“No!” She closed her eyes. “You have to understand Jack. He’s not… he’s… damn you, Tamir, can you just stop staring at me like that for a second so I can think.”
His smile was rich with amusement, despite the prickly nature of their relationship. “Your eyes are closed. How can you say that I am staring at you, Azeezi?”
She blinked her big green eyes open. “I can feel you examining me as though I’m a bug in your microscope. Staring at me isn’t going to make you understand.”
“Then use your words. If you think there’s something you can say that will make it clear. But you should know, Olivia, I believe stealing to be one of the worst crimes a person can commit.”
She scowled at him disbelievingly. “Worse than kidnapping? Forced marriage?”
He shrugged. “Are you going to explain? Or simply continue to throw old accusations at me instead?”
She ran her fingers through her hair. She was desperate for a shower, but it would have to wait. Soon she would wash the day away. First, she had to try to get through to Tamir.
“Jack has been through a lot. He’s coping as best he can, but he occasionally has these moments where he just loses control. He would never steal something and keep it, nor sell it.”
“You already said that. That this is a thrill for him.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“That does not seem fair on you.”
“Not in this case,” she agreed moodily, compressing her lips. “But he doesn’t think it through. He’s… just a bit… damaged.”
“Why?” Tamir probed curiously. She was tired. Though he hadn’t known her long, he could see that her eyes had purple smudges beneath them, and her skin was so pale it was almost translucent.
The urge to confide in Tamir was strange. It went beyond wanting to buy her freedom. It was a bigger requirement than that. “Jack and I lost our fathers at the same time.” She dropped her eyes away, and padded quietly over to the bed. She sat on the edge of it, and stared at the deep turquoise fabric of her dress. “My dad died suddenly. I wasn’t prepared. Jack’s father passed after a long battle with alcoholism. His demise had been obvious for years.”
“I am sorry to hear about your father.”
“I don’t want to talk about my dad,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
“Why not?” Tamir demanded, refusing to soften his stance or voice.
“Because if he weren’t already dead, seeing me like this would kill him.” She blinked away the tears that threatened to moisten her eyes. “Anyway, we were talking about Jack.”
He nodded, but he felt something shift inside of him. “Go on.” Still, he didn’t move.
“Jack’s father made his life a living hell. He was abusive. Physically and emotionally. He verbally eviscerated him at every opportunity he ever got.” She shook her head. “He drank far too much and he was not a kind man after a drink.” She shook her head wistfully. “The last thing he said to Jack was that his biggest regret in life was having Jack for a son.”
Tamir shook his head. His own father had been an excellent man, and a guiding role model Tamir had admired hugely. “I can imagine that must have been difficult, but it does not justify such blatant disregard for decency. Not to mention the law.”
“Don’t you get it? He’s trying to get in trouble. All his life, his father told him he was a piece of crap. That he was worthless and would never amount to anything. And even though Jack hated him, in my opinion, he misses him too. It’s like he’s trying to prove his dad right. Or something.” She shrugged. “I’m not a psychologist, but I know Jack. He’s got a fortune in the bank, yet he gets his kicks from criminal behaviour. He’s… kind of just broken.”
Tamir rubbed a hand across his jaw. Was he crazy from exhaustion? Or had that made a strange sort of sense? “I do not condone theft,” he said, finally, uneasily.
“Nor do I,” she whispered. “I am trying to help him through it, but there’s years of hurt to navigate.”
“And why do you care so much?”
She lifted her face, angling it towards his. Her eyes were sad, her mouth open in confusion. “Because he’s my friend. And I love him.” Tamir didn’t react, so Olivia was compelled to ask, “Don’t you have a friend like that? Someone you care about despite their imperfections? Someone who you can look beyond the crazy and see the goodness of their heart?”
He laughed, and shook his head from side to side. “No. I’m not able to surround myself with people who might steal or murder me.”
She shrugged. “You’re missing my point.”
Tamir ran a hand through his hair, while his eyes studied every detail of his beautiful bride’s appearance. “I’m not, I assure you.” He wasn’t interested in hearing about Jack any longer. “You said your father would ‘die’ if he saw you like this. What did you mean?”
Olivia closed her eyes and conjured the image of her father she always carried in her head. It brought a swell of emotion to her. “I was his little girl,” she said simply. “He wanted the best for me, and he was tireless in teaching me how to pursue that for myself. Being an antiquities appraiser was all I ever wanted. From childhood, I had a fascination for objects that were old. The way they can speak to you many years after their purpose has been answered.” She shrugged. “Dad saw it in me as a young girl. The way I’d traipse around flea markets, looking for buried treasure amongst the trash.” Her smile was whimsical. “He would not like to think of me having to… make decisions like this. To save a friend’s life.”