considered what we would accomplish in two years’ time.”
Raising his glass in a toast, Marcus shifts and faces Raz, his eyes gleaming from behind his black rimmed glasses as his bearded smile grows. “So, I would like to raise a toast to my best friend and partner, Razeen el-Qazi.”
Everyone follows suit and murmurs, “Cheers.” Raz takes that oppo
“Marcus, everyone, thank you so much. I know we couldn’t have accomplished everything we set out to do without our valued employees,” Raz explains and then winks at everyone, “and a few vials of bodily fluids.”
Joining everyone in raising their glasses, Raz clinks his own with Marcus’s glass. He and Marcus quickly settle down at their table. While everyone surrounding them is back to talking and laughing, a shadowed figure, heavily guarded by two men in dark suits, enters the private wing of the restaurant.
Clenching his hand around his glass, Raz slams what little of the scotch he has left back and shoots Marcus a knowing look.
“Looks like the welcoming committee is here,” Marcus mumbles.
“My father and brother can’t keep me from visiting the country like I’m some common criminal,” Raz hisses under his breath, then slowly rises away from the table.
“Don’t do something you might regret,” Marcus beseeches, but Raz ignores his plea and continues to march around the tables, towards the entrance where the smaller man stands, completely at ease between the two behemoth guards.
“Yuri Kim,” Raz drawls. “Don’t tell me you’re here to join the secretarial team?”
Yuri’s pale face and black eyes remain tense as the man stares up at Raz as if nothing in the past ever happened. Still my father and brother’s little lapdog, I see.
“Well? If not the secretarial pool, then could I suggest the IT department? If I recall, you are an excellent hacker,” Raz murmurs softly. When Yuri’s eyes sharpen and he takes a small step forwards, Raz bites back his retort over Yuri’s small stature. It had always been fun to tease the short man regarding his height, something even Raz’s stuffy brother, Abdul, had managed to laugh over a few times.
“It’s about your family,” Yuri begins, but Raz’s impatient snort interrupts him.
“It’s been two years; I still haven’t changed my mind. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been able to rise above their petty orders and find my way without the family’s money or protection.”
“Fool, you’ve always had your family’s protection. You just didn’t notice or care to pay attention to those around you,” Yuri hisses, his calm demeanor breaking. Before Raz can protest again, the short man holds up a hand to silence him.
“I’m here because there has been an accident,” Yuri’s clean and crisp voice whispers over the excitement of the other dining guests.
Raz’s heart stops momentarily and restarts as his mind begins to whirl at the implications of Yuri’s words. “What do you mean, an accident?”
This is it. Father has finally injured our mother beyond repair. Or worse.
“A car bombing,” Yuri growls, his eyes scanning everything around them. “I’ve been ordered to bring you in.”
With a bow from both Yuri and his two guards, Yuri reveals the heart-stopping truth, “Your father and brother have passed on. Razeen el-Qazi, you are Sheik of Kuwa now.”
3
Two years later...
“So, you’re not going to go out to get wasted and enjoy our twenties while we are still in them because your babysitter needs to study tonight?” Mia Leoz shrieks from the doorway of Alexandra Tasis’s apartment.
Alexandra smirks to herself as she washes up the dinner dishes and checks on her two-year-old son, Elijah, who sits in the open space of the small dining area. Setting the last pot on the drying rack, she spins around as she pats her hands dry with a towel.
“I’m a mom, Mia, I can’t party like a college kid anymore,” Alex murmurs and leans against the archway of her kitchen, watching as Mia puts her hands on her hips. Wearing her Saturday best, Mia Leoz looks ready to strut her stuff down the city’s runway of clubs and bars.
Rolling her eyes at her friends revealing apparel, Alex marches out of the kitchen and sits at her tiny dining table, turning her son’s high chair so that is it facing her and not the TV. Scrunching up his face in frustration, Eli simply arches his back and watches over his shoulder as a rabbit and a duck argue over what type of hunting season it is.
“You’re such a goody-goody,” Mia complains and follows after Alex. Much to Alex’s annoyance, Mia kicks off her heels, letting the gaudy shoes fly in completely different directions. Upon seeing his godmother, Eli’s attention to the TV halts and his chubby hands lift in excitement.
“Mia!”
Not able to resist smirking at Alex’s son, Mia leans down and presses a quick kiss to Eli’s head, effectively blocking his sticky fingers. Taking a seat on the other side of the table, Mia shoots Alex a knowing look.
“I swear your whole goody-goody act is why the partners like you so much more than me,” Mia whines and reaches out to pluck a piece of fruit from Eli’s tray.
Laughing at her, Eli turns his attention back onto the TV and the two women lock eyes. One knowing, the other exhausted.
“Maybe if you showed up to work on time, they would like you more.”
Ignoring Alex’s attempt at scolding, Mia grins and wiggles her eyebrows. “You could use a night on the town. Or on any single man in general.”
“I apologize that spending time with my son is more important than…” Alex’s eyes land on Eli and his impressionable brain. “Men,” Alex finally growls lowly, earning a tinkly laugh from Mia.
With a sigh when her best friend realizes Alex isn’t laughing along, Mia reaches across the circular table and squeezes her hand. “I’m sorry, but I just miss hanging out with you, and it feels like ever since Elijah was born you haven’t taken any time for yourself or even just to go out with friends.”
“We see each other every day at work and have extensive lunch dates,” Alex pipes up defensively.
“Barely, and those lunch dates usually consist of meetings with clients and more shop talk. You haven’t let your hair down in two years,” Mia snaps back.
A moment of silence passes between them and the look that Mia sends Alex speaks loud and clear. You know I’m right, Alex.
Sighing loudly, Alex shrugs. “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make more time for you and institute a girl’s night into our crazy lives. But no men. I’m not ready for that.”
Grinning with glee, Mia claps her hands and stands up, gaining Eli’s quick attention. “Thank you. I promise, I won’t harp at you too much more. I love this little monkey and can’t blame you for wanting him all to yourself.”
Before Alex can protest, Mia is swooping Eli out of his high chair and into the air as she lets out a sound that can only be described as an airplane mixed in with Eli’s belly laughs of glee over their new game.
“Careful!” Alex laughs from her seat, but doesn’t move to put a stop to the chaos. “He just finished eating.”
Setting Eli on her hip, Mia shoots her a funny look. “Don’t become one of those helicopter moms, please. There are already too many of them going viral online.”
“Down, Mia, down,” Eli protests once the flying game ends. Following his babyish orders, Mia sets him on his feet. Both women watch as Eli toddles over to his block pile on the floor by the coffee table.
Oh shit, Alex thinks as she stands up quickly and takes a step towards the coffee table, but doesn’t make it in time before her friend can see what’s sitting on top.
Swiping the brochure from the top of the folder packet, Mia holds it up in the air. “Oh my gawd, Kuwa tourism brochures? You’re not seriously considering going back to that infernal desert, are you?”
