Three Wishes Read Online Free PDF Page B

Outside, down on the ground, access denied by locked doors, the locals and David’s employees were milling with voluble curiosity. Cali tuned them out. Her interest was on the woman currently giving David’s bodyguard the evil eye.
    “Miriam Attar.”
    “One of David’s discarded lovers?” Cali bit into a sweet pastry. Honey oozed. She caught the drop and licked her finger.
    Andrew blinked. He looked away, down at the conflict on David’s doorstep. Angel and djinni powers meant they didn’t have to be physically on the spot to listen in.
    “Miriam is David’s saving grace.”
    Cali choked. “She looks like she wants to kill him.”
    “Or at least kick him in the shins.” Andrew was amused. “She knew David when they were kids.”
    “She’s who you were expecting.” Cali sipped her bitter coffee and watched him over the edge of the cup. He had woken her at six as promised, tapping on the bottle so it rattled her awake. The picnic basket and his smile had stolen away her righteous anger when she emerged to lodge a violent protest at his discourtesy.
    He wasn’t even in soldier’s uniform this morning. He wore the trim shirt and trousers of a weekend yachtsman.
    Cali wore her version of a corsair’s costume—a white billowing shirt above fitted black breeches and boots with a red sash at the waist. Heavy gold hoops hung at her ears and she merged her gold bangles into broad cuffs reminiscent of Roman ornaments.
    She’d dressed to kick ass.
    The problem was Andrew refused to fight. He beguiled her with simple pleasures. How long had it been since she’d shared a meal with anyone? Or looked up to find a man watching her with a smile lurking in his eyes?
    “Miriam has just discovered David paid for her education,” Andrew said.
    “Why would he do that?”
    “Nearly twenty years ago an earthquake flattened their town. Hundreds died, among them David’s parents, brother and sister. Miriam also lost her family. She didn’t know that immediately. She was trapped herself, caught in the collapse of a neighbor’s house. David ran home and found his family dead. He’d been playing football on open land and survived. He went into shock and walked the streets aimlessly.”
    “I am not going to feel sorry for him.”
    Andrew refused Cali’s challenge. “I’m telling you Miriam’s story. David found her and pulled her from the rubble. She was badly injured, a young girl of eleven. He carried her kilometers to the hospital and waited for news. He took his grief and his guilt that he hadn’t somehow saved his family and he focused all his energy on Miriam.”
    “So he became her hero?”
    “No. Miriam was grieving too much to notice all David did for her. He got her treatment and a hospital bed, and then he went back to her house and sifted through the rubble for papers. She had been friends with his sister and he knew that Miriam had an uncle in America. He got in contact with the man, who was Miriam’s closest relative. Unmarried and maybe uncaring, but he was now her passport out of the desperation and the poverty of being orphaned. David got Miriam to America and he paid for her education.”
    “How? How old was he?”
    “Seventeen,” Andrew said grimly. “Grieving and ruthless. The aftermath of disaster presents certain opportunities. David took them. Then he paid Miriam’s uncle to keep her and put her through a good school. When she wanted to study medicine, David paid for that too. Miriam never knew. She thought it was her uncle’s generosity. He was unmarried, without children. He died three weeks ago and she went through his papers. She discovered his arrangement with David. Then she looked him up on the ’net and found he traded in weapons and mercenaries. Blood money had put her through med school.”
    “She found herself beholden to David,” Cali said slowly. “An outrage to her pride and her feelings of decency.”
    “David owes Miriam more than she owes him. She’s the one soul he