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With that o to one of the most aard dinners she’d ever experienced The four of the table, a to say , so Hadiya asked hiain) and his children (three so far, and all doing well) She also chatted on about her own schooling, although she was on break nohich hy she was able to spend time at the palace

“I love the new colors in here, don’t you, A a et the lamps up It will be lovely”

“I’m sure,” Amin said demurely

His large eyes moved toward Laine They were darker than Hadiya and Aziz’s eyes But that wasn’t what made Laine uncomfortable when she looked into them It was the fact that they held such hostility, whereas Aziz and Hadiya’s eyes, no matter the circumstance, always held kindness

“We spent a lot of ti room In the end, we’ll have a lot of traditional accents, as well as several paintings from Bahraini artists,” Laine said She looked to Aziz and sly

They had spent one afternoon at a local museum and had the opportunity to speak to an artist about his work Laine had felt so energized afterward that she’d let Aziz take her out to see the rest of the city They had ended up at a restaurant where they had flirted in a private room and Aziz had made her close her eyes while he fed her delicacies

Aziz sipped his drink and smiled across the table coyly Laine lowered

After dinner, Aziz excused them on the pretense that he and Laine would need to discuss a few things related to the renovations Hadiya bid the look before she sashayed out of the roo her other brother’s arm as she went

“Forgive ether down a hallway that led towards the northern exit “Do this for ”

“I understand he may be jealous of you He’s the older brother, after all”

“Perhaps a bit He thinks, at least to a degree, that he is protecting me But that does not excuse his rudeness toward you”

Laine wondered if she should mention what she’d heard earlier “I’ve experienced worse There are plenty of people in the world willing to look down on me”

“I would suggest your Mr Brandt doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, either,” Aziz said