Page 45 of No Way Forward

The secretary held up a finger just as her phone rang, and she answered. “Yes, sir. I did. Yes.”

“Is that my dad? Let me speak to him, please.”

Sheila ignored her and continued to speak into the phone. Novette ground her teeth. This day wasn’t going as well as she had hoped. By now, she should be headed home to pack with Zaid at her side. That is, if he convinced her dad of their plan.

By the time they pulled into the mansion’s drive, Sheila was just finishing up her phone call. She passed the phone over to Novette, and the two of them headed into the house.

“Daddy, what’s going on? Is everything okay? Did someone get past security at your building? And where’s Zaid? Is he safe?” She fired off question after question as she started up the stairs to her bedroom.

“Slow down, Novette. I want to talk to you.” Her dad sounded tense, nervous even.

She stopped on the stairs, curious about what could get him nervous. The man stared cold-blooded killers in the face and didn’t blink.

“What do you need to talk about?” She turned around as she spoke and found her dad’s two bodyguards standing near the front door. That was weird. They should never have left his side. “Daddy, why are your guards here with me? I thought they were going to drop me off and head back.”

“Novette, listen carefully. Zaid was behind that kidnapping. He staged the entire thing and—”

“That’s a lie!”

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down.” She raced down the stairs, almost turning an ankle in her haste. She ran toward the front door, but both men moved into her path. Not missing a beat, she pivoted and ran to the door leading to the garage. One of the guards wrenched her hand off the knob before she could even turn it. “Get out of my way!”

“Novette, are you there?” her dad called over the phone.

“Daddy, you better tell your man to get out of my way right now. I mean it. You can’t keep me prisoner here.”

“I’m not keeping you a prisoner, Novette. We’re just getting ready. That’s all.”

“Getting ready for what? If you think you’re going to force me to marry someone against my will, you better think again. No minister is going to perform a ceremony for an unwilling bride, and a forced marriage is a crime.”

“You know the law, do you?” His snide attitude grated on her nerves.

“I know that much! Don’t treat me like an ignorant fool.”

“You can stop worrying that I’ll force you to marry someone you don’t want to marry.”

“But you’re still going to stop me from marrying someone I do want to marry? That’s it, isn’t it? You know about Zaid and me. Who told you?” Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Why am I even asking? Your employees are loyal, even to the point of kidnapping and holding me hostage.”

At these words, she glared at the bodyguards. Neither man met her gaze, and Sheila had disappeared altogether.

“What are you planning to do with me, Daddy? Lock me away for the rest of my life? Is that how you show love?”

“No, of course not, dear.”

“Don’t call me ‘dear.’ I’m not dear to you.” Her heart ached. She longed to see Zaid and know he was okay. Fear tightened her throat. Her dad might have one of the guards kill him. Would they go so far? It sickened her too much to ask.

“I hope you’ll come to understand how much I love you, Novette.”

“I understand you’re a sociopath.”

“That’s not true. If I were a sociopath I wouldn’t have the capacity to love you.”

“Oh my God, are you seriously giving me a lecture on the definition of a sociopath? Let me out of here!”

His voice gentled, and some of the anger faded. “I want you to go pack a few things. We’re going away for a little while. It’ll take a few days for me to get my affairs in order, but then we’ll go.”

She hesitated. This sounded like the idea she and Zaid had come up with. “Just you and me?”

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