Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Kia Abdullah
- Language: English
- Genre: Legal Thrillers
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 3.5 MB
- Price: Free
It was a strange thing to be jealous of your sister, yet perfectly natural at the
very same time. Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, weren’t women taught
to compete with one another; to observe, assess, rank and critique, which
made your sister your earliest rival?
Leila Syed pondered this as she watched her husband lean close to her
sister. Yasmin lit his cigarette and he took a drag with audible pleasure.
Paired at the foot of the garden, the two seemed remarkably intimate. It
coiled Leila’s jealousy just a little bit tighter. It was a good jealousy though;
a healthy jealousy. It reminded her of Will’s appeal: his easy, raffish
manner, his dark, contrarian humour and that magnetic confidence that only
occasionally tipped into pride.
She couldn’t blame him, really, for being drawn to her sister. Yasmin
had an arresting softness that men could not resist. It was there in the sway
of her long, dark hair and the lazy line of her Bambi eyes. Every part of her
seemed to curve and curl next to Leila’s hard edges: the strong line of her
jaw, the thin purse of her lips. She was well aware of their respective roles:
Yasmin the centre of gravity and Leila merely caught in the orbit.
She shifted in her seat, unsticking her thighs from the hard green plastic.
The air held a tropical damp that felt heavy on her skin. It was unusually
sultry for London; the hottest July on record. It gave the city a heady,
anarchic feel – all that flesh and temper simmering in crowded places.
Laughter rose in the air and Leila closed her eyes, basking in the sound.
What a surprising delight it was to hear her sister laugh. She wished she
could pause this moment and gather all its details: the press of heat on her
eyelids, the barely-there hint of wisteria, the bleed of a distant party close
enough to bring life to the night but not too close for comfort. She sensed
movement next to her and opened her eyes. Her brother-in-law, Andrew,
watched the pair at the foot of the garden, huddled together like truant
teens. He arched his brows at Leila and she returned a knowing smile. He
sat down next to her, the lip of his beer bottle balanced between two fingers.
They were quiet for a while.
‘It’s really helped her,’ he said. ‘Being here.’
‘I’m glad,’ said Leila with a cheerless smile.
‘I appreciate it, you know. Everything you do for her. For us.’
Leila motioned with her hand, wrist still perched on the armrest. ‘It’s
nothing.’
Andrew turned his gaze on her, his eyes dark and wistful. ‘It’s not
nothing.’
She half-shrugged. ‘She’s my sister.’
‘I know but still.’ He tipped his bottle towards her, raised in a silent
toast.
She clinked her glass against it and took a sip of the earthy red wine.
She gazed across the expanse of grass, blue-green in the falling dusk. She
watched Will brush something off Yasmin’s shoulder: a fly, a spider, some
unknown predator.
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