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Mahindar curled his lip at her. That he was tempted to strike her with the butt of the gun must have shown on his face. She stilled, then back-hopped, her complexion paling. That she’d no doubt befriended his wife then set out to hurt her was unforgivable. Such a violent and cowardly act came with a heavy consequence. “I’m doing the least brutal of all the hideous ideas filling my head,” he conceded.
Turning back to the water container, he pointed the gun and fired off a shot a little more than halfway down. Water streamed out and disappeared into the sand even as Mahindar stalked around the car and fired off a shot into each tire, then grabbed the keys from the ignition and threw them over the edge of the cliff to join the firearms.
He looked at his enemies with cold eyes. “Though I’d love nothing more than to kill you all now, I refuse to give any of you an easy death. So I’m giving you a choice. Stay here with your dwindling water supply and hope someone shows up on this rarely used road. Or walk into the desert and likely die of thirst. Either way you’ll all probably die. It’s the least you all deserve.”
“P-please. Have mercy!” Estelle begged, tears sliding down her face.
Disgust filled him. “Like you had mercy on my wife? Like you didn’t know the torture Ramirez would have devised for her before he likely killed her? Believe me…you are lucky to get off so easily.”
He walked away then, Estelle sobbing to the background of hissing air and slowly running water.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Arabelle couldn’t look at Mahindar as he climbed into the helicopter then instructed the pilot to take them home. Yet there was a mixed sense of foreboding and relief having him back, while his presence filled the cabin and sucked away all the oxygen.
He really was larger than life. Guess that was why she’d trusted him so much. Had imagined she’d be safe thanks to his brilliant foresight.
And yet…she’d all but begged to go with him, and he’d refused. Her freedom of choice had been taken away from her yet again, to her detriment.
She glanced out the window. Her captors stood around their vehicle, which had lurched at a weird angle thanks to its blown out tires. But though sympathy for their plight stirred inside her, she quickly tamped it down. They had shown her no empathy at all and had been willing to dump her at the feet of a sheikh who was known for his merciless and cruel nature.
She shivered. The trade-off would never have happened. She would have died a slow and torturous death, killed in direct retaliation for Mahindar hiding Sheikh Ramirez’s wife.
That Mahindar’s face had showed nothing…no empathy, no concern when he’d looked at her had broken something inside her. She really thought he’d cared about her. Had presumed her suffering would have at least touched him in some way. She’d been so wrong.
Mahindar’s big hand enclosed hers and she jerked away from him, her heart thudding hard as shock and fear suddenly coalesced inside her. “Don’t.”Please don’t touch me. Or I’ll break into pieces.“I’m. Fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he said gruffly.
She blinked back sudden tears. She refused to cry! Why did he pretend to show concern now? It only made her hate him more!
She turned away from him then, but felt his eyes on her long after her shock and fear had subsided into something manageable. She dragged in a steadying breath. It was only natural after an attempted abduction and horrible assault for her to feel this way. But she was strong. In the coming weeks she was certain it would all seem like a bad dream.
The helicopter began its descent, the palace looming below. She closed her eyes, panic once again escalating.Stop!She was safe now. Despite her seesawing emotions in regards to Mahindar, he was by her side now and she was certain he would have tightened his security to epic proportions.
But what of Aisha? Had her despot husband found her yet?
Mahindar helped Arabelle out of the cabin and she ducked under the powerful rotating rotors and followed him from the rooftop helipad and down the stairs into the much cooler palace. Sending her an apologetic look, he immediately lifted his cellphone to his ear and barked out orders.
A handful of his men were to retrieve Aisha, then hold the blond man called Shawn for questioning.
Her blood pressure dipped. The blond surfer dude? A chill slid through her blood. Hadn’t he been at the holiday house when she’d mentioned Aisha to Mahindar?
Her husband grimly disconnected the call and Arabelle finally spoke, though her words seemed to stick in her suddenly thick throat. “It’s my fault. I should never have mentioned Aisha.”
“It’s no one’s fault,” Mahindar growled. “I should have moved her off the island a long time ago.” He exhaled heavily. “Regardless…my men know what to do. Aisha will be safe.”
Arabelle breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “How did you know where to find me?”
He stiffened a little, then conceded, “I had a tracking device inserted into your wedding ring.”
Her pulse stuttered. “So you knew I was never safe here?” she asked bitterly.
His face tightened. “You’re a sheikha. That puts a target on your head. That you’re the daughter of a sheikh who is still teetering on the edge of war makes you an even bigger mark. I put measures into place to ensure I could at least follow you.”
He stopped when they reached the floor, then turned to face her as she stood on the bottom step. He still had to look down at her as he examined her face. His eyes were hooded but there was no mistaking the concern. “You were under my protection,habibi, and I failed you. For that I will never forgive myself.”
Was that his way of apologizing? She might have laughed if everything didn’t hurt so badly. Her face wasn’t the only thing bruised, cut and sore. Her back ached and no doubt was bruised from the booted feet of her captors and her stomach swirled and pitched like she was going to be sick.
