Helena gently led Aamir into the living room. He felt a bit bashful, ever since the security force had muscled their way in, and inspected the house from top to bottom, including its' occupants much to Helena's dismay.

One of the black vehiclesremained outside in the driveway, while the other two departed silently, makingHelena's neighbours highly suspicious, of which Helena's sister jokinglydispelled, by saying that security was on high alert, due to the sudden spateof robberies in the area.

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Matteo! No worries" Alina grinned, giving her neighbours a quick wave before disappearing behind the curtains. "Phew! You'd think the mafia just made an appearance!" Alina sighed in relief, wiping imaginary perspiration from her brow.

Helena just shook her head, shrugging, while the sinister-looking security guards hovered around the grounds with their com-links on.

"Yeah, I get it. So, my sons are Arab princes, big deal!" She giggled, trying to calmly ease off the slightly tense situation, by passing around some finger foods she had made to the rest of the clan. But it was very clear to Aamir that his entrance had unnerved her.

He quickly sidled up to her, relieving her of the plate of finger foods, and calmly sat her down. He then strode over to the bar, and poured her a glass of sherry, handing it to her. He observed as she downed the drink in one go, and proceeded to pour her another. She gulped nervously, fingering the rim.

"Mother, please calm down. It will be all right, I promise you" He reassured her.

"I'm just so glad you came. I'm just so overwhelmed with the fact that you really ARE here!" She blinked in disbelief.

Aamir patted his mother's hand, before putting an arm around her. The rest of the brood nodded, while chatting amongst each other, before addressing Aamir's sudden decision to come over to the US to further his studies.

"I wanted to be near her. I had very brief but sweet memories of my mother, and I wanted to experience more of them which I never did, growing up" He admitted.

"It was my fault, Aamir. I never meant to hurt you and your brother by walking away" Helena wiped the burning tears which continued to cascade down her cheeks.

"At first I was angry at you. But I know better now that Tarek explained the situation to me. As a child, I couldn't understand why papa kept Sheila by his side more than he did with you. I overheard them arguing once, and it was then I realized what she had done to tear us apart, and why you left" Aamir recounted.

"And how is Tarek?" Helena implored of him.

"Tarek misses you very much. Before I forget, he asked me to give this to you" Aamir produced the small gift from his trouser pocket

"It's beautiful" Helena eyed the precious stone, sitting in its' intricate silver casing.

"Allow me" Aamir carefully extracted the simple but stunning pendant, and placed it around his mother's neck, closing the clasp securely.

"What exactly is it?" Aamir's cousin, Pamelyn curiously asked.

"It's a talisman, designed to protect the wearer, and ward off any kind of evil" Aamir explained.

"And who's the evil it's supposed to ward off? Sheila?" Alina teased.

"I'll not have that vile woman's name evoked in my house, thank you" Helena retorted, holding out her glass to Aamir to fill, which he did, generously.

"Ah-ah, none of that until you've eaten something, Helena. You haven't had a bite to eat all day!" Alina shook her head at Aamir, while snatching the glass out of Helena's reach.

"But...but" Helena whined, realizing that Alina was right.

"Here... Now eat! You too, Aamir!" Alina looked pointedly at them both.

"Yes, ma'am" Aamir nodded politely, grabbing himself a plate.

"He's so polite, isn't he?" Alina gushed towards her sister, who was beaming at her young son.

"Only 18, and already a lady-killer" She huffed.

"Oh, really? You don't say!" Alina giggled.

"Mother, what does lady-killer mean?" Aamir failed to see the joke his mother was making at his expense, silently thinking to himself that surely, they would not think that he would be callous or cruel enough to murder a woman?

His aunt Alina, having seen the exasperation on her nephew's face said it all. She sat him down and explained the term to him, to which Aamir sighed in relief.

Aamir was flustered by the rumours surrounding his public profile. It seemed that the general public had been speculating that the two princes had been seen with some very rich young women, daughters of very prominent businessmen and their families, during certain events.

Even his cousins found it amusing and decided to question the young prince regarding such rumours.

"They're always trying to pair me off with someone, when I just don't want to...at least, not right now" Aamir sighed, as he tucked into one of the halal delicacies that both his mother and aunt had so lovingly prepared for him. He was quite taken by surprise that they had gone out of their way to respect the traditions of the royal family even though the royals did nothing but look down upon them.

"Well, cousin, you are one of the hottest bachelors around, both you and Tarek" His cousin, Armand stated as a matter-of-fact.

"No, I am not" Aamir flat-out denied this, shaking his head vehemently. Aamir had definitely gone out with some young ladies, but he was simply doing it out of formality and respect for his father's wishes.

If only his father would understand the secret he'd been harbouring.

For deep within his heart, he longed to be wooed, not by a woman...but a man.