You may hate something and it is for your best.
He’d said that in perfect Arabic. Hearing his majestic voice rumbling the ancient verse was a shock. Maysoon had spoken only English to him, making her think he hadn’t learned the language. But it was clear he had—and perfectly. There wasn’t the least trace of accent in his pronunciation. He’d said it like a connoisseur of old poetry would.
He cocked that awesome head at her. “So now that you’ve heard my full testimony, any adjustment in your opinion of me?”
Floundering, wanting for the floor to split and snatch her below, she choked out, “It—it is your word against hers.”
“Then I am at a disadvantage, since she is your half sister. Though that should be to her disadvantage, since you’re probably intimate with all her faults and are used to taking her testimony about anything with a pound of salt. But if for some reason you’re still inclined to believe her, then there is only one way for me to have a fair retrial. I demand that you get to know me as thoroughly as you know her.”
“What do you mean, get to know you?” She heard the panic that leaped into her voice.
He was patient indulgence itself. “How do people get to know each other?”
“I don’t know. How?”
The same forbearance met her retort. “How did you get to know anyone in your orbit?”
“I was thrown with them by accidents of birth or geography or necessity.”
That had his heart-stopping smile dawning again. “I’m tempted to think you’ve been a confirmed misanthrope since you exited the womb.”
“According to my mother, they barely extracted me surgically before I clawed my way out of her. She informed me I spoiled the having-babies gig for her forever.”
His eyes told her what he thought of her mother. Yeah, him and everyone in the civilized world.
Then his eyes smiled again. “It’s a calamity we don’t have video documentation of your entry into the world. That would have been footage for the ages. So—” he rubbed his hands together “—when will our next reconnaissance session be?”
Her heart lodged in her throat again. “There will be no next anything.”
“Why? Have you passed your judgment again, and it’s still execution?”
“No, I’ve given you a not-guilty verdict, so you can go gallop in the fields free. Now, ann eznak…”
“Or better still, men ghair ezni, right?”
“See? You can predict me now. I was only diverting when you couldn’t guess what I’d say next, but now that you’ve progressed to completing my sentences, my entertainment value is clearly depleted. Better to quit while we’re ahead.”
“I beg to differ. Not that I am or was after ‘entertainment.’ Will you suggest a time and venue, or will you leave it up to me?”
She could swear flames erupted inside her skull.
“You’ve had your retrial, and I want to salvage what I can of this party,” she growled. “Now get out of my way.”
As if she hadn’t said anything, his eyes laughed at her as he all but crooned, “So you want me to surprise you?”
“Argh!”
Foisting his jacket at him, she pushed past him, barely resisting the urge to break out into a sprint to escape his nerve-fraying chuckles.
She felt those following her even after she’d rejoined the party, when there was no way she could still hear him.
And he thought she’d expose herself to him again?
Hah.
One cataclysmic brush with Aram Nazaryan might have been survivable. But enduring another exposure?
No way.