Chapter 13
ISAAC
There was a private jet waiting for me at the airstrip, which was ridiculous. While I’d flown private with one of the Westwoods a time or two, my usual means of air travel was either economy or business class, and even the latter was rare.
I hiked my laptop bag higher on my shoulder as I ascended the stairs, genuinely stoked about getting to fly in the equivalent of a five-star hotel suite.
My late teens and college years might’ve been an endless struggle just trying to get by, but it looked like things were really turning around for the Thayer family.
There were cashmere blankets draped over reclining leather seats. Polished walnut tables. The legroom was insane and the coffee smelled expensive. Honestly, I could get used to this. Fast.
Especially when a flight attendant offered me a crystal tumbler as I settled into one of the oversized seats. I took it from her, glancing down to see two fingers of what was almost certainly the unaffordable scotch Basel seemed to keep stocked everywhere he went.
“Thank you.” I sent her a polite smile, doing my best to pretend that none of this was new to me, but seriously, I’d spent my early adult years surviving on ramen noodles, secondhand furniture, and elevating budgeting to an art form.
There was definitely something about sinking into a leather chair while drinking exceptionally expensive booze that made me feel like all my hard work had finally paid off. As I took a sip, I heard movement at the front of the plane, and when I looked up, Basel walked in.
“Isaac,” he said cheerfully, glancing at the glass in my hand. “Ah. I see our staff has been taking care of you.”
“They’ve been amazing.”
“I expect nothing less.” He smiled and lowered himself into the seat across from my mine, sliding a leather portfolio from underneath one arm. “I have the mock-ups of the design plans you’ve been working on with Joseph, and I have to say, I’m impressed.”
Relief trickled through me. Joseph was one of Basel’s lead architects and he and I had been working tirelessly on drafting plans for the Sharm El-Sheikh industrial complex. Today, hopefully, Basel would sign off on them and I could spend my time in the city refining rather than redesigning.
The same flight attendant appeared before he’d even buckled up, handing over another glass of scotch. “Mr. Saad.”
“Thank you, Vicky,” he said warmly, settling in before lifting those dark eyes back to mine and reaching for the portfolio. “You have done a wonderful job?—”
“I hope you didn’t start without me,” a feminine voice chimed from the front of the aisle.
When I looked up again, Jasmine had appeared.
I blinked hard, surprised she’d be flying out with us.
For some reason, I’d assumed she’d travel separately.
Basel, I’d been expecting. We had those mock-ups to discuss, but not Jasmine.
And the sight of her in white linen slacks and a fitted, pale pink T-shirt made me want to think about anything but work.
Her father, however, must’ve known she’d be catching a ride because he barely even glanced at her before he chuckled. “We wouldn’t dare, darling. Come. Sit. We have some business to finalize, but at least that gives you some time to relax before your duties as a tour guide commence.”
“Great. I could use a nap.” She dropped gracefully into the seat across the aisle from us and smiled at me, her gaze drifting down to the bandage on my forearm. “I see you survived the snake bite.”
I grinned. “It finally stopped stinging and the bite itself seems to be healing well, so I think it’s safe to assume I’ll be around to annoy you for a little while longer.”
“Pity,” she said, but she was still smiling as she settled back in her chair. “I’ll try to find a slightly more venomous one in the future.”
Basel glanced between us with a frown suddenly furrowing his brow. “What snake bite? What happened?”
“Oh, nothing,” Jasmine said, immediately turning to face him. “Isaac simply rescued me from a terrifying snake that decided to take up residence in my closet.”
“It was tiny,” I interjected. “A sand snake. Really. It was nothing. It definitely wasn’t terrifying.”
Basel’s gaze swept down to the bandage, his eyes widening seconds before they shot back up to mine. “It bit you?”
“Yeah, but only a little and I’m fine.”
“Did you see a doctor?” he asked, clearly alarmed. “Snake bites are no joke, Isaac.”
“There was blood,” Jasmine supplied helpfully. “Yet our hero refused to let Hassan call the doctor. Apparently, he read about our local wildlife and decided this particular snake bite didn’t require seeking medical advice.”
Basel started muttering in Arabic before bringing one hand up to massage his temple. Jasmine glanced back at me, pumping her eyebrows as she smiled. “See? I told you we should’ve called the doctor.”
I blew out a breath through my nostrils. “I’ve had paper cuts that were more serious than that bite. Can we just drop it, please?”
“You were bleeding all over my apartment!” she exclaimed, arms flying out to her sides. “That much blood is always a reason to see a doctor.”
“I bled very considerately,” I said as the engines hummed beneath us. “I managed to keep most it on my own arm and that’s because there wasn’t much of it at all.”
The plane sped up and we lifted off the ground smoothly. Even the takeoff felt luxurious.
Basel leaned back in his seat, his jaw suddenly tightening as if he’d reached a conclusion. “That’s it. You should both move back into the house. The Saad estate is the safest place for you to be.”
Jasmine groaned. “There’s no way. It’s like he said, the snake was tiny.”
“Scorpions can be tiny but deadly. Snakes. Spiders.” He pointed decisively between the two of us. “There are no snakes in my home. That’s where you should be.”
“It really wasn’t that big a deal,” I said quickly.
Colin had told me what it’d been like living in that house, how loud, busy, and constant life was with the Saads.
As much as I’d enjoyed dinner with them, I had no desire to move in.
“I promise you, Basel, it was a completely harmless little snake who must’ve just lost his way. ”
“The compound has security and much nicer gardens,” he argued, his gaze drifting back to his daughter’s. “There’s home-cooked food and no nosy neighbors.”
“Sure, but there are nosy brothers,” she said without skipping a beat. “Thanks, Dad, but I’m happy where I am.”
“The compound offers more space, more safety, and more support,” he insisted. “What if it had been a venomous snake? What would you have done then, all alone in your apartment?”
“Hassan was there and so was Isaac. It took them only minutes after I called to get to me. Honestly, they were there so fast.”
“Because you could get to your phone,” he said pointedly. “If it had been a venomous snake lying between your clothes and you’d reached in there, you almost certainly wouldn’t have had time to call for help.”
“It’s Heliopolis, Dad. It’s not like I’m living in a tent in the middle of the desert. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
“It won’t,” he said. “If you move back home.”
I watched them bicker but decided to stay out of it. Despite having been included in the invitation to move into the Saad family home, it didn’t look like this really involved me at all. In fact, I had a feeling it was an old argument that was simply resurfacing because of the snake.
“I’ll have a panic button installed in the closet,” she was saying. “Just in case, but I don’t need twenty-four-hour security and the gardens we’ve got are perfectly fine.”
He let out a long-suffering sigh before finally glancing back at me. “My daughters are my biggest blessing but also the sharpest pain in my ass.”
“What?” Jasmine turned to stare at him with incredulity shining in her eyes. “We are delightful.”
“You are stubborn,” he returned effortlessly. “First Deja moves to the United States and now you’re insisting on staying in that snake-infested apartment. It boggles my mind.”
“Deja didn’t choose to move to Chicago.” Jasmine pursed her lips. “You married her off to an American and decided it was time for White Water Lily to expand. That’s why she’s there.”
“She would’ve married him anyway.”
While I agreed with him on that front, I didn’t bother saying so. They enjoyed sparring, and it was ridiculously entertaining. I got such a kick out of watching them that I could do it all day and not get bored. But then the pilot’s voice crackled over the cabin speakers.
“Mr. Saad, we will be landing in approximately fifteen minutes.”
My spine snapped straight in my seat. God, that was fast.
I hadn’t even realized how much time had gone by until I glanced out the window, noticing that the coastline was starting to appear beneath us. It was all blue water and golden beaches as far as the eye could see.
When I leaned toward the window, Jasmine broke off her ongoing argument with her father to focus on me instead. “It’s gorgeous, right?”
I nodded, taking in the Red Sea, the sandy desert, and the rocky outcrops from the air. “Absolutely amazing.”
“Just wait until you see the sunset,” she said. “I’ve made a whole list of things for us to do before then, though.”
I finally turned away from the view to look at her again. “Today?”
“Of course.” She frowned. “Why would we waste any time? Do you have any idea how much there is to see and do down there?”
I blinked a few times, glancing at the leather portfolio lying on the seat next to Basel. We hadn’t touched those mock-ups yet, the entire flight having been taken over by the snake incident and their debate about why we should move into the Saad family home.
To be fair, it wasn’t a particularly long flight, but when the wheels finally touched down, Basel still hadn’t approved our initial plans and Joseph was probably on the edge of his seat, waiting for an answer.
I glanced between the two of them, suddenly realizing that somehow, I’d been put in the position to choose between them.
“You can go sightseeing later, honey,” Basel said as he unclipped his seatbelt. “Isaac and I need to visit the site that has been earmarked for the development and discuss the plans he and Joseph made.”
“But you made me come here to show him around,” she said, once again without skipping a beat. “Why did I even have to fly out with you today if you’re just going to be working?”
“It would’ve been impractical for you to come on your own at a later date,” he argued lightly, sliding the portfolio back under his arm as he stood. “Relax. Go say hi to Nanna. We’ll see you later.”
“No, I’ll be seeing Isaac now,” she insisted, already lifting her sunglasses from the top of her head. “The current plans are no good without inspiration, right? That’s why I’m here.”
When I noticed two cars waiting on the tarmac, I knew I was on the spot. One of those would be for Basel and one for Jasmine, and both Saads turned to look at me expectantly, both obviously expecting me to choose them. Nerves shot through my entire system, but I smiled apologetically at Jasmine.
Surely, she would understand.
I’d come to Egypt to work, which meant the project had to take precedence. “I’ll catch up with you later? Our visit to the complex site shouldn’t take too long, but we’ve got a few other things to wrap up after that.”
Those dark eyes lingered on mine for a moment, her entire expression falling. The bright excitement vanished from her gaze, her smile perfectly polite, but somehow, she still managed to make it feel like a giant fuck you. “Of course. I’ll see you later.”
She strode off the jet without looking back, and even though I knew I’d done the right thing, I was left feeling suspiciously like I’d done something wrong. Basel reached out and patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. She’ll be fine.”
I nodded, but as he followed her down the stairs, I had a feeling I was going to pay for ditching her today. I just wasn’t quite sure why. Work had to come first, but that didn’t explain the way she’d looked at me before she’d disappeared—or why I felt so damn guilty about it.