“I didn’t reject you.” When he laughed, she doubled down. “I said I cared about you. I said it was complicated. I said I’d been through a lot and needed a minute. I won’t lie, Haris. I’m pretty fucking upset because it didn’t have to come to this. You could have told me about your bond with my father. All you did for him. For my family. You never gave me a chance.”
“You’re right. You deserved the truth. I should have seen how you would’ve handled it. What’s that saying about hindsight?”
“Haris.” She locked eyes with him. “You don’t want to kill me.”
“Of courseI don’t,” he said. “But it’s too late.”
“You make the call, don’t you? You decide what comes next. You want my legacy. But you also want me. I can’t predict the future—we have a lot we’d need to unpack to move forward, and I can’t make any promises. But there’s a chance you could have both. Do you want to live with regret about what could have been?”
“Like you’ll ever forgive this.”
Hena’s voice shook with emotion. “You know my capacity to forgive. I forgive to a fault. I forgave Nasir over and over again without any benefit to myself. What I’m offering benefits us both. If you can move past this, so can I. I’m a pragmatist. You know the man who raised me.”
She searched his face, wondering if her words had landed at all. For a split second she saw a flash of doubt cross his expression. Just as quickly, he stood up. Frowned.
“You’ll say whatever you need to get out of this.”
“Of course I want to get out of this. My wrists are killing me, Haris. That doesn’t mean what I’m saying isn’t true.”
“So I untie you, and we live happily ever after?” He rolled his eyes.
“You untie me and wetalk. We have a real conversation. We see where it takes us. We’ve always been good at talking, right?”
He didn’t reply. Was the air shifting between them? Or was it just her foolish hope? Was it possible he was tempted? Hena knew all too well how fast rationality could fly out the window when feelings were involved.
“You won’t run as soon as I let you go?” Haris asked.
Hena looked into his light brown eyes. This man who had comforted her. Who’d held her hand after she’d lost Nasir and let her cry on his shoulder. The man who’d stood by her side for years. The man who wanted to murder her. She told him the truth.
“I’m tired of running, Haris,” she said. “I’m tired of betrayal. I want peace. I think in the long run, that’s what you might be able to give me.” She held his gaze. “You’re not perfect, but I see who you can be.”
The silence stretched interminably. He was debating. Warring within himself. Hena’s heart hammered in her chest.
Haris walked toward the front door, the floorboards creaking with each step. A leaden feeling lodged in her chest. He didn’t believe her. Of course he didn’t. He was going to sit in his car. Wait for dawn without having to hear her incessant pleas. Or maybe he’d grab his gun from his pocket and end this once and for all.
His hand rested on the doorknob. Then he paused. His gaze dropped. Shaking his head, he walked back toward her.
Wordlessly, he kneeled. His fingers brushed her wrists. He pulled a silver blade from his pocket and sliced through the tie. The tension in her shoulders released.
He held out his hand, helping her up. Hena took it, giving it a gentle squeeze. She hoped he couldn’t tell how hard she was trying to keep her hands from shaking.
“Betray me and you will regret it,” he told her.
She met his eyes. “Then don’t give me a reason to.”
He cracked a smile at this. Reaching out, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “I know it’ll take a minute. We have a lot of trust to rebuild,” he said. “But if we can get there, it could be amazing.”
“I agree.” She forced a smile.
Her hands were free. But she wasn’t safe. Not yet. It was one thing to survive this moment. This night, if she was lucky.
How would she survive all that was to come?
She pressed her hand to her throbbing temple. Haris watched her sympathetically.
“You look beat. It’s the medicine,” he said. “It’ll take a few more hours to clear. I’m surprised you’re upright, honestly.”
Perfect. She’d tell him she was too tired to think straight. She’d pretend to sleep the next few hours away until Lucinda arrived. Until the next part of this nightmare unfolded. It would give her time to figure out what to do next.
