Page 80 of Hired Husband

Jasmine smiled. “Don’t you know it.”

“You didn’t get me a rug, did you?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “When you decide to stay in Cairo, you and I will go get you a rug. The real deal.”

I arched an eyebrow, about to remind her that I wasn’t staying in Cairo, but then I flashed back on all the plans Joseph and I had dreamed up over the last few hours and kept my mouth shut instead. My future remained uncertain. We ordered grilled chicken with enough bread, dips, and salad to feed our entire tour group, but in the end, the four of us managed to finish it alone.

Once lunch was done, Joseph and I pretended to be pack mules, helping the girls get their loot back to the ship. When Jasmine and I were finally back in her suite, I set down the last of her bags and was about to reach for her when my phone began vibrating in my pocket.

I pulled it out with the intention of silencing it, but when I saw Jane’s name on the screen, I sighed and held up the phone. “It’s my sister. I should probably take this.”

Jasmine nodded, her dark eyes happy and relaxed. She picked up one of her shopping bags. “I’ll start unpacking. I can’t wait to show you what I got.”

“As long as some of it is lingerie, I can’t wait to see.” I smiled and slid my thumb across the screen as Jasmine laughed.

“Hey,” I said as I pressed the phone to my ear, heading out through the sliding doors and onto the balcony before pulling them closed behind me. “What’s up? I feel like I haven’t heard from you for ages.”

As Jane started talking, Jasmine looked up, but she wasn’t looking at Luxor Temple glowing gold in the setting sun or the river behind me. Instead of appreciating the view as a whole, she was looking only at me. I smiled at her, already coming up with a few smart-ass remarks to tease her when I went back in there, but then my sister launched into the reason for her call, which wiped the smile clear off my face in an instant.

All morning, I’d been fantasizing about staying in Egypt, but Jane quickly reminded me why that wasn’t a real option—and also why it never would be.

CHAPTER 32

JASMINE

Ipaced barefoot across the sitting room, pretending to be interested in unpacking the shopping bags scattered around my suite, but I was watching Isaac more than anything else. He still hadn’t come back inside, standing on my balcony with one hand braced against the railing and the other holding his phone against his ear.

Since he’d closed the doors, I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his body language suggested it wasn’t good. He nodded a few times, running his hand over his face or hanging his head. He rested his forehead against his palm at one point and turned his face up to the sky a few seconds later.

In all the time I’d known him, this was the first time I was seeing him like this, openly agitated and clearly disappointed. He normally hid his emotions a little too well, smiling his way through almost anything or acting like nothing was a big deal, but he wasn’t doing that right now.

If whatever was happening was making him look like this, it had to be really bad. My chest tightened as a dozen different possibilities swept through my mind, everything from one of his siblings being ill or in trouble to my father letting him know that there was no work for him in Egypt at all.

A strange tremor of fear ran through me, and while I knew it didn’t make sense to care this deeply about what he was being told, I couldn’t help it. In reality, unless it involved his brother or my sister, it wouldn’t affect me at all, and yet, my palms were suddenly clammy and my lungs felt at least two sizes too small.

As I watched, he finally slipped his phone into his pocket but stayed exactly where he had been, staring across the river toward Luxor Temple for a few long minutes. My heart tried so hard to pull me to him, but something told me he needed some time alone.

Still, my chest ached as I watched him standing there, alone and gripping the railing like he needed it to stay upright. When he finally came back inside, he closed the sliding door very quietly behind himself.

“What happened?” I asked softly. “Is everyone okay?”

His eyes widened a fraction. He blinked and quickly nodded. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry. Everyone is fine. Physically, anyway.”

My eyes remained on him as he strode toward the closest armchair and sank down in it, rubbing both hands over his face this time. “Jane just got out of another meeting with the attorneys. Colin and Ryan are with her.”

“Ryan, your younger brother?” I asked, standing dead still only a few yards away. I still desperately wanted to go to him, but I wasn’t sure I should. Uncertainty wasn’t really in my wheelhouse though, so I wasn’t entirely convinced I was handling it correctly. “What did they say, Isaac?”

“The money is gone,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands as he rested his face in them. “They’re not sure yet if it’s all of it, but my brothers won’t be getting their trust funds back after all.”

An icy sensation started spreading from my chest to my fingertips. “How can it just be gone?”

He shook his head and finally lifted his gaze to mine. “Honestly? I don’t know. They were just calling to tell me that it’s done. This is the end of the line for whatever hope we might’ve had of getting that money back for Holden and Wyatt.”

My heart sank, and this time, I didn’t second guess myself. I just crossed the room and sat down on the arm of the chair he was on. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah.” He paused for a beat, staring across the room at nothing. “Yeah, so am I, but I guess we should just be happy it’s finally over, huh? My father is staying in prison and Mallory got some jail time too, so this is it.”

“Mallory,” I repeated quietly. “She was his mistress, right?”