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Chapter 16
“Go into the other room,” Nahid whispered. “Bahram would not be happy to find you in his house.”
Laila didn’t want to face Bahram, either. She nodded. Stepped through the door into the next room. She found Darius there, staring toward the other room. He was seven or eight, and according to Amira, very smart.
But before she could step out of sight, Bahram shouted, “What’s she doing here?”
Laila slowly turned to face the man who’d tried to sell her to the Taliban. Feroz was at his side, but she refused to look at him. Focusing on Bahram, she said, “I’m leaving Afghanistan and I came to say goodbye to Amira.”
“Not a very smart thing to do,” Bahram said with a smirk. “You know there’s a price on your head.”
“I figured there would be,” Laila replied. “But I’m confident they won’t catch me.”
“How did you escape?” Feroz asked, scowling as he stepped toward her. His scruffy beard was peach fuzz on his cheeks, but the rage in his expression was all too adult.
Laila backed up a step. Jase would have seen the two men come into the house. She knew he was outside the door, ready to step in if things got out of hand. So she squared her shoulders. “None of your business.”
“You won’t escape a second time,” Feroz said, gloating. “I’ll deal with you this time.”
“Bahram,” Nahid said, stepping between the two young men and Laila. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“I have some business with Feroz,” he said. Laila heard the discomfort in Bahram’s voice. Saw wariness and fear in his expression. She swallowed hard and clenched her fingers into a fist. Bahram was going to let Feroz take Amira. Right now.
“What business is that?” Nahid asked, suspicion in her voice.
“Feroz wants Amira as his wife, and I’ve agreed. He will take her now.”
“No, Bahram,” Amira cried. She shrank back into her mother, and Nahid put a protective arm around her. “You can’t do this. I want nothing to do with Feroz.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want,” Bahram said after a long moment. Laila saw the pain in his expression. Heard a tremor in his voice. Would his distress be enough to save Amira?
She hoped so. But she wasn’t going to count on it.
“Bahram!” Amira wailed. “No! Don’t do this. You can’t make me marry him. It’s not what father would have wanted.”
Amira clutched at Nahid, and Laila saw the tears in the girl’s eyes. The terror in her expression.
“How do you know what father would have wanted, Amira? Can you speak to the dead?” Bahram tried to sound cold. Mocking. But he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice. His shaking hands. “And it doesn’t matter what father wanted. Since he’s gone, it’s my right to marry you to whoever I choose.”
“Don’t, Bahram,” she said in a watery voice. “Feroz is a cruel man. He beats his sister. Kicks his mother and his dog. What do you think he’ll do to me?”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Feroz said. “I’ll enjoy teaching you who’s in charge in a family,” Feroz said. The glee in his voice and anticipation in his gaze as he studied Amira made Laila’s stomach churn. He took a step toward the girl and grabbed her wrist. “I came to claim her, and she’ll come with me now.”
The sour smell of an unwashed body emanated from Feroz. Laila shuddered. As she tried to step between the boy and Amira, the young woman yanked her hand free from Feroz’s grasp.
She backed farther away, her gaze skittering wildly around the room. Gulping, Amira grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter. “Don’t come near me, Feroz.”
The arrogant young man turned to Bahram. “This is what you teach your sister?” he asked, scorn in his voice. “It’s a good thing I’m taking charge of her. She needs to be taught how to behave.” He started toward her. “And I am looking forward to doing it.”
Amira extended the knife toward Feroz, and he stumbled to a halt. “Bahram,” he said without looking away from the knife in Amira’s hand. “Control your sister.”
He glanced over at Laila and reached for her. “I’ll take this one, as well. Capturing this infidel will get me noticed by the chiefs.”
Laila backed away. She’d shoot Feroz if she had to, but she’d rather not. “Stay back, Feroz,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You think you have a choice?” he said, reaching for her.
She grabbed his wrist. Twisted his arm and stepped into him, and Feroz flipped onto the floor, landing on his back.
