AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tears streamed down my face hard as I struggled with accepting the news. The doctor probably made a mistake, and once I was done panicking, I could take another test just to make sure they weren’t wrong.
Yes, that’s what I must do.
I swallowed hard and finally blinked back the tears. Whatever scent the cab driver had in his car was also very relaxing, and it made me sigh, then settle further into the car’s seat.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked, and I met his gaze through the rear-view mirror. The cab driver’s voice sounded smooth, and I sighed before nodding.
“Yes, sir,” I slurred, then let my head roll to one side before I closed my eyes. In seconds, I was out of my element and fast asleep, completely oblivious to what happened next.
Chapter Eighteen
Jack
“Istillcan’treachher,” Ryan said one hour after we landed in New York. Ryan took me to her apartment, and we tried the doorbell for a long time, but got no response.
I was on the verge of panic. Adrenaline shot through my system, and the sudden overwhelming sense of dread that filled me made it difficult for me to stop pacing around.
“We need to find her,” I said to Ryan as we left her apartment building and headed for a hotel suite. I tried calling Jim, but he also didn’t pick up, so I spent the next few minutes pacing around the hotel room till Ryan came to me and offered me a drink.
“You think they got to her?” he asked as I took the glass of vodka from him. “You think maybe the sheikh …”
“I don’t want to think,” I said to Ryan. “I was a fool, Ryan. I was a fool, and I completely ghosted her. I didn’t think … I just ran because I was scared.”
I blinked back the tears forming in my eyes and lowered myself to the edge of the bed. “What do I do now?”
I remembered the night I spent with Nina and the fact that I missed her immensely for six years. She should have been with me all that time, and I would have been far happier than I was.
Ryan sighed too, then sat on the bed and linked his fingers in front of him. “I don’t know, Jack. I could have sworn Nina wasn’t into you, man.”
“You think?” I asked as I turned to look at him.
He nodded. “She really had me fooled. I thought you two hated each other.”
“I’ve never hated Nina,” I confessed in a tiny voice I could barely even hear. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t feel anything for her, so I acted like I disliked her when really, I’ve loved everything about her. I always have.”
Ryan was silent for a long time, and I didn’t say anything either because I couldn’t believe I had said those words out loud.
“I think I’m screwed,” I said and rubbed my forehead. “Dammit.”
“Nina will be all right,” Ryan said to console me, and then he put his hand on my thigh and squeezed gently. “Once we find her, I want you to make sure you fix what you broke and make her happy again.”
Tears filled my eyes as I turned to Ryan. “You’re not mad at me?”
“Oh, I’m mad … I’m livid, but … you’ve been my best friend for years, Jack,” he said, and then put his right hand on my shoulder and patted. “You’re a good man, and if Nina wants you, then you should stop running and fight for her.”
I nodded and sniffed hard to draw back the feelings and tears reeling to the surface.I have to fix it,I thought.
My phone rang then, and I jumped to my feet once I saw it was from Jim.
“Hey, Jim any news?”
“Yes,” Jim answered. “The sheikh has your fake wife.”
Christ …I rubbed a hand over my face and pushed back the tears burning the brim of my lashes. “What do I need to do? The sheikh wants me and not Nina. I can’t let him hurt her. Just find me an address, I’ll go right there and—“
“Meet me at the location I’m texting to you right now,” Jim interrupted. “When you get here, we’ll figure it out.”
Jim ended the call before I could say anything else, and I turned to Ryan, who had his wide eyes fixed on me. “Any news?” he questioned.
