Page 11 of The Forbidden Sheik
Marianna nodded, holding still as his hands roamed over her body making sure she was unharmed. When his fingers brushed her wrists, Marianna couldn’t hold back the hiss of pain. Gently, Amit brought her arms forward, peering at her wrists in alarm. They were bloody and swollen, laced in bruises from the plastic ties.
“Too close,” he whispered as he pressed gentle kisses to her fingers, so he wouldn’t hurt her wrists.
“How did you find me?”
He sighed and pulled her in for another hug against his chest. “You’re in Uftar, Love,” he murmured. “And I’m sorry to rush you, but there are more men coming to aid the kidnappers who brought you here.” He pulled back again, looking into her eyes. “Can you walk? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she admitted. “Other than my wrists, which I did to myself while getting my hands free, they didn’t hurt me.”
“Good,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the black SUVs. The bodyguards moved into formation around them, pistols and rifles pointing outwards. As soon as the doors closed, the SUVs drove away.
Chapter 12
Once they were in the relative security of the armored SUV, Amit immediately pulled Marianna onto his lap, holding her close as he buried his nose in her hair. His heart was still racing, but the scent of her hair—so familiar, so calming—grounded him. He had to keep telling himself that she was okay. Marianna wasn’t hurt, not really, except for the rope burns on her wrists. She was safe now, and that was all that mattered.
He pulled back slightly to look at her, checking her over with a careful gaze, as if still half-expecting her to disappear. His hands, trembling just slightly, rested on her waist, but his fingers were gentle, as if afraid that a stronger touch might break something.
“We’re almost there,” he said softly, more to reassure himself than her.
He called out to the guards in the front seat, his voice as commanding as ever. “Make sure that mess back there is cleared up at once,” he snapped. “I don’t want the next round of kidnappers to realize we’ve reclaimed Marianna. Get it done.” Without waiting for a response, he added, “And get Sheik Khal on the phone. He needs to know she’s safe. Also, make sure the call is made on a scrambled line. He’s been calling me every ten minutes, demanding updates.”
Marianna, still feeling the heaviness of the situation weighing on her chest, shifted on his lap to look out the window. She had been so lost in the moment with him—so confused by everything that had happened—that she didn’t even register the calm pace of the SUV at first. It felt… wrong, somehow. There should have been urgency, but there was none. No sirens, no police escort like she was used to when her brothers returned from a trip. The SUVs weren’t even speeding, just driving steadily along without a hint of panic.
She shifted again, her thoughts racing.Why weren’t they hurrying?She needed to get home. She needed to assure her brothers she was safe. She’d been so careless.
“I—I should have stayed closer to the palace,” she murmured, her voice thick with guilt. “I should’ve followed the damn protocols. If I had stayed within range, none of this would have happened. I shouldn’t have ridden so far with Stella. I just—” Her voice faltered, choking on the weight of her words.
Amit’s hands tightened on her waist, pulling her back into him, but his gaze was focused ahead, watching the road as he let her speak. His voice was soft, but the firmness in it couldn’t be mistaken. “Marianna, listen to me. This wasn’t your fault. The people who did this are the ones at fault. Not you.”
But she shook her head, brushing his words aside. “I wasn’t paying attention. I—" she stopped herself before she could continue.
She stared out the window, watching the unfamiliar scenery blur past, her thoughts spiraling in a thousand directions. She couldn’t ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach, the deep unease that she had put herself—and everyone else—in danger.
Amit, sensing the change in her, finally broke the silence. He cleared his throat, his voice low and steady. "You were kidnapped yesterday morning. You’ve been gone for almost twenty hours."
Marianna’s head snapped back toward him, her brow furrowing. “What do you mean? I don’t—I don’t remember being gone that long. I was just—” Her voice trailed off, confusion and frustration mixing in her gaze. She tried to piece together the fragments of what had happened, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how much was missing from her memory.
“What happened? Why—why didn’t anyone come after me sooner?” she asked, her voice rising slightly, a combination of fear and confusion making it hard for her to stay calm.
Amit exhaled, his expression unreadable for a moment before he turned his gaze to hers, steady and intense. “They took you off the road, Marianna. You were in a controlled area for the entire time. It wasn’t just a random abduction. They planned this.”
Marianna stared at him, her mind racing to catch up with his words. It felt surreal. “Controlled? You—what do you mean? I—how did you even know?”
Amit's jaw tightened slightly, the weight of his words hanging in the air between them. “I know more than I want to, Marianna.” He paused, his eyes locking onto hers with a deeper intensity. “But you’re safe now.”
But Marianna couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still wrong. She searched his face, her voice small as she spoke. “Safe… But why is it all so calm now? Why aren’t we rushing back to the palace, to my brothers? They must be—”
Amit interrupted, his hand reaching up to gently cup her face, urging her to meet his gaze. “Because this is how we do it, Marianna. We wait, we make sure they don’t know we’ve moved you. They can’t know you’re safe. Not yet. Not until we know that we’ve got everyone involved and understand their ultimate plot and stop it.”
His words were calm, but they sent a shiver down her spine. She opened her mouth to ask more, to push for answers, but the way his hand lingered on her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin, made her pause.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, his voice softer now, as if comforting her. “We’ve got this.”
Chapter 13
Jadwat rubbed his hands together, eager to put the plan in motion. “Are the letters ready?” he demanded as he rushed into his assistant’s office.
The man turned in his chair, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Your Highness,” Ashwan replied, using the formal title that his boss insisted upon. Technically, he was only a minor prince since he was a cousin to the current ruler of Uftar. However, Jadwat had been stripped of his royal status and title after Jadwat’s father had embezzled millions of dollars twenty years ago. “However, I think that the letters should be sent out in a more staggered fashion. If the eviction letters are sent out in a single wave, it will create considerable outcry.”
