Instantly all the foreign but good emotions evaporate, and ice pours through my veins. My head snaps up, my eyes widening on Nisa. “But I’ll get in trouble. I don’t think I’m strong enough to handle another beating. Please let me work.”
Nisa shakes her head before I’m yanked into a motherly hug. She brushes a hand over the braid I struggled to make. “Allah Allah. This is breaking my heart.” Pulling slightly away, she locks eyes with me. “You won’t be beaten or whipped here. This is a safe place, Lara Hanim.”
Not understanding, my eyebrows draw together. Needing to know so I can mentally prepare myself, I cautiously ask, “What kind of punishments do we get?”
Again she shakes her head. “There are no punishments here. Gabriel Bey isn’t a monster like that despicable man you worked for.”
That can’t be possible, can it? How does Gabriel control his employees, then?
“What if I break something, or I’m late?” I ask.
Nisa pats my arm. “We’re all human, Lara Hanim. We’re bound to break a plate or glass.”
Absolutely dumbfounded, I try to process everything. My world has totally done a one-eighty turn on me.
Nisa seems to understand my predicament because she says, “You’ll get used to our way of life, which is actually quite normal. It’s Mazur who’s the abnormal one.” She gives me a comforting smile. “Life is not meant to be lived in pain and misery, Lara Hanim. I’ll show you everything. Okay? Never worry about asking me anything. If you don’t understand, I’ll explain it until you do.”
Again my eyes begin to well with tears, and I swallow hard. “Thank you, Nisa Hanim.”
Gabriel might be responsible for my being shot, but because of it, I’ve been given this chance to work in a house where people care.
It might all be a farce to get me to let down my guard, but my gut instinct tells me that’s not the case.
My heart beats a little faster as excitement trickles into my chest.
Do I dare hope that a life without punishments exists? That there’s more to life than being on guard all the time and living in a bubble of loneliness?
Chapter 13
Gabriel
When I walk into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and find Nisa working alone, I ask, “Where’s Lara?”
The woman that’s like a second mother to me makes a disgruntled sound through her nose, then pins me with a scowl. “She’s resting. You do remember she was shot less than two weeks ago, right?”
How can I forget? I was the one who shot her.
Not answering, I open the fridge and take a bottle from it.
“Lara’s been through hell. Tymon Mazur is the scum of the Earth,” Nisa begins to rail, visibly upset.
Leaning back against a counter, I take a sip of the water, my eyes resting on Nisa. Once something’s upset her, all you can do is listen while she offloads whatever’s on her mind.
“I’ve never wished ill on anyone, but I hope you find that monster and make him pay.”
My eyebrow lifts. “You must like Lara a lot that you’re out for blood on her behalf.”
Nisa drops the rag she was using to wipe the counter, plants her fists on her sides, and locks eyes with me. “My heart bleeds for the poor young woman, Gabriel Bey. Watching her struggle isn’t easy. She keeps asking if she’ll get in trouble, and she’s terrified out of her mind that you’ll punish her.”
It probably didn’t help that I threatened her life.
“She’ll grow accustomed to how we do things here,” I murmur, already annoyed again even though Lara’s not in the kitchen. Just the mere mention of the woman is enough to make me feel frustrated. It’s really starting to bother me.
“Do you know,” Nisa moves closer, the expression on her face secretive as she glances around to make sure we’re alone, “Lara won’t even cry. She fights it so hard that it makes me want to cry on her behalf.”
Letting out a sigh, I set down the bottle on the counter and cross my arms over my chest. “Why does it feel like you want me to fix the problem?”
Nisa jabs a finger at me. “Because she’s terrified of you, Gabriel Bey. Just give Lara a kind word and set her mind at ease that you won’t beat her if she accidentally breaks a plate. It’s not right for someone to live in so much fear.”
The woman is becoming a bigger problem than I anticipated. She’s already wrapping Nisa around her little finger.
“I’ve given her a job, a bed to sleep in, and food to eat.” And I fucking spared her life. “I’ve done more than she deserves.”
Nisa starts blinking, her head snapping back as if I physically struck her. “Allah Allah! You almost had Lara Hanim killed. You practically kidnapped her and brought her here. Of course, it’s your responsibility to take care of her. Alya Hanim and I raised you better than this!”