Duplus (Ongoing editing)

08

—She—

In the end, there I was with arms folded and walking through the hallways again.

"He is so going to pay for this," I muttered angrily, as Usama led me to my room, his pace slow for me to stay in step with him. I could practically see him smiling in amusement as I grumbled more not-so-decent words about the annoying Broad Shoulders.

"It seems Sir Jaber was correct about you, Miss Sohail." his voice snapped me out of my mumbling and I looked up to see him peeking over his shoulder in my direction. I raised an eyebrow in confusion but a bit curious.

Broad Shoulders had been talking about me? That couldn't be anything good.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

His smile only broadened, eyes showing a hint of amusement and secret. "Only that you're one of the fieriest girls he's met."

I blinked. "I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult."

I didn't trust Broad Shoulders to praise me so it was definitely the latter. But Usama only chuckled in response as if my answer was one he expected.

"Oh, he wasn't too happy about it, I can say that for sure. But I think you're not the kind of person who cares about what he thinks." his smile was downright attractive, subtle dimples forming on his cheek with light brown eyes nearly sparkling. There was just so much positive energy this man was bombing my way. And not to mention that his smooth voice had me feeling slightly fidgety.

I quickly lowered my gaze, reprimanding myself.

Haram!

But his words weren't wrong. I didn't particularly care what Jaber thought of me, as long as I stopped him from doing what he intended to. My anger returned as I remembered his conversation with the Kazefandrian official.

I scoffed, tilting my head to the side in disapproval. "He's too arrogant and stuck up. It's hard to understand how you people put up with him. Besides, I don't trust him at all."

Instead of being surprised or wondering what Jaber had done, Usama didn't seem to react. As if he already knew the whole problem. "He can be pretty exhausting," he admitted, stopping right outside the door of my temporary room. "But he means well."

I didn't believe that for a second either. Not after hearing and seeing it with my own eyes. "You don't understand," my tone was accusatory. "He's been doing something behind your backs! It's the reason he wants me to stay locked up in this stupid room. To silence me for good before he can torture me."

"Is that so?" he casually asked, pushing his hands into the pockets of his grey-blue trousers. "What have you discovered about him, Miss Sohail?"

I hesitated.

Sure, I had threatened to spill everything about Jaber to his employees but when it came down to it, I also remembered his dangerous threat to imprison me. I gulped at the thought but quickly shook it off.

No! I had to stop him.

With a surge of confidence, I looked up with determined eyes and straightened myself. "He's been having secret meetings with a Kazefandrian official and selling Nuristani laborers to him!" I blurted out.