Susan Mallery - A Christmas Bride - Only Us - A Fool's Gold Holiday / The Sheik and the Christmas Bride

“Nothing,” As’ad said flatly, in a voice that warned her not to insult his people. “He has given them his honor. They would be protected. Anyone who attacked them would pay with his life.”

Okay, that made her feel better, but it wasn’t enough. “What about the fact that they won’t be educated? They won’t have a chance. Their mother was American.”

“Their father was born here, in El Deharia. He, too, was an orphan and Tahir’s village raised him. They honor his memory by taking in his three daughters.”

“To be servants.”

As’ad hesitated. “It is their likely fate.”

“Then he can’t have them.”

“The decision is not yours to make.”

“Then you make it,” she told him, wanting to give him a quick kick to the shins, as well. She loved El Deharia. The beautiful country took her breath away every time she went into the desert. She loved the people, the kindness, the impossible blue of the skies. But there was still an expectation that men knew better. “Do you have children, Prince As’ad?”

“No.”

“Sisters?”

“Five brothers.”

“If you had a sister, would you want her to be taken away and made a servant? Would you have wanted one of your brothers ripped from his family?”

“These are not your siblings,” he told her.

“I know. They’re more like my children. They’ve only been here a few months. Their mother died a year ago and their father brought them back here. When he was killed, they entered the orphanage. I’m the one who sat with them night after night as they sobbed out their pain. I’m the one who held them through the nightmares, who coaxed them to eat, who promised things would get better.”

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