A Price Above Rubies

Chapter Twenty Four

He manages to shake her with impressive strength considering he only has one arm free. Hilal's head bounces back and forth and pain shoots through her mouth as she bites her tongue. 

"What are you doing here? What the fuck are you doing here?" Leon demands, his voice low. He ignores her whimper of pain as she tries to clamp a hand over mouth. 

She can taste blood in her mouth. They have only seconds before the guard that brought him from the work site comes back into the room. Hilal squeezes her eyes shut to try and push past the pain in her mouth so the guard won't notice and make Leon pay for hurting her. 

They can't talk anymore while the guard is present but Leon is glaring at her as she sets his shoulder and wraps his arm in a sling. 

Oh yes, she knew he'd be angry but that's secondary to saving him and she glares right back. 

The pain in Leon's shoulder is secondary to the pure rage that's coursing through him. He wishes he was the kind of man who beat his wife because God help him, he wants to beat her now. He holds on to the rage, lets it comfort him because if he lets the go of it, the panic will swamp him and he'll be useless and get her killed, get all of them killed. 

"How long until he can work again?" the guard asks. 

Hilal debates lying. On the one hand, keeping him here will keep him in front of her every day. On the other, letting him work on the other prison camp will let him have fresh air and exercise and keep him strong. 

"A few weeks. Then he should be alright as long as he only does light work." 

She feels Leon's angry eyes on her the whole time as the guard locks him back up by the ankles and his uninjured arm. Because of the dirty floor she is able to talk the colonel into letting her change Leon's bandages everyday giving them tiny snippets of time to be alone. 

If anything Ali Kemal looks just as furious to see her there but she can't say anything personal to him as she only sees him in the common area at night when he and the other prisoners are brought back from the work site. 

"The reason the colonel looks so familiar is because he's Stavros's uncle," Leon explains one morning. They have to keep their voices to barely above a whisper and it reminds Leon of the intimacy of their bedroom, keeping their voices low so as not to wake the children and maybe squeeze out a morning bout of love making. Hilal has a fondness for making love in the mornings and he finds it particularly enjoyable to take her right in that blurry moment between her sleep and wakefulness. 

He feels himself becoming aroused despite his fury at her...hell, maybe even because of it. They're no strangers to letting passion get the better of them in the middle of a fight. Hell, their entire courtship was based in their fights before they realized they loved each other. "Do you understand? Stavros. You have to get the hell out of here!" Leon says through clenched teeth. 

Unease knots inside of her. They can't speak anymore or they'll arouse suspicion but she feels him watch her for the rest of the day. 

"I have to go alone tomorrow," Vecihi insists as they drive back to the apartment building they have rented rooms in because staying at the hotel would arouse suspicion now that Vecihi and Hilal are working at the prison. 

Yildiz and Yakup have apartments on another floor. Separate apartments in case they are being watched by anyone who would tell Maxim Otrav who Yildiz is still flirting with and thanks to Hilal's drugs, still not sleeping with which only eases Yakup's mind a little. 

"No!" Hilal protests. Now that she's seen Leon and her brother she can't bear not being able to be with them even if they're time together only amounts to a few seconds at a time. 

"Leon told you the colonel who runs the prison is uncle of the man your mother killed! He's looking for Leon Papadopoulos because he thinks Cevdet killed his nephew and Leon is married to his daughter, but if he finds out he's caught an even bigger prize, that daughter herself-"

"It'll raise too much suspicion to pull her out now," Yakup says when Vecihi and Hilal meet in his apartment with Yildiz. 

"We can say she had to visit a sick relative," Yildiz offers, squeezing Hilal's hand. "Please, my sister… please. It's so much more dangerous now." 

Hilal shakes her head. "We're so close. So close to being able to get them all out. We can't risk the slightest doubt entering his mind. Once we can get everything we need to Colonel Dario so he can go to the government with proof of what the GSD is actually allowing to happen, once we can get them to dismantle the GJD altogether we can all safely go home." 

Yakup and Vecihi go out onto the balcony to smoke. 

"Hilal, you won't be able to stay on as the nurse at that prison for much longer and you know it," Yildiz warns and the knowing glance at Hilal's stomach makes Hilal's heart skip in panic. 

She says nothing at first.

"How far along are you?" Yildiz presses. 

"Shut up, Yildiz," Hilal snaps with a warning look towards the balcony. 

"Almost two months would be my guess. You're going to start showing soon. Then what?"

"We'll get them out before then so it won't be a problem," Hilal shoots back, willing her words to come true. 

"Good God, Hilal…" Yildiz shakes her head. 

"That nurse of yours, she's quite pretty," the colonel says to Vecihi as Hilal kneels next to Leon, helping him eat. 

Leon's eyes meet hers and she sees the flash of rage there before he chokes on the boiled water and salt that's supposed to pass for soup.

She says nothing, just wipes his chin, covered in a dark beard now as they hear the conversation behind them. 

"Ah, she is," Vecihi says. 

"Are the two of you together?"

"Well, there are no rings on anyone's fingers if that's what you mean." 

"So you wouldn't mind if I sampled her delights, of course?"

Leon meets Hilal's gaze and he's practically vibrating with rage. She pleads silently with him. Don't. Don't do anything, please. 

"She is quite delightful," Vecihi says. 

She knows it's safer for him to go along for now but she wishes he would shut up before Leon tries to break his bonds and kill them both.

Ali Kemal is glaring at both men as they stand against the wall chatting as if they were just hanging out in a bar. 

Hilal makes her way over to her brother and cups his chin, covered in a similar beard to her husband, under the guise of checking his eyes and pins him with a warning look. 

"Nurse Helen," the colonel calls to her, making her jump, startled. 

"You're done for the day. The doctor will take you home where you will change and allow me to take you to dinner tonight?" His tone suggests a question, an invitation she could decline if she wishes, but Hilal knows better. 

His eyes are cold and determined. Refusal is not an option. Hilal smiles at him. 

"It would be my pleasure, Colonel." 

Behind her, she hears a growl, she guesses from Leon but it could be from her brother. She doesn't turn around to check.