Sheikh's Command by Sophia Lynn Page A

soul. “I love you. You don't have to say it just yet. I have full confidence that sometime soon, you will. Until then? I am prepared to wait. You are worth waiting for.”
    They went to sleep then, curled up into each other. In the early hours, when the dawn was beginning to come in the window, Olivia sat up to look at Makeen as he slept. When she reached down to trace his fine lips with her fingertips, he smiled a little in his sleep.
    I love you, she tried in her head. The words felt strange, but they sent a deep feeling of warmth through her. It was like nothing she had ever known. Her entire life had always been consumed with music. She had always known that the stage and the violin were what she was meant for. Now this changed it all.
    She still wanted to play. She still wanted to perform.
    It was terrifying to think that perhaps she wanted Makeen more.
    In the end, she wasn't sure there was a choice. She loved him, and she resolved to tell him the next day.
    Unfortunately, they were woken up by a phone call, and then, everything changed.
    ***
    Olivia was aware of a tension to the air as soon as she woke. Instinctively, she reached for Makeen, only to find that he was not sleeping next to her. She looked around in confusion, unsure what had awakened her. It was barely past dawn, the light pearly and gray as it came through the tall windows.
    Feeling strangely shaken, she pulled on a thin robe and ventured out into the living room. That was where she found Makeen sitting on the couch, his face in his hands and his phone dropped carelessly on the coffee table in front of him.
    “Makeen?” she asked, her voice soft and frightened.
    When he looked up at her, his face was stone. She hadn't seen him look at her like that since the very early days of their acquaintance, and Olivia felt a thrill of fear run through her.
    “I received a call from my investigators,” he said, his voice flat as a board. “Your brother has been picked up again.”
    For a moment, Olivia didn't understand what he was saying. The words simply didn't make sense. She couldn't understand them.
    “You must be wrong,” she said immediately. “You have to be. David wouldn't …”
    “They caught him trying to steal a car,” Makeen said flatly. “He was in the driver's seat trying to hot wire it, and that was how they caught him.”
    Olivia shook her head, not wanting to believe it. When Makeen started to speak again, she covered her ears, shaking her head. She gasped when he stepped up to her, pulling her hands from her ears with an inexorable strength.
    “Olivia, you need to hear this. One of the investigators who brought him in the first time caught wind of this. He is demanding that justice be done. He is petitioning me directly for permission to throw the book at your brother. That would mean six to ten years in jail at least …”
    “No!” Olivia shouted, her eyes filling up with tears. She looked up at Makeen imploringly. “No, please. You promised. You said he would be safe! That he wouldn't be sent to prison …”
    Makeen's face was stone. She could find no trace of the man who had loved her so well the night before.
    “I forgave him for his first crimes against my country and my countrymen,” he said, his voice harsh. “I cannot do so again. Forgive me, Olivia.”
    “No, no, I refuse to accept that,” she cried. “Makeen, please. I am begging you. This is my brother. This is the man who protected me and defended me when I was growing up.”
    “When the police tried to apprehend him, he pulled out a gun,” Makeen retorted. “He is not some innocent boy who was caught up in a terrible thing, Olivia. He is a criminal who has preyed on the good will of everyone around him. For heaven's sake, open your eyes.”
    “You can't let this happen,” she said, shaking his head. “You can't. You have the power to stop this, so please, stop this, Makeen, I lo—”
    The words trembled on her lips, but before they could come out, he