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TEN

Rafiq let out a huge sigh of relief and dropped his head “Thank you so much You handled that flawlessly”

I pushed his arm off my shoulder and frowned up at him “Fortunately for you, I’et a little bit upset when sos me out to dry”

Rafiq looked wounded “What? I don’t…”

“When were you going to tell er finally found its way into my voice, and I put my hands on my hips as I faced him “You don’t think that was an iot here? We could have ruined everything I thought you wanted this to work, isn’t that the whole point?”

Redness flushed Rafiq’s face, and he lowered his eyes in a way that I hadn’t seen him do before

“You’re right I’m sorry It was reckless”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” I said, exasperated

“I don’t know”

I shook my head “You’re a piece of work It’s like you’re not thinking any of this through”

“Hey, I’ve never done this before,” said Rafiq, holding his big arms open “I , but this is a whole different ball ga the best I can”

“Maybe you should try harder,” I snapped “If you want this to work, that is I don’t knohy I feel like I care about this more than you do—it’s your life on the line, isn’t it?”

Rafiq frowned He seemed hurt, but I didn’t take my words back

“Well, at least this is te with o back to your well-ordered life soon”

The bitterness in his voice was overwhel, but I didn’t respond

“My father will be heading back to the Middle East at the end of the week, once he’s met all of his business contacts and spent what he deeone, this can end And then you don’t have to see ain”