Chapter 42
JASMINE
“Oh, my god,” I muttered, gripping the handle on the inside of Isaac’s car and bracing my feet against the front of the foot well. “We’re going to die. I knew you should never have been allowed to drive in Cairo.”
He shot me an offended look. “We’re not going to die. I just don’t have a firm grip on the aggressive driving style around here anymore, but it’ll come back.”
A taxi missed my side of the car by what couldn’t have been more than a few inches. I pointed at the intersection ahead. “Turn left up there.”
“There’s no gap.”
“So make one,” I said through gritted teeth, my head spinning as I tried to absorb the events of the last few minutes. “Just put the front of your car where you want it to be and trust that everyone else values their paintwork enough to let you in.”
“That should be page one of the Egyptian driving manual,” he joked and did what I’d told him to do, grinning when the car beside us braked to create enough space. “Hey, it worked.”
“Of course, it worked. What is this, your first time driving a getaway car?”
He laughed, making the turn I’d told him and easing back against his seat now that we were leaving my parents’ neighborhood, but he still kept glancing up into the rearview mirror. I twisted in my seat too, just to make sure for myself that there was no one following us.
Both Isaac and I were tense as I guided him through the city, but eventually, the traffic began to thin, the roads becoming quieter. I pointed at a hotel coming up on our left, landscaped gardens leading up to a wide, flat building with the Pyramids visible in the distance beyond.
“This is it,” I said quietly, the adrenaline that had gotten me this far fading fast now that we’d almost reached safety. “We can lie low here. Just go around the back.”
“Why?”
“Because very soon, every gossip columnist in Cairo is going to be looking for me. If I’m seen by too many people, you can bet on it that someone will tip them off as soon as the news breaks that I took off on David with an American.”
“Right.” He exhaled a slow, measured breath but drove past the front entrance to a much smaller, much less glamorous door around the back. “Do I even want to know how you knew there was another way to get in here?”
I smiled, but it was tight. “I’m a model. I know a thing or two about avoiding the press, but also, Zara stayed here for a month once after she had a fight with her parents. They were looking everywhere for her, so we had to get creative.”
“That sounds like a story I want to hear, but let’s get you inside first.” He pulled into an empty parking spot right across from the back entrance, then headed inside, keeping the door propped open with his foot before he came back to get me.
“The coast is clear. There’s no one around.
I’ll go get us a room and be back in a minute. ”
I nodded, climbing out of the car with my heart still racing. Isaac took my hand, pressing a soft kiss to it when we reached the deserted hallway and let the door swing shut behind us. Those blue eyes met mine, tension still shimmering in them even as he gave me a calm smile.
“Alright. Stay put. Everything is going to be fine.”
“Eventually, sure, but probably not today,” I murmured and watched him hurry toward reception.
Within minutes, he had us checked in and a porter led us through a staff corridor to a secluded suite without so much as raising an eyebrow. Once the door clicked shut behind us, the silence suddenly rang in my ears, the magnitude of what we’d just done finally dawning.
“I’m so dead.” I glanced down at myself, the gorgeous, ivory gown I’d cried my way through the fitting for suddenly the only item of clothing I had. “I need to get out of this dress. I need a shower. I…”
I trailed off and Isaac came over, taking my hands and squeezing them as his gaze held mine. “Take your time. I’ll handle whatever is happening out there, okay?”
I nodded, half-stumbling into the bathroom and stripping off the engagement gown like it was burning me.
To be fair, it kind of felt like it had been, my skin feeling strangely raw until I stepped under the hot spray of the shower and stayed there for ages, using the soap the hotel provided to scrub off how close I’d come to being doomed.
Thankfully, the hotel also provided robes, so once I was finished in the shower, I slipped into one of them and towel-dried my hair. My makeup had mostly washed away, but I didn’t care. I had some eyeliner and lip gloss in my little purse. If push came to shove, I could use that to touch up.
For now, however, I padded out of the bathroom with the robe pulled tight around my body.
Our suite had a view of the Pyramids, the desert glowing gold in the late afternoon light as Isaac sat and dealt with the fallout of our getaway.
He was on a little armchair in the sitting room with his back to me, his eyes on the windows and one hand in his hair while the other held the phone against his ear.
As I walked past the bed, I picked my phone up from where I’d left it next to my purse, unlocking it to find thirty-seven missed calls, and messages coming in faster than I could read them. There were three new news alerts too, but I didn’t open any of the notifications.
Instead, I just held down the power button until the screen went dark. Not tonight. I’m not dealing with any of this tonight.
“Hi, Deja,” Isaac said as another call came in barely a full second after he’d ended the last one. “No, we’re alive.”
He must’ve heard me striding toward him because he suddenly glanced over his shoulder and smiled, then pulled the phone away from his ear and hit the speaker button without waiting to be asked.
“Go to Alexandria for a few days. I’ll make the arrangements for you.
You’re not going to want to be in the city until the fervor dies down at little bit. ”
“That’s a good point,” he said. “Yeah. Okay. I agree. Let me run it by Jasmine and we’ll call you back in a few.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she said. “Colin is handling the fallout at the party, but he’s going to want to talk to you when he’s done.”
Isaac nodded. “Of course. I’ll be here. How’s Ryan holding up?”
She chuckled. “Oh, he’s just stoked to have been a part of it. You should see his face. It’s hilarious. I’m also not sure he’s ever going to be leaving Cairo again, though. So there’s that. We might have to work on him a little bit.”
Isaac smiled. “Let him look around for a few days until all this dies down. If he’s still not willing to leave by the time you guys have to go back, we’ll kidnap him and put him on the plane.”
She laughed. “We seriously might have to, but okay. Talk to Jasmine about Alexandria and let me know. I’ve got to go.”
“Sure thing. Talk to you soon.”
He ended the call and looked over at me, reaching for my hand and pulling me down on his lap when I took it.
I went willingly, winding my arms around his shoulders and bringing my forehead to his, just breathing in the masculine scent of him for a few minutes as I tried to absorb the fact that we were really here.
And so far, there was no security team rappelling down the side of the hotel or helicopters with search lights descending. No one was pounding on the door or calling up to our suite, demanding that we meet them in the lobby right now.
It was almost too good to be true, but then, naturally, Isaac’s phone lit up again and he sighed after checking the screen. “It’s your dad.”
I just stared into his eyes for a few more seconds before finally nodding. “You should pick up.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but I think you should do it anyway.”
“Is there anything in particular you want me to say?”
I shook my head from one side to the other. “I have absolutely no idea. Obviously, we know we’re insane, but what’s done is done.”
“Yeah. Okay, so I’ll cop to being insane and just hear him out.” He took a breath before swiping to answer. “Hello, sir.”
His tone was noticeably more formal now than it had been before, but he once again put the phone on speaker so I could hear what my dad was saying. “Isaac. Is Jasmine with you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dad let out a soft sigh that sounded a lot like relief, his voice gentler now. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, sir.” Isaac looked into my eyes again, almost like he was waiting for me to contradict him, but when I didn’t, he smiled. “She’s fine. A little tired, I think, but otherwise alright.”
“Thank God,” Dad muttered, and suddenly, I had to wipe away a tear that formed at the corner of my eye.
After all that, he wasn’t asking where we were or what we’d done. He wasn’t demanding that we come back or that we follow through on the deal he’d made. He only wanted to know if I was okay. It seemed almost impossible, but he didn’t even sound angry.
“Are you both safe?” he asked next. “There are a lot of people looking for you.”
“We figured as much, but we are safe, sir. This has just been a lot, so maybe we’ll lie low for a few days.”
“That would be for the best,” Dad said. “Stay with her, Isaac. Make sure she’s as okay as she can be, and I’ll handle everything from my side.”
“Yes, sir,” he agreed. “Thank you. We appreciate that.”
Dad hesitated for a second. “Good night, Isaac. Tell Jasmine we love her.”
“Will do. Good night, sir.”
When he hung up, he set his phone down on the coffee table and brushed a damp strand of hair behind my ear before he leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Do you need anything?”
“Other than a new identity?” I asked softly, feeling my lips inch into a smile. “No, not really. I’m exhausted, though. I think maybe I’ll just get in bed.”
“Let’s do it.” He swiped his phone up again and switched it to silent. Then he led me over to the enormous hotel bed and opened it up, climbing in with me and pulling me into his arms after settling the covers back over us.
I curled into his side and closed my eyes, not really expecting to fall asleep.
My mind and my heart were both still racing, so many unknowns hanging over us right now that I thought I’d be lying awake all night, but instead, with Isaac’s heart beating steadily under my ear and his strong arms around me, I drifted off almost immediately, falling into a comfortable, mercifully dreamless sleep right away.