Behind the much smaller figure stood Jafar, as his odd, almost translucent pale green eyes watched her with knowing, mocking amusement.
Antagonism rose within her at the first sight of him and it was all she could do to keep her lips clamped closed.
“Such a look of anger.” He grinned at her, a brow arching in a move of such arrogance that for a second, he reminded her of Abram.
“Stop trying to make her angry, brother,” the feminine voice chided him with surprising tartness.
Paige’s gaze jerked back to the shrouded figure and struggled to peer behind the mesh eye covering.
“Chalah?” she whispered uncertainly, hopefully, though suspicion was blooming inside her.
“I told you she would remember me.” Soft laughter spilled from behind the dark covering. “Let me in, Paige, so I can get rid of my hulking brother, if you don’t mind.”
Paige’s eyes flicked to Jafar once again. How cruel of him to bring the sister who had once been her friend to betray her.
She eased back slowly, allowing the door to open as she kept a wary eye on Jafar. She trusted him even less now. It was incredibly obvious he was attempting to use the sister he had once seemed to adore.
The lies of the past were piling up on his head, and she hoped the weight of them buried him. Quickly.
“It’s about time.” Chalah all but bounced into te room as Paige closed the door in Jafar’s laughing face.
“I thought you were still in college,” Paige stated as she locked the door, her brows lifting as the burqa came off.
This was Chalah. White sneakers, her long legs just dark enough to give her a perpetually tanned look. Cutoff shorts and a snug camisole that shaped her full br**sts and emphasized her tiny waist.
“All about covering yourself today, aren’t you there, Chalah?” she drawled.
Chalah rolled her eyes. “I hear the Matawa deserted this damned place about the same time the money left,” she snorted.
The Matawa, or religious police were the terror of any woman unlucky enough to draw their notice.
“How in the hell did you manage to get your ass in this situation?” Chalah propped her hands on her h*ps as she glared back at Paige.
Long black hair was confined in a thick heavy braid. Exotic, honey brown eyes, thickly lashed, were sparkling as her lips pursed in irritation.
“An argument with Khalid.” Paige admitted a truth she hadn’t even told Abram.
“It figures it was that oaf’s fault,” Chalah retorted as she crossed her arms over her br**sts and tilted her head curiously. “Let me guess, he didn’t handle catching you in that tight, hot embrace with Abram very well? Did he scream incest?” She waggled her brows suggestively.
Paige stared back at her in surprise as she drew the scarf from her head and draped it over the back of the couch.
“How did you know about that?” she asked suspiciously.
She knew neither Khalid nor Marty would have told of the incident. To do so would have endangered Abram and further threatened Paige.
Chalah turned, glancing around the room before casting Paige an impish look from the corner of her eye.
“Where’s Abram?” she asked.
Paige shrugged. “He was gone when I awoke this morning. Now, tell me how you knew about Abram being at Khalid’s that night.”
Chalah shot her a dark look as she paced around the room as though looking for something. When she made her way back to Paige she shook her head, her expression pensive.
“Because Khalid either has one of Azir or Jafar’s spies, or a very gossipy employee on his payroll.” Chalah kept her voice low. “nd if you dare let anyone know I told you that, even Abram, then I may not survive long enough to return to the U.S. and finish my degree.”
Paige closed her eyes for a second before turning, her hand moving to rub at the side of her head wearily. Her temple throbbed with stress.
“Is it Abdul?” she asked as she turnd back, knowing it would break Khalid and Mary’s heart if it were the manservant betraying him.