The Sheikh's Stolen Bride-To-Be(17)

     



 



There was nothing for it. She would have to face her parents' wrath and  be done with it. Would they disown her for such an offence? Who could  tell? She had, in traditional El Farahn culture, effectively shamed her  mother for all eternity. No one would want her after this.



Was that such a bad thing, though? Steph thought about Mehdi's comment  about opening a boutique, about charting her own course. Then again, it  was easy to say that when one didn't have to worry about finances.



Steph sat in the car until the driver came around and opened the door,  forcing her into action. She stepped out and thanked him, swallowing as  she looked up at the beautiful dome of the hotel. The place had nothing  on Mehdi's palace, but, she supposed, that was the point.



Stepping into the lobby, no one seemed to notice her. She walked up to  the concierge and told them she had lost her room key, which was true,  and the woman happily supplied her with a new one. She stepped into the  elevator, pressing the button for the top floor with a trembling finger.  She wondered if acting out had really been worth it in the end. She had  never been more scared than she was in that moment, preparing to face  her parents.



There was no way she could find her fiancé so she could talk to him  first, which was a shame, really. Perhaps if she could have gotten him  to see things her way, she would have had a stronger argument with her  parents.



The elevator door dinged, and the doors opened. Steph took several  tremulous steps out into the hallway and stopped several feet from the  closed door, working up her courage.



She could do this. She could face the consequences of her actions. Each  step she took felt like she was walking through molasses. Finally, she  reached the door and slid her key into the lock, unlocking the door with  a click.



Pushing it open, Steph breathed in deeply, expecting to see her mother's  scowling face as she walked in the door. Instead, she was met with  silence, as the suite was completely empty, and clean. She wondered if  her parents had checked out, but then she heard footsteps coming from  the direction of her parents' room.



Steph kept her eyes glued to their door until her father walked out and  their gazes met. Jerry's blue eyes, so much like her own, widened in  surprise and shock, and he froze in place, staring at her.



"Steph?" he said.



Steph could hardly breathe as she waited for her mother to come out and  berate her for what she had done. After several moments, it seemed clear  that that wasn't going to happen. Instead, her father walked a few  steps closer until he was facing her directly.



"Where's Mom?" she asked, her eyes darting behind his shoulder to see if  Elora would arrive and break this frozen tableau of anticipation.



Jerry glanced behind him as though he would find his wife there before he turned back to Steph.



"She's not here," he said.



"Oh," Steph said.



It was an awkward moment, where father and daughter stared at one  another as though they were complete strangers, before finally Jerry's  face melted into a mask of relief and he wrapped his arms tightly around  his daughter.



"Thank God you're safe," he breathed, holding her close.



It was hardly the welcome Steph had thought she would receive, though  she knew her father's relief would soon be replaced by anger. After a  moment, she pulled back and looked earnestly into his eyes.



"Dad, we need to talk."





TWELVE



Steph





Jerry stepped back and gestured toward the plush living room sofas.  Steph walked over and took a seat, her father sitting across from her  with his elbows on his knees, his expression anxious.



Steph took a breath and plunged in.



"So I guess I made my point about not wanting to go through with this," she said.



Jerry sighed. He looked tired and worried, the lines on his face etched a  little deeper. Steph felt a pang of guilt, knowing she was the probable  cause of many of those lines.



"What happened, Steph? You were all ready to go, and then when you never  came back, we didn't know what to do. Then we get a text from a strange  number saying you're okay but giving us no other information? We've had  nothing to do but sit here and wait. Your mother is visiting some  relatives on the other side of town as we speak, trying to figure out  how to determine where that call came from so we could find you."         

     



 



Steph stared resolutely at the coffee table, unable to meet her father's  gaze as he poured out days of worry and stress and frustration.



"I'm sorry," she whispered.



"I know," he said, and she glanced up in surprise.



"I get it, Steph. It was unfair of us to try to push you in this  direction. We just wanted you to be safe and happy. I know an arranged  marriage isn't conventional, but we've seen it work time and time again,  with your mother and me and with many of her friends, too. It's okay to  have doubts. I just wish you would have come to me before running  away."



The disappointment in his tone was like a knife to Steph's heart. A tear escaped her eye before she hastily wiped it away.



"I understand," she said.



"Where have you been?" he asked, his gaze searching hers for answers.



Steph couldn't think of what to tell him. Where had she been?  Gallivanting with the Sheikh of El Farah, a man who had expressed an  interest in marrying her. Perhaps if she told him the truth, he could  tell her mother there was an even better suitor in sight than any man  they could ever pick for her.



That still didn't solve the problem of her jilted fiancé, though.



"I'll tell you later. Right now, what I need to do is find my fiancé and  apologize to him in person. I can't do that without his information,  though. Will you help me?"



Her father hesitated. Steph knew if he gave up that information he would  be digging them into an even deeper hole of shame. Not only had Steph  run away from the wedding, but to see the groom after the fact, before  they became man and wife?



There was no help for it. Steph had to face him. He deserved to know why she had run.



After a moment's consideration, Jerry heaved another heavy sigh and  reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and removing a  crisp, white business card.



"This is him," he said, hesitating before holding the card out to her.



Steph took it, staring at the name. Sadiq Al Jabal. Looking at it, she  felt nothing. Should she have felt excitement or nerves, or something?  Instead all she could think about was Mehdi, standing on a beach,  waiting for her. Two men, waiting for her at the same time.



It had been an interesting week.



Steph stood, leaning over her father and kissing him on the head. "Thank  you, Dad," she said before running to her room and throwing open her  suitcase.



She quickly changed out of her beachwear and into a comfortable pair of  jeans and a T-shirt with a sweatshirt to stave off the cool night air.  She was back in the living room before her father had even had a chance  to stand. When he saw her dressed, he looked at her, his expression  confused.



"Steph, where are you going?"



"To talk to Sadiq. I'd say it's long overdue, wouldn't you?"



"It's nearly ten o'clock at night. Do you really think he'll be at work?"



Steph shrugged, grabbing her purse and checking that her phone was  charged and her hotel key was in place so she could get back into the  room-if her mother would allow it.



"I have to try," she said, heading toward the door.



"Steph, there's something I need to tell you about the wedding … "



"It's okay, Dad. We can talk it all out later. Right now I've got to do this."



Steph closed the door before her father could get another word in  edgewise and then pressed the elevator button, waiting impatiently as  the car rose to the highest floor. When she finally reached the lobby,  she shot out into the main room, heading toward the doors.



Pulling out Sadiq's card, she looked at the address before getting out  her phone and keying it into her maps app. He worked only a few blocks  away from the hotel!



Steph tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her fiancé had been  mere blocks away from her the whole time she had been in the country as  she followed the directions toward his building. She passed by a food  cart not unlike the one she had stopped at with Mehdi, and her heart  sank a little deeper.









After a few more blocks, Steph found Sadiq's building. The structure was  one of the taller skyscrapers, and it stood out. It looked as though  she had walked into a financial district, all the buildings towering  cleanly over the rest of the city. The lobby to the building was lit up,  even at that time of night, and Steph tested the front glass door,  finding it unlocked.