The Bound Princess (Dark Romance)

Chapter 16

Emma

"I doubt if you might care about anything after today," Ahmed sighed. 

  He was looking in a bad shape, I knew he had his demons to deal with and my marriage had only added to his stress. I knew very well he couldn't see me unhappy, but he won't be able to help me in this regard. It was my battle and I intended to fight it myself. 

 "I hope I am not interrupting your rendezvous with your loving brother, but my family awaits our couple dance as per the Turkish tradition," Dawood's voice interrupted the train of my thoughts. 

 Ahmed and I turned around at the same moment and found a smirking Dawood standing at an arm's length from us. He was looking devilishly handsome in the moonlight, and from his expressions, it looked like he had heard our conversation to some extent. 

 "Shall we?" he extended his arm for me. 

 I was about to step towards him when Ahmed took a step forward and stood in front of me, "I will escort Emma back to the ballroom." 

 I hadn't expected him to do something like this, what was he thinking? Dawood was my husband now and Abi wouldn't like it a bit if Ahmed misbehaved with him. 

 "You don't have to bother yourself anymore, she is my responsibility now and I am more than capable of escorting my wife back, myself," Dawood's calm voice echoed in the eerie silence of the terrace. 

 I stepped forward and placed my hand on Ahmed's arm to stop him from saying or doing anything impulsive. Ahmed getting in a brawl with Dawood for me was the last thing I wanted at my wedding. He was already famous for his reckless ways and I didn't want him to land in any trouble because of me. 

 "I got this," I said in a low voice for only him to hear. 

 He looked into my eyes then nodded and stepped back and I placed my hand over Dawood's palm. He wrapped his fingers around me and pulled me to him with a jerk then gave Ahmed a triumphant smile and turned and walked towards the entrance of the ballroom. 

 "You will have to quit smoking," he said the moment we were out of earshot. 

 "Excuse me?" I asked, looking at him tilting my head back. 

 "I hate the smell sweetheart, is that so hard to understand. I don't know how I am going to keep up with your mediocre intelligence for the rest of our lives," his tone changed to mocking at the end of his sentence. 

 I flushed from his remark, there was no doubt that he was a genius and amongst a handful of people who had IQs as high as his but I was not dumb either. I might not be as smart as him but I had an IQ better than ninety percent of the human population but there was no use arguing with an obnoxious ass like him, he would surely find something else to mock me. 

 We entered the room where everyone was waiting for us and they all gave us knowing looks, like someone would give to a mischievous child. After those photographs, it was not hard to assess what they might be thinking about us drifting outside of the ballroom. My flushed state would only confirm their doubts. 

 I felt a piercing gaze over me and I didn't need to look at the person to know who it was. It was surely Hamza and no doubt he would be hating me more with each passing second. I had tried contacting him after coming back to Azmaayir to tell him what had happened but he had avoided me and I was left with no choice but to back down. 

 Dawood led me to the center of the dance floor with his arm around my waist and then pulled me close to him when the music started playing. He was holding me as close to him as the hundreds of layers of the tulle in my skirt allowed him with his hands on my hips just above the curve of my ass.