Page 81 of Hired Husband

“Yep. After everything fell apart, she convinced my uncle to funnel millions into an offshore account. The authorities spent years trying to track it down. For a long time, people even thought we were hiding the money ourselves, but the truth finally came out and I thought…” He trailed off and let out a soft, completely humorless laugh. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought. The only thing that matters is that she’s going to prison too and my brothers will have to keep fending for themselves. So, yeah. That’s it.”

My arm slid around his shoulders of its own accord and I pulled him closer. “Maybe there’s still something⁠—”

“No,” he said, gently cutting me off. “Don’t, Jasmine. It’s over. The money is gone, the people who should be in prison are there, and the rest of us need to move on with our lives. That’s all there is to it.”

For possibly the very first time in my entire life, I had absolutely no idea what to say, so I simply pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He let me hold him like that for a minute before he pulled away, even managing a small smile I was ninety percent sure was fake as he glanced up at me. “I’m okay.”

“Are you?”

He shrugged. “My brothers lost a lot more than I did. I’ll be fine.”

“You still lost something. It’s okay not to be okay about that.”

“Maybe, but that’s just the thing, isn’t it? I really will be fine. I mean, I’m no billionaire. Not even close, but I’m better off than my brothers.”

Something about the way he said it made me pause, that same flicker of fear from before passing through me. I reached for his hand and his fingers laced around mine, but there was a weird distance between us all of a sudden and I didn’t like it one bit.

“Isaac?” I asked quietly. “Are you sure⁠—”

Three loud knocks echoed through the suite, cutting me off. Zara’s voice came through the door. “Joseph is about to start eating the flower arrangements. We’re heading up for dinner.”

Joseph’s voice followed a moment later. “I said they looked edible, not that I was going to eat one.”

The corner of Isaac’s mouth twitched before he squeezed my hand, then let go. “We should get out there before he really does start eating the flowers. It was a long day.” As he stood, he smoothed the front of his shirt, took a deep breath, then extended his hand toward me. “Come on, lazy bones. I know shopping was hard work, but you can do this. I believe in you.”

I rolled my eyes at him, but under the circumstances, it lacked any real fire. Taking his offered hand, I let him pull me up but I didn’t miss the fact that he released me as soon as I was on my feet. I didn’t mention it, though. The moment had been interrupted and now he was smiling again like nothing had happened.

We followed Zara and Joseph from the suite to the upper deck, sitting down for what should’ve been a perfect dinner. Until Isaac had received that phone call, it had been an amazing day. The food was spectacular and even the sunset was putting on its best show, painting the riverbank in various shades of pink, gold, and amber.

Isaac should’ve been in his element, spending the day touring the temples and capping it off with great food, great views, and great company, but instead, he was quiet, laughing every so often when someone made a joke or smiling when he caught my eye, but something was definitely off. It almost felt like part of him was somewhere else. Probably an ocean away with his family.

I reached for his leg under the table, wrapping my fingers lightly around his knee. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Isaac.”

He laced his fingers between mine, leaning closer and keeping his voice as quiet as mine had been. “I’m not pretending, Jasmine.”

Joseph seemed to be trying to convince Zara that cereal counted as soup, which, while entertaining, meant I could ignore them for a minute and give Isaac my full attention. “You’re not okay.”

He sighed. “I’ve just been trying to process, is all.”

I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “You can talk to me. Anytime.”

“I know, but I don’t want to do that tonight.” He finally managed a smile that actually reached his eyes. “How often does a guy get to sail the Nile with a beautiful girl, huh? How about this? I’ll wrap my head around it in the morning and we’ll talk then? For now, let’s not let that phone call ruin it.”

I inhaled a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

I nodded and let it go, choosing not to press the issue if he really didn’t want to speak about it. Relief swept across his features. I wrapped my fingers tighter around his and left them there for the rest of the meal.

We finished eating when the last of the sunlight had disappeared. The engines provided a low, steady rumble beneath our feet. Luxor was slowly slipping away behind us, nothing but pinpricks of light in the distance when we finally got up from our table.

Villages tucked along the riverbank glowed against the dark night. The moon reflected across the water. It was impossibly beautiful, but Isaac didn’t even seem to notice as we made our way back to my suite.

Zara and Joseph broke away from us along the way, but I doubted he’d noticed that either. At least he followed me to my room, though. While it wasn’t much, it was still infinitely better than the alternative.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I said, already sliding one of my earrings out of my lobe as he shut the door behind us. “I desperately need to wash off the markets. Care to join me?”

Those blue eyes held mine, but they seemed far away, almost like he wasn’t seeing me at all. “No thanks. I’ll grab one later.”