Laine scoffed. She looked at the gorgeous sight surrounding her. She’d never seen this many striped roses in one place. They had talked idly about bringing more greenery to the outside of the palace, but her focus had been on the interior. That he would do this…
“Aziz, it’s beautiful,” she said, touching his arm.
He took her hand and walked with her down a path through the roses. “The smile on your face is all the reason I needed. That they will always remind me of you, if you leave me, will also be a reward.”
“I have to. Once the job is over…” Laine felt her resolve waning. “Maybe I could send an email saying I need another week…two weeks is such a short time for such large plans.”
“Yes, you should do this.”
“But I’m on thin ice as it is.”
“I will speak to him,” Aziz declared. When Laine opened her mouth to protest, he touched her cheek and shook his head. “Some men cannot hear you. It isn’t ideal, but it is true. He will listen to what I have to say, and he will take the additional stipend that I send to secure your services, and he will not complain.”
Laine said nothing. She felt odd about letting Aziz be her protector. She’d had to be her own advocate for so long that it felt strange to have someone nearby who had the power to protect her. To defend her. To hold up her value to others who would diminish it.
“If you can do that, I thank you.” Laine thought for a moment. “And thank you for defending me to Amin this morning. I overheard. I would have left, but you two were going at it so loudly.”
Aziz turned his head, almost seeming embarrassed. “We are passionate.”
“So Hadiya tells me. Passion I’ve seen from you. This was different, and I just thought you should know that I appreciate it. I could be just someone who works for you. I could be just another fling. Maybe that’s true. But you kept your brother from talking badly about me. Not everyone would do that.”
Aziz stopped walking and sighed. “My brother…”
He took her hand and led her to the fountain to sit on the edge. Laine looked up at him curiously. The light of day was beginning to diminish around them, and the shadows grew long.
“Aziz?”
“I am the head of my family. This you know.” Aziz pushed his fingers through both sides of his hair and looked up at the sky, as though seeking strength. “It was not meant to be so,” he said finally. He let his hands drop into his lap. “It should have been Amin. I should not have even had the chance to take this from him.”
Laine reached over and took his hand in both of her own.
“When I was just barely out of boyhood, I grew very, very ill. The treatment was brutal. I felt as though my death were upon me every moment. If not for my family’s resources, I would not have had access to these doctors with their treatments. I know that I am lucky, both to have had the chance to survive and to actually do so, despite the odds.”
He looked at her with a smile. “I should not live, but I do. And as it became clear that despite my expectations, I would live to have a future, I knew that I must take every moment, every opportunity. I must not be afraid to live, because this is what Allah gave to me.”
Laine looked down, feeling her cheeks burn. He didn’t mean to highlight her utter failure to embrace her life, but his words did so anyway.
“I am not a small man. And I will not be made small.” Aziz shrugged. “However, I was very…unfocused. It is true—I have enjoyed time with many women. I have spent my life as an adventure waiting, and my father knew that I could be more.”
“So he put you in charge of the estate,” Laine said.
“Indeed. I thought he had lost his faculties. Amin still does. But our father is a cunning man.” Aziz shook his head and smirked. “You would like him. He is crafty, like you, with your missing tile.”
Laine laughed. “Sometimes you just have to work what you have to your advantage!”
“You are wise. And like your fellows,” Aziz said gesturing toward the roses, “you are stronger than people think.”
“Did you plant this just to tell me that I can survive? That’s a bit over the top.”
“I had them planted just to make you smile, really.” Aziz laughed. “Hardly anything more. You are so serious when you work! I just cannot resist comparing you to them. You have your thorns, too.”
“And you like my thorns?” Laine teased.
“I like that you have kept them from stabbing me,” he said. “I have told you, I’ve had a hard life!”
“So that’s all you want? To live. Is that enough?”