As if on cue, there was a knock on Issam’s door. Bahir went immediately to answer it.
“I didn’t approve another meeting—” Issam started to say, but the door was already open, and in breezed his sister, Adira. She wore red, one of her favorite colors, and her entrance was a breath of fresh air.
Issam wasn’t in the mood for fresh air.
“Not now, Adira,” he snapped. “Apparently I’ve been scheduled for another meeting.”
She gave him a cheeky smile. “Wouldn’t you know it? The meeting is with me.”
He raised his eyebrows at Bahir, who shrugged.
“Yes,” Adira cut in. “He scheduled a meeting with me without your permission. It had to be done, Issam. Do you want any tea?”
She didn’t wait for Issam to answer, only gave Bahir a nod that sent him practically fleeing for the hallway. Adira closed the door behind him and came into Issam’s rooms, over to the little sitting area by the window. She let herself fall gracefully into one of the wing chairs there and beckoned for Issam to sit.
“Not a chance.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I have things to do. And this is an ambush.”
“This is an intervention,” she said with a smile that made him want to roll his eyes and smile back in equal measure. “Sit down.”
“I must—”
“You must sit down,” his younger sister said, an edge to her voice. “There’s nothing on your schedule for at least ninety minutes. Bahir made sure of it. And I want to talk to you.”
She was probably right, and Issam didn’t have it in him to argue. He sat on a loveseat across from her.
Adira studied him, her dark eyes serious. “What’s going on with you?”
“Same as always.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Managing the security of the nation as well as the individual security of—”
“Yes,” Adira said absently. “All of our individual security. It’s getting to be a bit much, Issam.”
“What do you mean?”
“The extra details. The…restrictions on our schedules.”
“They’re for your own good.”
“That may be.” Adira leaned forward. “But I don’t understand why that’s your focus.”
“Do you not understand that we’re on the very brink of war?”
“Of course I do.” She waved a hand in the air. “But this should be a secondary concern to you.”
“Secondary to what?”
“Begging Mackenzie for forgiveness.”
“Oh, please—”
“It’s true, and you know it.”
“I’ve been bending over backward to ensure that everyone—” Issam’s voice rose until Adira interrupted him again.
“You’ve locked us up!” Adira shouted. She took a moment to compose herself. “What did we ever do to deserve being locked down like this? You’ve made us prisoners in the name of safety.”
It was too much. The hurt and anger rose, choking him, and something inside of him snapped. He leaped up from the sofa. “You don’t understand the half of it.”
“What don’t I understand?”