I went straight to the garden and searched for Jeffrey, but I didn’t find him. It was possible he was in one of the rooms with the women. I needed to talk to him about Inaya working with us and ask him to provide her with everything she would need, including a place to live. That he should take on this task was appropriate since he was the most interested in her, at least he should be.

I remembered the moment when she told me she dreamed about having a job, a car, an apartment, and the freedom to go out on weekends. Those were simple things to some people, but almost impossible for her. I wanted to be the man who would help her achieve this and her other dreams. I wanted to have her in my bed, to possess her in all ways my mind allowed me to imagine, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the right. I didn’t want to betray my brother and I decided not to. What just happened between Inaya and me wouldn’t happen again.

“What happened upstairs, dude?” Joseph asked, coming closer to me as I walked in the garden. “I heard you and Tom argued over a girl.”

“It was just a misunderstanding. Where is Jeffrey?”

“Upstairs with the some of the girls. I swear his energy is endless.”

“How long has it been since he went upstairs?”

“Several hours.”

I decided I would wait to tell him what I wanted him to do until we got back to Seattle, since we’d meet on Sunday and I wanted Inaya out of that house as soon as possible. The men I allowed access wouldn’t stop frequenting the house in search of easy sex Even though I would tell them not to touch her, I wouldn’t matter. At some point, one of them would drink too much, Inaya would answer them with that sharp tongue and what happened with Tom would be repeated. Without someone to come to her rescue, it could turn out worse.

I poured myself a glass of chilled champagne and sat at one of the tables, enjoying the calming music, played at a very low volume, and still feeling Inaya with all of my being. The taste of her delicious mouth, the softness of her breasts under my tongue, the feminine sound of her moans, and the desire in her body and gaze. These vivid memories would keep me up at night, making me want to get closer to her again, making her mine and ending the agony of not having her.

There were few people in the garden, just the older men, whose sexual energy was shot. All the other men were still in the rooms. The girl who had thrown herself at me earlier in the night was with one of the company shareholders of the company. When she saw me, she circled back, trying to get my attention, but it was clear that I wasn’t interested, so she gave up and returned to the other man.

It didn’t take long for Jeffrey to show up, entirely disheveled, with the flushed face of a man who had just fucked his brains out. He came straight for me, obviously concerned. He moved fast, a little unsteady from too much alcohol.

“What happened, man? I heard you had a fight with Tom,” he croaked.

“Who told you that?”

“Everyone I ran across since I left the room.”

“It wasn’t a fight. He was attacking Inaya, trying to rape her and I made him stop.”

Jeffrey ran his hand over his short hair, messing it even more. He sat on the chair across the table, his shoulders sagging, and looking anguished, almost tearful. I hated it. It was the expression he got before talking about the subject I hated the most.

“Come on, dude. How can you risk that much? Don’t you know you shouldn’t expend the effort for a fight? Don’t you think about you? If you don’t, you should at least think about us. You’re the only family Erica and I have.”

I wanted to disappear just so I didn’t have to listen to it again. What the fuck!

“You should have called someone to get him off her, rather than risk your own health that way.”

“There was no time. Everyone was busy, including you, and you should have been taking care of her,” I returned.

“Promise me you won’t do that anymore, you won’t put yourself at risk. I don’t know what I’d do without you, bro.” Tears welled up in his eyes and I wished I could disappear. What the fuck!

“Ok, I won’t.” I lied. “I want to speak with you, but not about that.”

“What is more important than that?”

“We can’t let Inaya stay in this house,” I said flat out. “Today it was Tom, but tomorrow it could be any other guy and we won’t be here to help. Besides, these parties aren’t going to stop and it isn’t good for a pregnant woman to be up this late. If you really are interested in her, take care of it.”

“I am very interested,” Jeffrey said in a muted tone, “but she doesn’t appear to be interested in me at all.”

“She’s just moody because of the hormones; time is the best medicine.” I didn’t know what I was saying, I didn’t know squat about hormones. I just wanted them to be balanced when my time came.

“What do you suggest? I can’t take her to my apartment. I couldn’t control myself having Inaya there every day and she said she can’t have intercourse.”

I understood. I couldn’t control myself with her near me every day either.

“Find her a job in the company, rent her an apartment. She’ll take care of herself until she has her baby.”

He frowned, looking at me in surprise.

“Would you really accept her in the company?”

I understood his question. I’d never admit an employee who didn’t have experience, references or a specialization in the area in which she would work. Inaya didn’t have any of that, she was just a girl I knew little about, and she knew nothing of our world or business.

“And why not? She can serve coffee, there’s no need for experience.”

“But the other shareholders saw her, they know she’s virtually a whore. This won’t be good.”

His words irritated me. We really were very different.

“They can bail if they’re not happy, I’m the one who owns the company and I’m the one letting her work here. They don’t have a say in the matter.” I was gruff and Jeffrey shrank, as usual, when he heard that tone.

“Wait for her to wake up and solve this. I need to go now.”

“Ok, I’ll get everything in order.”

I didn’t really believe him, because I knew he was irresponsible, but I’d have to wait and see.

I left without saying any goodbyes and went back to Seattle in my limo.

The sun had gone down and it was drizzling when I woke up on Sunday, later than usual because I was exhausted from the late night. At the moment I opened my eyes, I saw Inaya’s face, beautiful and calm, filled with lust and I almost punched myself because I couldn’t stop thinking of the only woman I had to forget.

As soon as I got up, I automatically picked up my cellphone and called Jeffrey to inquire if he had arranged for the apartment as I asked him to do, but my brother had proven his irresponsibility. Instead of doing what he promised, he was still at the country house, completely drunk and hadn’t slept all night. He had invited new guests, people I didn’t know were among them. I just hoped it wasn’t the addicts he used to hang out with when he moved to Seattle, before kicking his cocaine habit. Only God knew what those vagabonds could do to the Moroccan girls, who were too submissive to complain about abuse.

According to him, Inaya didn’t leave her room that morning and I had a bad feeling before ending the call.

I wanted to go there immediately, to see what was happening and take Inaya away from them, but what would I do with her? I couldn’t bring her to my apartment. I was afraid I couldn’t let her go, and that would ruin my relationship with my brother. I knew him well enough to be sure of it, but I was starting to believe he didn’t deserve her. Still, I wouldn’t throw away what we had because of a girl. There were plenty of girls, but only one brother.

I called off all my meetings that day, except for lunch with a hot reporter who had tried to interview me for days, just because I wanted to see if she was as hot as her photos. Then I tried to find Inaya a place to live. I searched various real estate agencies on the internet, called some of them, visited some places, and finally found the perfect place; an apartment with two rooms in an unassuming building, two blocks away from the company. It was perfect for her. The rent was cheap and she could afford it herself as soon as she started working. Even better, it was close enough for her to walk to Harrington Company, since she couldn’t drive.

It wasn’t the most comfortable place, and the furniture was older, but it was cozy, clean and there was enough room for her and the baby. She could improve it with time.

I never really cared for details and I don’t know where it came from, but before I went to lunch, I called my secretary and asked her to buy a state-of-the-art computer, some clothes, including business attire and jeans of different styles, in Inaya’s size, and take them to the apartment.

I got to the restaurant downtown I booked for lunch with the reporter almost half an hour late, but she still gave me a broad smile when I arrived. She was indeed a beautiful woman, intelligent, confident and nice, and she had beautiful curves in which I would soon get lost, in my bed or hers. For now, I had to take care of another subject.

After lunch, which was a bit unpleasant because I had to field to a lot of questions for the newspaper where she worked, some too personal. I got her cellphone number at the end of the interview, promising I’d call her soon for a nonprofessional dinner and then went straight to the country house.

I wasn’t surprised to find a popular classic car parked in front of the house. I surmised it must belong to one of Jeffrey’s addict friends. Jeffrey’s car was parked there too, unmoved, in the same spot as yesterday.

As I approached the entrance, I heard screams and masculine voices from inside and hurried through the entrance when I was stopped in my tracks by the most bizarre situation. Three young men, two of them in their underwear and one wearing jeans. I recognized them as Jeffrey’s addict friends from a picture I saw on Facebook. They were in the center of the main hall, one of them holding a fire extinguisher, focused on the woman before them standing on the first step of the stairway, wearing a black tunic and a niqab. Although only the eyes were visible, I recognized Inaya. Her amber eyes were unmistakable.

Unbelievably, she held spray gun attached to a pressure tank of gas by a patched hose, and threatening to spray gas on the guys, obviously to set them on fire with the lighter she had on the other hand.

That wasn’t all. There were three simple homemade bombs, made with champagne bottles filled with gas and motor oil with a cork and a piece of fabric half in and out of the bottle. If she used them, she could start a fire… and, apparently, she had used one of them, because the place smelled like smoke and two walls were darkened by fire, the curtains were ruined by the flames they were used to extinguish.

“May I ask what the hell is happening here?” I demanded, a little shocked at the scene, and everyone spun to face me, previously unaware of my arrival.

“This terrorist is trying to kill us,” one of the guys answered.

“She almost started the whole house on fire and now she wants to set us on fire,” the other said.

I cautiously approached the girl. “What are you doing, Inaya?” I asked.

“Those bastards were hurting the other girls. They hadn’t slept since yesterday and were very tired of all these men. They didn’t have time to have lunch, but these pigs wouldn’t leave them alone, they wanted them to open their legs. They are not animals and shouldn’t be treated like that!”

“Where is Jeffrey?” I asked.

“He’s sleeping. He can sleep, but not the girls!”

“Inaya, you’d better let go of that spray gun.” She didn’t move, but cast a menacing look at the three boys who angrily watched her. “You can let go, they won’t hurt you.”

“They hurt my friends. I should set them on fire.”

“Don’t do that. You’ll regret it later.” I turned to them. “I want you out of here right now, and never come to this house again,” I ground out ominously.

“But we didn’t do anything. Jeffrey said those tramps are used to fucking everyone. We’re just enjoying.” one of them protested.

Although she was exaggerating, I had to admit Inaya was right. If the girls hadn’t slept since the party, they were exhausted and these morons still took advantage. They were cowards.

“I’m the owner of this house, not Jeffrey. He shouldn’t have invited you in the first place. Now leave, before I call the cops.”

They looked at each other in fear, and the one who held the extinguisher let it fall on the floor.

“We should have let the house burn when that crazy bitch threw the bomb on the wall,” he said.

“But you wanted to fuck, so you didn’t.” I completed. “Get out!”

“Our clothes are upstairs, in the bedrooms.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass. Leave without them. Don’t make me repeat myself. Just leave.”

In the end, they realized how serious I was. They looked angrily at Inaya once more and left the house. At that point Inaya dropped the spray gun and moved away from the Molotov cocktails.

“I need to take the gas back to Jeffrey’s car,” she said conversationally, as if she was talking about shopping and not almost setting the house and three people on fire.

“Do you have any idea of the gravity of what you did?” I asked, astonished. “You almost killed everyone in this house, including yourself.”

“Don’t overreact. I knew they would put out the fire and I wouldn’t throw gas on them, I just wanted to stop them from going upstairs and hurting the other girls.

“I know they were tired, but harem girls are used to it. That’s your job, isn’t it?”

She faced me in disbelief and fury. “We were never treated like that, like animals and if that will be repeated, you’d better return us.”

In this moment, Samir appeared behind the wall from the other room and knelt on the floor close to me, crawling and fawning.

“Please, sir, don’t return us. If you do that we’ll be punished, maybe even killed. I’ll punish Inaya for what she did, I’ll make her regret it. I assure you this won’t be repeated,” he begged.

“Get up, man,” I ordered. “I won’t return you and you don’t need to punish this mad woman. I’ll do that.”

“Allah bless you greatly for your mercy, sir,” he concluded, standing up.

“Ok, now take this gas away from here. Take it to wherever Inaya got it. After that’s done, tell the girls who didn’t have lunch to come downstairs and eat, if they will and then go rest in their bedrooms. “Yes, sir.” He bowed and scurried away with the gas.

I looked at Inaya and she turned her back, going to the back of the house while taking off the niqab and letting her black, thick hair fall over her shoulders.