page11 (1/2)

Landscaped gardens, water fountains,pathways amid tiled courtyards, everywhere she looked, old-world charreeted her It was a setting straight out of a princess tale her aunt had read to her years ago froifted her after another diplomatic stint in some far-off, exotic country, just like Behraat

The quarters she’d been given boasted a large antique bed with the softest cotton sheets spun with threads of gold, satin drapes and the en suite bathroom with a s snuggled against her bare feet, a vanity reeeverywhere she turned, the opulence of Zafir’s wealth, the sheer differences in their worlds mocked her

Even when she lay down on her bed, there was the soaring ceiling inlaid with an intricate h she needed a re with

She turned around and walked back into the suite Restlessness and uncertainty gnawed at her, even though it had been a full day since she had learned of her pregnancy “You’re a fully qualified doctor?” she shot at Farrah who hadn’t left except for a couple of hours

Farrah looked up from her journal and nodded

“It doesn’t bother you that he’s ordered you to play nursemaid to me?”

“It’s a sment, wheneven my family had forsaken me” She put the journal aside “And it is clear that you are important to him”

Lauren ignored the obvious question in Farrah’s words and shot one of her own “Because he has jailed round cells?”

“YouWo you hat he intended, he could have put you anywhere” She paused as though waiting for the import of her words to sink in “Here, he can be absolutely certain of your safety”

Lauren refused to attach anyto Farrah’s revelation

She walked toward the dark side table laden with exotic fruits and pastries She picked up the elegant silver jug and poured sherbet into the glea silver tumbler and took a sip Apparently, in Zafir’s world, silverware meant actual silverware

The smooth fruity liquid slid down her parched throat blissfully “The only person posing a problehness”

“There have been two attempts on his life since he returned to Behraat, Lauren”

The tu a stain on the thick Persian rug at her feet