The confidence, the certainty rolled off the man as he wove the tale. “We’d make fine, clever, enviable children together.” Aaron closed his eyes as if that could block the images that so easily came into his mind from Weiss’s words. “Given the chance, I could give her everything she could possibly dream of.”
“Well, good for both of you.” He kicked the ground once more and hugged his body tight.
“Right.” The other man shook his head almost in disgust, as if Aaron had somehow offended him by not bowing to his arrogant will.
Aaron blew out a sharp breath. “What do you want from me? You’ve already won. There’s nothing else I can offer you. Nothing else I can do to help you.”
“You could leave.” Weiss stuck his nose in the air a little.
“I am leaving.” Aaron ran a hand through his hair.
“I know. The Berabs gave you no choice. Or at least that’s what my information tells me.” He took another step forward, hands clenched in fists. “The trouble is, you’ve changed the game. You need to leave now. Miss the last festival.”
What? Who did he think he was? This was Aaron’s last and only chance to, well, be with the community. To say goodbye. To it. And her. And maybe, just maybe, Isabelle would look at him and . . . He shook his head.
Miracles didn’t happen. Isabelle wanted what she wanted. No matter how she felt about him.
It was as if the wind were knocked out of him once more. He ground his jaw and spun around to go and find some way to drown the swirl of pressure behind his eyes.
“Your presence is a threat.” The other man rushed over and scooted around him, blocking his path out of the alley. “Not to me, but to her.”
“I’d never hurt her.” Aaron slammed a hand on his thigh. Never. He’d rather be dashed against the stones headfirst.
“Then what are you doing?” Weiss leaned against the wall, a smug expression twisting his handsome mouth. “Think about it. Like I said, the cleverer part of the community knows what’s happening. If the Berab brothers wise up . . . do you not think that they wouldn’t use that information against her? They could make her do anything they wanted, marry who they want. Or steal the business. You know how the gentiles see our women. If they found out she shtupped a man she had no intention of marrying and didn’t marry, do you think they’d associate with her in any way?”
Aaron stumbled backward as if he’d been punched.
“You’re not the only one researching angles.” The other man raised his chin in pride. “I’m not a fool. I knew there had to be a reason the Lira family needed a groom so fast. I know about the Shavuos deadline.”
The world spun and Aaron began to shake.
“If you stay, it will happen. Mark my words. How can you not have predicted this? After they threatened you?” He shot to his feet and gave Aaron a glare of disgust before clenching his fists as if to calm himself. He shook his head. “Blast, Ellenberg, what were you thinking, practically serving them extortion material?”
His mind stuttered and spun. What had he been thinking? His shoulders slumped.
“We were careful,” he mumbled.
“You were outside.” Weiss near spit. “And even if, by some miracle, they haven’t been watching the house, the amount of time the two of you spent alone in the library . . .”
Aaron opened his mouth, stepping forward. “We were just talk—”
“You’re a terrible liar.” The other man cocked his head, a knowing smirk on his face.
Aaron turned to the wall and gave it a hard kick. “Shut your trap, Weiss.” Though he should probably take his own advice.
“You need to leave. Immediately. We protect our own, but the company at the festivals is mixed. All they need to do is catch you one time, with witnesses, and the entire gentile community will know. And she’ll pay for it. For the rest of her life.” Weiss wrinkled his nose. “For goodness’ sake, you’re a custodian. Think of her humiliation.” The other man moved closer again, his breath hot as he whispered the taunting words. He raised his fist as if he was ready to strike.
Mercy. Aaron widened his stance, readying his own hands, pushing Miriam’s scolding from his mind. He inhaled a deep breath through his nostrils. This was foolish, on both their parts, but apparently unavoidable and—dark fabric flapping in the wind brushed Aaron as a new party entered the fray, sliding between them like a ghost.
Back to him, the cloaked figure set upon Weiss. Isabelle’s soon-to-be husband stumbled on the same stone that had felled Aaron earlier, with similar results. A flash of silver glinted in the moonlight as a dagger rose into the air before plunging downward.
“No,” he cried, regaining his bearings and rushing forward. Weiss was an arse, as the gentiles said, but not evil. The stranger paused, dagger point at the other man’s throat.
Before he could think of a better plan, Aaron leaped on the man’s back, shoving him forward so they both flipped through the air, landing with two distinct thuds.
Groaning, Aaron stared up blearily at the dark sky as pain radiated through his body.
“Aaron,” Weiss breathed from the ground next to him. “Look out.”
