Sweet Revenge by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

marry. Then I will have great-grandchildren.”
    “And you will give them chocolate and tell them stories.”
    “Yes.
Inshallah
.” She pressed a kiss to Adrianne’s hair. It was lightly scented and dark as night. “And I will love them as I love you.”
    Turning, Adrianne circled Jiddah’s neck with her arms. The fragrance of poppies and spice on her skin was as comforting as the press of her thin body. “I will always love you, Grandmother.”
    “Adrianne.
Yellah
.” Fahid tugged at her skirt. His mouth was already smeared from an earlier visit to his grandmother. The silk
throbe
his mother had had designed for him was streaked with dirt. “Come on,” he repeated in Arabic, tugging again.
    “Come where?” Because she was always ready to entertain him, Adrianne slid down and tickled his ribs.
    “I want the top.” He squealed and squirmed, then gave her a smacking kiss. “I want to see the top.”
    She pocketed another handful of chocolate before she let him drag her along. They were laughing as they raced down the corridors with Adrianne making exaggerated moans and pants as Fahid pulled on her hand. Her room was smaller than most of the others, one of the subtle insults dealt by her father. Its single window faced the very edge of the garden. Still, it was beautiful, decorated in the pink and white she had chosen herself. In one corner were shelves. On them were toys, many of which had been sent from America by a woman named Celeste, her mother’s best friend.
    The top had come years before. It was a simple toy, but very brightly colored. When the handle was pumped, it made a satisfying whirling sound as it spun fast, blurring the red and blue and green. It had quickly become Fahid’s favorite—such a favorite that Adrianne had recently taken it from the shelves and hidden it.
    “I want the top.”
    “I know. The last time you wanted it you bumped your head trying to climb up and get it when I wasn’t here.” And when the king had heard of it, Adrianne had been confined to her room for a week. “Close your eyes.”
    He grinned, and shook his head.
    Grinning right back at him, Adrianne bent down until they were nose to nose. “Close your eyes, my brother, or no top.” His eyes snapped shut. “If you are very good, I will let you keep it all day.” As she spoke she backed away from him, then she wiggled under the bed, where she kept the best of her treasures. Even as she reached for the top, Fahid wiggled under beside her. “Fahid!” With the exasperation mothers show to their favored children, she pinched his cheek. “You are very bad.”
    “I love Adrianne.”
    As always, her heart softened. She stroked his untidy hair back from his face and nuzzled his cheek. “I love Fahid. Even when he is bad.” She took the top and started back out, but his sharp eyes had landed on the Christmas ball.
    “Pretty.” Delighted, he grabbed it with hands that were sticky with candy. “Mine.”
    “It’s not yours.” She took his ankles to pull him out from under the bed. “And it’s a secret.” As they snuggled together on the rug, Adrianne put her hands on either side of Fahid’s and shook. The top was forgotten as they watched the snow fall. “It’s my most precious treasure.” She held it up so that the light shot through the glass. “A magic ball.”
    “Magic.” His mouth hung slack as Adrianne tilted it again. “Let me, let me!” Taking it from her, he scrambled to his feet. “Magic. I want to show Mother.”
    “No. Fahid, no.” Adrianne was up and after him as he raced to the door.
    Thrilled by the new game, he set his short, husky legs pumping. His laughter rang off the walls as he raced, brandishing the glass ball like a trophy. To keep the game alive, he swerved into the tunnel that connected the women’s quarters with the king’s apartments.
    Adrianne felt her first true concern then, and it made her hesitate. As a daughter of the house, the tunnel was forbidden to her. She