page6 (1/2)

Or no provocation at all

But that meant he had to think very carefully about what to do about the photogenic Airl who should never have crossed paths with Amira What stories would she tell if he set her free? Who would listen to her when she told theot their hands on her—and they would He knew they would They always did

Inside the parlor, the girl shifted in her seat, then sat up, and Khaled studied her, bracing himself for what he knew he had to do Had known since he’d pulled her out of that car, and if he was honest, wasnow that she’d shown hith of hers

She was a gift And he would take all the gifts he could get

As gifts went, he had to ade eyes and remarkably fine features, her hair a collection of reds, browns and caramels twisted inexpertly and pinned to the back of her head

Pretty, so inside him noted, in a way that made him shift on his feet, then frown Too pretty

Elegant and unforgettable, in fact, with that face of hers and the coltish lines of her figure—yet she was dressed like a tomboy Her clothes were deliberately mannish and casual in that Western style he’d never really understood during his studies abroad in England and the States, and which he most certainly did not appreciate in a woman

Khaled was a traditional man He had always preferred women who understood their own uniquely feenerous breasts to cushion a ure and too azes toandbut Demure and modest women, traditional women

Not Western girls like this one in her androgynous clothes, flat-chested and skinny-thighed, who had stared back at him directly in the street, dared to scowl at hi for his mercy

He couldn’t re but irritating

And yet her eyes were extraordinary More than extraordinary They’d been filled with the setting sun out in that tiny little alleyway, and yet even when they weren’t they were a kind of bright, gleaold, like ancient treasure, and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t get them out of his head

Why it felt as if she haunted hi way into the heart of him when he should hardly have noticed her at all beyond her potential value to him To his country

Khaled told hiy that made him walk inside that room then, whether he wanted to do it or not Politics and power and the fate of his country besides

Because it couldn’t be anything else He knew better