After she and Sunita rid their fingers and mouths of the sticky delight, the girl ran back to the living room, dropped one arm around her plump brown bear, and pulled a book into her lap. While she didn’t yet trust Ryan one hundred percent, he gave her space, and as the days passed her jumpiness around him subsided.
Aziza forced Ryan to reposition himself on the loveseat so she could lie on his lap. She wriggled around, then settled in one position and sighed. “This is the life,” she mumbled. “Now, if Mom and Dad would stop asking when they will see us, everything would be perfect.”
Ryan’s chest rose and fell as he laughed. He lay the tablet aside and kissed her forehead. “We need to have that talk about our future. The Sheikh made me an offer.”
She went still, then raised her head. “How come you’re only telling me this now?”
“Sweetheart, a man has to work out things in his head before he can explain it to someone else, especially if it’s appealing and he might have to make a case to his wife.”
She sat up. “This sounds serious.”
After pulling himself upright, Ryan slipped an arm around her and kept his voice pitched low. “Sheikh Kamran asked me to be part of a task force to stem sex trafficking and organ harvesting.”
Her heart thudded in slow, painful beats. Although the few weeks had been a wonderful interlude, she’d been living in suspense and simultaneously looking forward to leaving Durabia. Now, Ryan was telling her something different.
“That sounds like staying here indefinitely,” she mumbled.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I was thinking about it, but if you don’t want to be here, I understand. In any case, I have to return home. Myles and I have a big project on the horizon, and we need to plan for the future if I’m going to be in Durabia.”
Aziza poked him in the chest. “You didn’t even know if you’d find me, so that that tells me you planned to be here for however long it took.”
“You got that right.” He slid one hand down to her waist. “But let’s talk about it before we say no. I believe you’d be a great asset in terms of sharing your experience with other women, letting them know there’s hope. In fact, we could even develop a self-defense course, teaching women how to protect themselves both physically and mentally.”
She rubbed her cheek against his jaw. “You’ve put some thought into it already, huh?”
Slowly, Ryan nodded. “It would be something new and different for me. Myles can easily handle my end of the business by hiring someone to fulfil my role for the jobs on the ground. You would be safe since we’d be working together most of the time, but I know you can take care of yourself. We’d only have to upgrade your self-defense and coaching skills.”
“Like I said, you have it all figured out.” The thought of her family made her sigh.
“What’s the problem?” he asked.
“My family. I need to see them. Skype and Zoom are not the same as person-to-person contact.”
“Agreed. When we leave here, we’ll go straight to Evanston so Miss Constance can see that I brought her baby girl home in all her perfection. And since I don’t want your father to send out a search party for me … ”
His hand climbed and settled under her breast, kneading with gentle pressure.
Aziza sent a pointed look at Sunita. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, Mr. Bostwick.”
“Awww, shucks.” He laughed, then spoke next to her ear. “Should we talk to her now? Tell her what’s up?”
With an affectionate gaze focused on Sunita, Aziza said, “I don’t see why not.”
She leaned away from Ryan, but joined her hand with his. “Sunita, honey, we want to talk with you for a minute.”
The child dragged her attention from the open book and edged sideways on the sofa to face them.
“Did you enjoy your time in the palace over the weekend?” Aziza asked.
Sunita squeezed the bear to her chest. “Yes, I like the children there.”
“And you like Durabia?”
That dampened Sunita’s mood, but she looked directly at Ryan, then answered, “Not El Zalaam.”
“We understand that, sweetie.”
Ryan’s leg tensed against hers. It was clear Sunita still thought all men were bad people. That was something they agreed to work on, along with planning for Sunita’s schooling.
“Do you know what adoption is?” Aziza asked.
“No.”
“It’s when a child gets to live with a mother and a father who takes care of them.”
Sunita considered that, throwing shy glances at them.
Squeezing Ryan’s hand, Aziza said, “Ryan and I want to do that for you, be your mother and father.”
When she didn’t respond, Aziza said, “Would you like that?”
The little girl stared at the blank television screen as if she were the only one in the room.
“Sunita?”
She still didn’t move.
Aziza rose and sat next to her, with an arm around her thin shoulders. “It’s okay if you want to think about it for a while.”
Sunita shook her head so violently a bloom fell from her hair. She’d been so ecstatic with having her hair braided for the wedding, one of the adults at the palace re-did it in the same style, complete with miniature roses. With tears streaming down her face, she leaned against Aziza.
Instead of soothing Sunita, Aziza’s comforting words had the opposite effect. She cried as if someone had died, but when Aziza attempted to move out of her hold, Sunita’s arms tightened around her. All Aziza could do was stroke her hair and allow her to empty herself.
Aziza sensed Ryan’s helplessness, but there was nothing he could do. Seconds later,
