The Sinner's Bargain (Contracts & Deceptions #2) by Claire Contreras

up to look at her mother.
    “I’m so sorry, Mommy,” she said brokenly. Amara wished so much that she could trade places with the woman in front of her. No matter what Amara had done for her mother, Anna Maloof had sacrificed much, much more.
    Anna laughed lightly through her tears. “It’s not your fault any of this is happening, Mara.”
    “I know, I just wish I could take it away,” she said feeling deflated.
    “You being here makes it tolerable. I just wish you were smiling more often, so why don’t we change that?”
    She smiled and squeezed her hand. “I love you.”
    “And I love you, but I hate seeing these fake smiles. What’s going on with Colin? Is he still marrying that floozy?”
    Amara laughed loudly, loving that her positive, gentle mother was saying something negative about somebody for once. “Floozy?”
    Anna shrugged a bony shoulder. “Well, is he? Or have you convinced him otherwise?”
    She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “I would have to marry him. That’s what he said, anyway. He needs to get married. Even if he wasn’t set to marry her, I don’t think he trusts me enough to marry me, at this point.”
    Her mom’s eyes widened. “He said that?”
    She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. “He may as well.”
    “You haven’t told him why you went with Philip? The reason you stayed?”
    Amara shook her head as her eyes drifted to the floor.
    “You’re scared.”
    “You don’t think I should be?”
    She paused for a moment. “I think you should be terrified.”
    Her eyes flashed back to her mom’s face.
    “Sorry, my khorshid , I wish I could make this easier for you. Maybe telling Colin is your way of getting the upper hand.”
    Her eyes wandered the room as she thought about it. Philip would kill her, or maybe he would kill Colin. She wouldn’t put it past him to kill them both.
    “Mom, who does Philip work for?” There was a pregnant pause, and Amara braced herself for the answer.
    “A variety of people. His client list is a short but powerful one. I know for certain he aids the government, which is pretty ironic.”
    “Why? Because you don’t think he’s sneaky enough?”
    Her mom’s light brown eyes pinned her with a gaze that shook her. “No, because his biggest client is a terrorist.”
    Amara’s eyes widened at her words. “How do you know?”
    “Because he’s my father,” Anna whispered to her startled daughter. Anna knew the words would terrify her, but she needed Amara to understand the gravity of the situation they were in. Growing up, anything related to the sultan was kept buried under a thick rug of mystery. Her mother rarely spoke of him, and her uncle Vlady was the only one who kept in touch with the man. Any reference to her grandfather was never in lighthearted conversation, but never was it said that the sultan was a terrorist; never was it confirmed that he did anything to purposely harm anyone. Knowing she was in direct lineage with someone who wielded such power made a shiver rock through Amara. Her knowledge of terrorism began and ended on September 11, when one of her friend’s fathers died in the horrific attack.
    “That’s crazy,” she said after a long moment lost in thought. “Does he bomb people?”
    Anna’s lips twisted uneasily. “As far as I know, his reasons for killing have nothing to do with religious beliefs. I’m sure some of the people he employs follow that code, but the sultan—he follows his own. He’s very vindictive and purposeful. He preys on the weak and uses them as a means to a higher end.”
    “Like?” Amara prompted.
    Her mother shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know, Amara. I left that life a long time ago. I don’t keep up with his doings. Even when I lived there I didn’t really know what went on; he never spoke to me about anything, I was only one of the daughters his wives birthed, after all. The United States government, though —he has many ties with them.”
    “Philip