Muhammad smiled as best he could for a man who could barely recall his own name at the moment. “I’m rolling into the pool,” he warned her, panting, “So you might wish to back up a bit.”
She laughed as he did just that, his big body causing a decently sized splash.
* * * * *
Their bath had taken much longer than planned, but then he hadn’t expected his wife to want more sex. It was good he had paid the extradirhamfor the self-cleaning bathing pool. Even now as they sat at the table, naked and eating, he could hear the mechanism working overtime to make the basinhalalagain. He had a feeling he would finally get his money’s worth out of the self-cleaner. Viviana loved the water as much as she loved fucking him in it.
“Tell me your thoughts,” Muhammad said, stabbing his Fattoush salad with a fork.
Viviana swallowed the bite in her mouth. “Well for starters, you make this salad much better than whoever prepared this one. It’s still good, it’s just not great.”
Her compliment pleased him. He couldn’t help but crack a small smile. “Thank you, Skeikha al-Raqqah.”
She grinned. “No Sheikha Shithead?”
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
Her smile slowly faded. “It isn’t right, Muhammad.” At his inquiring expression she clarified, “They shouldn’t get away with what they’ve done. I might not have been best friends with my housemates and colleagues, but I knew them well enough to know they were good people, all of them performing their jobs out of patriotism. Patriotism I now question the validity of,” she muttered, “but patriotism nevertheless.” She shook her head slightly. “The American people deserve better than this—they deserve to know the truth.”
There wasn’t much he could say to that so he grunted his agreement. “The sad part is it’s what ninety-nine percent of the planet does,” he sighed. “Perform their duty out of loyalty, I mean.”
Now it was Viviana who grunted. “Hashtag Truth.” Her eyes narrowed. “I thought about uploading a video to YouTube and telling the world what was done to me and my colleagues, but it wouldn’t do any good. They’d just spin-doctor it and make me come across as the brainwashed wife of a terrorist.”
Muhammad stilled. He set down his fork as he remembered something.
“What?” Viviana asked. “What is it?”
He blinked. “I was in such a hurry to leave Syria that I forgot the video footage I left behind. Fuck!”
“Footage of whaaaa—oh dang… me masturbating?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “That too.” At her mortified expression, he added, “It’s hidden and will not be found unless I retrieve it myself.”
“Phew. That could have been embarrassing.”
“al-Baghdadi must know by now that I’m aware of what he did—and that I have taken my revenge. If that’s the case, the house we left has likely been burned to the ground. Then again, he was never the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Viviana filled their wine glasses. She handed him one. “Whatever footage you have hidden there isn’t worth a beheading.” Her expression grew contemplative. “What were you doing in Syria anyway? I mean, if you’re from the Emirates, why keep a palace in Damascus?”
“My father, the former sheikh of Raqqah, is from the Emirates. My mother is Syrian-born.” Muhammad shrugged. “He loved her dearly so he had a palace built there for her.”
“That’s sweet. No wonder she still mourns him.”
“I have to go back,” Muhammad said. “I need—we need—that footage.”
Her aqua eyes rounded. “No way! Like I said, whatever video you have there isn’t worth the possible consequence of attempting to retrieve it.”
“It has everything you need for a video that can’t be spin-doctored.”
“I don’t care! The answer is no!”
His eyebrows slowly drew together. “Is that a hint of caring I detect from my wife who only refers to me as her husband when forced?”
Viviana’s face flushed. “Yesss,” she hissed. “Yes it is!”
His expression softened. “I am a highly skilled warrior, Viviana. I will know if I need to retreat.”
She sighed. “I can already tell I won’t be able to talk you out of this.” She picked up a napkin and threw it at him. “You can’t just do things like this, everybody else’s feelings be damned!”
