“You’ve allowed Azir to live all these years,” Paige said softly as she met his gaze directly. “Why?”
His head tilted to the side thoughtfully for long moments before he answered. “Because your mother has known enough pain. If she believed for a moment that I had killed him, then she would be certain my soul was damned and we would not meet in Heaven as she has always claimed. Besides, were he to die, I would be the first suspected of it.”
Paige glanced across the room as her mother stepped into the bedroom.
“She will take this opportunity to check your drawers, your closets, and so forth to see how you are conducting any intimate life or a lack thereof,” he commented.
“Tattling on Mother again, Papa?” she asked with a smile as his weathered face eased into a grin.
“She will say nothing to you, but to me she will complain of grandchildren she does not have and a son-in-law you owe her. Then once again she will make her lists of her friends’ sons to introduce you to. And she will stare into the night when she believes I sleep. And she will fear you have lied to us as she lied to her parents when she assured them that Khalid was not a child of her kidnapper’s raping of her. And soon she will cry, certain you lied to us and that Azir raped you.”#p#分页标题#e#
She could hear the question in his voice, the fear.
“Azir hit me,” she confided, knowing her father had a second sense when it came to her and Khalid’s lies. She wouldn’t lie to him about Azir.
“How hard did he hit you?”
She described the abuse, then paused and watched her father’s face closely as she continued. “Abram came in and stopped Azir. He had Tariq take me to his suite and I never saw Azir after that.”
Thick salt-and-pepper hair was pushed back from his dark face as gray-green eyes held a hint of suspicion.
“I swear, Papa,” she promised him. “If Abram wasn’t with me, then Tariq was. I was perfectly protected.”
Her father nodded slowly, then drew in a deep breath.
“Tariq and Abram often share their lovers as Khalid has,” he said somberly. “Did they seduce you, daughter?”
She saw the worry and the concern in his face as her own flushed in embarrassment. Sex was not a subject she discussed so freely, especially not with her papa.
“They didn’t,” she revealed softly. “But am I so wrong to wish they had?”
She saw the surprise, and also the discomfort in her father’s face as he cleared his throat.
“I see.” His voice was lowered in case her mother came into the room, she assumed.
“Do you think I’m bad, Papa?” She loved her parents. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass them or give them cause to feel shame because of her desire for Abram.
“Paige, what could make you ever imagine you are bad simply because you are a woman who deserves what her lover desires?” He gave a hard shake of his head and a hesitant smile. “Perhaps that did not come out as I intended, but I would never believe you bad because you are a woman.”
“Or because I’m in love with Abram Mustafa?” she asked.
He couldn’t hide it, and her father wasn’t a man who would lie to her.
The gray green of his eyes flashed with concern. His expression tightened with what she knew was disapproval and fear.
“That is a bit of a surprise,” he admitted as he raked his fingers through his hair with a hard sigh. “And does Abram feel the same for you, Paige?”
“No,” she admitted painfully. “Abram isn’t in love with me, Papa. And he doesn’t want to see me again because he’s afraid of the danger he will bring into my life. For him, it’s over.”
“Ah, my little princess,” he whispered, his arms opening to her. She had to swallow tightly to hold back her tears.
She rushed to him. She let him pull her into his embrace. His arms surrounded her, cushioning her against his chest as she fought to hold back her tears.
“He is a fool and a coward to walk away from a woman whose heart is as brave and as courageous as yours.” He kissed the top of her head gently. “Perhaps, Paige, he no longer knows how to love.”
She was saved from replying as her bedroom door opened and her mother stepped into the room.
Paige knew instantly that something was wrong, just as her father did.
“Marilyn.” Pavlos moved to her. Paige followed, her heart suddenly jumping in her throat.
Her mother was shaking and pale, her lips bloodless.
“Marilyn?” Pavlos gripped her arms, staring down at her worriedly. “Love, what has happened?”
Marilyn swallowed tightly as she stared up at her husband in fear. “Reaching Khalid was impossible. I finally got Abram to answer his phone.” Her voice turned ragged, and a tear eased from her eyes as she inhaled roughly. “Oh God, Pavlos, they hurt Khalid. They shot him and no one knows how bad it is.”#p#分页标题#e#