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“This may be true I don’t travel as much as he does, however”

Laine didn’t doubt that there were other differences But Hadiya’s energyAziz here, and she was disappointed that he wouldn’t see her in this dress Instead, he was in Mana with—and perhaps assaulting fountains with—other girls It was a necessary reminder to Laine that she needed to keep herAziz distract her body

Chapter Eight

The next few days Laine spent on her own or with Hadiya, developing a plan for the palace Laine would’ve run her ideas by Aziz, but with each day of his absence, she grewforith her plans She was, after all, on a deadline One that she’d reat rewards or a spectacular firing

Laine elected to ested would be used for business reasons Even though Bahrain wascountries, Laine suspected that overnment officials would appreciate a ht the cultural historyher editorial touches structural in nature It would be a good coh Hadiya had confirmed that Amin and the rest of the family lived in Manaht use for business or sihly abstract or ‘provocative’ art of the kind that Aziz liked in rooms that potentially conservative CEOs or state officials would frequent

Laine slipped into one of her coainst a wall Half of her wallpaper sarated in the heat before she could even open the boxes, and she needed to see how the surviving supplies would perform She would certainly need to be flexible with both her concepts and materials

With her hair pulled back ainst the wall to see how evenly it would spread in the heat It globbed and then dribbled down the surface

“Damn it,” she muttered

“I’m not sure what I think of this style,” Aziz said from behind her

Laine spun around, then pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side “This isn’t a style I’odawful heat!”

“I don’t think God has much to do with it Weather is different the world over” Aziz strolled over to her notebooks and started to flip through them Laine noted that he was back in a suit and admired the fine view