Worthy of Love (Arabian Knights #1)

Prologue - Nora

I have never believed in coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. Life pushes us, bends us, and sometimes breaks us. For me, life has tended to break more than I thought was possible.

Still, I hung on to hope. Believing that all my pain had a purpose. It was part of a path that would lead me to something better. I dreamed of bigger things, but after all the trauma, I never thought I could reach my dreams.

Sometimes, when I thought one more thing was added to my pile, weighing on me, I got little glimpses of salvation. It had to be a coincidence—right? Like when my college softball team got all new warm-up gear and clothes for the entire team, covered by some faceless benefactor.

Or right before graduation, when my remaining room and board balance had suddenly been paid off by an anonymous donor. Then I received full scholarships for my extended nursing programs after college, which I never even applied for, the kind that made no sense but changed everything. Giving me small glimpses of hope, keeping me going.

I told myself it was fate. That life had a way of balancing itself out, that maybe, just maybe, I deserved those moments of grace. Some light to the darkness I had suffered.

But deep down I think I always knew, it was never just luck or coincidence. Someone was watching over me. Protecting me. Providing for me. A silent force moving in the shadows, pulling strings I never saw, ensuring I had what I needed—before I even knew I needed it.

And all this time, I never realized it was him, Sayid Hassan. Sayid (pronounced Saw-YEED). A man that other men either respected or feared, was the man that wanted to show me unconditional love. I don't even know how to begin to thank him, for everything.