Rais lowered his head, trying to come up with something, anything, to help his guards find Joline. But he just didn’t know her well enough. He hadn’t listened to her.
“Do you think someone has her?” he asked the question that was in the back of his mind but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.
There was a slight pause before his head of security said, “It is a possibility that we’ve been looking into without raising any awareness of her existence, Your Highness. I don’t want to discount the possibility, but no. I don’t think that she has been kidnapped. If that were the case, we would have received demands, there would have been chatter among the various groups. Something that big wouldn’t have gone under the radar. But we are still exploring options, ensuring that she hasn’t fallen victim to any of your enemies.”
Rais breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, so…” he thought back to something that Shantra had told him. What has she said? Understand Joline and he’ll find her.
Joline had been gone for five days now. He thought back to that morning…she’d been so furious with him for basically kidnapping her. He hadn’t kidnapped her, damn it! He’d gotten her to London in the most expedient way. She hadn’t complained about going to London! She’d agreed to come to London!
But she’d been angry that she hadn’t had her phone. He’d handed her purse to one of her new guards and…she hadn’t had it on the plane. He also hadn’t given her a chance to get her computer so she…
Oh hell! “See if there’s been any e-mail activity!” he told his guard.
At that moment, Shantra stepped into his office. “Not right now, Shantra,” he grumbled. He didn’t yell because at least she’d given him clues in the hallway. Now he was acting on her advice.
“You’re not going to hack into her e-mail account, are you?” she asked as she almost sashayed her way into his office. Shantra picked up a pen, glanced at a paper, shifted his desk lamp ever so slightly.
“You told me to understand her and I’d find her. I figured her out. She’s working somewhere. Now I know how to find her.”
Shantra sighed as if extremely put out. “Rais, you’re brilliant at business, no doubt about it. But when it comes to women, to humans,” she corrected, “you’re blind as a bat and stupid to boot.”
Rais was sick of her puzzles. “If you’re trying to tell me something, just spit it out.”
Shantra laughed. “I believe that Joline explained everything very carefully to you and you didn’t get it. So obviously, saying this straight isn’t a good way to communicate with you.”
Rais closed his eyes and laid his palms flat out on the desk, trying for patience. “I can’t wait to marry you off, Shantra.”
His little sister only laughed, delighted that she’d gotten to him so badly. “You’d never sell me off to some horrible man. My marriage will be a love match.”
He looked at her across the desk. “Not anymore,” he growled right back.
Shantra shook her head. “Just e-mail her, you idiot! If you want to get in touch with her, just contact her! Don’t hack into her account, don’t track her phone, don’t monitor her spending, or her bank accounts. Treat her as an equal!” She leaned forward. “Treat her as you would prefer to be treated!”
Rais blinked in her direction, so startled he could hardly believe what she was saying. “Contact her?” he asked. “That’s your advice? Just send her an e-mail?”
She pushed away from his desk and shrugged. “Well, you might want to tell her how much she means to you, that you were wrong and a jerk and that you’ll never do it again. Mentioning how much you love her might also help.”
Hell yes, he loved her! Damn, he loved her so much, he could barely think because of the worry of her missing. But admit it out loud?
“Get out of here, brat,” he ordered, but his tone was softer, almost teasing.
Shantra smiled and blew him a kiss. “You’re welcome, dear brother.”
When the door closed behind her, Rais sat down at his computer and pulled up his e-mail. It took him several minutes before he understood what he needed to say. And even as he was typing it, he still was hesitant to admit it. The words made him feel vulnerable and he didn’t like that feeling at all.
But they were true. Every last one of them.
Chapter 11
Joline wiped at the tears again, frustrated because they kept blurring her vision and she needed to re-read the message. Was he really saying all of this? Did he mean it?
Just as she thought it, another message popped up. “I mean it.” No other words, just those three profound words that meant everything to her.