Chapter Nine
Jillian lay awake for a long while, staring up at the ceiling. Yes, the storm had proved itself to be both ear-splitting and long-lasting, and yet she knew that wasn’t the real reason why she was so wakeful. No matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to keep Aldair al-Ankara out of her thoughts.
In just about every way, he was the exact opposite of Jack. Her late husband had been kind, thoughtful, the sort of person who didn’t think twice about offering to help a friend move, or to stay extra late after school to give one of his students some unofficial tutoring. Friendly, too, able to strike up conversations with just about everyone he met. Even the frostiest of strangers generally succumbed to his charm, but there had never been anything of a player about Jack. He just genu
