He smiled again. “I’ve decided that I’ve got more luck than anyone needs. Either that or I don’t need luck. Things are going well for me, Little Sister. I wrote you that I’d moved up in the organization. I’ve moved up again since then. But I’ve made some deals on my own, too. Complicated stuff, no need to go into the details. I try not to conflict with my duty to dear old Onassis—not too flagrantly, at least. But I don’t think I’ll need to be with him much longer.” He paused. “Remember what I told you, Amira? If you ever need my help, I’ll be there.”

Amira nodded. She knew Malik meant what he said, but what kind of help would she need, living as she did, having so little to do with the outside world? “And you, Brother, will you be choosing a wife soon, someone to help you with Laila?”

“Not likely,” Malik said ruefully. “When it’s time to send Salima home, I’ll hire the best nanny money can buy for my daughter. But as for me, well, there’s no one woman in my life just now. Many more than one, to put it another way.”

Amira averted her eyes. It was one thing to know that Malik had loved Laila in that intimate way; it was quite another to imagine her brother with legions of faceless foreign women.

“Don’t worry about me, Little Sister. Life is good in France. It’s not like here. Oh, people are much alike everywhere. All the same, it’s freer there. Easier. You don’t have to worry every time you turn around whether you’re com- mitting a sin in someone’s eyes.” His mouth took a bitter little twist. “I think I’ve seen real sin. You have, too. You were there.” A long pause. “It’s a different thing to be a woman in France. Girls there can go to university, become what- ever they want. Professors. Lawyers. Doctors. Maybe … maybe you should come over sometime. If you stay here … well, look at Mother’s life.”

Amira had thought about it, daydreamed about it in a what-if sort of way. But to actually leave al-Remal … her imagination had not yet made that leap.

O

Sleep was fitful as Amira awaited the sun. When, at last, it came, she dressed quickly and slipped out of the house. If her father knew what she was doing, he would be furious. But in her desolation, Amira didn’t weigh the risk. Everyone she cared for was gone, everyone except Malik, who would soon be leaving.

Wrapping her veil tightly around her, she walked the three miles to the mosque. Eyes cast downward, she searched.