Veiled by Choice (Radical Book 3)
Page 23
Jessica smiled, the expression lighting up their house’s front yard. “Which one?”
“This one.” He felt his ears heat as he took a few steps back and pulled open the house’s door. “You don’t have to like it. The real estate agent said the market’s super hot and I could sell it back in a day.” Plus closing costs, of course. He really shouldn’t have bought a house without asking her.
Moving past him, she ran her gaze over the wood floors and classic lines of the bungalow. She drew in a quick breath and twisted to him as a smile spread across her face. “I love it.”
An almost heavenly aura surrounded her as she walked to the back of the house and pressed her hand against the bay window that looked out over the fenced yard. Past the fence, one could see down the hill over to the next street and the next one after that.
A white church sat at the end of the street, its wooden cross projecting up above its little steeple. Jessica twisted toward him. “Will you check out the church with me? I’ve been going to chapel, you know, at my college.”
Kaleb swallowed hard as he looked at the cross, the symbol of all the oppression his people had endured from Christians for thousands of years. His aunt still told the story of how, when she’d been in elementary school, some Catholic bullies had yelled ‘Christ-Killer. Christ-Killer’ at her. “I do want something. I’ve been studying different religions these last two years, you know.”
“And?” Jessica raised her gaze, her eyelashes so dark against her light eyebrows.
“I went and dug up my most religious uncle a year ago, asked him to give me a good book recommendation on the Laws and the Prophets. He never did though.” Kaleb released a sigh. He’d been so hopeful about that conversation, thought he could find in Judaism what he’d been missing in his life. “I don’t think my uncle really believes the Tanakh, much less anyone else in my family.”
“It’s been too many millennia waiting for a Messiah who doesn’t come?” A warmth shone from Jessica’s face as she spoke. She had so much kindness in her soul.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“What if Jesus is the Messiah the Jewish people have been waiting for all these years?”
What if Jesus was? It’s not like he had any other religion that he could turn to. “Okay, I’ll go to the church with you on Sunday.” Kaleb cracked a grin. “After all, it can’t be worse than mandatory prayers in ISIS-controlled Mosul.”
“Thanks.” Jessica slid her hand into his and pressed close to his shoulder as they looked out into the house’s backyard together.
A broken-down play set stood underneath a cottonwood tree, its plastic slide cracked by age. He smiled at her. “I’ll fix that for the baby I’m sure you want by next year. I’ve made my peace with having kids.”
She opened her mouth.
He raised his hand, stopping her before this train of thought went any further. “Not a dozen. Maybe two. Or three if we’re feeling particularly insane.”
“No.” Jessica shook her head, swaying her braid against his arm. “My counselor said couples should wait a year or two after marriage to get pregnant, solidify their relationship.”
That worked too. He looked at her as the setting sun reflected off her face. Her braid fell down past her delicate shoulders to her beautifully curved waist.
Her jeans hugged her skin, revealing every curve. She twisted, tugging her shirt against other curves as she reached into her back pocket. As she extracted her phone, the jean fabric stretched tighter still.
“Look at her.” Jessica held up her Android. “Doesn’t she look lonely?” His wife pointed to an image to dispel every sexy thought he’d ever had about Jessica. “Can we adopt a Middle Eastern child orphaned by ISIS?” So much compassion shone in Jessica’s eyes.
Kaleb groaned. “Most Islamic nations don’t allow adoption, something about it being against the Koran. Also, I just barely decided I was mature enough to raise a newborn.”
“You’ll be an amazing father.” Throwing her arms around his neck, Jessica stretched up and kissed him. Her lips tasted other-worldly.
He wrapped both hands around her waist and started to return the kiss with two years’ worth of interest.
A smile on her lips, Jessica looked adoringly into his eyes. “Now you tell me.”
“That you’ll be a wonderful mother? I thought that went without saying. Anyone would know that who saw you babysitting the neighbors’ kids.” In his apartment, multiple times a week, not for pay, just to be nice. Every single glass dish in his apartment had broken in the last two years thanks to those neighbor kids she’d invited into his home.
“No, that I’m your wife, and you love me, and you’re never going to leave me.” A sigh passed through her lips as she looked up into his eyes. Tears welled beneath her lower eyelids, pooling in her deep green eyes.
He crushed her into his embrace as he spoke into her ear, voice too intense to rise above a whisper. “I love you, Jessica, and I’ll be the man for you that your dad never was, and your stepdad never was, and your ex never was.”
The tears spilled from Jessica’s eyes and ran down her cheeks, but she smiled now.
Reaching out, he slid his finger over her teardrops, wiping them away. “You’re the only woman for me for as long as we both shall live.”
Radical Trilogy
Book 1: Veiled by Privilege
CIA field officer Joe Csontos is desperate to discover Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula’s next target before thousands of Americans die.
Atheist grad student in Middle Eastern studies, Kay Bianchi needs a dissertation project riveting enough to pass muster with her capricious professor. When Kay illegally travels to Saudi Arabia under a false identity, she has no idea the passport holder is betrothed to a high-profile terrorist, or that the passport holder’s male relative intends to marry Kay off in seven days.
The moment Joe meets Kay he is attracted to her, but she's some tree-hugging liberal who doesn’t even believe in the Second Amendment. When the terrorists jeopardize both their lives, they have to work together.
Will Joe and Kay stop the terrorists in time? Can Kay’s love of Islamic culture survive an encounter with Al Qaeda, and if it does, can a leftist and a right-winger fall in love?
Book 2: Veiled by Coercion
Rosna longs for a strong husband and many children, but when ISIS overtakes her Iraqi village, they enslave Rosna. One day blurs into another for Rosna under her captor’s harrowing oppression. Even if she can escape, she’ll forever be a scarlet woman in Iraq.
Ali’s an Iraqi smuggler who’s been paid to free Rosna. He loads up his machine gun for a swift money-making venture, but nothing goes according to plan. Soon ISIS guns are aimed at Ali too. No amount of smuggling money is worth risking certain death, but will Ali find a higher reason than wealth to try to save Rosna? Or will the plague of ISIS consume Rosna and Ali along with their homeland
Book 3: Veiled by Choice
Glossary
Abaya—a robe-like black covering for women
Bismillah—in the name of Allah
Biryani—a spicy rice dish
Caliphate—a religious government under the leadership of an Islamic leader.
Die in your rage—a saying taking from a Koran verse that is heavily used by terrorist groups
Emir—a high up leader
Fatwa—a legal opinion created by an Islamic religious leader about what Allah allows or forbids. Fatwas may often directly contradict each other because they reflect the opinion of one religious leader. Roughly equivalent to the rulings that different American Christian denominations make about drinking, dancing, morality and other things. Only there is much more separation between church and state in Christianity so a Christian denomination most likely would not make a ruling that they expected to become the law of the land.
FOB—Forward Operating Base
Gravid—medical term for pregnant
Great Satan—a terrorist term for America
&nb
sp; Halal—allowed, it is an Islamic term for things that are permissible to do under Islam. Of course, every school of Islamic thought has a different opinion on what is “halal.”
Haram—forbidden, it is an Islamic term for things that are not permissible to do under Islam. Of course, every school of Islamic thought has a different opinion on what is “haram.”
Hijab—a veil that covers a woman’s neck, ears, and hair, but reveals her face.
Imam—roughly the equivalent of a pastor in Islam
In theater—a military term for a geographic area where military operations are going on
Jannah—the Islamic heaven or paradise
Mahram—a woman’s male relative. In many countries, a woman’s male relative often wields substantial legal power over even adult women.
Mujahideen—a terrorist, but ISIS uses the word in a positive sense to refer to the members of their death cult as “holy warriors.”
Niqab—a veil that only reveals a woman’s eyes
Sabaya—the ISIS term for the women they capture and use as sex slaves. Singular sabiyya, plural sabaya, but the plural form is used throughout for the sake of simplicity.
Sharia Law—the idea of creating a complete system of government from the Koran, a theocracy. Of course, depending on one’s interpretation of the Koran actual Sharia Law could differ greatly.
Shemagh—a scarf popular in the Middle East and often adopted by U.S. soldiers to keep out dust
Shwarma—a chicken dish
Sura—a section of the Koran roughly equivalent to a chapter in the Bible
TPN—total parenteral nutrition, basically feeding a person nutrients through an IV
Dedication
To my friend Aley. Your enthusiasm for this series inspired me to keep writing.
About the Author
Anne Garboczi Evans writes intellectual romances set in unique locales and eras.
Other Books By Anne Garboczi Evans
Love & Warfare Series
Book 1: For Life or Until
Book 2: When Gambling
Book 3: To Deceive an Empire
Book 4: Without Love
Children’s Books
Book 1: What’s a Foster Family?
Book 2: What’s a Forever Family?