Page 32 of Savage Protector

If only…

I draw in a breath and somehow rake together a sufficient dose of self-preservation to strengthen my resolve. “This is not our time. I’m sorry.” I take a step back. It’s all I can do not to throw caution and good sense to the winds right here and now as she stands before me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Please,” she whispers.

I shake my head before my tattered willpower shatters entirely.

“Please,” I say. The word emerges, broken. “Please, wait for me.”

I pause at the door.Grow up soon, may-ri-jaan.

My next stopis Ethan’s office. I find him seated on a sofa, hunched over his laptop, the ever-present mug of expensive coffee to hand.

He regards me under lowered brows. “Zee?”

“Boss. I need a word.”

He gestures me to sit down, so I settle into the sofa opposite him.

“It’s about Uncle Abdul,” I begin.

“What a surprise.” He leans back with a wry smile. “Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you were leaving him to me.”

“Not a chance! He’s mine.”

“Okay. So, what brings you here, then?”

“I need to let you know what I’m planning.”

“Do go on. Please.”

“Abdul’s a sanctimonious old prick.”

“I imagine so.”

“And he’s also a hypocrite.”

“That, too? What do you know about him?”

“He’s quick to lay down the moral law. The Sharia law.”

“Chopping off hands and suchlike? I can’t deny doing a spot of that myself on occasions.”

“This is different.”

“I daresay. But you didn’t disturb my peaceful afternoon of trying to balance my accounts to discuss moral philosophy.”

I lean forward, my elbows on my thighs. “No. I didn’t. He needs to be given a warning. A firm warning, to make sure he understands the consequences if he so much as thinks about Leila again.”

He closes the laptop and mirrors my pose. “I agree. What do you propose?”

“He has a fondness for working girls. Prostitutes.”

“Ah. Thank the dear Lord for hypocrisy. It pays my bills.”

I ignore the dry wit. “Three times a week, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, regular as clockwork, he’s at Pru’s.”

One dark eyebrow rises. “Well, that’s handy.”

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