Marriage Behind the Fa?ade Read Online Free PDF

slid into traffic. In front of them, a police car with whirling lights blazed a trail. The windows were tinted dark, but the light outside them was still so bright. It would be blinding, she realized, were she out in it. And hot, as he’d said.
    “I have a home in Port Jahfar. It is only a few minutes away, on the coast. You will like it.”
    Sydney leaned her head against the window. It was odd to be here, and exciting in a way she hadn’t anticipated. In the distance, stark sandstone mountains rose against the backdrop of the brilliant sky. Date palms dotted the landscape as they rode into the sprawling city. The buildings were a mix of modern concrete, glass and sandstone.
    She realized that the hills in the opposite direction weren’t actually hills, but sand dunes. Undulating red sand dunes. Along their base, a camel train trod single file toward the city. It was the most singularly foreign moment she’d ever experienced.
    The car soon left the stark landscape behind as they passed deeper into the city. Eventually they turned—and suddenly the sea was there, on her right. They rode a short distance along the coast, with the turquoise water sparkling like diamonds in the sun, and then they were turning into a gated complex.
    Malik helped her from the car and ushered her inside a courtyard cooled with tiny jets spraying mist that evaporated before it hit her skin. The air was thick, hot. It wasn’t unexpected, or even anything she’d never experienced before—and yet it was different in its own way.
    Or maybe she was just too tired.
    A woman in a cotton abaya appeared, bowing and speaking to Malik in Arabic. And then he was turning to her as the woman melted back into the shadows from whence she’d come.
    “Hala says that your room is prepared, habibti. You may sleep as long as you wish.”
    She’d expected that a servant would show her the way, but Malik took her elbow—no matter how lightly he touched her, she still burned—and guided her into a huge sunken living area and down a hallway that led to a small suite. The outer room had cushions arrayed around a central table, a rosewood desk in one corner and two low-slung couches that faced each other across a fluffy white goat-hair rug. The bedroom featured a tall bed covered in crisp white cotton linens that beckoned seductively.
    “I need my bags,” she said, realizing suddenly that she had nothing to change into. They’d left the airport without collecting her luggage.
    “They are on the way. In the meantime, you will find all you need in the bathing room.” He gestured to another door. Sydney walked into the spacious bath, marveling at the sunken tub, a shaft of sunlight coming from high up in the ceiling and illuminating the marble. The light picked out the red and gold veins of the stone, sparkled in the glass mosaic tiles surrounding the tub.
    “I trust it meets with your approval.”
    Sydney whirled, his voice startling her, though it shouldn’t have. She’d known he was behind her, watching her from the door.
    “It’s lovely,” she said, swallowing hard. Why did it feel so surreal to be here like this? She’d agreed to come, known it was necessary, and yet she felt off balance, out of her element in a way she hadn’t expected.
    And why not? This is Jahfar, not Paris, she told herself. Not Los Angeles.
    Malik crossed to her, cupped her face in his hands while her heart thundered in her ears.
    She meant to protest, she really did, but her voice froze in her throat.
    “There is nothing to fear, Sydney,” he said. “We will get through this.”
    When he lowered his head, her eyelids fluttered closed automatically. Because she was tired, of course. No other reason.
    He chuckled softly, his lips brushing her forehead while her pulse throbbed. The sound speared into her heart, reminded her of a different time when she still believed in a fairy tale ending with the handsome prince.
    “Don’t,” she choked out as his lips moved to her